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Census Facts
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| Census Related Definitions |
Census – An official, usually periodic enumeration of a population, often including the collection of related demographic information.
Census Bureau – The bureau of the Commerce Department responsible for taking the census.
Works Progress Administration (WPA) – Part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal cultural programs. Part of a massive employment relief program launched in the spring of 1935, assigned to the task to index the U.S. Federal Censuses for the years 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920.
Enumeration District – Geographic areas forming census districts were formally described in writing and used by the census takers in their door-to-door rounds. These written descriptions cover rural areas as well as towns and cities. The earliest of these descriptions which survive are for the 1830 census and continue thereafter for each decennial census. They have been microfilmed by the National Archives and are available. The earliest descriptions are not complete and are fairly sparse. By the time of the 1880 census, the Enumeration Districts are precisely defined for the numbered E.D.s for every county in all states.
Soundex and Miracode Indexing System – An algorithm for encoding a word so that similar sounding words encode the same. Used in census recording to reduce the sound of a name to its basic elements for easier indexing.
Soundex indexes were prepared by the WPA for the purpose of confirming a person’s age after he or she applied for Social Security benefits in the mid to late 1930s. The information on the Soundex index cards was extracted from the full census schedules and included the name, age, and birthplace for a head-of-household, and for any other person living in the household, along with a relationship to the head. The pertinent information you need to gather from the Soundex card is the state, county, E.D. number, and page number to find a family in the census schedules.
Vital Records – This includes birth records, christening records, marriage records, and death certificates and records.
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