NOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was received from Ancestry.com. Please address all inquiries to support@ancestry.com.
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The entire census can be viewed online at www.ancestry.com/1940census |
Ancestry.com Releases Completely Searchable 1940 U.S. Federal Census
A
searchable index to 134 million records makes researching family
history in the latest available U.S. Census dramatically easier
PROVO, UTAH – (August 3, 2012) – Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource,
is proud to announce that it has completed the records indexing process
for the 1940 U.S. Federal Census, which is available at www.ancestry.com/1940census.
All 134 million records are now easily searchable by name, date, place
of birth and other key information recorded in the census. These
records, which are free to search, offer valuable insight for the nearly
90 percent of Americans who either have family members recorded in the
1940 U.S. Census or are in it themselves.
Since the initial release of the 1940 U.S. Census by the National Archives in April, Ancestry.com has progressively published information from this important family history resource state by state. Ancestry.com
has made this vital family history information while providing an
engaging user experience including the ability to search for maiden
names or other family names, often a roadblock when searching records.
Additionally, users can make corrections or update information that is
incomplete, leading to a better overall database of information.
Assisting in navigation of the 1940 U.S. Census is Ancestry.com’s
Interactive Image Viewer, which enables users to easily peruse document
pages with simple graphical overlays. The viewer adds highlights,
transcriptions and other functionality directly on the Census page. This
enables searchers access to small census fields by simply scrolling
over them for a pop up that magnifies the information recorded by census
takers. With the ability to zoom in on individual records, these new
features dramatically improve the usability of the 1940 U.S. Census,
which previously only included images of the paper records. These paper
records, handwritten in small entry fields, have traditionally been very
hard to read, making the visual enhancements in the Interactive Viewer a
huge improvement.
“We are so excited to be publishing our index to the 1940 U.S. Federal Census for free on Ancestry.com,” said Tim Sullivan, CEO of Ancestry.com.
“As one of the most anticipated family history resources ever, the 1940
Census is a fantastic way for almost every American to get started
making discoveries about their family history as well as a key new
resource for so many of our two million existing subscribers.
Experienced through our new Interactive Image Viewer, the stories and
discoveries inside the 1940 Census really come to life.”
Users
can now find basic information such as their ancestors’ names and where
they lived, but also gain more insight about their ancestors’ daily
lives. This information includes whether they owned or rented their
home, the value of the residence and how many people resided there. For
the first time, census takers in 1940 also asked questions specific to
income and education. Interestingly, details like prior military
service, the ability to read or write, and whether citizens spoke
English – all asked in prior censuses – were not asked in 1940.
The entire census can be viewed online at www.ancestry.com/1940census
About Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com
Inc. (Nasdaq:ACOM) is the world's largest online family history
resource, with approximately 2 million paying subscribers. More than 10
billion records have been added to the site in the past 15 years.
Ancestry users have created more than 38 million family trees containing more than 4 billion profiles. In addition to its flagship site www.ancestry.com, Ancestry.com offers several localized Web sites designed to empower people to discover, preserve and share their family history.
Hi Pat,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your note this morning. I'm still surprised that my eyes watered up when I found my dad's entry in the 1940 census this morning.