You would have qualified as an 1896 Census enumerator : ) I was a 2020 Census enumerator. There was no math and spelling test. We did use Census Apple phones to input data while at people's door. Another new electronic device as were the ones from the 1890 Census.
I am convinced that the History Channel needs to hire the History Guy. Under the direction of the History Guy the History Channel could once again be about history.
The History channel, like all commercial television, is about selling you six-bladed razors and hard-on pills. Period. Ask your doctor if Phukerol is right for you.
It is sad how poorly we protect our history. I have personally climbed into dumpsters in my hometown city hall to retreive items I thought were of interest. As a public employee, I have argued with supervisors when they decided to throw out old blueprints. And had fellow employees laugh as I crawled into dumpsters to retrieve items. Maybe I can't save everything, but I refused to sit idle while my hometown threw out parts of it's history.
As a surveyor by profession, I've seen and heard of survey records destruction that is beyond appalling. Original field books, maps, etc. casually 86'd with absolutely ZERO regard to their immense value. I see the 1890 census was treated no differently.
I was a GIS Specialist for the City of LA and was a part of the digitalization of cadastral maps. After conversion and scanning, the original vellum and linen maps were tossed out. The tract maps have been scanned from microfiche. These maps are available on the City of LA, Bureau of Engineering website. The City does have an archive for physical documents.
🤣🤣🤣🤣. Okay now that was super funny and considering what you stated was obvious that they kept all this data about the data they lost, when you said it it really put it into perspective and it was f****** hilarious!!
Such a great video! As a genealogist I deal with the loss of the 1890 census on a constant basis and there is so much important information that was lost. A lot of Americans can trace their immigrant ancestor's arrival to the 1880s, so the 1890 census would have been the first snapshot of their family in America. I did not know that the Government had purposely destroyed schedules in the 1930s but it makes me happy we now have groups such as Reclaim the Records who fight to preserve records.
I agree, I worked for the Genealogical Society of Utah/LDS Church for years both in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and then Granite Mountain Records Vault helping others and preserving records like this. The loss of the 1890 Census hurts everyone looking for their family history in the US during that era.
@@mtronaut1694 While I have no personal experience with German Census records, they do exist and would be helpful in researching your own family history in Germany - lisalouisecooke.com/2018/02/12/german-census-records/
@@mtronaut1694 Also, you might want to check out Archion.de for the church records. I've found out a lot about my German ancestry through that site. They do charge to access the records, but it isn't a lot.
I'm appalled. I have all these fancy degrees, studied history extensively, and never heard or read about this historical event that I remember. Sir, thank you for your absolute dedication to history. Remember the fire at the Veteran Affairs building? The USA government still claims there are lost veteran records. I guess the government never learns. From a PhD. P.S. I know the reapportionment didn't take place in 1920 because of a large rural to urban shift. Thank you.
I suspect that some of the ripples from this incident caused some of the decisions that lead to the loss of records of some veterans. They were afraid of water damage to the records so elected not to put in sprinklers feeling that accidental sprinkler deployment was a greater danger than fire itself. Fire suppression technology has come a long way so it's no longer a threat. One may want to wonder why it was marked for destruction. One of the frustrations I had to deal with when being the Facility Manager for a county was the dealing with records, for instance court records on felony trials had to be kept for 75 years (not an issue) but we had to ask permission to destroy the records after 75 years. When the request was sent to the state they had 90 days to make a decision, to allow destruction or have the records transferred to the state . They would refer the matter to the state historical archives who would ask for an extension on the 90 days (more of a demand, they'd withhold permission) if you queried them in 90 days the reply was another 90 day extension this would go o until you quit. We had some instances that I have to wonder about, some Veteran's service officer records got wet due to a foundation leak at the court house and got moldy. The Veteran's service officer was reviewing them and some of the records were from the 40's and 50's but were for widows of Civil War Veterans, seems a few young gals married older Civil War Vets, it was assumed to tap into their benefits, to wit some were collecting some benefits 30-40 years after their husband's death. With no money to preserve the records and the mold making workers in the office sick I suspect they got destroyed. Another time our Coroner was asking for access to some mechanical rooms that were controlled areas of the Courthouse to try to retrieve records he placed their years before, they weren't there and no one knows what happened to them. I had about 10 year's worth of correspondence between the Coroner and the County Board in my office about him requesting space in courthouse for both an office and space to store records, seems at that time the Coroner's records were being stored in his garage. In a pole barn the county had we had a couch stored, seems a murder was committed on that couch, and it was evidence and had to be stored until the person convicted of the murder was dead. We found boxes and boxes of accident photos from the 40's and 50's in that shed, the Sheriff was going to destroy them, at the last minute someone from the department picked them up, not sure what happened to them.
We tried to get my lady's father's war records from an archive in St. Louis. They told us that his records were among those that were long ago destroyed in a fire.
@@rabbi120348 Same for my Father in law, we couldn't get anything so he doesn't even have a veteran's marker on his grave. He was a WWII era bomber crew member
I'm not even a U S citizen or resident, but the sequence of events leading up to this loss made me feel sad. The accumulation of several failures of communication and responsibility resulting in catastrophe is similar to how major aircraft crashes occurr.
I'm like you, not a maerican, never been there, but i really enjoy well told American history, cause all we hear about america in the mass media is the dumb stuff Trump is doing that day. America is far more then then a country that had two dodgy people put up for it's highest office in 2016. It's history is worth remembering.
Ah don't feel sad, the records had errors anyways like he said. All this money wasted on keeping up records rather than feeding and clothing people.....
