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Making Your Grandparent’s Day

A gift that opens family communications is appropriate any time of the year.

By Lynne Hoy

Senior citizens are always difficult when it comes to buying them a meaningful and needed gift. They usually have all the clothing, knick knacks and after shave that any one person could ever use.

This gift takes a little planning and background information. But it is reasonable, in fact cheap, and can give the entire family many hours of pleasure. Wondering what it can be? It’s a copy of the 1930 Census records for the street on which your loved one lived as a child. Anyone born prior to April 1, 1930 and was living in the United States should have been counted.

The Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, has preformed this task of compiling data, providing the federal and state governments with an overview of the demography of the United States in a changing world, every ten years since 1790. This information is used to develop long range plans in education, business, highway construction and a variety of other areas. Records are kept confidential and released ONLY after 70 years.

Although the 1930 Census is not as informative as some of the previous enumerations, this is most likely where you’ll find older living relatives. If they were born after this date, but have older siblings, it would still open dialog allowing them to reflect back on their childhood. The 1930 Census lists the head of the household, all persons living in the house, their relationship to the head, their place of birth, parent’s place of birth, mother tongue, year of immigration if they were not born in the U.S., citizenship, occupation and industry in which they work, whether or not they are going to school, employed or a U.S. military veteran. You will also find out whether or not they owned their home, its value or monthly rent, whether or not it was a farm and if they owned a radio. (The electronic age is coming to America!)

You may find that along with brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles or grandparents were all living in the same house. The enumerators walked along streets stopping at each residence. Street names are given as are house numbers and the order in which the enumerator proceeded down the block. Now you can find out who lived next door or around the corner. Are these people related to you or perhaps neighbors who have become lifelong friends?

It’s when you read the records that the fun part begins….your family’s roots are unveiled and everyone can gain a sense of where we started and how far we’ve come. Records may be photocopied. In this case, you will get the entire street on which they lived or you may hand copy an individual record. I personally found myself intrigued by recognizing some of the names along the street and copied the data. I then mailed it off to friends or relations who could pass this individual information on to relatives of the listed person. In response, I have had feedback from many families who were delighted to have the data and think about their family’s past.

For as little money as your time, you can hand copy the records. However, if you really feel “flush” you can make a photocopy for about 25 cents and perhaps even frame it. As the commercial says, “Price reasonable. Memories Priceless.”

Getting started: You will first need to know where your relation lived. If it was a small town or perhaps in one of the 12 southern states, this can be an easy task. However, a city like New York or Chicago is far more difficult. Living near the National Archives in Washington, D.C., I personally visited their records room and found the information. If you still live in your “hometown”, the local library or historical center will have local copies of the 1930 Census on microfilm. But if you live clear across the country, your local library can request the necessary roll/s of film on lend from the Archives.

How do you know in which roll to look? There are 2,667 rolls of film. The state of Nevada has only 2 rolls while New York has 269. Luckily southern states, including parts of Kentucky and West Virginia, have a Soundex index.  This means that the surname is coded by the sound of each letter, rather than its actual spelling. (Ex. Green and Greene would both be found under the same numerical code of G650). You can easy find out the Soundex of your surname by looking on the web under http://resources.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/soundex. Almost like being alphabetized, this name can now be searched by the code rather than the address. After the name is found, however, I recommend going back to look at the original records and find out who lived next door or in the neighborhood. If you have never used a microfilm or the Soundex System your librarian will quickly be able to get you started.

Those of us with northern, middle American or western family roots will not have the luxury of the Soundex System and have to know the street name. Go online looking under 1930 Census Official Site, the National Archives. Follow the simple directions to select the state or territory, then county and town. You will see how may rolls there are and how many districts in that geographical area. Begin going through Enumeration Districts until you find one that has your street or area. The Roll Number will be given. This is the microfilm that you will need to order. When you secure that film you will proceed by going line by line looking for the surname you wish to find. (Personally, I printed off a copy of my “district search” so that I could check out neighboring districts if I didn’t find a match on the first try.) Unless you are familiar with the area you should ask older relatives in order to narrow down your search. Remember the postal address may “not” be your enumeration district, so check surrounding areas if at first you don’t succeed.

When you present your gift, sit back, relax, listen and internalize life in the 1930’s. Sometimes the longest and most fascinating journey you will ever take is the one through a loved one’s heart and mind.

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