The U.S. government will not release personally identifiable information about an individual to any other individual or agency until 72 years after it was collected for the decennial census. This "72-Year Rule" restricts access to decennial census records to all but the individual named on the record or their legal heir.

In 2002, I wrote about the release of the 1930 U.S. census. In 2012, I wrote about the release of the 1940 U.S. census. Guess what I will be writing about next year? That's right: the release of the 1950 U.S. census.

Both of the last two releases of census records created huge responses from genealogists and others. In fact, when the 1940 U.S. census was released online, the web servers were swamped. Response times slowed to a crawl and the census sites generated a lot of time-out errors. The problems continued for weeks until finally the demand by genealogists and others for online access to the records slowed. Eventually, the web sites returned to what is more-or-less normal operation.

Upon releasing the entire 1940 U.S. census online on April 2, 2012 (the first day it was legal to do so), a manager at archives.com remarked, "We expected a flood. What we received was a tsunami!"

Yes, my prediction for the online releases of the 1950 U.S. census records is essentially the same as that of 9 years ago: overloaded web sites, very slow response times, and probably a lot of time-outs and other errors.

A lot of things have improved amongst web servers since 2012, especially in the area of cloud computing where it is possible to add dozens or even hundreds of servers to a single domain name on short notice. Maybe I am wrong, maybe the census records will be added smoothly and without frustrating thousands of genealogists. Maybe... but I doubt it.

There is no method of testing in advance a sudden increase in workload of thousands of web servers. Becoming prepared is simply a matter of making "best guesses" of how to handle the surge and then, at the appointed time, crossing your fingers.

The 1950 Census of the United States will be released for public inspection on Friday, April 1, 2022. Mark that date on your calendar.

The method of the release has not yet been announced. Will all the records be released online at once on April 1st? Or will the records be released over a period of several days or weeks? I don't believe that has been announced yet but I bet there are committee meetings going on now that are formulating those plans!

A few facts about the 1950 census:

• The 1950 U.S. census lists information about 151,325,798 residents (not always citizens) of the United States of America
• The 1950 census collected the following information from all respondents:
  • address
  • whether house is on a farm
  • name
  • relationship to head of household
  • race
  • sex
  • age
  • marital status
  • birthplace
  • if foreign born, whether naturalized
  • employment status
  • hours worked in week
  • occupation, industry and class of worker
• In addition, a sample of individuals were asked additional questions covering income, marital history, fertility, and other topics. Full documentation on the 1950 census, including census forms and a procedural history, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.
• The original forms on paper that were used to enumerates all U.S. residents no longer exist. Those paper forms were destroyed after the forms were microfilmed.

• Housing information for individual households no longer exists in any format. That information was collected on the reverse (back) side of the population schedule (paper) forms, but that side of the form was not microfilmed in 1952.
• A (blank) 1950 U.S. Census Form may be seen on the Census Bureau's web site at: https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/1950_population_questionnaire.pdf.

NOTE: you probably will need to increase the size of the image by using the RESIZE command in your web browser or PDF file viewing application. The exact instructions to do so will vary from one program to another.

Many of these programs will increase the image size by holding down the CONTROL key and then clicking on the Plus Sign (+) one or more times. Macintosh users should hold down the COMMAND key and then click on the Plus Sign (+) one or more times.

Reducing the size of the image may be accomplished on many programs by holding down the CONTROL (or COMMAND) key and then clicking on the Minus Sign (-) one or more times. However, your web browser or PDF file viewing application may use different keys. Check the program's instructions or Help File for the details.