@@Dannyvirk thank you for realizing we are more than our bumbling idiot of a "leader". It feels as though the world is laughing at us at the moment. Also, people need to keep in mind the only reason trump was elected was it was between him and a obviously extremely corrupt politician who was only a final candidate because of a corrupted system in place that controls nominations.
Both my Father's parents were born in 1889.... Note: the recent fires in California have a person total. My little sister lost everything. So much of our family history in photographs gone. As bad as that is, We lost no family members. The photos can not replaced, But my family has a much higher value.....
I'm so glad everyone is ok. I look at the vids and it makes me so sad. Some of the unclaimed kitties haven't got a human to collect them any more. Can you guys look into that for a foster program. All your people are fine, excellent to hear. I have friends up there and they are all ok but an ancestral cabin was destroyed. Another lady lost everything she had. Bless you for posting.
My friend, you are a man after my own heart. The pain in your expression is evident in your report of this incredible tragedy. I wish more of our youth had the passion that you have for history, and your deep feelings of duty to be it's steward.
I'm in my 20's and it's very difficult for me to hear things like this. The pain I feel is indescribable. The American people have been robbed thoroughly...
At this point what does it matter! They, Our (Government and Youth) are out to have whites out numbered here, in this nation by every race that hates us! What do you think is going to happen to all this when it's up to Mexicans, Middle easterners, Africans, and every other race. Including all the Immigrants that have nothing to do with white American history! What about when every nation we have invaded. Has their part of the American dream, setting in American offices! My friend the fact is America is already past the tipping point! When they started letting blacks and Mexican people tare down the southern monuments and graves again, you can bet your ass that America is not far behind!
I have been studying my own family's genealogy for several years now, and along the way learned how the census records can play an enormous role in our ability to see into our own past. Again and again I have been blocked in my research by the void left by the destruction of the 1890 census. Thank you for bringing this event to light. It really is an unfortunate American tragedy. Keep up the good work. I enjoy all your informative and entertaining insights into history.
Its still a problem today. All the later 20th Century Census results were recorded on magnetic tape, which has decayed to the point it may be unreadable, and at best may be readable only once, but the machines that could read it have been discarded and scrapped. Some of the early NASA data is still available because a group of NASA employees got together and made sure they purchased enough readers and computers from sales to read the tapes. I don't think this has happened for the other archives.
When I was in graduate school in the early 70's NASA already had *warehouses* full of tapes from the early satellites, and not nearly enough computing power to read and analyze them. Probably by now most of them have decayed. I don't know if NASA ever got caught up. The data would have been a great baseline for the global warming debate.
@@rabbi120348 Maybe a bunch of it could be declassified and allow volunteers to remaster the records and bring the data up to current. It would take years and years but I think it's worth it.
It might be; it's a question of cost, and the condition of the tapes. I don't think any of the data is classified -- at least the stuff we were interested in was weather data.
@@rabbi120348 Don't know one way or the other if they are classified. I didn't know if there were spy satellites. It would be good to study the weather patterns over a long period of time. Wonder if it coincides with The Old Farmer's Almanac's records, too.
Well that was definitely history that need to be remembered as I had never read of the fire. It did remind me of something which happened here in Britain. Many of the records of those who served in the British armed forces in WW1 were stored in a warehouse in London. Unfortunately the warehouse was destroyed by the Germans in the Blitz in WW2. Though many important documents had been removed from London these were not amongst them. You mentioning about preserving documents from the 1890 census reminded me of something I came across several years ago. During excavations at Pompeii a number of piece of what was thought to be charcoal were found. The would have been used for cooking. Then someone looked at them and realised they were in fact rolls of paper, the type the Romans would have used for documents. They had been burnt by the fires caused by the volcanic eruptions. When they were examined in a laboratory it was realised that though they had been burnt that, under the right conditions, they could be read. Light acts differently to the ink to then it does to the burnt material they were made from and some of the text could be read. Unfortunately this would not have been available back then but if they had preserved the documents who knows what they could have found.
I loved your message at the end of your video about how it’s important to preserve your family history and stories. Potential history made a push for that too. It makes me so happy to see respected historians tell people their families history is worth saving!
I'd really, REALLY like to know/question the persons who blatantly hit that "thumbs down" icon for great material such as this!! What could POSSIBLY warrant a thumbs down? Audio levels are perfect and synced. Video footage color corrected. Information content is concise and to the point. What?!!? I only conclusion is there are bots doing such things.
I was thinking exactly the same thing. I was thinking and chuckling to myself that it was probably descendants of the night watchman working that night. But the likely answer is a few people that went overboard in the comment section and were removed or blocked from spouting off. Take care.
That would be the "RUclips Thumbs Down Squad", a bunch of trolls who are subscribed to a plethora of channels just so they can hit the thumbs down button in the first few minutes of a video going live. It's pathetic.
It's the only way to stop youtube's AI from continuing to recommend similar videos. I had a few videos that kept popping up in the right hand column, and could only get rid of them by watching and disliking them. So far, non of those videos or any related ones have been in my suggested column. So don't take it as if they hate the video; they simply would not want any more.
More than once I had to call my wive(s) and tell them I had spent the grocery money on books. Always history books.(no children by the way) At one time numbering more than 2000 on every conceiveable subject. Still I have no recollection of the 1890 census nor it's demise nor the begining of the National Archives ! You cannot imagine how much your channel is appreciated !!!!
The veil is lifted on yet more forgotten parts of our past. Yet another outstanding video! I saw this over on The History Guy's Patreon page. A membership I'm very glad to have. Thanks, History Guy!
