(Jewish Group) What the 1950 census can tell us about Jewish life in America

Jewish genealogists and researchers are eagerly awaiting midnight April 1, when the U.S. 1950 decennial census will be made public by the National Archives and Records Administration.

Seventy-two years to the day the enumeration began, the entries of the 151 million Americans tallied will be made accessible online. The data will give a snapshot of American life in the year that “Guys and Dolls” opened on Broadway, and the Korean War was declared. For the first time, war babies and older baby boomers will be able to find themselves on the census rolls.

This census is of special interest to American Jews, showing life in the years after the Holocaust and the establishment of the state of Israel. It captures recently arrived Jewish refugees from Europe’s displaced persons camps settling into their new country, while upwardly mobile Jews were moving to the suburbs and populating new Jewish centers in places like California and Florida.

The census is a valuable tool for genealogists, offering the name, age, address, and birthplace of every American at a moment in time. But more than listing employment, marital and immigrant statuses, it shows each individual in the context of his or her family and community.

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I'll be updating some Ancestry files. LOL!