Census taking in the 1940s

AP Photo/Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library

In this undated photo provided by the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, staffers at the U.S. Census Bureau in Washington mark up a map for use in the 1940 census. The map shows approximately 147,000 enumeration districts for census-taking purposes and will ensure against overlapping activities of census takers, or enumerators, and also to avoid missing any territory.

AP Photo/National Archives at College Park

In this photo provided by the National Archives at College Park, an enumerator interviews a woman for the 1940 Census. Veiled in secrecy for 72 years because of privacy protections, the 1940 U.S. Census is the first historical federal decennial survey to be made available on the Internet initially rather than on microfilm.

AP Photo/Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library Museum

In this undated photo provided by the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, a Census Bureau staffer operates an electric tabulator at the U.S. Census Bureau. Data for the 1940 Census was collected by hand and transferred to punched cards which were then run through the tabulating machine. The tabulating machine printed the final calculation.

Dwight Hammack,AP Photo/U.S. Bureau of the Census

In this undated photo provided by the National Archives at College Park, William F. Arends, center, one of the more than 120,000 enumerators, returns to his dog sled after completing an enumeration near Fairbanks, Alaska for the 1940 Census. At right is musher Mike Agababa. Veiled in secrecy for 72 years because of privacy protections, the 1940 U.S. Census is the first historical federal decennial survey to be made available on the Internet initially rather than on microfilm.

In this photo provided by the National Archives at College Park, an enumerator, left, interviews a family outside a rail car for the 1940 Census. Veiled in secrecy for 72 years because of privacy protections, the 1940 U.S. Census is the first historical federal decennial survey to be made available on the Internet initially rather than on microfilm.

AP Photo/National Archives and Records Administration

In this photo provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, tabulators in Washington record the information from the more than 120,000 enumerators who gathered data for the 1940 U.S. Census. Veiled in secrecy for 72 years because of privacy protections, the 1940 U.S. Census is the first historical federal decennial survey to be made available on the Internet initially rather than on microfilm.

In this photo provided by the National Archives at College Park, an enumerator interviews actor Cesar Romero, right, to get data for the 1940 Census. Veiled in secrecy for 72 years because of privacy protections, the 1940 U.S. Census is the first historical federal decennial survey to be made available on the Internet initially rather than on microfilm.