Many of the records of the military personnel of WWII were destroyed in the archives by fire and flooding. Both my parents lost much of their records and therefore I am unable to trace their movements during the war.
Thank you, very much, History Guy, for all you have done and are doing... for us. I am the genealogist for my family. For the past 30+ years I have collected an incredible amount of information as well as discovered relatives across the country. It has been a fun ride and a satisfying effort. But, I cannot tell you how often I hit the proverbial black hole that is/was the Federal 1890 census.
I really appreciated that bit of history. I learned something I didn't know I needed to know. Old newspaper articles are a hobby of mine and when you mentioned The News Journal quote I felt hometown pride being from Wilmington, Delaware. Thank you for this channel.
Your last comments were a stab in my heart, history guy. My parents came to the US with three changes of clothes and a baby. Very few photos from their lives returned to them and nothing to commemorate previous generations. Then, in a short story, most of the paintings I had done before leaving home were abandoned and presumably lost to Katrina's flood of New Orleans. Not having those connections does leave me feeling a bit adrift in the long telling of our moment in the world. I love your videos. You're a great asset.
I got into genealogy several years ago. My degree is also in History. I learned within a few weeks about the loss of the 1890 Census. Doing family research the lost of that census leaves a blank space. I know that during that time some of my ancestors who were young died. I have little or no information about them. And it is sad. Same with the 1973 fire in St. Louis, MO on the Military Records Center. I learned about that after I was out of the Army and in the Army Reserves. Actually met a veteran who lost his records in that fire and was trying to reconstruct his proof of service. My girlfriend is a Mormon. She volunteered for well over two years digitizing records here in Texas. The State of Texas passed a law that said the Counties in Texas must digitize their records for many of them are so old they are falling apart. Sadly it is up to the counties to pay for this process. Due to some people not happy with the Mormons doing this and doing it for free, it has actually put records here in Texas in danger. When hurricane Harvey hit a couple of years go, many records were lost. But where my girlfriend went and copied them, the digital records survived. And it wasn't only the storm. One county she approached didn't want her to make copies. About two weeks later the county called up and asked her for help. Seems the water pipes broke and destroyed the records and they asked if she could help. Sadly, she couldn't. Such, it life.
Loved the video! I have known the records were destroyed for quite some time and now knowing exactly how tragically the records were mishandled even makes the story sadder. The up side is not all the census records were destroyed.
Another wonderfully presented history lesson. History Guy, you're the best! While doing research into my family history I found my great, great grandfather, as well as my great grandfather in the census records. My grandfather was born in the mid 1880's, and the 1890 census would have had him listed if they hadn't burned. Then, when the 1900 census was done, my grandfather was in Mexico building bridges and he was not recorded. I finally found him in the 1910 census.
@@chriswright8464, it was always explained to me that they were more worried about something going wrong with the sprinkler system, and flooding the records than a fire happening, so they had to make a decision of which would be worse, flooding or fire. They chose poorly, especially since what records didn't burn, a large number got flooded by the efforts to control the fire.
Unfortunately, the National Archives suffered another fire in Washington DC in 1978 which was also was a great loss to us history buffs: unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2018/12/04/disaster-strikes-the-national-archives-the-1978-nitrate-vault-fire/
@@randymckillip6661 That old nitrate film is dangerous stuff. I saw a clip on RUclips(wish I had kept the address) of a Belgian fire department training film from 1965. Although it had French subtitles which I can't read, you could see they had discarded film and they pulled out a piece from the can and light it. It burned inside the can and they lowered it into a bucket of water and smoke bubbling through the water, this is like a Class D (burning metal ) fire. They then went through their arsenal of fire fighting methods, CO2, dry chemical, foam, all ineffective. The fire would go out, then a few seconds later flare up again like trick birthday candles. Class D fires are terrifying, about all you can do is clear the area and let it burn out on it's own.
It took me almost 45 minutes to get my old youtube account back so i could put a reaction to this video. I just wanna say that i love your work and all the great short history stories you put out here. Its now a weekend breakfast thing for me and my girlfriend to watch a few of your episodes while we eat breakfast. I think its one of the best things out there. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this. While doing research on my family genealogy, I often ran across gaps and had the devil's own time of trying to figure out where family members were between 1880 and 1900. I knew of the fire, of course; but never knew the extent of what went on afterward. Kudos to you for bringing this to light.
I'm really glad you covered this. This and the military records fire are the biggest frustration to me as someone who does a lot of genealogy work for my family and for others.
Thank you for explaining so well and concisely why my Greatgrand mother's birth is not recorded. Mead Goodwin (Lukenbill) was born in 1890. She was an amazing person, with so many great accomplishments who was a great influence on me. I was lucky enough to have her around until 1991 when I was 29 and she died at 101 years old. I have been able to trace her heritage back beyond her time but it is very sad for me that the first time she appeared on the stage of our human story she is no longer recorded. And I know there are literally millions of amazing people who share the same condition.
I FULLY understand your pain. I'ma historian, of the country that had 90% of her archive and library resources destroyed. Imagine that. You're loosing 90% of all archive records and 90% of all the books you have. That's Poland under the German occupation 1939-1945. A war on culture. Nearly won. NEARLY.
Ron The Rebel Dumbass. American is not a race and people coming in to the US are what made the history and will keep making history. Where do your people originate from?
@Ron the rebel. You apparently have no idea that ALL Americans are immigrants or their descendants. (Dont bother saying except Native Americans, there are no Homo sapiens indigenous to the Americans land mass)
And that was not the first time the country was hit by such a destructive wave of vandalism and looting, the swedish did a proper mess back the days of Jan II Kazimierz Waza, studing the story Poland since that period to this days must a depressing yet extremely interesting thing.
