STATEN ISLAND, NY – What was the United States like in 1950?

Public data is now available that can help you get those answers. After more than seven decades, raw data from the 1950 decennial census was released Friday by the National Archives and Records Administration for the first time.

The searchable database is free.

Census data is made public every 72 years, the result of an agreement in 1952 between the Census Bureau and the National Archives; it was codified by Congress in 1978. The 1940 census was published 10 years ago.

The release contains 6.4 million pages of 1950s census data that have been digitized, as well as 6,373 rolls of microfilm.

A search of Richmond County, New York, returns 290 pages of information.

Like other decennial censuses, the data includes names, ages and addresses, as well as job descriptions, incomes and employment information that provide insight into life in the 1950s.

The census asked Americans 38 questions, including what kind of toilet they had, if they had a kitchen sink and if they had a refrigerator, as well as their level of education and how many children they had.

“The 1950 census opens a window into one of the most transformative periods in modern American history, revealing a country of approximately 151 million people that had just emerged from the difficulties and uncertainties of World War II. world and the Great Depression,” the Census Bureau said. noted.

“With little housing construction over the previous two decades, the country’s population lived mostly in cities and rural areas, often in crowded conditions. Suburbanization had only recently begun and would increase dramatically in coming decades thanks to the GI Bill, sustained post-war economic expansion, and the construction of a comprehensive interstate highway system,” he continued. ‘agency.

HOW TO SEARCH THE DATABASE

The National Archives and Records Administration offers the following tips for searching its database:

• Find the first and last name of the head of household, as well as the state and county of the residents if known. The surname was recorded on the census form, but only on the line for the head of household and other persons in the household with a different surname.
• Use several filters to refine your search. To search more broadly, select one filter at a time.
• You don’t need to know the exact spelling of a name to search. The search engine will return all variations or close matches.
• Once the record you are looking for is found, click on the buttons or links labeled “Populations Schedules”, “ED Maps” or “View Original ED Description” to view a scanned copy of the original record.
• Use the built-in transcription feature to correct and add names to the site’s name index. Your contributions can help make the 1950 Census population tables more accessible to everyone.

FOLLOW KRISTIN F. DALTON ON TWITTER.