1940 census data frenzy overloads National Archives' website
Data collected during the 1940 census is available for the first time at the U.S. National Archives' website, but a high volume of traffic at the site shut down the site's servers and made it nearly impossible to view any of the 3.8 million digital images compiled from the survey.
Oklahomans disappointed to put off their fact-finding mission for another day might take comfort in knowing it was an outage that affected the entire nation.
“It's not you; it's us,” said Miriam Kleiman, spokeswoman for the National Archives. “We had so much more interest than anyone anticipated.”
Kleiman said the site logged more than 22 million hits during the first four hours the information was available Monday.
The 1940 census is the largest amount of digital information ever released by the National Archives, she said.
But the Internet and its limitations was hardly an imaginable idea for the people who lived and worked through one of Oklahoma's toughest decades.
Personalize historyBob Blackburn, director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, said the information will help personalize several important facets of the state's history, from the Great Depression to the beginnings of World War II.
In addition to general demographic, education and residential information collected, the 1940 census was the first to incorporate advanced statistical techniques that allowed for more specific questions to be asked.
Among new categories for that year: employment status, occupation and condition of housing stock.
Blackburn said the census also for the first time asked participants where they were living five years prior, a number which in Oklahoma and in California likely will reflect the story of a great migration — from rural farmlands to urban cities, and from the Plains states west.
Blackburn's parents and grandparents in Rogers and Grady counties were among those, he said.
“Some went back to Arkansas, some went to California, but almost everybody left the farm,” Blackburn said.
“This helps us trace that migration, which was really a turning point for the 20th century and really a turning point for many families.”
City growthPreliminary data show that while the rest of the state was suffering, Oklahoma City actually grew during the 1930s.
General census numbers indicate the city's population was up more than 19,000 from 1930 to nearly 205,000 people despite near collapses in agricultural and oil industries.
Skyscrapers were constructed downtown. Automobiles and an interurban train system pushed the working class from downtown to the suburbs, many which had not yet been annexed.
By 1940, the city had incorporated above NW 23, but zoning issues were common where business centers were established in the tight spaces between some of the city's oldest residential areas.
Traffic and zoning was a nightmare as development continued in these midcentury suburban business centers.
A former real estate official complained in The Oklahoman of the city's “too-lenient policy of zoning,” and said new business development on the north side of the road could negatively impact property values for the homes on the south side.
But for many, historical context is less important than actual family history when it comes to delving through the 1940 census data.
It could be your parents or your grandparents — or even yourself, if you are old enough — but the handwritten survey answers from 70 years ago are certain to stir nostalgia in folks looking to reconnect with their past.
‘Genealogical geek'Buddy Johnson, who coordinates the Oklahoma Collection at the downtown library, said he will use the data to catch a glimpse of his father, who lived in Dewey County in 1940.
“When 1910 came back, I found out my grandpa was not born where he said he was born, so you can find little surprises sometimes,” Johnson said.
“It's just kind of interesting that now I can search people that I know; people I've spoken to are on the census. It's a genealogical geek thing, but it's kind of interesting.”
Blackburn said these geeks comprise by far the most dedicated users of state Historical Society resources.
That's why, he said, Monday's overload of the National Archives servers should come as no surprise.
“It's like this addiction to more information — like you're hunting for gold and every little nugget out there is extremely important,” he said.
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