How to Find American Ancestors in the 1950 US Census

Learn about the quirks, assumptions, and treasure trove of genealogical information built into this mid-century US Census, publicly available for free as of 1 April. See, step by step, how to look for American ancestors before indexing is complete and then how to interpret what you find. Follow along on brief case studies demonstrating the entire process, from planning to searching to citing your sources.

The audience will learn about the 1950 Census questionnaire, the terminology used, and the way answers were recorded. Also this talk will cover interesting quirks and assumptions in the Census process, particularly about marital status, military service, and income. Before full indexing, surname search will be quite limited, so this presentation will demonstrate how to use street addresses to locate ancestors in Census documents.

Marian Burk Wood is the author of the best-selling genealogy book, Planning a Future for Your Family’s Past. An experienced speaker and a long-time blogger about family history (at Climbing My Family Tree), she earned a masters degree from Long Island University in New York and a bachelors degree from the City University of New York. Marian has been researching her family tree for 24 years.

About the webinars:

Join the Guild of One-Name Studies for this webinar as we welcome Marion and she introduces us to the United States 1950 Census.

Anyone who wants to find an American ancestor in the 1950 US Census would benefit from watching this informative presentation. They will learn details of the questionnaire, find out what an Enumeration District is, and follow along with step-by-step case studies demonstrating how to look for ancestors before indexing is complete.

The webinar took place on 1 June 2022.

Attendance to the webinar was available to both members and to non-members. After the live event the recording is to be available to Guild members only. 

Guild members can watch and download the handout HERE (you MUST be logged in to the website)