• For the first time, 3 former U.S. Presidents and one current president will be listed in the records: William J. Clinton (born 19 August 1946 at Hope, Hempstead County, Arkansas), George W. Bush (born 6 July 1946 at New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut), Donald J. Trump (born 14 June 1946 at Queens, Queens County, New York), and current President of the United States Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (born 20 November 1942 at Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania).  NOTE: James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) PROBABLY is not listed, as he was in the U.S. Navy and serving on board a (submerged) submarine on the day the census was taken in 1950. This needs to be verified once the records are released to the public.
• • Letter from Assistant Attorney General Robert G. Dixon, Jr., to General Counsel, General Services Administration, William G. Casselman II, Esg., concerning the origins of the "72-year Rule" and its evolution to 1973, June 14, 1973: https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/grover-8-26-1952.pdf
• The Census Bureau began use of the first non-military computer shortly after completing the 1950 enumeration. UNIVAC I (for Universal Automatic Computer), the first of a series, was delivered in 1951, and helped tabulate some of the statistics for the 1954 economic censuses. It weighed 16,000 pounds and used 5,000 vacuum tubes.

UNIVAC I  in use

One more question:

Will YOU be listed in the 1950 U.S. Census records?

A popular automobile of 1950

According to an article in the MyHeritage Blog:

"Last year, MyHeritage teamed up with Legacy Family Tree Webinars to make history: we hosted the first-ever 24-hour genealogy webinar marathon. The event, conceived toward the beginning of the pandemic-related shutdowns worldwide, was meant to provide a fully online learning experience bringing together genealogists from all across the globe to hear the latest news, ideas, and advice from the world’s top experts. It was such a success that we’re doing it again: on April 8–9, 2021, we’ll be hosting the second annual 24-hour genealogy webinar marathon!

"Just like last year, the entire event is free and open to all. You can pop in for just one or a few of the lectures that most interest you, or challenge yourself to stay tuned in to the entire event. Live Q&As will take place during the lectures and there will be door prizes available as well."

Also:

"Wrong time zone? Too busy? Can’t drag yourself out of bed at 2 A.M.? (Not that you need to — you can join with a mobile device right from your pillow!) No worries. All the lectures will be available for free viewing on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website for a week after the event."

A lot more information, including a lengthy list of all the scheduled presentations, may be found in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2021/03/join-us-for-the-second-annual-24-hour-genealogy-webinar-marathon/.

If you are researching relatives who may have been Holocaust victims, you need to check the Arolsen Archives for records that have just been discovered and added to that collection. According to a story by Bernard Osser and published today in the Times of Israel web site:

A train-load of victims destined for concentration camp, lined up on the railway station on arrival at Auschwitz.

"Ewa Bazan, an archivist at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, compares her work on newly accessible records to piecing together a “puzzle” that is revealing new names and stories of the Nazi death camp’s inmates.

"Ninety percent of the notorious camp’s files were destroyed by its guards before they fled but a recently completed two-year collaboration with the Arolsen Archives in Germany is bringing new information to light.

“We didn’t know what to expect when we started the project,” Bazan told AFP, barely hiding her emotion.

"The patient, humble research carried out by Bazan and her colleagues has uncovered the previously unknown identities of an estimated 4,000 camp inmates as well as information about 26,000 others.

"Currently, the identities of around 300,000 inmates out of the 400,000 estimated to have been held at the camp are known."

You can read the full story at https://www.timesofisrael.com/archives-uncover-forgotten-names-of-auschwitz-inmates/.

The following is an announcement issued by Ancestry.com:

LEHI, Utah and SAN FRANCISCO -- Mar. 24, 2021-- Ancestry®, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, today announced the appointment of Lorrie Norrington as an independent member of its Board of Directors. She previously served as an advisor to Ancestry from May 2019 to December 2020.

Lorrie Norrington has more than 30 years of operating experience in technology, software, and internet businesses. She currently serves as an Advisor and in an Operating Partner capacity for Lead Edge Capital, a growth equity firm.

Prior to Lead Edge Capital, Norrington was the President of eBay Marketplaces and led all eBay businesses in 39 countries. Before joining eBay, Norrington was the CEO of Shopping.com Inc., an online shopping comparison site acquired by eBay in 2005, served as an Officer at Intuit and led a variety of businesses at the General Electric Company over a 20-year period in a broad range of industries.

“We are pleased to welcome Lorrie to Ancestry’s board of directors. She brings decades of leadership in key areas, including consumer technology platforms, e-commerce and innovation at a global scale,” said Mark Thompson, Ancestry board chair. “Lorrie joins the board at an exciting time and will provide valuable perspective as we continue to accelerate growth and empower journeys of personal discovery for millions more people around the world.”

