1940 Census Videos

In this vintage video released by the National Archives and originally presented by the Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, you can watch, listen, and follow along with a full transcription detailing an introduction of the 1940 Census titled Know Your U.S.A.. (Running time: 3 minutes, 19 seconds) Voice over begins with: "The United State of America, youngest by far of the worlds great nations, stands today the envy of the civilized world. It's more than 130 million free people, it's 33 million homes, it's 7 million farms..."

View 1940 Census Introduction Video

Another in a series of vintage videos released by the National Archives and presented by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, this video is titled The 1940 Census of Population and highlights the job of census enumerator in counting the population within their area of responsibility. (Running time: 10 minutes, 22 seconds) Voice over begins with: "The population of the United States is continually changing in number, location, and composition. In the early days of our country..."

View 1940 Census Video — Census of Population

More vintage video from the National Archives, the voice over for this video best describes the unique content of this census effort. (Running time: 10 minutes, 49 seconds) Voice over begins with: "The census of housing will provide, for the first time, a complete record of housing in America. Taken at the same time of the censuses of population and agriculture, this census of housing will record the conditions of the nations homes, their characteristics and conveniences..."

View 1940 Census Video — Census of Housing

The fourth in a series of videos presented by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, this vintage video details the purpose of a Census of Agriculture. (Running time: 10 minutes, 39 seconds) Rolling script begins with: "There are nearly 7,000,000 farms in the United States. It will take more than 100,000 enumerators to visit all these farms for the Census of Agriculture. The success of this gigantic task, requires that all the enumerators have a sympathetic understanding of the problems of the farmer."

View 1940 Census Video — Census of Agriculture

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