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| 1940 Census poster, The Newberry Library |
Today at 9:00am EDT the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) rolled out the 1940 United States Census to the public --- currently their server has crashed, so try later!
I'm not just blogging about this because I'm a genealogy nerd (though I'm pretty freakin' stoked!! I feel like I've waited 72 years for this....), but because Census records are a fantastic tool to use to track down information about our bio-fathers and his family. On many profiles the ages of the donor's parents are listed. If his parents were born before 1940, they will be in the Census. And of course, the more detailed the donor profile, the more useful these tools can be!! My best advice on using the Census is if you have a potential candidate person. Again, it's not a tool for dry run searching. Talk to me about what tools are useful before you have a person of interest....(hint, hint --- DNA!)
And of course for much older offspring, those conceived pre-1970, the chances of your biological father being listed in the 1940 Census increases dramatically!!
Strictly using Census records is not going to get you anywhere, but in combination with other print and electronic records and trails, they are a fantastic tool to help you piece together your own story.
So go take that Family Finder Test!!!! GO!!! NOW!!!