Norrington has an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS degree from the University of Maryland. She also serves on the board of Colgate-Palmolive, HubSpot, Autodesk and Eventbrite. Previous boards include DIRECTV, Shopping.com, McAfee, TaskRabbit, Catawiki, and Lucasfilm.

About Ancestry

Ancestry®, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, empowers journeys of personal discovery to enrich lives. With our unparalleled collection of more than 27 billion records and over 18 million people in our growing DNA network, customers can discover their family story and gain a new level of understanding about their lives. For over 30 years, we’ve built trusted relationships with millions of people who have chosen us as the platform for discovering, preserving and sharing the most important information about themselves and their families.

The following is an excerpt from an article by Jenny Ashcraft published in the Fold3 Blog:

Soldiers from the 92nd Infantry Division

The 92^nd Infantry Division, also known as Buffalo Soldiers, was the only Black infantry division to see combat in Europe during WWII. They served as part of the U.S. Fifth Army in Italy’s Po Valley and the northern Apennine Mountains, where they helped penetrate the Gothic Line (Germany’s last major line of defense against Allied forces pushing north). The division paid a heavy price, losing an estimated 700 soldiers. To date, 50 soldiers from the 92^nd remain unaccounted for, and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) would like to use DNA analysis from surviving family members to identify them. We’re teaming up with the DPAA to help spread the word and track down the families of these fallen soldiers. Let’s honor the sacrifices of the 92^nd Infantry Division and help bring them home!

To positively identify the missing members of the 92^nd, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) started the “92^nd Infantry Project” in 2014. Of the 53 soldiers unidentified at the end of the war, 50 are still unaccounted for. One major obstacle that stands in the way of positive identification is family reference DNA samples.

You can read more about this worthwhile project at: https://blog.fold3.com/bring-the-buffalo-soldiers-home/.

The following announcement was written by Accredited Genealogists Ireland:

Accredited Genealogists Ireland member Paul Gorry has published a new edition of his 2018 book, Credentials for Genealogists: Proof of the Professional. In it he puts forward the case for professional genealogists seeking credentials, or accreditation, from a relevant accrediting body. There are eight such bodies throughout the world, AGI being one of them.

Gorry says “nowadays the majority of professional genealogists do not hold credentials and appear not to think them necessary for their career”. But he argues that professional credentials provide “a structure essential to the integrity of the profession, a stamp of approval for the conscientious practitioner and protection for clients”.

He asserts that credentials guarantee that the holder has the required knowledge, skill and experience, as well as ethical behaviour, to be regarded as a true professional.

Back in 2018 he chose to sell the book through an independent bookshop in Ireland. People overseas found this inconvenient and asked about ordering it through Amazon.

For that reason this Second Edition is available to purchase on Amazon. It went live early on St. Patrick’s Day (Irish time), purely by coincidence. It may be found by following this link to Amazon: https://amzn.to/38NqL4W.

Genea is a research program for Macintosh that has earned a great reputation. Now the company has announced version 2.0 which adds new features as well as versions for iOS and iPadOS.

Here is the announcement from Vertical Horizon Software:

If you need help with your genealogy research, Genea is the app for you. Genea allows you to keep your notes and research logs organised and separated from your own family tree. When you find a matching results, you can easily export the note to import the information in your family tree.

After a year of feedback and improvements, we bring Genea 2 to iOS, iPadOS and MacOS. We not only improved the Notes features, but also added Research logs to Genea.

Research logs allows you to track your genealogy research in a simple but convenient way. Create as many research logs as you want. Define the objective of each research log. Add context info about the people and or the places you are researching, and log the research you have done. You can share a PDF of the Research log and add research activities in your calendar. You can of course search research logs to find results and more.

Notes is modified in several ways. You can sort lists alphabetically or on date. You can search on places, dates (exact date, before, after or between dates). You can search on gedcom tags and more.

Notes can contain text and an image, and you can link events to the Notes, and link people to the events, including their relationship to the event.