@@scarletfluerr Well, at one point there were no humans on any landmass. Natives were here for thousands of years. It's fair to say the land was theirs. African Americans are mostly descendants of enslaved people, not immigrants. You're not an immigrant if you came here against your will.
my dad was a town historian, and he found a stash of glass negatives in a local factory's abandoned darkroom, labed "negatives of no value", it was a gold mine of info about how our town grew from the gold rush to the 1930s. when it was discovered that local families of importance were mostly all descended from a prostitute living in a large local hotel, who later became an influential woman of means, my dad was literally run out of town, and most of those glass negatives were destroyed. he restored a carnegie library in a nearby town and curated a museum there until he died. that towns history was similar but the locals were not traumatized by the scandals, an dhe was treated warmly for the last couple decades of his life.
This is one of my favorite videos you've shared. The loss makes my stomach clench...just like it does when I think of the Alexandrian library. 👍Pookie must have lucky toes!
@Jim I've read that much of it may have been spirited away.... I never said the losses were comparable. Any loss of historical information is sad. If I had to choose between which to save...of course it would be Alexandria.
Really? First, the records of the previous and following census weren't involved. Second, back then the census didn't asked about toilets and other such nonsense. It's just no big deal.
So THAT'S why I couldn't find my Great-grandparents' names in that census. I was annoyed when I saw their entries for the 1920 census. The last name was correct, but the family's German first names were all altered to sound more English. GGDad was Karl Friedrich, but it was changer to Carl Fredrick, Johann changed to John, etc. I think it likely had to do with WWI and the hatred some had for Germans. I don't know if they altered their own names, or the census taker did.
I'm a genealogist, and had heard of the fire, but not of the congressional act later to wipe out the census. I wish they'd show this at Rootstech in a few weeks. Your programs are TOP NOTCH! Thank you!
This was one of your best videos. I do a ton of genealogy research and the loss of the 1890 census is still absolutely devastating. So much happened in America between 1880 and 1900. Massive immigration to America, and massive migration from east to west across America. Excellent closing words to this video. Protect history.
Super. Well done. Sad conclusion. I'm a retired college professor of physics and astronomy, so I do understand the value of research. Plus, I have been doing family history since 1970, when it was necessary to visit cemeteries, county clerks' offices, churches, and visit many relatives for stories and for their bibles that often recorded family history. Now, in 2019, one can get almost everything online. I soon found out that the 1890 census was not available, and I couldn't get the 1900 Census immediately in 1970... and the 1940 census has been very helpful; waiting for the 1950 one to come out. Not until your video here did I realize the extent of loss and damage. Thank you for sharing. I just told my brother about the loss of the 1890 census, like yesterday. Now I can tell him more. - Dr Dave Menke, Tucson.
How the emergent digital era will fare as far as preservation of records remains to be seen. I would guess however that the potential for catastrophic record loss is on a scale which would make the 1890 loss look like one grain of sand on the beach.
@Tangerine Sky333 You wish. I've spent last week trying to locate some records from 1982. Originally stored on large tapes, then moved to magnetic tapes, then to CD-ROM and then to harddisk. But something seems to have gone wrong in the last move to the hard disks and nobody noticed for the last ten years. Now we're trying to find out if the CD-ROMs are still in some basement or are gone.
Bravo, sir! I do some research into my family history, and I actually FEEL the absence of the 1890 census every time I look into my family tree. It would explain so much. I knew that it was missing but did not know the full story. Thank you.
History Guy, to the ears and mind of this fellow, this is the most profound video you have yet produced. My heartiest congratulations to you! Keep up the great work. Sincerely, John
During the Irish Civil War (1922) an explosion at the Public Records Office destroyed a substantial amount of records from the 13th to the 19th century. Among them were the census records of 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851, an entire demographic record of pre-Famine Ireland. But all was not lost, there is a comprehensive initiative ongoing for nearly 100 years to track down copies of the documents, digitise them and make them available online.
Yeah, I was trying to go through my family history and 7 of the 8 branches of my family were lost in the 1890 census. Somehow my great great grandfathers records survived
Just found this by accident & will be careful not to lose this site. Wonderful information! Now to read & catch up with other things you have researched. Thank you for keeping my questioning zeal going.
History Guy, I have recently found your videos and very much enjoy. And, though I will certainly address you as the History Guy, I would enjoy knowing your real name.
Thank you for this episode re the 1890 Census. It was indeed a tragic loss for the nation. A large 20-year gap in individual, population & migration history that can only be bridged via a detailed, time-consuming analysis of other documented evidence spanning the entire 20-year gap.
