Revalations From the 1950 Census

 

    The 1950 census was released to the public on April 1st and genealogists, both professionals and amateurs alike, were chomping at the bit to analyze the millions of records that are now available. I was no exception. The mechanics of searching for records from 1950 is a little different than simply typing in a name, a place, and a date. The records have not yet been indexed by the major genealogy sites like Family Search and Ancestry. They did not get an early viewing but they have beefed up their staff and have called for volunteers to help enter the names, dates, places, occupations and other pertinent data associated with each person counted. 

     I started my search in my home city of Erie, Pennsylvania. I was born in 1952 so I will not be in the census but my older sister, Marian just made the cut. She was born in December of ‘49 and nobody born after April 1st of 1950 would be included. I met somebody who works for the census and she informed me that the state of Alaska has to be done well before April 1st because the census needed to be concluded before the frozen ground thawed otherwise the census takers could not get to all of the homes. Of course in 1950 Alaska was not yet a state. They were a U.S. possession so the rule must have applied then too. I had the address of where my grandparents lived in 1940. I thought I would start there. I had to find the enumeration district (ED) that they were in. Once I found that from the ED map I could bring up the photos of the actual census pages and look them over one page at a time. Their address was 134 East 22nd Street and I found that the Goodwill family lived there in 1950. I then searched all of the surrounding ED’s and still could not find them. It is possible but unlikely that they moved further away from that old address than I expected. I guess I will have to wait until the state of Pennsylvania is completely indexed to find them. 

 

1950 census report from Erie, PA showing Moe, Minnie, and Marian

     I did find my parents. They were living at 1712 Peach Street on the second floor. My father Morris was listed as a salesman in auto supplies. This is accurate because he and his brother Sam owned Levine Bros. Auto Supply at 2005 Peach street just three blocks up the road. There was no occupation listed for my mother although I’m sure she was the bookkeeper. Marian was listed as being born in December.      

     I checked a total of 24 enumeration districts looking for both my parents and grandparents. Most of the Jewish population of Erie lived in that area bordered by Peach Street to the west and Wayne Street to the east. From 16th street to the north and 33rd street to the south. As I paged through the census report I came across all of the Jewish families that I remember. The Baumes and the Bakers (my parent’s best friends) were right where I remembered them. They eventually moved into newer homes. I also came across names of friends and neighbors that weren’t Jewish. People who I went to high school with and names that were prominent in Erie current events. There was one person I found that puzzled me. When I was an infant we lived at 150 east 31st street. The landlord lived downstairs and we lived upstairs. In 1950 that upstairs apartment was occupied by a woman named Erna Baum. It had her occupation as a delicatessen owner. Right across the street from that house was a deli and it was owned by our friends Charlie and Mayme Baume. I don’t know if they were related or if the deli she owned was the same one but it is a real coincidence. Ironically, Charlie and Mayme bought and lived in that same house across the street from the deli several years after we moved. 

     I also looked for some of Arlene’s family in 1950. Her uncle Arthur Carlton lived in the Bronx with his wife Sydelle and daughter Carol. I searched for that 1940 address in 1950 and found that Sydelle was there with Carol who was 12 years old. Sydelle was listed as a widow. I did a quick search for death records in New York and found that Arthur had died in 1948 at age 46. Arlene was named after her father’s brother. 

1950 census report from Philadelphia showing Philip and Bessie Snyder and Gertrude Carlton.  Jack is on the next page.
 

     Arlene’s grandparents, Bessie and Philip Snyder lived at 7246 North 21st street in Philadelphia. Arlene remembers going to visit them there when she was a young girl. In 1950 Her parents also lived there even as a young married couple. Jack was listed as a draftsman for a manufacturing company and Gert was a “sales girl” in retail clothing. Philip was a stitching operator in ladies garment manufacturing. 

     There were several other things I found interesting about the census. If the census taker knocked on a door and nobody was home, they reported as such. They went back later to those homes and when they found someone home they recorded the data on the back ages of the report for that particular district. There was a question about citizenship but they did not ask what year they entered the country. The 1940 census asked about race but did not specify how to report. W was for white people and B was for black people. The 1950 census had particular designations for each race. W for Caucasian and NEG for Negro and a few others. The 1960 census will be released in 10 years. My younger sister and I and most of my first cousins will be there. Everybody that I graduated from high school with will also be listed. I doubt that I’ll be alive to see my children on a census report. Phil will be on the 1990 census to be released in 2062. I’ll be 110 years old.