THE NARA AND THE 1920 CENSUS

Last week, I took my first trip to my regional NARA (National Archives and Records Administration). The records at the NARA can be overwhelming. So, this week's article, in keeping with my project to obtain the most available and recent documents, will focus only on the 1920 census search.

I was like a kid in a candy store; but because I did groundwork before I went, I was able to stay focused. Also, the paperwork I took with me saved valuable research time at the archives.

The census is listed by head of household, and the soundex card lists all the members living in the household. For example, when searching for my father, I looked under his father's name.

My first prep work was to run off copies of the Soundex Card worksheet. Then I got the soundex code for each of my surnames by going to the NARA's Soundex Machine. After entering the surname, it took me to a page that gave the soundex code. I wrote the code down on my Soundex Card worksheets for those surnames. Then, followed the link to the Federal Population Census page. On that page, I linked to the 1920 Census. There, I noted that the 1920 census ID is T625, which I wrote on the top of my worksheet. I scrolled down to the soundex for my state, noted the ID number for that state (ex. Ohio is M1581) Then, scrolled down to the soundex code for the surname and wrote the line number down. I found that this information saved me valuable time at the NARA.

Then, I ran off copies of the 1920 abstract from the Family Tree Maker's Site. It comes in 3 pages:

http://www.familytreemaker.com/00000084....

http://www.familytreemaker.com/00000085....

http://www.familytreemaker.com/00000086....

Now, I was ready. When I got to the archives, I looked up the soundex cards (where to look was clearly marked on the drawers, and I had the census, state and line number to help me). After writing down the information from the soundex card, I went to the actual microfilm copy of the census. Where to find it is on the soundex card. The staff at the NARA was friendly and helpful, so don't be afraid to ask if you get lost.

I was able to make copies for 25 cents. Although they are hard to read, they are nice to have. My census abstracts are my clear copies. The one thing I didn't bring, that I wished I did, was a magnifying glass. I'm not sure if it would help, but it is worth a try because the censuses were in very small print.

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