Wow. And this still happens (kind of) in Canada today. "In the 1970s and eighties, Statscan senior analyst Craig McKie was occasionally instructed to destroy information - including such valuable stuff as the last remaining copy of the 1973 data set of highly qualified manpower - to save money on storage costs. (He refused.) “That was the mentality of Statscan: You use data and then you destroy it,” he says. Statscan’s cavalier approach to preserving data extended to the agency’s most basic functions. Some parts of past censuses and other reports are simply gone, either because files have gone missing, been accidentally shredded or dumped, or have just physically deteriorated. These include bits of the 1961 census - not just a historical relic but a cache of valuable data for researchers looking at long-term trends. “There have been instances where data has been lost - parts of the historic censuses have been lost - and no one quite understands what happened,” says Wayne Smith, Canada’s chief statistician from 2010 to 2016" The link for that: www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-what-went-wrong-at-statscan-a-history-of-secrecy-small-time-thinking/
Love your videos and as someone that is retired and works on her ancestry, this was extra interesting. Which leads me to requesting a short video on Robert E. Lee and his decision to lead the South. My 2nd great grandmother, Dora Evaline Lee is distantly related to Lee and lived in Lancaster, VA in 1880. When I had my subscription to Fold3 I remember finding that 1000 Lees fought for the North and 1000 Lees fought for the South. I have listened to the "Lees of Virginia" audible which is 18 hours of the earlier Lees settling into VA and I would be interested in what you find out about Robert E. Lee. I am all about preserving history and was sadden when a new mayor took down all Confederate monuments in Baltimore City. We/a committee formed to deal with what would happen to the statues, had agreed a plaque would be added beside each Confederate monument. The new and existing mayor took them down in the middle of the night and I have no clue where they currently reside. Thanks for preserving our history through your videos, they are short and interesting!
I'm so delighted you reported this subject. Doing my own family genealogy beginning in the year 2000, I learned of this gap in previous family records. That gap is significant because every 10 years back then impacted birth records, etc. Much family history was lost disappointing. I tried other types of records to validate. It is a source of satisfaction to be curious of people you never knew. Because of them I entered the world! Lots of leaves to account for.
I can see the dismay in this poor historian's eyes at the galling mismanagement of those records. We can only hope that this kind of thing will never happen again. And thank you for this video.
This script was written by my son. the author of the script is written the bottom of the video description. "THG" is me, "HCW" is Ms. History Guy, and "JCG" is my son.
Thanks, I think, for this sad post. *For many decades, Viktor Kamkin Bookstore in Rockville, Maryland was the Premiere Source of Russian language publications in the Western Hemisphere*. I bought dozens of books there to refresh my shoddy skills in the first couple of decades after taking an intensive undergrad course - dictionaries, weeklies, novels, Comic books... But by the 90s the place was losing money because of competition from the internet. Eventually the store couldn't pay its rent, and the building owner sued, and when the store couldn't make the arrears, packed up the unsold books to make the space available to a new client. In 2006 a number of books were saved after the store had been in receivership, but at least Two Hundred THOUSAND volumes of all kinds were sent by the building owner to the Montgomery County Incinerator and destroyed. Wonder if that guy ever heard of the Library at Alexandria...
I was an iqnumerator for the 2000 census and I had fun with it. The best part was this apartment complex about 30 units and there was a grandmother for the whole apartment complex she would watch babies and toddlers during the day and then she would watch the older children as they got home from school. I was so lucky after she understood the need and finished her own senses she called all of the children into her apartment she had the front door open and they were going in and out as they pleased you know and using the kitchen and bathroom as they needed and this was a small horde of children it was wonderful and of course she had the babies on the couch and playpens everywhere. Like I said she called in all the older kits and she had them take a look at me literally take a look remember her face because this lady is going to come and count your family and this is important because it means we get represented and the most important thing is it's for the schools. Now she repeated the it's for the schools several times and every child came and looked at me until we're sure that they knew they could tell their parents what I look like and that it was important that they talk to me. Then she dismissed her troops. She told me that everybody picked up their kids by about 6 p.m. And so if I were to come back at 7 I will find all the apartment building willing to talk to me. So I did just that I got back at 7 and every single door was open to me. I had talked to Grandma I had Grandma's see you of approval every apartment was more than happy to sit down with me with the parents answering my questions even putting up in some cases with my fumbling Spanish. This was in Phoenix Arizona and I can honestly say it was one of the most fun experiences I've ever had all because of Grandma.
On the other hand I did not participate in the last census. The emphasis on breaking down Hispanics into their various categories, while whites have as diverse nationalities of which they're comprised proved to me the government's uneven hand in directing funds and importance towards hispanics, to the ignoring of recognizing whites. It's rigged. I'll never be part of it again. It's become a political tool.
Thanks Kindly History Guy! Years ago I found a 1900 Census takers badge. The soldiered pin in the back had let go. So I did research about this profession. I found that they carried guns, as some takers had been killed snooping around, or so it was thought. It was a risky job, thus the guns. Remote places in the sticks, muddy roads sometime impassable until better weather and nasty people. So this 1900 badge held many experiences thus leading me to do research on this topic. My daughter and myself are the family archive keepers. We have photos of GGGgrandparents. My GGGGrandfather was born in Ireland in 1772 and his wife in the 1790s. They arrived here in 1815 and settled in Lancaster Co. Pa. We have their photos taken in their old age about 1859. And with history loving Grandparents the history fire was set a blaze in me at an early age. In their old blue Plymouth we travel about the countryside investigating and researching our heritage, our history. I still do this and your channel only adds to all the excitement. I believe history should be studied intently in our schools. Seems it has taken a back seat to sports. History repeats itself and there is so much to gain in these lessons. You certainly help with this and are greatly appreciated! Many Thanks to the History Guy and Gal! DaveyJO in Lancaster Co. Pa.
I can see your passion for history in the final moments of this video. To the layman, the loss of such records would be of no consequence but to you , it is truly a tragic loss.
The story of how and why "computing tabulating registers" became IBM is in itself, history worthy remembering. A great story H.G. see "In Search of Excellence"....
Reminds me of the loss of state records in Nashville, Tennessee in 2010, when the Cumberland river over flowed its banks and soaked the State archive which had been built with full knowledge of the State Legislature in a flood plain. Great job guys! Thanks for rolling the dice with things that can't be replaced!
