On Saturday, April 2 from 10am to noon, join the Windham County Genealogy Interest Group as they explore finding their ancestors (and even yourself) over Zoom.

We know the 1950 census counted over 150 million people living in the United States and its territories. Because of the 72-year-old privacy law protecting personal data, information about these people was not available to those searching their family history. But all that changes on April 1,2022. No, it is not an April Fool's joke; that date marks the official release of the 1950 census data by the National Archives and Records Administration. We will be able to see the names and additional information about our ancestors to help add to the stories of their lives, at least for those who were alive in 1950.

Of course, the release of the data doesn't mean it will be instantly searchable. However, Ancestry is planning to use sophisticated artificial intelligence and handwriting recognition technology to create an initial index from digital census images. This change will speed up the availability of the census to researchers. Volunteers with FamilySearch will review the automated index to ensure that every name is included and indexed correctly. The human review will help refine the index to ensure that everyone included in the census can be found.

The Windham County (VT.) Genealogy Interest Group is an informal organization whose members are dedicated to genealogy education, research, and best practices. Meetings are held every other month on Zoom. Register for the meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlcOigqTosHdU7AJmA9I5DUhq75ZqI5wJg

Dec 12, 2024, 4 to 5:30 PM

Dec 14, 2024, 5 to 6 PM

Dec 15, 2024, 6 AM to 5 PM