Organize Your Family History

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Help FamilySearch index the 1950 census

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The 1950 census was released 12 days ago and, as we’ve talked about before, a computer-generated index was available (amazing!). That index was better than nothing, but at least in the case of my people, not particularly helpful.

FamilySearch is looking for volunteers to check the computer index and make corrections so that a robust index will be available. And they’ve made it very easy.

Just go to FamilySearch.org, login and click on “Start Now in the Help Review the 1950 Census Index” banner. You’ll get to select a state (currently, the state list is limited), then you’ll click Get Started. I selected Oregon and was offered the opportunity to Review Families. In the next screen, I could enter a surname if I wanted. If you do that, you’ll be presented with pages with that surname, as well as other entries. Then you review and correct each line of the page.

I find this a fun and rewarding volunteer opportunity and I’m so happy that FamilySearch has made it so easy. The volunteer effort will make an accurate index available all the sooner!

 

Video: Creating a Digital Workflow

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On March 30, I did a one-hour Facebook live presentation called Creating a Digital Workflow for MyHeritage. If you’re interested, the video is available on MyHeritage’s Facebook page. Here’s the link.

In the presentation, I talked about the benefits of having a digital workflow and went into some detail about my own digital workflow. As always, I repeated the caveat that this system works really well for me, but it’s not the only way to do it. But if you’re curious, please check out the Facebook Live video!

By the way, MyHeritage has published the entire 1950 census and they’re indexing like crazy, releasing states as they’re finished. As of this writing on Friday morning, April 8 (according to their Facebook page), they have completed Wyoming, Delaware, Vermont and American Samoa.

Preparing for the 1950 census release

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April 1, the day the 1950 U.S. Census will be released, is less than a month away. While I declared that my March 30 x 30 challenge would be around watching RootsTech classes, it hasn’t worked out that way. Instead, I’m focusing more on getting ready for the 1950 census release.

I managed to work on both those goals simultaneously by watching Steve Morse’s RootsTech session called Getting Ready for the 1950 Census: Searching With and Without a Name Index last week. This is 50-minute session with great instruction on how to use Morse’s Unified 1950 Census ED Finder to find the enumeration districts of your relatives whose 1950 addresses in case you can’t find by using the index. (By the way, there’s a transcript version of that session, including the slides, here.)

So I’m busy filling out my spreadsheet of ancestors to look for with enumeration districts to check out on the morning of April 1. (I probably won’t stay until midnight to do it in the wee hours of the day.)

I blogged about Marian Burke Wood’s terrific presentation to the Kentucky State Historical Society on preparing for the census release. Today I received an email with a link to a video short of tips extracted from that talk. (And there’s a transcript!)

Other great resources for the 1950 census include this page from the Genealogical Forum of Oregon with information on the 1950 census, including instructions to enumerators, blank forms and a sample filled-in questionnaire. The site also has links to instructions for creating a list of ancestors who were alive in 1950 in Family Tree Maker, Legacy Family Tree and RootsMagic.

The National Archives is holding a series of webinars this spring on the 1950 census. Check out this webpage for the schedule and for links to past webinars in the series.

According to the National Archives 1950 census page, there will be a name index for the 1950 census as soon as it’s released. But since it’s created by artificial intelligence, there are bound to be inaccuracies. That’s why I’m looking up enumeration districts so I don’t spend my April Fool’s Day being frustrated. The National Archives is asking for our help in correcting the AI-generated index. There will be a transcription tool we can use to help. Check out NARA’s 1950 webpage for more information.

Where will we go to look for the 1950 census on April 1? If I’m reading NARA’s 1950 census page right, it will be available right on their page.

How to watch RootsTech 2022

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RootsTech 2022 started today! Like last year’s conference, it is completely virtual and completely free. I’ve been traveling today, so I haven’t had a chance to experience a whole lot of the classes, but I’m impressed with what I see.

The great news is that most of the sessions will be available to watch until next year’s RootsTech conference (which may or may not be held in person but is promised to have a virtual component regardless). You can watch as many of the on-demand classes as you want now and save others for later. (I have every intention to watch as many as I can now before life takes over and I don’t make time to watch.) Live keynotes are available on a schedule. The keynotes should be available to watch after the conference.

But there are features that I think are going to be available only during the conference or perhaps the rest of the month. They include:

  • Chat, where you can interact with like-minded genealogists
  • Relatives at RootsTech, where you can see how many people who are registered for the conference are related to you through the Family Search tree. So far, I have 39,833 relatives registered for the conference! (Relatives at RootsTech goes away on March 25.)
  • Searching for your friends who are attending to see how you might be related.
  • The ability to chat with representatives of the exhibitors in Virtual Expo Hall

There are lots of ways to approach participating in RootsTech, but here’s what I suggest (and this is what I plan to do this weekend when I’ll have more time):

  1. Go to the RootsTech website.
  2. Login to your Family Search account. Or create one if you don’t already have one. It’s free.
  3. Click on Menu, then Relatives at RootsTech to find your relatives and see how you’re related. If you want, you can send relatives a message  by clicking on a peson’s name, then Send a Message under their name.
  4. If you’re feeling confused, watch the Website Tutorial by clicking the button near the top of the screen.
  5. Check out the schedule for the Live keynotes.
  6. Click on Sessions and search or browse for on-demand sessions.
  7. Add sessions to your Playlist, so you watch them at your leisure. You can get to your playlist by clicking on the little “play” triangle at the top of the screen, situated between Connection and Chat. (I just discovered that my 2021 playlist is still available! I bet yours is too.)
  8. Explore the Virtual Expo Hall. You can browse or search for particular vendors.
  9. Start a private chat, search for a chat room for a particular group or interest or ask the folks at FamilySearch anything you want through the Chat function. You can get there by clicking on the text bubble icon at the top menu on the main page.

When I’ve spoken at and attended  in-person RootsTech conferences I’ve always been amazed at well organized these conferences are. Last year’s virtual conference was an organizational achievement and they’ve even made improvements this year. These folks are unbelievable. Enjoy!

I want to be clear that I am not affiliated with RootsTech. I’ve been a speaker twice and I’m an enthusiastic  attendee, but otherwise I have nothing to do this amazing conference. I just want to make sure my readers are making the most of it!