April 6, 2022
UNC History Community,
Happy Wednesday! We hope everyone had a good weekend and got to enjoy the win over Duke.
1. 1950 Census Released: As of April 1, 2022, the 1950 census was released to the general public on a dedicated website created by the National Archives. According to archivist David S. Ferriero, “The images shown on the website are actually microfilms taken by the bureau in 1952 that had to be carefully scanned by archive staff.” The complete collection holds over 6 million population schedules and over 30,000 Indian reservation schedules. Read the article here. Visit the census archive here.
2. Watsonville is in the Heart: The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz is set to publish a new digital archive on April 9, 2022. Titled “Watsonville is in the Heart,” the collection utilizes oral histories, photos, and heirlooms to preserve “Filipino history in the Pajaro Valley, starting with the “Manong generation,” the first wave of Filipino immigrants who arrived in the 1920s and 1930s. Read the article here and visit the project website here.
3. Texas Digital History: “Although I dearly love a good library or archive … some of the sharpest tools for Texas history research are as close as your favorite digital device,” wrote Michael Barnes with the Austin American-Statesman. To highlight some of his favorite digital Texas history, Barnes compiled a list of resources ranging from an online handbook to photograph collections to preserved newspapers and magazines. Read the article here.
Make sure to contact the Digital History Lab if there are any skills you want to learn, need support with your own digital history projects, or are interested in our blog and/or podcast!
Thanks for reading,
The DHL Team (Madeleine, Cameron, & Craig)