Looks like we can lay this one to rest. I wrote the following to the Census Bureau: I've seen notices on several genealogy-related mailing lists to the effect that the 2000 census was never going to be released to the public, even after the normal 73-year waiting period. This was supposedly to encourage people to give information. This doesn't sound right to me, but that's also true of a lot of things coming out of Washington these days. I poked around "Thomas" at the Library of Congress looking for legislation, and the Census Bureau web site, but didn't find anything. Can you confirm this or verify that's it's just a rumor, as I suspect? Paul Pennington Augusta, Georgia and received the following response: - --------------------------------------------------------- Dear Paul, I haven't heard anything to confirm the rumors that you discuss, but I am certain that they are just rumors. The Census Bureau is not in charge of releasing individual records, and is not making any claims about never releasing these records as a way to encourage participation in 2000. As you may already know, the National Archives is in charge of releasing individual census records following the 72 year waiting period. I am certain that the Archives intends to continue making census records available (genealogists, after all, constitute one of the most significant of the Archives' client groups). As to why these rumors are out there, I can only guess. One theory is that since the data will be transferred to computers electronically (rather than through a film-based method used since 1960), people are worried about what format the data will take when they are released. I know that Congress recently considered discussing how the data will be released in the future; but these were discussions about "how" to release the data, not "whether" (and, as with most political discussions, no conclusions were reached). Rest assured, the rumors that you have heard are only rumors. Census records are such a popular and vital genealogical resource that anyone who seriously proposes never releasing them will not be heeded. -Dave History Staff