As the geneolical historian of our family I can tell you of the irrectable loss of this data is for us! I always view this data as the trunk and limbs of our history. Yet it's the stories told that put the leaves on the tree and brings that tree back to life! That's what the History Guy does with his stories. He helps bring history alive, one story at a time! As one historian to another, thank you!
As a family genealogist I am painfully aware of the loss of the 1890 census. I have traced our family connections to a single ancestor arriving from Germany in 1744, and yet there is that 20 year period between 1880 and 1900 where so many connections are very difficult to document. In some cases the birth of a child can't be connected to a parent without great effort. It is indeed a loss of history.
I have been so insanely busy at work lately (working at a Walmart in the apocalypse) so when I got the mail to fill in this years census I did not take time to do it. I was planning to buy I keep getting delayed by work and recovery from work. None of that is good reason mind you but it is what it is, just got a reminder card in the mail today and I will have it filled out ASAP. That is one headcount you can be glad your history lesson got in, hopefully there will be more viewers who see this and respond.
At the start I say only .0001% of the census survived. I did the math wrong. The surviving records represent .01%. I apologize for the error.
Your the History Guy, not the "Math Guy". The error is forgiven.
@@Zenas521
and You're not The Spelling Guy
;- )
It’s that pesky percent that trips me up, too!
You would have qualified as an 1896 Census enumerator : )
I was a 2020 Census enumerator. There was no math and spelling test. We did use Census Apple phones to input data while at people's door. Another new electronic device as were the ones from the 1890 Census.
This is unacceptable!@#$%@!@#$!!!!!
😊
I am convinced that the History Channel needs to hire the History Guy. Under the direction of the History Guy the History Channel could once again be about history.
Terry Grossmann That would be nice, I'm tired of used furniture
Terry Grossmann they would waste his time and spirit
@Spork Spatula , right? "This looks like an airplane to me. That means that ancient aliens came to earth, hung out awhile, then left for no reason"
The History channel, like all commercial television, is about selling you six-bladed razors and hard-on pills.
Period.
Ask your doctor if Phukerol is right for you.
@@danconrad920 I'm intrigued. Got any pamphlets?
It is sad how poorly we protect our history. I have personally climbed into dumpsters in my hometown city hall to retreive items I thought were of interest. As a public employee, I have argued with supervisors when they decided to throw out old blueprints. And had fellow employees laugh as I crawled into dumpsters to retrieve items.
Maybe I can't save everything, but I refused to sit idle while my hometown threw out parts of it's history.
You never know when those blueprints might be needed, too.
Brian Garrow You are a true history hero! As an archivist this story makes me weep!
You are literally doing gods work, good luck and wear some puncture proof gloves you never know what those people are up to
Keep doing it Brian. You're a hero!
Brian Garrow thank you for protecting history.
As a surveyor by profession, I've seen and heard of survey records destruction that is beyond appalling. Original field books, maps, etc. casually 86'd with absolutely ZERO regard to their immense value. I see the 1890 census was treated no differently.
I was a GIS Specialist for the City of LA and was a part of the digitalization of cadastral maps. After conversion and scanning, the original vellum and linen maps were tossed out. The tract maps have been scanned from microfiche.
These maps are available on the City of LA, Bureau of Engineering website.
The City does have an archive for physical documents.
I never even contemplated how the US national archives came to be... thanks for shedding light on that!
The only genealogy loss greater than this was the Four Corners disaster in Dublin during the Irish Civil War in 1922.
“A story a mismanagement that resulted in literally forgetting our history”
*History Guy wakes up in a cold sweat after a nightmare*
Ironic that they kept detailed records about how they lost all those detailed census records. I love well researched stuff like this.
🤣🤣🤣🤣. Okay now that was super funny and considering what you stated was obvious that they kept all this data about the data they lost, when you said it it really put it into perspective and it was f****** hilarious!!
Such a great video! As a genealogist I deal with the loss of the 1890 census on a constant basis and there is so much important information that was lost. A lot of Americans can trace their immigrant ancestor's arrival to the 1880s, so the 1890 census would have been the first snapshot of their family in America. I did not know that the Government had purposely destroyed schedules in the 1930s but it makes me happy we now have groups such as Reclaim the Records who fight to preserve records.
I agree, I worked for the Genealogical Society of Utah/LDS Church for years both in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and then Granite Mountain Records Vault helping others and preserving records like this. The loss of the 1890 Census hurts everyone looking for their family history in the US during that era.
Oh boy, would it help me to find my ancestors in any census records...greetings from Germany! 🙄
@@mtronaut1694 While I have no personal experience with German Census records, they do exist and would be helpful in researching your own family history in Germany - lisalouisecooke.com/2018/02/12/german-census-records/
@@mtronaut1694 Also, you might want to check out Archion.de for the church records. I've found out a lot about my German ancestry through that site. They do charge to access the records, but it isn't a lot.
@@billdescoteaux thank you, I've had a few passes there already 👍
I'm appalled. I have all these fancy degrees, studied history extensively, and never heard or read about this historical event that I remember. Sir, thank you for your absolute dedication to history. Remember the fire at the Veteran Affairs building? The USA government still claims there are lost veteran records. I guess the government never learns. From a PhD. P.S. I know the reapportionment didn't take place in 1920 because of a large rural to urban shift. Thank you.
