The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration long ago announced that the 1940 census records would be hosted online as digital images free of charge, beginning on April 2, 2012. However, until now, NARA did not mention WHERE the images would be found. Since the National Archives and Records Administration does not have enough web servers or personnel to do the hosting on the www.nara.org web site, the assumption has always been that NARA would contract with a commercial firm to provide the hosting.
Fierce competition has existed amongst four different genealogy services for the rights to be the first and the official hosting service. However, the contract for the hosting company was not awarded until this week.
The 1940 census will first be hosted at a new web site owned and managed by Archives.com
Technically, the contract was awarded to Inflection, a Silicon Valley-based technology company in Redwood City, California. However, Inflection is the parent company of Archives.com, a genealogy web site. I would expect the census to appear on the Archives.com site, not on the parent company's site.
The contract was awarded at zero cost. That is, Inflection/Archives.com is not charging the government anything for hosting the images. The agreement is for a one-year contract with options for up to four one-year extensions.
Keep in mind that NARA is releasing all the 1940 census records as free digital images. However, there will be no index on April 2. That is, you will not be able to enter a name and then be immediately taken to the page(s) where that name appears. Instead, you will need to search the online census images in the same manner that genealogists search unindexed records on microfilm: one page at a time.
FamilySearch.org and its partners will also publish the 1940 U.S. Federal Census for free on April 2, 2012, the day the census is released by NARA. However, FamilySearch.org states "and its partners" so we can assume the partnership will be between FamilySearch.org and Archives.com. In addition, FamilySearch.org will also provide digital images to tens of thousands of volunteers to start transcribing the records so they become searchable.
Complete publication of the index will depend on how many volunteers can help. In fact, this is an excellent opportunity for you to get involved with indexing.
The 1940 census included several standard questions, such as: name, age, gender, race, education, and place of birth. But the census also introduced some new questions. One example is that the enumerator was instructed to mark (with a circled x) who in the household responded to the census questions. Other questions included whether the person worked for the CCC, WPA, or NYA the week of March 24-30, 1940, and the income for the 12 months ending December 31, 1939.
As part of the census, 5% of respondents (two names per page) were asked supplemental questions, which included the place of birth of the person's father and mother, the respondent's usual occupation (not just for the week of March 24-30), and questions related to marriage for all women who were or had been married. The enumerators asked women if they had been married more than once, the age at first marriage, and the total number of children to whom they had ever given birth.
You can learn more about the data contained within the 1940 census at http://www.rigensoc.org/1940CensusCountdown.pdf
You can learn more about FamilySearch's plans for indexing at https://familysearch.org/1940Census
Here is the announcement from Archives.com:
Archives.com Parent Company Inflection Awarded Project to Make 1940 Census Records Free to the Public
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 17, 2011 -- Archives.com, the website that makes discovering your family history simple and affordable, has joined in partnership with the National Archives of the United States to provide the public with free digital access to the 1940 Federal Population Census beginning on April 2, 2012. In close collaboration with the National Archives, Archives.com will build a website for researchers to browse, view, and download images from the 1940 Census, the most important collection of newly released U.S. genealogy records in a decade.
Archives.com is pleased to contribute to this momentous project, allowing researchers to digitally access the latest release of the U.S. Federal Population Census, the ultimate resource for family historians, at no cost. Census day occurred April 1, 1940 and due to the 72-year privacy restriction these records will be available to the public for the first time in 2012.
CEO Matthew Monahan said, "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in this historic moment and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the advancement of online genealogy research. Access to 1940 Census records will allow researchers to discover new family members and previously unknown connections to the past. We're happy to have the opportunity to facilitate the discovery of these records, which document over 130 million U.S. residents, more than any previous U.S. Census."
The 1940 Census will be available to the public April 2, 2012 at 9:00 AM (Eastern Daylight Time) on a new website created in collaboration between Archives.com and the National Archives. The collection will consist of 3.8 million images that the National Archives scanned from over four thousand rolls of microfilm. Public access to the images will not require payment or registration, and will be available to any person with internet access. The name and web address of the website will be announced at a later date.
Chief Digital Access Strategist for the National Archives Pamela Wright notes, "The importance of the 1940 Census cannot be underestimated. At the National Archives, we have been preparing for the launch of these records for years. We are working closely with Inflection to ensure researchers will be able to search the 1940 Census when it opens next year." At launch, researchers will be able to search the 1940 Census by address, Enumeration District (ED), and geographic location. Researchers will be able to browse images by ED number directly, or use address or geographic information to locate the appropriate census schedule.
To learn more about Archives.com and the National Archives bringing the 1940 Census online, please visit www.archives.com/1940census. The National Archives also has published a number of helpful resources available to researchers on their website, which can help you to prepare to most effectively search the 1940 Census on April 2nd. As the project progresses, updates and additional information will be posted at www.archives.com/blog. Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #1940Census.
About Archives.com
Archives.com is the website that makes family history simple and affordable. Archives.com is owned and operated by Inflection a data commerce company headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley. It has proven its leadership in the family history industry through its commitment to building powerful, easy to use tools, and helping researchers discover new family connections with its growing database of over 1.5 billion records. Archives.com parent company Inflection was chosen by the National Archives to host the 1940 Census. Learn more about the project at www.archives.com/1940census.
About the National Archives
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent Federal agency that preserves and shares with the public records that trace the story of our nation, government, and the American people. From the Declaration of Independence to accounts of ordinary Americans, the holdings of the National Archives directly touch the lives of millions of people. The National Archives is a public trust upon which our democracy depends, ensuring access to essential evidence that protects the rights of American citizens, documents the actions of the government, and reveals the evolving national experience. Visit www.archives.gov.
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