CHICAGO - In early April, Chicagoan Mazurka Wojciechowska went online and found information she hadn't known about her family.
Just days earlier, the federal government had posted 3.8 million images of previously unreleased documents from the 1940 U.S. census, and Wojciechowska was one of millions who went to computers to get a glimpse of the past.
What she discovered were details about seven ancestors - including her mother - who were living at her great-grandfather's home in the 2000 block of West Bradley Place in Chicago.
"I gave myself a pat on the back; I found them right away," said Wojciechowska, 55, a folk musician. "I learned that my great-grandfather was an engineer, and his son was an architect. It's truly fascinating that family history can be found on the Internet."
Anyone with an Internet connection can now find out what grandma and grandpa - and anyone else who was around - were doing in 1940. Officials at the National Archives posted the census documents April 2 at 1940census.archives.gov, and as of last week, there had been more than 1.5 billion hits.
Searching the 1940 census not only can get people in touch with their roots - genealogists say the census also provides a history lesson and a snapshot of a generation that was coming out of the Great Depression and on the brink of America's entry into World War II.
Knowing your family history "can help put your own life in perspective," said Ginger Frere, a genealogist and reference librarian at the Newberry Library in Chicago. "Census records are a good place to start."
Though some census data, like city populations, are released within months of being compiled, personal information, under federal privacy laws, cannot be released for 72 years.
The recently released records were the first census documents to be posted on the National Archives website, according to government officials. Documents from other censuses can only be reviewed on private genealogy websites or in person at a National Archives center.
A drawback to the 1940 census data is that currently a person can only be found by his or her 1940 home address or special census district number. National Archives officials said the census database will be indexed by names in about seven months.
To prepare for the release, National Archives officials spent three years digitizing microfilm census records and checking every scanned census document. The documents, which were filled out by hand by census takers, include such information as gender, race, occupation, schooling, salary, home value, rental information and participation in government-sponsored work programs of the era.
There is also supplementary information supplied by randomly selected individuals, such as native language, more in-depth employment data and military service record.
Constance Potter, reference archivist with the National Archives, said access to the 1940 census fills an important void for genealogists and people doing research on their ancestors. It has been 10 years since 1930 census data were released for public review.
Frere said the online publication of the 1940 census has spurred interest in genealogy.
"People have been waiting for the (1940) census to come out for a long time," said Frere. "Genealogy in general has become more mainstream and accessible thanks to the Internet."
Genealogist Craig Pfannkuche, corresponding secretary of the Chicago Genealogy Society who teaches genealogy classes throughout the Chicago area, has a warning for people delving into genealogy.
"Family members lie," said Pfannkuche, laughing. "People often find out things they don't want to know, but once you start looking, it can become addicting."
While researching his own family, Pfannkuche found out that an ancestor thought to be the family hero was actually a family villain. While doing research for other people, he has uncovered previously unknown siblings, divorces and even secret marriages.
For general genealogy searching, Pfannkuche recommends using Heritage Quest Online, which can often be accessed for free by logging on with your library card to your local library website. He said other databases, such as Ancestry.com, are only free if accessed at a library.
Heritage Quest, which can be searched using an ancestor's name, contains U.S. census records from 1790 to 1930, along with 28,000 family and local history books, including some early military records.
The site also includes records that focus on African-American ancestry between 1865 and 1874.
But Pfannkuche said finding the census records of an ancestor is just the first step.
He suggests that individuals use family census information as a steppingstone to other data pools, such as county historical registers, employment records and newspaper archives.
Pfannkuche said, for example, that employment records for a coal miner or railroad worker may be available for inspection. He suggests contacting local historical societies or perhaps county government offices, which may provide pointers on where the records are.
"What's neat is when a story starts to come together," said Pfannkuche. "Some of our ancestors lived extraordinary lives. Maybe the records, for example, will show that they were involved in a union strike. Then you can take that information and learn what the strike was about. It really starts to evolve into fascinating information."
Pfannkuche, who works as a private genealogist, often uses libraries, including the Newberry, at 60 W. Walton St. in Chicago. The Newberry Library is private and separate from the public library system, but those 16 and older can do research there for free.
Frere said the library hosts a huge collection of resources, including a newspaper archives database, old maps and thousands of books already published about family surnames. Genealogists and reference librarians are on staff to assist people in their searches.
Pfannkuche said the Chicago Genealogy Society also gives out free advice to researchers and can put people in touch with professional genealogists.
St. Charles resident Victoria Roberts hired Pfannkuche in 1995 after her father told her he wanted to find his real dad, who had left the family when he was 5 years old.
After searching through marriage, birth and divorce certificates, Pfannkuche found the man living in a nursing home in Florida.
"He just wanted to know who his real father was," said Roberts.
The genealogy search also revealed that Roberts' great-grandfather was a wealthy man who lived in Fargo, N.D.
"There is a street (Roberts Street) named after him in Fargo," she said. "It kind of made me proud of my last name."
SURFING THE CENSUS
How to navigate online archive of 1940 data
Documents from the 1940 census can be found at 1940census.archives.gov.
The site is searchable using so-called enumeration district numbers. Enumeration districts are geographic areas, often the size of several city blocks, created for the purpose of taking the census.
To find the enumeration number, click on "start your search." Then enter the state, county, city and street name of an ancestor's residence in 1940. If you don't know the street name, your search can become more difficult, but the information is not impossible to find.
Genealogists suggest that if you don't know an address, other family members might know.
Another way to find an address is to search the 1930 census, which is actually indexed by names but is only accessible online through private genealogy websites. Obviously this is only effective if the individual you're seeking lived at the same address in 1930 and 1940.
Yet another option is to check the 1940 telephone directory for that city.
The good news is that the 1940 census site will be searchable by name in about seven months, according to Constance Potter, reference archivist with the National Archives.
That won't mean instant success. Potter said names are often misspelled on census documents. But learning the street name of the ancestor or looking up the name of a neighbor can solve the problem.
Once the street name and/or enumeration number are found, the original scanned copies of the census documents can be accessed. For now, you'll need to review the documents manually until your ancestor's name is found.
"You may have to read line by line (on the census documents)," said Potter. "The names don't always instantly pop up. Remember, talk to family members, make a family tree and do your research; it can be an adventure, so have some fun with it."
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