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1900 United States Federal Census Transcription Project

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United States Census Transcription Project

1900 Population Schedules of the Twelfth Census of the United States

Overview[1]
Authorizing Legislation

In the act authorizing the 1900 census, Congress limited census content to questions dealing with population, mortality, agriculture, and manufacturing. Reports on these topics, called "Census Reports," were to be published by June 30, 1902. The act also authorized special census agents to collect statistics relating to incidents of deafness, blindness, insanity, juvenile delinquency, and the like; as well as on religious bodies; utilities; mining; and transportation, among others. These statistics were to be collected following the completion of the regular census. The preparation of the special reports developed from these statistics was to be accomplished in such a way so as to not interfere with the completion of the Census Reports.

The act also changed the title of the chief officer of the Census Office from "supervising clerk of the census" to "director of the census." Additionally, a new position, assistant director of the census, to be filled by "an experienced practical statistician," was established. The director was given the power to appoint staff based on noncompetitive examinations. However, in practice, positions were given to political referrals.

Enumeration

The Departments of War and the Navy enumerated military personnel (including those who were abroad). Indian Territory was enumerated with the cooperation of the commissioner of Indian affairs.

Hawaii, which had been annexed in 1898, was included in the census for the first time. (A census of Puerto Rico and Cuba had been carried out by the War Department in 1899. Under the direction of the Philippine Commission, a census of that territory was taken in 1903.)

Intercensal Activity

In 1902, the formerly temporary Census Office was made a permanent organization within the Department of the Interior. In 1903, it became the Census Bureau and was moved to the new Department of Commerce and Labor.

The transition from a temporary to a permanent agency was sometimes controversial. One of Congress's goals in creating the new department was to centralize many of the overlapping statistical offices scattered throughout the bureaucracy; Census Bureau officials attempted, without much early success, to assume the role as chief statistical agency of the federal government. These aspirations were hindered, in part, by the Census Bureau's subordinate position within the Department of Commerce and Labor.


The United States Census of 1900[2]

The United States Census of 1900, conducted by the Census Office on June 1, 1900, determined the resident population of the United States to be 76,212,168, an increase of 21 percent over the 62,979,766 persons enumerated during the 1890 Census.

The census saw the nation's largest city, New York, more than double in size due to the consolidation with Brooklyn, becoming in the process the first American city to record a population of over three million.

Data availability

The original census enumeration sheets were microfilmed by the Census Bureau in the 1940s; after which the original sheets were destroyed. The microfilmed census is available in rolls from the National Archives and Records Administration. Several organizations also host images of the microfilmed census online, and digital indices.

Microdata from the 1900 census are freely available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System.


1900 United States Federal Census Schedule I
Questions/Column Headings
0 - In Cities, Street.
00 - In Cities, House Number.
1 - Number of the dwelling-house in the order of visitation.
2 - Number of the family in the order of visitation.
3 - Name of each person whose place of abode, on June 1, 1900, was in this family. Enter surname first, then the given name and middle initial, if any. Include every person living on June 1, 1900. Omit children born since June 1, 1900.
4 - Relationship of each person to the head of the family.
5 - Color or race.
6 - Sex.
7 - Date of birth, Month Year.
8 - Age at last birthday.
9 - Whether single, married, widowed, or divorced.
10 - Number of years married.
11 - Mother of how many children.
12 - Number of these children living.
13 - Place of birth of this Person.
14 - Place of birth of the Father of this person.
15 - Place of birth of the Mother of this person.
16 - Year of Immigration to the United States.
17 - Number of years in the United States.
18 - Naturalization.
19 - Occupation, Trade, or Profession of each person, 10 YEARS OF AGE and over.
20 - Months not employed.
21 - Attended School (in months).
22 - Can read.
23 - Can write.
24 - Can speak English.
25 - Home. Owned or rented.
26 - Home. Owned free or mortgaged
27 - Home. Farm or house.
28 - Home. Number of the farm schedule.


1900 United States Federal Census Indian Population Schedule"[3]
Questions/Column Headings
0 - In Cities, Street.
00 - In Cities, House Number.
1 - Number of the dwelling-house in the order of visitation.
2 - Number of the family in the order of visitation.
3 - Name of each person whose place of abode, on June 1, 1900, was in this family. Enter surname first, then the given name and middle initial, if any. Include every person living on June 1, 1900. Omit children born since June 1, 1900.
4 - Relationship of each person to the head of the family.
5 - Color or race.
6 - Sex.
7 - Date of birth, Month Year.
8 - Age at last birthday.
9 - Whether single, married, widowed, or divorced.
10 - Number of years married.
11 - Mother of how many children.
12 - Number of these children living.
13 - Place of birth of this Person.
14 - Place of birth of the Father of this person.
15 - Place of birth of the Mother of this person.
16 - Year of Immigration to the United States.
17 - Number of years in the United States.
18 - Naturalization.
19 - Occupation, Trade, or Profession of each person, 10 YEARS OF AGE and over.
20 - Months not employed.
21 - Attended School (in months).
22 - Can read.
23 - Can write.
24 - Can speak English.
25 - Home. Owned or rented.
26 - Home. Owned free or mortgaged
27 - Home. Farm or house.
28 - Home. Number of the farm schedule.
29 - Indian Name
30 - Tribe of this person
31 - Tribe of this person's father
32 - Tribe of this person's mother
33 - Fraction of person's lineage that is white
34 - Is this person living in polygamy?
35 - Is this person taxed? An American Indian was considered "taxed" if he or she was detached from his or her tribe and was living in the White community and subject to general taxation, or had been alloted land by the federal government and thus acquired citizenship.
36 - If this person has acquired American citizenship, what year?
37 - Did this person acquire citizenship by receiving an allotment of land from the federal government?
38 - Is this person's house "movable" or "fixed?" Enumerators were to mark "movable" if the person lived in a tent, tepee, or other temporary structure; they were to mark "fixed" if he or she lived in a permanent dwelling of any kind.

Sources

  1. "United States Census Bureau", website online, https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/overview/1900.html; accessed 3 May 2020.
  2. Wikipedia: 1900 United States Census, 3 May 2020.
  3. "United States Census Bureau, Index of 1900 Census Questions", website online, https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/index_of_questions/1900_1.html; accessed 3 May 2020.




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