I suspect that some of the ripples from this incident caused some of the decisions that lead to the loss of records of some veterans. They were afraid of water damage to the records so elected not to put in sprinklers feeling that accidental sprinkler deployment was a greater danger than fire itself. Fire suppression technology has come a long way so it's no longer a threat. One may want to wonder why it was marked for destruction. One of the frustrations I had to deal with when being the Facility Manager for a county was the dealing with records, for instance court records on felony trials had to be kept for 75 years (not an issue) but we had to ask permission to destroy the records after 75 years. When the request was sent to the state they had 90 days to make a decision, to allow destruction or have the records transferred to the state . They would refer the matter to the state historical archives who would ask for an extension on the 90 days (more of a demand, they'd withhold permission) if you queried them in 90 days the reply was another 90 day extension this would go o until you quit. We had some instances that I have to wonder about, some Veteran's service officer records got wet due to a foundation leak at the court house and got moldy. The Veteran's service officer was reviewing them and some of the records were from the 40's and 50's but were for widows of Civil War Veterans, seems a few young gals married older Civil War Vets, it was assumed to tap into their benefits, to wit some were collecting some benefits 30-40 years after their husband's death. With no money to preserve the records and the mold making workers in the office sick I suspect they got destroyed. Another time our Coroner was asking for access to some mechanical rooms that were controlled areas of the Courthouse to try to retrieve records he placed their years before, they weren't there and no one knows what happened to them. I had about 10 year's worth of correspondence between the Coroner and the County Board in my office about him requesting space in courthouse for both an office and space to store records, seems at that time the Coroner's records were being stored in his garage. In a pole barn the county had we had a couch stored, seems a murder was committed on that couch, and it was evidence and had to be stored until the person convicted of the murder was dead. We found boxes and boxes of accident photos from the 40's and 50's in that shed, the Sheriff was going to destroy them, at the last minute someone from the department picked them up, not sure what happened to them.
@@fk4515 That sure is fascinating information. Good luck.
We tried to get my lady's father's war records from an archive in St. Louis. They told us that his records were among those that were long ago destroyed in a fire.
@@rabbi120348 Very sad. If you look on the Web, there are procedures to receive some records. Where I come from, I extend a God bless to you.
@@rabbi120348 Same for my Father in law, we couldn't get anything so he doesn't even have a veteran's marker on his grave. He was a WWII era bomber crew member
I'm not even a U S citizen or resident, but the sequence of events leading up to this loss made me feel sad. The accumulation of several failures of communication and responsibility resulting in catastrophe is similar to how major aircraft crashes occurr.
It's the Swiss Cheese Effect in action.
I'm like you, not a maerican, never been there, but i really enjoy well told American history, cause all we hear about america in the mass media is the dumb stuff Trump is doing that day. America is far more then then a country that had two dodgy people put up for it's highest office in 2016. It's history is worth remembering.
Ah don't feel sad, the records had errors anyways like he said.
All this money wasted on keeping up records rather than feeding and clothing people.....
@@Dannyvirk thank you for realizing we are more than our bumbling idiot of a "leader". It feels as though the world is laughing at us at the moment. Also, people need to keep in mind the only reason trump was elected was it was between him and a obviously extremely corrupt politician who was only a final candidate because of a corrupted system in place that controls nominations.
@@Dannyvirk This is, likely, the nicest thing I have heard about the US in any RUclips comment section.
Fascinating story. I also loved seeing the old photographs and hearing about one of the precursors to IBM.
Both my Father's parents were born in 1889....
Note: the recent fires in California have a person total.
My little sister lost everything. So much of our family history in photographs gone.
As bad as that is,
We lost no family members. The photos can not replaced,
But my family has a much higher value.....
I'm so glad everyone is ok. I look at the vids and it makes me so sad. Some of the unclaimed kitties haven't got a human to collect them any more. Can you guys look into that for a foster program. All your people are fine, excellent to hear. I have friends up there and they are all ok but an ancestral cabin was destroyed. Another lady lost everything she had. Bless you for posting.
My friend, you are a man after my own heart. The pain in your expression is evident in your report of this incredible tragedy. I wish more of our youth had the passion that you have for history, and your deep feelings of duty to be it's steward.
Tim McNeil,
Did you see it too? I thought he was about to cry.
I'm in my 20's and it's very difficult for me to hear things like this. The pain I feel is indescribable. The American people have been robbed thoroughly...
At this point what does it matter! They, Our (Government and Youth) are out to have whites out numbered here, in this nation by every race that hates us! What do you think is going to happen to all this when it's up to Mexicans, Middle easterners, Africans, and every other race. Including all the Immigrants that have nothing to do with white American history! What about when every nation we have invaded. Has their part of the American dream, setting in American offices! My friend the fact is America is already past the tipping point! When they started letting blacks and Mexican people tare down the southern monuments and graves again, you can bet your ass that America is not far behind!
Too bad the DOD didn't take this to heart before the service records burned up in St Louis.
I have been studying my own family's genealogy for several years now, and along the way learned how the census records can play an enormous role in our ability to see into our own past. Again and again I have been blocked in my research by the void left by the destruction of the 1890 census. Thank you for bringing this event to light. It really is an unfortunate American tragedy.
Keep up the good work. I enjoy all your informative and entertaining insights into history.
Its still a problem today. All the later 20th Century Census results were recorded on magnetic tape, which has decayed to the point it may be unreadable, and at best may be readable only once, but the machines that could read it have been discarded and scrapped. Some of the early NASA data is still available because a group of NASA employees got together and made sure they purchased enough readers and computers from sales to read the tapes. I don't think this has happened for the other archives.
When I was in graduate school in the early 70's NASA already had *warehouses* full of tapes from the early satellites, and not nearly enough computing power to read and analyze them. Probably by now most of them have decayed. I don't know if NASA ever got caught up. The data would have been a great baseline for the global warming debate.
