CENSUS IS A-COMING

It’s required by our United States Constitution: a national census every ten years. The census in Alaska is already getting underway. In fact, the 2010 census of remote Alaska village of Noorvik was the first in the nation.

Officials from the census bureau conducted a briefing of our House Labor and Commerce today.

The first United States census was in 1790. For the first six censuses 1790 - 1840 enumerators recorded only heads of household names, and a general demographic accounting of the remaining members of the household. Beginning in 1850, everybody in the household were named.

I’m a family history buff. Genealogy (not to be confused with Gynecology) has been my hobby since 1951. Much use is made of census records in locating ancestors, and other family members. I was thrilled to learn that Anchorage has a branch Bureau of Archives - and I’ve spent time there checking out microfilm records, Nowadays, however, all the censuses (censi?) records are available on the Internet, through commercial entities like Ancestry.com. Using old census records, I’ve been able to locate and communicate with several “shirtail cousins” (5th cousins and more). The last census records available to the public was 1930, three years before my birth. Public viewing of Census records aren’t available to the public until seventy-four years after the census. When the 2010 census is complete, I’ll be able to find myself on the 1940 census - and find more missing kin.

Please cooperate with the census takers. It determines numbers for state and national legislative representation - which will be “reapportioned” after the census with new lines. In other words, when I run for re-election in 2012, my district number and area of representation will likely be different, like every one else. Photo shows the census briefing team.