Community Corner
Extra! Extra! Census Takers Ask: Do You Own a Radio?
A newspaper article from the 1930s provides the extended version of the U.S. Census taken more than 80 years ago.
The 2010 U.S. Census asked citizens 10 questions. They were mainly related to the names, ages, sexes and races of the people residing within a residence.
In 1930, the government wanted to know a little more about you and your household, according to a March 28 article from the Dakota County Tribune.
The 24 questions included inquiries into:
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- the value of your home, and whether it's owned or rented;
- whether you lived on a farm;
- whether you could read or write;
- your immigration status;
- your occupation;
and more—like whether you owned a radio set.
Some of these questions were new for the 1930 Census, which was considered "the last of the traditional censuses" that asked about things like language and employment, according to the National Archives and Records Administration.
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At the time, U.S. Census Bureau Acting Director Joseph A. Hill reportedly said that the government had reached its limit of the amount of information it could collect and process about the growing population.
Read more Census history in this article from the National Archives and Records Administration's publication, Prologue.
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