40 days til the 1940 census
no. 31
What are the ladies up to? In the 1930 U.S. Census, a social worker, Alida C. Bowler was living on Kensington Road in Los Angeles, California. By 1937, she was the Superintendent at Carson Indian Agency in rural Nevada. In these images, she is checking out the work the Shoshone and Paiute women were doing with their poultry (RG 75).
Some things never change: The hard work of raising birds was needed because “…they pay the grocery bill.”
Dolly Moose and May Decker (Mrs. Louis Hicks) helped to support their families with their flocks. From the holdings of the National Archives at Riverside.
40 days til the 1940 Census
no. 31
We were thinking about what the differences might actually be between the 1930 and 1940 U.S. Federal Censuses. We know there will be lots. Here is an image of the area of San Diego near the Tia Juana River in 1931. It sure doesn’t look like that now! This image was taken of Ream Field by the U.S. Navy (RG 181) and is in the holdings of the National Archives at Riverside.
40 Days til the 1940 Census
no. 30
Men at Work! Working on the road between Jacob Lake and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in 1940. Hard work like this made the beauty of the Grand Canyon accessible to the world. These images are from the holdings of the Bureau of Public Roads (RG 30) at the National Archives at Riverside.
Forty days til the 1940 Census
no. 17
In 1936, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hired labor with Emergency Relief Administration (ERA) funds provided by the Federal government. The workers had been put out of work due to the Great Depression. The photographs are from quarterly reports of the Kenter Canyon Project in Santa Monica compiled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (RG 77). A view of a tunnel section excavated under a Pacific Electric Railway crossing and a storm drain. From the records of the National Archives at Riverside.
Forty Days til the 1940 Census
no. 16
What do these records have in common? The motion picture Voice in the Wind (1944). Lucille Ball pals around with soldiers at the Hawaii Theater premiere in Hollywood, California and the 1933 Declaration of Intention for the film’s star, Francis Lederer.
At the National Archives at Riverside we celebrate all of Hollywood’s stars from the Golden Age! Records are from our holdings of the US District Court in Los Angeles (RG 21) and the Los Angeles Port of Embarkation (RG 336).
40 days to the 1940 Census
no. 14
“Placing concrete in the cut-off wall on the axis of the dam on the west side of the spillway structure.” The 1930 U.S. Federal Census records this land was home to Homer and Marie Hansen and their family. Due to massive flooding in 1938, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began their work to control the Los Angeles River, constructing a the dam in the San Fernando Valley in 1939-1940.
This photograph is from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (RG 77) project files of the National Archives at Riverside.
40 days to the 1940 Census
no. 12
Whoops! Engineering and planning are important and these images show why. “The beaver, one of natures best engineers, is not always right. The picture(s) above [were] taken on the Black River in the north east corner of the [San Carlos] reservation.” These images are from the 1939 Forestry Report of the Phoenix Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (RG 75) at the National Archives in Riverside.
40 days to the 1940 Census
no. 11
Do you believe in cowboys? They were still hard at work in the late 1930s. Raising cattle was seen as a sustainable economic endeavor for Indian Tribes, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) supported and promoted raising large herds in Arizona. These images were taken on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in 1938 and the San Carlos Apache Reservation in 1940. These and many others can be found in the Annual Extension and Industry Reports of the BIA (RG 75) at the National Archives at Riverside.
40 days to the 1940 Census
no. 9
Olivia de Havilland understated things on her paperwork to be a U.S. citizen, claiming simply, “occupation: Actress”. She was, at the time, one of Hollywood’s best known actresses. She applied to become a United States citizen in July 1939, just 5 months before the premier of one of her most famous roles, Melanie Hamilton Wilkes in Gone with the Wind. She became a citizen in 1941.
Miss de Havilland naturalized in Los Angeles, California. This Declaration of Intention is from the holdings of the United States District Court (RG 21) at the National Archives in Riverside.
