Delving into the 1950 Census, searchers find rich links to the past – Steve Morse isn’t an amateur and to reduce him to a “computer expert” with all he’s done is ridiculous, but I’m happy to see him in here. The whole genealogical world (and computing world, for that matter) owes him a great debt.

The first census records of three American presidents … almost – Fun article on presidents in the 1950 census with a little shout-out for yours truly!

As we count down the hours until the release of the 1950 census, I thought I’d share some memorabilia from the release of the 1930 and 1940 census collections!

My mother Seton’s census debut!

First Mom, and here’s Dad.

And there he is, baby Bruce, in the 1950 Census.

Oh, how I wish she were still with us to see this. 25 year-old “television actress” Betty M. White with her parents, Horace and Tess, in the 1950 Census.

Anyone who knows me knew I was going to look this up. President Joe Biden with his family – including his grandfather Ambrose Finnegan whose tales he likes to share & his aunt Gertie who made the best rice pudding – in Scranton, PA in the 1950 Census.

The Green and White House: Ireland and the U.S. Presidents – I’m admittedly biased because I’m in here, but am reading “The Green and White House” by Lynne Kelleher and finding it really interesting. Have read about Kennedy, Nixon, and Reagan so far and looking forward to the rest. If you’re Irish or have Irish heritage, I suspect it might grab your attention as well.

NBC Summer Lineup Includes ‘Who Do You Think You Are?,’ 10 Years After Last Network Airing – Hey, y’all, Who Do You Think You Are? finally returning to NBC this July.

Due to questions in Facebook post comments about my 1950 census finds, I’m posting this here so it’s not buried in the comments:

  • If you know at least the city where they lived, you can try searching by place and name here: https://1950census.archives.gov
  • This first round transcription has been done by AI, so it’s hit or miss.
  • If that doesn’t work, find their address circa 1950 and then use https://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html OR use Ancestry’s address search feature for the 1950 census (they just got it so are in the process of uploading it, but you can at least search for the enumeration district).
  • Once you’ve identified the Enumeration District, search here by place/ED and page through: https://1950census.archives.gov.

Top Photo Credit: Kent Kanouse under Creative Commons license