OHIO — The complete 1950 Census is now available to the public, and Ohioans are getting a chance to search through the entries.
Once a decade, every person living across the country is counted in the U.S. Census, and those responses are kept confidential for 72 years.
The mid-century survey was the first time celebrities like Jimi Hendrix, Muhammad Ali and painter Bob Ross were counted. It’s the first time Sunda Anderson Peters was named in the document, as well.
Peters was the middle child of her siblings — all of them girls.
“There were five of us whose names all began with S, so we were known as the five S’s in the community,” she said.
Family has always been a focus of her life. Her maternal grandmother insisted the family attend reunions.
“Whether we liked our cousins or not,” Peters said with a laugh.
She even followed the branches of her family tree to discover her Licking County lineage tied to the first footsteps in the New World.
“I was able to follow that back to the Mayflower,” she said.
But it’s more recent history from the retired teacher’s own lifetime she’s focused on finding at the moment.
“My dad is right here at the bottom of the page,” she said while pointing to her laptop screen. “Roland Anderson Junior.”
She found her household included in the 1950 Census online. Her own unique name made a mark on the historical document.
“I am 7 years old at that point in time, and the funny thing is that he put me down twice,” she said. “Or she put me down twice.”
The second handwritten entry noting Peters was crossed out.
She used an old Cleveland City Guide to track down her husband’s address to find him in the Census. She said the extra information isn’t needed, but it’s helpful.
“I’m not a professional; I’m an ‘experienced’ genealogist,” Peters said with a laugh.
Volunteers are needed to help transcribe all the handwritten pages provided by the National Archives to make finding folks easier.
Peters has a long list of people she’s hoping to find.
“I have enough to last me the rest of my life and more,” she said. “I’ll have to come back and do this.”
Meanwhile, she’s enjoying the walk down memory lane.
“Going back in time you feel like you’re there again,” she said.
She’s also realizing how much has changed.
“And it’s appreciation for everything these people went through in their lifetime to allow us to be where we are today,” she said.
