Stories from Original Records--Try the 1940 census

Rose Carolyn Higgins - Boulder City

I love indexing because I see stories on every page. In the 1940 census I saw the Japanese Americans living in California and thought about what was coming for them. I found my dad farming with his family outside of Las Vegas. I have never thought of him as a farmer, but his dad was listed that way and Dad was helping him on their own acreage.  I noticed some very interesting names in Texas and Arizona, and I found my mother-in-law as a teenager living with her stepfather and mother in Boulder City, Nevada. When I see her name, the photos of her at that age flood my mind. What stories do you know about people in the 1940 census? 


The Story Chain Map (see link) takes advantage of the fact that we know the people in the 1940 census. They are inviting us to submit photos, stories or links to videos or Facebook. An example of what to post is "what it was like where they were living" or "where they were during major events in the late 1930s or early 1940s (like Pearl Harbor). Then family and friends can start a story chain with anyone who would like to join in the conversation. FamilySearch is inviting us to publish them on this website. Check it out and add your own.