http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/1930cen.html#tutorial
I'm sending this out to all of the lists I'm on,
so if you receive it more than once, please
forgive me.
I spent today at a NARA workshop on the 1930 Census.
We never got to see the Census, but spent the day
learning what "tools" are available - such as maps,
lists of Enumeration Districts, and city directories -
and how to use them to your best advantage.
Locating your ancestors on the 1930 census
won't be easy. I wish I had started a year
ago to prepare myself.
If your ancestors lived in small towns, you
will have to search "line by line, page
by page." If they lived in a large city,
start looking now for maps and city directories.
Muncie has directories available on
microfilm for 1930. These directories
not only tell where you ancestor lived
at that time period, but they tell which
streets intersect and where. I've taken
addresses from there and typed them into
"Map Quest" which shows me where these
streets are and how they fit in relation to
one another. This helps in locating the
E.D. The directory also tells who lived
on each street. I suggest coping the page.
When the handwriting is bad or the page is
faint or messed up in some way, it helps to
have more than 1 way to identify it. Chances
are, there will be at least 1 name you can identify.
All of this is going to be very important
in using the 1930 Census. Unless you're
searching in a very small town, it's
going to take a lot of time to locate
those missing ancestors. Anything you
can do now to prepare yourself will
make that search much easier. I suggest
practicing on the 1920 or some other
earlier census. The ED's ought to be
roughly the same from 1920 - 1930. If you
can locate a certain street on 1 census,
it will be much easier to find on the next
one.
Good luck and happy ancestor hunting!
Barb Marshall