Lesson Introduction: How the Census Bureau Gathered Information

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The Work Involved in the Census

The census was a massive undertaking, especially by the early twentieth century (according to the census, the US population was 76.3 million people in 1900). Members of the Census Bureau carefully planned which questions to ask. They hired and trained census enumerators to visit households and collect the data. Then the Bureau processed the information that it had collected to derive statistics about the US population.

Diagram showing the process and timetable by which 140,000 Enumerators would be trained

Bureau of the Census, “Technical Training Program - 1950 Census” in “[Folder 2] Flow Charts, 17th Decennial Census, 1950” National Archives, Record Group 29, 195980236.

Learning Goals

Knowing how the census worked will help you to interpret what you read on the page. By the end of these lessons, you will have a basic understanding of the reliability and usefulness of different kinds of information contained in the census—particularly as it applies to researching WWII Veterans.

Lessons in this Section

  • Census Instructions: Understanding How Information Was Collected
  • The Reliability of the Census: Evaluating the Accuracy of Information
  • Sources of Information
  • Changes from the 1920 to 1950 Censuses
  • Research Challenge: Joseph Olivera Quintero