You can adjust images and even do text recognition on typed text. All this can be exported as a gedcom file to import in your favorite family tree app.

The MacOS version provides Touch Bar features and shortcuts. In several places we added extra context info and popover views, so all the info you need is just one tap away.

With Genea 2, your genealogy research app has become much more mature, and a powerful tool for all people that take genealogy research serious.

Genea appStore iOS (USA): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/genea/id1468873969

Genea appStore MacOS (USA): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/genea/id1487534380

Genea manual v2.1: https://verticalhorizon-software.com/onewebmedia/Genea%20-%20your%20genealogy%20research%20manual%20v2.1.pdf

Website: https://verticalhorizon-software.com/genea.html

Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/verticalhorizonsoftware.wordpress.com

About American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society

American Ancestors, also known as New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), with its national headquarters located in Boston’s Back Bay, is the oldest and largest genealogical society in America. It serves more than 300,000 members and millions of online users engaged in family history nationally and around the world. It is home to a world-class research library and archive, and an expert staff. American Ancestors offers an award- winning genealogical research website at AmericanAncestors.org with more than 1.4 billion names and maintains a publishing division which produces original genealogical research, scholarship, and educational materials, including The NEHG Register, flagship journal of American genealogy since 1847, American Ancestors, its award- winning magazine and Mayflower Descendant, a quarterly journal of Pilgrim genealogy and history.

The following is an excerpt from a new announcement from Reclaim the Records:

OUR LEGAL FIGHT TO OPEN 1.6 MILLION NYC DEATH CERTIFICATES MOVES FORWARD Reclaim The Records' two-year legal battle with multiple New York City government agencies makes headway, now goes before the judge  Hello again from your friends at Reclaim The Records! Today we have an exciting update in our long-running legal battle to (1) acquire and then release to the public about 1.6 million currently-inaccessible NYC death certificates from 1949-1968, totally free, as uncertified digital scans that we want to put online, and (2) strike down some truly awful new rules that heavily restrict public access to twentieth century New York City vital records, even from some of the relatives of the people directly named in the records. This project originally started back in October 2017, when the City held a public hearing at which none of the people in attendance and none of the more than six thousand people nationwide who submitted public comments voiced support for the new and incredibly strict record access rules. But the City went ahead and approved the stricter rule change anyway. Well, that just wouldn't do. So in February 2019, we sued them. And it was quite a long list of "them". The Respondents in our case include the New York City Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, the New York City Bureau of Vital Statistics; the New York City Board of Health; Oxiris Barbot in her official capacity as New York City Commissioner of Health; Gretchen Van Wye in her official capacity as New York City Registrar; and last but certainly not least, Steven P. Schwartz in his official capacity as former New York City Registrar. We had one court hearing in November 2019 and one in early 2020, before two different judges, facing off with the City over some of the issues. And then the pandemic struck, and things in the New York City court system understandably got put on hold for a while. But now, we've got some movement -- and, you guys, we don't want to jinx it, but it seems to be looking promising. Check out the fun legal paperwork! There are a lot of interesting legal nerd issues to talk about in this case. It's not just "can we plz have copies of a cousin's death certificate" it's also a lot of discussion about whether a city agency can make rules and policies, even if that agency has been given lots of discretionary powers, that can override the state's laws, particularly a state Freedom of Information Law. And when an agency does make rules, were they made capriciously? Were they overstepping their specific areas of expertise? Can a Department of Health really hold itself up as an expert on privacy? These are the kinds of issues that we will likely be dealing with in every state and territory, as we continue our nationwide work to fight for better public records access. So even if these New York records aren't part of your personal family tree, think about the underlying concepts and arguments, and how they could be applied to someday release more records in your area of interest.

NOTE: The above is an excerpt from the Reclaim the Records newsletter and is too long to reproduce in its entirely here. You can read the full announcement in the Reclaim the Records newsletter at:

https://mailchi.mp/reclaimtherecords/our-legal-fight-to-open-1-point-6-million-nyc-death-certificates-moves-forward?e=1fcb9139f0