1950 U.S. Census

[braumeister]

The 1950 census will be released in just over a month, and for those doing genealogical research it will obviously be a treasure trove of data.

The interesting thing is that this will be (with a few exceptions) probably the first time that some of us here will appear in census records. The law says that 72 years have to elapse before the records are made public.

Ten years ago when they released the 1940 census, I spent a lot of time as a volunteer editor, looking at the scanned pages and trying to decipher the often horrible handwriting of the census enumerators. I've read somewhere that they plan to use mainly OCR and AI resources to do that this time, but I'm sure there will be at least some need for human effort as well. Does anyone know of such a project? I would enjoy signing up for it again.

 

[cathy63]

The National Archives says they'll have a tool available through the special website they're creating that will allow users to submit name updates, and they encourage "interested members of the public to use the transcription tool and assist the agency to make the records as accurate as possible." It doesn't sound like it will be an organized effort, and it won't be available until April 1.

https://www.archives.gov/news/articles/1950-census-access

 

[braumeister]

Thanks, Cathy. I hadn't seen that.

 

[Popeye]

The 1950 census will be released in just over a month, and for those doing genealogical research it will obviously be a treasure trove of data.

The interesting thing is that this will be (with a few exceptions) probably the first time that some of us here will appear in census records. The law says that 72 years have to elapse before the records are made public.

Ten years ago when they released the 1940 census, I spent a lot of time as a volunteer editor, looking at the scanned pages and trying to decipher the often horrible handwriting of the census enumerators. I've read somewhere that they plan to use mainly OCR and AI resources to do that this time, but I'm sure there will be at least some need for human effort as well. Does anyone know of such a project? I would enjoy signing up for it again.

I’ve seen this mentioned on both Family Search and Ancestry.com websites. Both mention volunteer projects to review/ clarify etc.

 

[Popeye]

https://www.familysearch.org/en/info/us-census/1950-census/

1950 US Census Community Project
Join thousands of volunteers as we all work together to provide a rich and detailed index of every person living in the United States in 1950. Starting with a computer-generated index provided by Ancestry, you can help ensure the index is complete and accurate by reviewing and improving what has been done through automation.

Become part of this historic, once-in-a-decade opportunity by joining the 1950 US Census Community Project today.

Are you a leader of a genealogy society, group, or other organization? Sign up as an organization to join the 1950 US Census Community Project.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

FamilySearch had an interesting blog entry on how indexing the 1950 census will be different.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/indexing-1950-census

Ancestry will create an initial automated index using machine learning algorithms and AI handwriting recognition technology.
In past years, thousands of indexing volunteers spent months or even years making census collections searchable. This year, Ancestry's sophisticated artificial intelligence and handwriting recognition technology will save time by creating an initial index from digital census images. While this index won’t be perfect, it will expedite the review and publication process to let you search for your family’s names in the 1950 census sooner after its release.

Volunteers will help review the computer-created index for accuracy.
Instead of creating an index from scratch, volunteers helping with the 1950 census indexing will be invited to review the automated index to ensure that every name is included and indexed correctly. A human review will refine the index and help ensure that everyone included in the census can be found.

It sounds similar, if not identical, to the automated system referenced in the post above quoting the National Archives' website. I think within 50 years that AI will be the only way to read historical records that use cursive writing, as the younger generation isn't being taught cursive in many cases. A friend in a local genealogy club teaches at a university and said that students complained about his writing in "squiggles" on the whiteboard because they couldn't read it.

I'm looking forward to the 1950 census but I don't expect to make many discoveries. I hope I'm mistaken.

 

[target2019]

And before index shows up on your typical search site, you can use the tool from this site to help you find the ED (Enumeration District) for the 1950 census.
https://stevemorse.org/
https://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html