Census Return Questions:
In 1940, the number of questions asked the public significantly increased. Some questions were expanded to elicit more detailed information, such as the names of persons which usually lived in the home who might not have been living there on the date of the census. The 1940 asked for more detailed place of birth information, the state, and county of citizens. It also provided an indication of who supplyed the information which could be very helpful to genealogists. Most of the additional information gleaned pertained to education and especially employment, it asked questions about how many years of schooling people had, whether they were employed in private business or one of the public emergency work programs, …show more content…
Helen’s mother Sarah, who was eighty seven years old, was living with them again. The family had moved from Kansas City, Wyandotte, Kansas across the river to Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri sometime between 1935 and 1940. They rented their home for twenty dollars per month. Orval was still working for the railroad as a clerk in the stores department; he worked all fifty two weeks of the previous year. His income for 1939 was $1320. Orval’s eighteen year old daughter was employed checking packages at a laundry. She worked twenty six weeks for an income of $260. The son, seventeen, reported working as a messenger but had not worked in 1939.
Unfortunately, there was no income data for 1930 with which to compare so it may have been that the move from Kansas to Missouri was either for an increase in salary, to remain employed or simply the railroad moving employees where they were needed.
B. Historical Events:
Being employed by the railroad was a blessing for the Holmes family. Many farmers in the area had been decimated by the dust storms and drought of several years were moving on either literally, or metaphorically, giving up their farms and looking for other work. The railroad likely realized some benefit as many Kansans left the state and those that had money may have traveled to visit the two World’s Fairs held in Illinois (1933) and New York …show more content…
Historical Events
“In 1934 Utah received the lowest amount of rain on record. The drought that followed was a catastrophe. Irrigation water was estimated as low as 15 percent of normal. Federal aid was arranged to try to save farmers. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints established a welfare plan, but over 25% of the rural families in Utah still ended up on federal relief during the 1930s.” The impact of the drought likely had a devastating effect on a small farmer like John Fredrickson and was probably at the root of his decision to leave the farm.
In 1986, Helen E. Bunnell, writing for the Utah Historical Quarterly said, “No one thinks of those depression days as happy times, but in retrospect they were not all bad. We all learned things about work and self-sufficiency and pulling together and appreciation and making the most of what we had--things that have stood us in good stead these past fifty some
In 1940, the number of questions asked the public significantly increased. Some questions were expanded to elicit more detailed information, such as the names of persons which usually lived in the home who might not have been living there on the date of the census. The 1940 asked for more detailed place of birth information, the state, and county of citizens. It also provided an indication of who supplyed the information which could be very helpful to genealogists. Most of the additional information gleaned pertained to education and especially employment, it asked questions about how many years of schooling people had, whether they were employed in private business or one of the public emergency work programs, …show more content…
Helen’s mother Sarah, who was eighty seven years old, was living with them again. The family had moved from Kansas City, Wyandotte, Kansas across the river to Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri sometime between 1935 and 1940. They rented their home for twenty dollars per month. Orval was still working for the railroad as a clerk in the stores department; he worked all fifty two weeks of the previous year. His income for 1939 was $1320. Orval’s eighteen year old daughter was employed checking packages at a laundry. She worked twenty six weeks for an income of $260. The son, seventeen, reported working as a messenger but had not worked in 1939.
Unfortunately, there was no income data for 1930 with which to compare so it may have been that the move from Kansas to Missouri was either for an increase in salary, to remain employed or simply the railroad moving employees where they were needed.
B. Historical Events:
Being employed by the railroad was a blessing for the Holmes family. Many farmers in the area had been decimated by the dust storms and drought of several years were moving on either literally, or metaphorically, giving up their farms and looking for other work. The railroad likely realized some benefit as many Kansans left the state and those that had money may have traveled to visit the two World’s Fairs held in Illinois (1933) and New York …show more content…
Historical Events
“In 1934 Utah received the lowest amount of rain on record. The drought that followed was a catastrophe. Irrigation water was estimated as low as 15 percent of normal. Federal aid was arranged to try to save farmers. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints established a welfare plan, but over 25% of the rural families in Utah still ended up on federal relief during the 1930s.” The impact of the drought likely had a devastating effect on a small farmer like John Fredrickson and was probably at the root of his decision to leave the farm.
In 1986, Helen E. Bunnell, writing for the Utah Historical Quarterly said, “No one thinks of those depression days as happy times, but in retrospect they were not all bad. We all learned things about work and self-sufficiency and pulling together and appreciation and making the most of what we had--things that have stood us in good stead these past fifty some