# The 1940 census won't be available to the public until 2012? WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 26, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1940-census-wont-be-available-to-the-public-until-2012-wtf/497679 "2009-05-26T14:42:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1940-census-wont-be-available-to-the-public-until-2012-wtf/497679/21 "2009-05-27T19:21:17Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > BTW folks, census data wasn’t made private until [1978](http://www.census.gov/history/www/legislation/010938.html). Which shoots a very big raggedy hole in my New Deal conspiracy theory. I only glanced at the first of those docs and didn’t find reference to census info. But it’s curious that in 1978, the gummint can say that the information that had previously been publc now is quarantined. And where did you find that specific reference, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1940-census-wont-be-available-to-the-public-until-2012-wtf/497679/22 "2009-05-27T21:04:01Z")
I wish I could join in the indignation but as an Englishman who, under the 100-year rule, must wait until 2020 for the 1921 census I can only gaze in envy across the Atlantic. (Government ministers kindly released the 1911 census a couple of years early last year. They’re so considerate.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1940-census-wont-be-available-to-the-public-until-2012-wtf/497679/23 "2009-05-27T21:46:23Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > A related horror was the fire at St. Louis at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973, which has effectively ended my search for military information on most of my ancestors. Yeah, mine too. My father’s WW2 records and my grandfather’s WW1 records were both destroyed. (I’ve wondered how they proved pension and benefits eligibility for some people.) ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1940-census-wont-be-available-to-the-public-until-2012-wtf/497679/24 "2009-05-28T10:14:34Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > BTW folks, census data wasn’t made private until [1978](http://www.census.gov/history/www/legislation/010938.html). No, it wasn’t. [This seems to be a fairly thorough explanation of how the rule evolved](http://www.afrigeneas.com/forumb/index.cgi?md=read;id=25976). The texts of the all-important exchange of letters in 1952 can be found [here](http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/1952.html). Note that the decision to release the earliest censuses was not made until 1942. So when the 1940 census had been taken, it wouldn’t necessarily have been obvious that those returns would ever be released, let alone that they would be a mere 72 years later. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1940-census-wont-be-available-to-the-public-until-2012-wtf/497679/25 "2009-05-28T15:53:37Z")
I am mightily impressed that someone was able to score such a comprehensive explanation of the matter and in the process not only answer the OP, but also clarify some of the misconceptions about the issue at the same time. Kudos, **APB**. p.s. This site would never need to worry about finances if people realized how much they could learn from it. It tops many of the search and information repositories for the depth and breadth of information, and the sense that there are people actually thinking about the questions. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1940-census-wont-be-available-to-the-public-until-2012-wtf/497679/26 "2009-05-28T16:38:47Z")
> [@APB](#): > > No, it wasn’t. > > [This seems to be a fairly thorough explanation of how the rule evolved](http://www.afrigeneas.com/forumb/index.cgi?md=read;id=25976). The texts of the all-important exchange of letters in 1952 can be found [here](http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/1952.html). > > Note that the decision to release the earliest censuses was not made until 1942. So when the 1940 census had been taken, it wouldn’t necessarily have been obvious that those returns would ever be released, let alone that they would be a mere 72 years later. Not a matter for legislation at all, then. More a gentlemen’s agreement. Still could have been motivated by political currents in the 50s - cloaked in the extreme discretion of the archival profession. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-1940-census-wont-be-available-to-the-public-until-2012-wtf/497679.md?page=1)