1950 US Census Community Project
Frequently Asked Questions
The 1950 US Federal Census is here! Join us in a nationwide community effort to help make those images searchable for free on FamilySearch.org. Together, we are reviewing and improving an automated index, created by Ancestry using handwriting recognition technology.
How will volunteers help create the index for the 1950 US Census?
Volunteers will review and improve the automated index created by Ancestry, making sure it’s accurate and complete. There are three ways to review the index.
Name Review
This activity presents you with a single name at a time to review. If the name matches what is on the image, click Match. If it doesn't, click Edit and fix the spelling to match the name on the image. If you're not sure, click Unsure.
This activity is available in the Get Involved section of FamilySearch.org or in the new Get Involved mobile app (available for Apple iOS or Android).

Family Review
Family Review is the main activity for reviewing the census. You will be shown a head of household and be instructed to mark who is in the household.

With a focus on that household, you will then compare each field on the image to the index to verify that the image and index match. If the computer got the index wrong, you will correct the index.

Header Review
In this activity, you will review the information at the top of the census page and compare it to the index below, again fixing what doesn’t match.

Additional Frequently Asked Questions
Ancestry’s handwriting recognition technology will create a comprehensive index of the census records, including all of the available fields. The 1950 US Census Community Project hosted on FamilySearch will enable volunteers to help review and improve this comprehensive index. This is a separate project from the NARA project.
- Name Review is now available through Get Involved, both in the mobile app and the website.
- Family Review will soon be available through the same Get Involved website.
- A few days later, the Header Review will also be available in the same place.
Additionally, all of the 1950 census images from NARA have been loaded and you can browse them through familysearch.org/1950census.
- Nevada
- Utah
- Oregon
- Arizona
- Florida
- Idaho
- Louisiana
- California
- Wyoming
- Vermont
- Delaware
- New Hampshire
- New York
- New Mexico
- Texas
- Indiana
- Virginia
- Ohio
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Arkansas
- Pennsylvania
- Washington
- Illinois
- North Carolina
- Mississippi
- Connecticut
- Colorado
- Missouri
- Minnesota
- Maine
- Wisconsin
- Maryland
- New Jersey
- Tennessee
- Oklahoma
- Michigan
- Massachusetts
- Montana
- Iowa
- West Virginia
- Georgia
- Alabama
- District of Columbia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- North Dakota
- Kansas
- Nebraska
NARA also released the census images for consumption by other organizations, such as FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and others. You can now browse the images on these websites.
Additionally, on April 1st, Ancestry began the process of creating the computerized index that they are now providing to FamilySearch for this volunteer project.
To create the group, follow these instructions:
- Go to https://www.familysearch.org/groups/family and click Create Group.
- Complete the information required.
- Once created, you can invite others to join your group. Click to view the group, click Invite Member, then copy the URL to send an invitation to your group members.
- Approve each member as they join.
There are two important things members will want to be aware of:
- The messaging system is handy, but simple. For example, you can't share images without adding them to your Memories on FamilySearch. Of course, you could do that and delete them later if you wanted.
- All group members will get an email when other group members join. If you have a large group, that might not be ideal for group members, so you might want to let them know how to turn them off (though Admins will get the emails either way). You can share these steps with them:
"You can turn off group email notifications in your FamilySearch Settings - click on your name, then click Settings, then click Notifications. Turn off the Family Groups option."
Why do groups work this way? The new group functionality for the 1950 US Census project uses the group functionality from the "Family Groups" system on FamilySearch, which was originally created to let a small family group work together. While some of these features may not be ideal in the context of larger groups, this group functionality is vital to allow groups to track the work they do together.
- From the Groups page, click View Group, then click Invite Member.
- Copy the Link and send it in an email to your group members.
There are two important things members will want to be aware of:
- The messaging system is handy, but simple. For example, you can't share images without adding them to your Memories on FamilySearch. Of course, you could do that and delete them later if you wanted.
- All group members will get an email when other group members join. If you have a large group, that might not be ideal for group members, so you might want to let them know how to turn them off (though Admins will get the emails either way). You can share these steps with them:
"You can turn off group email notifications in your FamilySearch Settings - click on your name, then click Settings, then click Notifications. Turn off the Family Groups option."
Why do groups work this way? The new group functionality for the 1950 US Census project uses the group functionality from the "Family Groups" system on FamilySearch, which was originally created to let a small family group work together. While some of these features may not be ideal in the context of larger groups, this group functionality is vital to allow groups to track the work they do together.
You can participate and track your efforts as a group by following these instructions:
- Go to https://www.familysearch.org/groups/family and click Create Group.
- Complete the information required.
- Once created, you can invite others to join your group. Click to view the group and copy the URL to send an invitation to your group members.
- Approve each member as they join.