1930 - 15th Population Census of the United States

Individual Census Records from 1790 to 1950 are maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration, not the U.S. Census Bureau. See the 1930 Overview at the United States Census Bureau.

The 1930 census started April 1, 1930 from What day was the census taken each decade? at the United States Census Bureau. On April 2, 1930 the census enumerator John Zitzman in Aboite Township, found on Roll 574, and Grace M. Detro in Adams Township, found on Roll 575, started recording the 15th U.S. Federal Census.

April 1 is #CensusDay! 🎉 Census Day, the day that determines who is counted and where they are counted, has been April...

Posted by U.S. Census Bureau on Monday, April 1, 2024

Monday, April 1, 2024 post by the U.S. Census Bureau on Facebook:

April 1 is #CensusDay! 🎉

Census Day, the day that determines who is counted and where they are counted, has been April 1 since 1930. Prior to 1930, the day moved around between January, April, June, and August.

Learn more about #CensusHistory: U.S. Census Bureau History: History of the Census

#OTD #OnThisDay #OnThisDayInHistory

On April 6, 1929, Census Bureau Director William Mott Steuart correctly predicted that the 1930 Census count would...

Posted by U.S. Census Bureau on Monday, April 6, 2020

Monday, April 6, 2020 post by the U.S. Census Bureau on Facebook:

On April 6, 1929, Census Bureau Director William Mott Steuart correctly predicted that the 1930 Census count would exceed 120 million during a radio interview about the agency's activities. One year later, the 1930 Census recorded the nation’s resident population at 123,202,624.

In addition to including a question to which 12 million households reported owning a radio, the 1930 Census also was the first to use the new medium to promote census participation through interviews, announcements, and news reports.

The census relied upon free print, radio, and television advertising until Census 2000, when we implemented the first paid advertising campaign to encourage census participation. The 2020 Census public education and outreach campaign including public events, partnerships, and digital and traditional media advertising that will reach 99 percent of the nation’s households.

Learn more about the history of how we have conducted and promoted the census at https://go.usa.gov/xvTrR.

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Census Instructions

The decennial census has always required a large workforce to visit and collect data from households. Between 1790 to 1870, the duty of collecting census data fell upon the U.S. Marshals. A March 3, 1879 act replaced the U.S. Marshals with specially hired and trained census-takers to conduct the 1880 and subsequent censuses.

During the early censuses, U.S. Marshalls received little training or instruction on how to collect census data. In fact, it was not until 1830 that marshals even received printed shedules on which to record households' responses. The marshals often received limited instruction from the census acts passed prior to each census. 

Beginning with the 1880 census, specially hired and trained census-takers replaced the U.S. marshals. Door-to-door census by temporary census-takers was the primary method of conducting the census until the U.S. Census Bureau began mailing questionnaires to households in 1960.

As more and more households received and returned their questionnaires by mail, the role of census-taker changed. Today, the majority of households are counted by mailed questionnaires. Census-takers visit places frequented by transient households (shelters and soup kitchens, campsites, etc.) and households that do not return their mailed questionnaires (during the "Nonresponse Follow-Up" phase of the census). As a result, the "Instructions to Enumerators" provided here include the congressional acts U.S. marshalls reviewed during the early census, specially-published instructions for door-to-door census, and lastly, guides used for the limited number of personal interviews conducted during nonresponse follow-up operations.

Copied from the Census Intructions at the United States Census Bureau with the 1930 Instructions.

Roll 574 Page n531 - 15th census, population, 1930. [microform] (2002) on Internet Archive.

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Roll 575 - 15th census, population, 1930. [microform] (2002) on Internet Archive.

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Links to Online Census Records

  1. Ancestry.comblank 1930 census form
  2. FamilySearch.orgWiki 1930 Census Information
  3. FamilySearch.orgBrowse 1930 Census by Township
  4. FamilySearch.orgSearch U.S. Census Index
  5. FamilySearch.orgWiki for Indiana Census 1807 - 1940 links organized by year to various online census records.
  6. FindMyPast.com Free US Census 1930
  7. Use Steve Morse Census Search Tool for any census
  8. Internet Archivepage (n531) first page 1A is (n533) Allen County Reel 574
  9. Internet Archive- 15th census, population, 1930. [microform] (Volume Reel 574. Adams EDs 1-1 to 1-6, 1-17, 1-7, 1-20, 1-8 to 1-16, 1-18, 1-19, 1-21, Brown EDs 7-1 to 7-6, Allen, Fort Wayne City EDs 2-1 to 2-17) - United States. Bureau of the Census. Microfilm copy of original data as collected by the Census Bureau.
  10. Internet Archive- 15th census, population, 1930. [microform] (Volume Reel 575. Allen, Fort Wayne City EDs 2-18 to 2-23, 2-76, 2-24 to 2-27, 2-77, 2-28, 2-78, 2-29, 2-79, 2-30, 2-80, 2-41 to 2-46) - United States. Bureau of the Census
    Microfilm copy of original data as collected by the Census Bureau.
  11. Internet Archive- 15th census, population, 1930. [microform] (Volume Reel 576. Allen, Fort Wayne City EDs 2-31, 2-34, 2-32 to 2-33, 2-35 to 240, 2-47, 2-81, 2-48, 2-82, 2-49 to 2-66) - United States. Bureau of the Census. Microfilm copy of original data as collected by the Census Bureau.
  12. No USGenWeb 1930 Census transcription or indexing
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Page updated: April 2, 2024