Albany Census 1850-1940

For this census information, the data is divided into columns for each piece of data stemming from the census. For an individual record row, it firsts list the year of the census which ranges from 1850 to 1940. The next four columns all refer to aspects of group quarters including its type and funding. Following these four is a column called “relate” that details the individual’s status in their home including spouse, head, sibling, and non-relative. Also included in the an individual row is sex, gender, race, and place of birth. Race in these censuses is much simpler than today’s as it only features black, white, Native American, and lumps Japanese and Chinese together. Place of birth for the individual, the person’s father, and person’s mother is also included as columns. The columns for “spekeng” and “lit” referring to ability to speak English and the ability to read and write are blank for many, but is a details for individuals that were either born outside of the country or whose parents were. The final column is for occupation which likely only applies to men in the earlier censuses. Each individual column provides valuable information for an individual records of the censuses.

The information stored in the spreadsheet as vast and provides us with a ton of valuable information. However, the census information alone does not tell us everything. If you only had the dataset, it could be difficult to discern what the census was referring to with its columns. I had difficulty figuring out for some columns, but after searching on the internet I was able to grasp what it was referring to. This record also leaves out the names of the individuals on the record and for each row begins with the year of the census record. Another important aspect that we don’t have if we only have the dataset is what the census asked in those years. How we have viewed race changed drastically over the time period of this data, and how the census asked for information has an impact on the results. It would be valuable to have a document of the original census questions to see trends over time.

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