Hello. I have been looking for military personnel in the 1940 census and have found no records. Som
I would appreciate any information on where I can find these census records. Thank you,
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Thank you Amber. It seems like every once in a while I get stumped on a project to keep me on my toes, and this is one of those.
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According to https://1940census.archives.gov/questions-asked.asp, supplemental questions that related to veteran status, military service, or war-related issues, were only asked of about 5% of the population in the 1940 census. I asked my mother, a professional genealogist, if she'd ever seen an entry that included those details and she said she had not, and was not even aware that ANYONE was asked those questions in that census. So I don't think if that's going to provide you any answers.
According to https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/1940proceduralhistory-12617.pdf (page 44 of the printed document, page 58 of the online PDF), under "Special Situations," the 1940 Census Procedural History states that "Military posts, naval stations, and Civilian Conservation Corps camps were made separate enumeration districts and enumerated by the service in question . Persons attached to posts or stations but living outside post limits were to be enumerated as members of the households which they usually kept rather than as members of the post. The War and Navy departments also provided census data for officers and enlisted men, and civilian employees on transports and naval vessels."
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but none the less, you should be able to find military personnel on the 1940 census just like you do anyone else. . . looking them up by name
using filters like birth ranges etc.
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@Liz McNeil i have found census records for ships and military bases just by searching for the persons name. Sometimes they are listed with last name and initials only... sometimes names are spelled wrong... I’d suggest playing around with spelling variations and see what comes up. Good luck! 😊
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I looked for 1940 census records with specific names and have found nothing. I see them on 1930s and 1920s records, but not 40. I have heard that some US citizens, military or not, don't get put on the census, they get missed?
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everyone should be on the census - even military - and even non citizens.
but as with anything that is done by humans . . . things are not perfect - people get left off - or people intentionally avoid the census for numerous reasons.
Dont "read too much" into an occasional missed census entry" - even with all its errors - I am amazed it is accurate as it is - knowing how so many people want to stay under the radar.
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Hi @Liz McNeil I searched 1940 census record at both FamilySearch and ancestry using only the following criteria for location ... “Pearl, harbor, naval, reserve, Honolulu, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA”
the results are interesting... on FS I seem to get the results like @Glenn R Whicker mentioned above, for the soldier who is enumerated with his family/hometown (not sure what the exact phrasing was). Then on ancestry, using just the location name searching 1940 census, The search results show the records for each military institution at said location.... I hope this helps
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The followings shows residents at the Army/Navy YMCA - Honolulu Hawaii using the location from above, and typing “Navy” in the keyword box and checking exact match for keyword
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@Liz McNeil here is on earth from the submarine Base/U. S. Naval Yard from MyHeritage.com - which happens to be offering 1940 census records for free but idk For how long. You can use the enumeration district info from these images (located at top right hand corner) to find these records
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Tried the suggestions, but no results right now. I looked on both Ancestry and My Heritage and nothing shows up.
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