Revenge of the Census Lady

Received a return phone call this morning from the census lady, who was following up to my phone call from last night.  I told her that I had mailed in my census form on April 12th (I kept a copy).  She told me that they were told that if the forms were received by April 1st that households would receive a visit.  She told me that since I had mailed back the form, she would mark me as refused, for reason that I had already mailed back the form.  All was good.

Now, twelve hours later, I receive another call from her, apologizing that her supervisor has told her that she has to ask me the census questions or visit the house again.  Even though I had mailed in the form!  

She told me that there were others on my street who had called her back & told her that they had mailed the form in as well, but that her supervisor was requiring a visit. 

She wanted to read me the "confidentiality" statement.  I was polite, and told her that I understood that she was just doing her job, but that I didn't want to answer the questions that I had already answered.  I told her that I was more than familiar with my requirement, which I had already met and that I didn't want to bother with it.

I offered to give her a copy of the form, and she told me that she couldn't accept it, she would either need to ask me the questions or ask a proxy (ie. neighbor) the questions.  I ended the call by restating my position that she would just have to do that.
 

Census Visited Today

My house had a visitor from the 2010 Census today, even though we had mailed back our form on April 12th.  They left a flyer inside our door.

I called the enumerator back and told her that I had already filled out the form.  I caught her at dinner, she told me she would call me back.  She asked my address and when I told her, she asked if we had picked up the form from the post office.  I told her yes.

She told me she would have to call me back and ask some questions, even though I had filled out the form.  Hmmm...

Enumerated

Mailed back my 2010 census form today.  Since we don't have home delivery, and only have a post office box, the census bureau dropped off forms at the town hall for us to fill out and mail in.  Those who don't mail them back within about the next week or so will be scheduled for a personal visit.

With this short form, I wasn't too impressed genealogically from the information it asked.  I was surprised to see them ask for the complete birthdate, I would have expected more a month-year type of question like the 1900 census.  Nothing about occupation or education level on this short form, either.

The 2010 census seems overly concerned about whether or not we are Hispanic, for some reason.  Then there is the concern about race.  Always about race in this country.  

I made a copy of the form and filed it with my records, also scanned a copy.  I did the same thing with the 2000 census, though right now I can't seem to lay my hands on it.

This year they wanted college students to be counted where they are going to school.  My stepdaughter told me that no one had visited or sent forms to her school yet.  I didn't include her in my count, so I hope that she gets counted.  Otherwise, she'll end up being one of those mysteries when her descendants can't find her in 72 years.

I can remember filling out the 2000 census, living in Madison County, Indiana at the time.  In the 1990 census, I was a college student in Delaware County, Indiana, living off campus.  I remember my roommate and I receiving and filling out the form.  I was married that May, and I distinctly remember a census worker visiting our home, so I was probably counted twice.  Possibly even a third time, if my parents in Madison County still listed me on their form that year.  

This year, it was Grant County, Indiana.  In a thirty year period, I've managed to be counted in 3 counties in close proximity, yet someone researching my life 72 years from now would be missing a lot of information if all they went by was where I was on census day.  Which makes me realize that for many of my ancestors, it is possible that there is much more to discover between enumerations.


© 2010, copyright Travis J. LeMaster http://tjlgenes.blogspot.com

2010 Census: Your Community's Participation Rate

Have you received your 2010 census form?  If you did, did you fill it out?  What about your neighbors?

Now you can track the participation rates of your community, county or state through the 2010 Participation Rates webpage at the home of the 2010 census. 


This website is a collaboration between the U.S. Census Bureau and Google.  I had trouble getting the site to work with just a zip code, so instead clicked on the state map, and then zoomed into the local community.

I was surprised to see the rate of participation in my community.  Right now it stands at 56%.  We have not received our form yet at my house.  Perhaps we'll receive a visit later in the year.

© 2010, copyright Travis J. LeMaster http://tjlgenes.blogspot.com

Will the 2010 census be genealogically relevant?

In 2082, when the 2010 U.S. census data is released to the general public, will it be greeted with excitement or will it be a 'ho-hum'?  Provided there still is a United States at that time, what will the researchers of tomorrow be hoping to find in the 2010 census that they cannot find elsewhere?

Will the 2010 U.S. census be genealogically relevant?

Although the census is a genealogist's treasure trove of information, with each one revealing clues about a ancestor's family, their neighbors and their community, will the information from this year's census get lost in the 'noise' of the multitude of other records available?

While the 1850 census was a landmark because it was the first to record the names of everyone in the household, and each successive census asked different questions that told the story of the household, will this year's census shed much light on our daily lives for our descendants?  I'm eager for the 1940 census to be released because of what it can tell me about my family just before the U.S. entered WWII, will my great-grandchildren be as interested to find out where I was in 2010?

The questions that will be asked on this year's form can be found here. While the answers will be information for future genealogists, will this be anything that cannot be found elsewhere?  In today's society, we have created so many paper and digital records that I believe it would be unlikely a researcher in 2082 will find a clue in the 2010 census that couldn't be found elsewhere.

I believe that genealogically, the census may have lost its importance to future researchers.  

That is not to say that it shouldn't be filled out, as it helps determine political representation.  There have always been those who have managed to avoid the census, and even today, there are those who are advocating that others do not fill it out.  Those concerned about privacy must be oblivious to the fact that we have at this time the most documented, regulated society we've ever had, and it would be a rare individual who cannot be found through online sources or public records.

As a genealogist, it almost sounds sacrilegious to even ask the question about the relevance of the census to the genealogy community.   What do you think?  Am I way off-base here?