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American Morning

Homespun Detectives of Family History Poring Over Miles of Newly Released Microfilm

Aired April 02, 2002 - 10:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Homespun detectives of family history are now poring over miles of newly released microfilm. They are looking for clues to the past in the now-public 1930's census.

CNN's Bruce Morton now takes us to the family tree treasure hunt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): William Wood is rummaging through history.

WILLIAM WOOD, RESEARCHER: His mother put down that he was the only child, but they say now that his mother raised this girl.

MORTON: Wood is a professional at this kind of research, but he is using a brand new, 72-year-old tool.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 1930 census is officially open.

MORTON: The 1930 census? Yes. The law said the results had to be confidential for all those years, but now the National Archives can release them. 1930 was the last census where the census takers literally went door to door.

Here's one questioning then President Herbert Hoover.

The paper forms used back then were destroyed in the 1940's, but the results survive on microfilm, more than 2,500 rolls. Most of the 32 questions are familiar. Some -- "Is there a radio set in the house?" -- show their age.

It's as good a snapshot of America in 1930 as there is.

JOHN CARLIN, ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES: The census takers sat on front porch swings and around family kitchen tables, even though we know it isn't possible to accurately count every single one of the millions of people in this country, the census is still the most complete record we have of the entire country at a specific point in time.

MORTON: And what a time it was. The roaring '20s over, the Great Depression five months old. A third of a nation, Franklin Roosevelt would say, ill-clad, ill-housed, ill-fed. Professional researchers and demographers will be searching these files at the archives in Washington and 13 archives facilities around the country. But so will amateurs, like Jim Allred.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to write a history of my immediate family, and the 1930 census provides a snapshot of my father and mother when they were younger and married.

MORTON: It helps, the archives people say, if you know the exact address of the people you're trying to find. It's a treasure hunt, in effect, for pieces of our past.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within the census rolls, we can piece together the past from the bits of information left from the residents of the 1930's.

And, somehow, it's something most of us want to know.

Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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