While much interest and research from family history experts and genealogists continues to surround the 1950 US Federal Census, which was released on April 1st, the next launch for the 1960 population census is already underway.
Almost as soon as the 1950 Census schedules went live, work commenced on digitalising approximately 41,000 rolls of the microfilmed 1960 population Census, which was a significant increase from the 6,373 rolls of the 1950 Census. The 1960 Census records are scheduled to be released in April 2032 and will be greatly anticipated by enthusiasts in the US and beyond.
Over the course of the next decade, the US National Archives will work on digitising the census schedules as well as administrative records related to the census. Digitisation is the umbrella term used for imaging and indexing a record set to make it publishable in fully searchable form online. This process makes it vastly and widely accessible for publish consumption.
The digitalisation division director, Denise Henderson, comments on the speedy transition:
It’s amazing to see our staff shift from launching the 1950 Census to starting work on the next one. Every census comes with unique, interesting challenges for digitisation. We’re excited to figure out the best solutions for getting the 1960 Census online and sharing that wealth of information with the public in 2032.
Denise Henderson, digitalisation division director
Members of the US National Archives have already digitised a series of meetings and conference papers related to the 1960 Census, which can be found in the Catalog. The content of the census shall be recorded by a series of blog posts and webinars by Claire Kluskens. Claire is a Digital Projects Archivist and Genealogy/Census Related Records subject-matter expert. Claire did the same for the 1950 Census and continues to follow suit in order to help guide family historians, researchers and others through the census.
Claire’s work on the 1960 Census debuted last month with her blog post on the topic on History Hub, “1960 Census: NARA’s Already Working Toward 2032.” Kluskens will continue to highlight major features of the 1960 Census and how to research it in the decade-long lead up to its release in April 2032. Anyone interested can follow along on History Hub and also catch up on her series about the 1950 Census.
Image Source:
- white and brown printed map: instant images
