As a result, census enumerators posed a new question, the 22nd one, regarding employment of individuals over the age of 14: 'Was this person at work for pay or profit in private or non-emergency Government work during week of March 24–30?' If the answer was no, the enumerator posed a follow-up question: 'If not, was he at work on, or assigned to, public emergency work (WPA, NYA, CCC, etc.) during week of March 24–30?' 1 The recent release of the 1940 federal population census presents the opportunity to learn more about people, trends, locales, family relations, and the state of the nation.ĭuring the spring of 1940, the nation was still lumbering through the Great Depression following the stock market crash in October of 1929, and agricultural workers were experiencing the strange contradiction of drought conditions and a surplus of goods. (69-N-19626)Īs many genealogists, historians, and researchers have discovered, studying census records can lead down many paths and encourage investigation into additional records. Priority employment in the WPA went to those in need of relief.

A WPA worker receives a paycheck, January 1939.

We who are young 1940