1940 U.S. Federal Census

The 1940 U.S. Federal Census will be released 2 April 2012. On that date, NARA will provide free access to the images of the census for the first time. The census will not be indexed when it is released so it will save time if you know in what part of the county your folks lived. A coordinated effort among several genealogical organizations, including Family Search and Ancestry.com, will have volunteers indexing as soon as the census is released.

Among the new questions on this census are the following:

Residence in 1935

Highest educational grade achieved

Detailed information on income and occupation

For the first time, the person giving the information for the census will be identified.

I am very excited about the release of this census because my parents, as a young married couple, and my brother will be listed.