MOMARIES Friends: I got the message below from the NELSON-L list.--Melinda ----------------------------------------- Hi, everybody: For what it is worth, I received the following message (very quickly, by the way) as a reply to a query I placed with the United States Bureau of the Census. Under U.S. law, the Federal decennial censuses are released 72 years after they are taken. ======================== Hello, The 1930 Federal census records will be released to the custody of the National Archives on April 1, 2002, for microfilming. You may want to contact the National Archives about their anticipated availability date of these records to the public. Regards, Carolyn History Staff ======================== After I got this message, I called the Chicago Regional Branch of the National Archives as suggested. I expected from the wording, "released ... for microfilming" that the filming would begin in April 2002, take a certain amount of time, then the rolls would have to be shipped out, etc. Instead, they told me today, 16 July 2001, that the Monday, 1 April 2002 date is the actual date of the release of the census film for public viewing. The archivist in Chicago informed me that the microfilm is *currently* in their possession, and they are doing quality control checking on each roll at this time. I would suggest that other National Archives sites would have the same schedule, this being the government and all, but my direct information is limited to the Chicago branch. Take whatever action you deem appropriate. No breaking and entering, though, and don't blame *me* when you tell your family and friends this far in advance what you'll be doing early next April <grin>. Permission is granted to redistribute this message. Darrell A. Martin a native Vermonter currently in exile in Addison, Illinois darrellm@sprynet.com