@@rabbi120348 Maybe a bunch of it could be declassified and allow volunteers to remaster the records and bring the data up to current. It would take years and years but I think it's worth it.
Thank you! At last I can justify to the wife why I have filled our attic full of obsolete 70's and 80's computer tech!
It might be; it's a question of cost, and the condition of the tapes. I don't think any of the data is classified -- at least the stuff we were interested in was weather data.
@@rabbi120348 Don't know one way or the other if they are classified. I didn't know if there were spy satellites. It would be good to study the weather patterns over a long period of time. Wonder if it coincides with The Old Farmer's Almanac's records, too.
Well that was definitely history that need to be remembered as I had never read of the fire. It did remind me of something which happened here in Britain. Many of the records of those who served in the British armed forces in WW1 were stored in a warehouse in London. Unfortunately the warehouse was destroyed by the Germans in the Blitz in WW2. Though many important documents had been removed from London these were not amongst them.
You mentioning about preserving documents from the 1890 census reminded me of something I came across several years ago. During excavations at Pompeii a number of piece of what was thought to be charcoal were found. The would have been used for cooking. Then someone looked at them and realised they were in fact rolls of paper, the type the Romans would have used for documents. They had been burnt by the fires caused by the volcanic eruptions. When they were examined in a laboratory it was realised that though they had been burnt that, under the right conditions, they could be read. Light acts differently to the ink to then it does to the burnt material they were made from and some of the text could be read.
Unfortunately this would not have been available back then but if they had preserved the documents who knows what they could have found.
I loved your message at the end of your video about how it’s important to preserve your family history and stories. Potential history made a push for that too. It makes me so happy to see respected historians tell people their families history is worth saving!
I'd really, REALLY like to know/question the persons who blatantly hit that "thumbs down" icon for great material such as this!! What could POSSIBLY warrant a thumbs down? Audio levels are perfect and synced. Video footage color corrected. Information content is concise and to the point. What?!!? I only conclusion is there are bots doing such things.
I was thinking exactly the same thing. I was thinking and chuckling to myself that it was probably descendants of the night watchman working that night. But the likely answer is a few people that went overboard in the comment section and were removed or blocked from spouting off. Take care.
That would be the "RUclips Thumbs Down Squad", a bunch of trolls who are subscribed to a plethora of channels just so they can hit the thumbs down button in the first few minutes of a video going live. It's pathetic.
Communists
Its standard. Haters gonna hate /shrug
It's the only way to stop youtube's AI from continuing to recommend similar videos. I had a few videos that kept popping up in the right hand column, and could only get rid of them by watching and disliking them. So far, non of those videos or any related ones have been in my suggested column. So don't take it as if they hate the video; they simply would not want any more.
More than once I had to call my wive(s) and tell them I had spent the grocery money on books. Always history books.(no children by the way) At one time numbering more than 2000 on every conceiveable subject. Still I have no recollection of the 1890 census nor it's demise nor the begining of the National Archives ! You cannot imagine how much your channel is appreciated !!!!
The veil is lifted on yet more forgotten parts of our past. Yet another outstanding video! I saw this over on The History Guy's Patreon page. A membership I'm very glad to have. Thanks, History Guy!
Such a loss is absolutely heartbreaking. Especially since so much of the destruction was intentional.
Many of the records of the military personnel of WWII were destroyed in the archives by fire and flooding. Both my parents lost much of their records and therefore I am unable to trace their movements during the war.
Not to speak of all the county records lost in the civil war and to fires.
Thank you, very much, History Guy, for all you have done and are doing... for us.
I am the genealogist for my family. For the past 30+ years I have collected an incredible amount of information as well as discovered relatives across the country. It has been a fun ride and a satisfying effort. But, I cannot tell you how often I hit the proverbial black hole that is/was the Federal 1890 census.
I really appreciated that bit of history. I learned something I didn't know I needed to know. Old newspaper articles are a hobby of mine and when you mentioned The News Journal quote I felt hometown pride being from Wilmington, Delaware.
Thank you for this channel.
Your last comments were a stab in my heart, history guy. My parents came to the US with three changes of clothes and a baby. Very few photos from their lives returned to them and nothing to commemorate previous generations. Then, in a short story, most of the paintings I had done before leaving home were abandoned and presumably lost to Katrina's flood of New Orleans. Not having those connections does leave me feeling a bit adrift in the long telling of our moment in the world. I love your videos. You're a great asset.
I got into genealogy several years ago. My degree is also in History. I learned within a few weeks about the loss of the 1890 Census.
Doing family research the lost of that census leaves a blank space.
I know that during that time some of my ancestors who were young died.
I have little or no information about them.
And it is sad.
Same with the 1973 fire in St. Louis, MO on the Military Records Center.
I learned about that after I was out of the Army and in the Army Reserves.
Actually met a veteran who lost his records in that fire and was trying to reconstruct his proof of service.
My girlfriend is a Mormon.
She volunteered for well over two years digitizing records here in Texas.
The State of Texas passed a law that said the Counties in Texas must digitize their records for many of them are so old they are falling apart.
Sadly it is up to the counties to pay for this process.
Due to some people not happy with the Mormons doing this and doing it for free, it has actually put records here in Texas in danger.
When hurricane Harvey hit a couple of years go, many records were lost.
But where my girlfriend went and copied them, the digital records survived.
And it wasn't only the storm.
One county she approached didn't want her to make copies.
About two weeks later the county called up and asked her for help.
Seems the water pipes broke and destroyed the records and they asked if she could help.
Sadly, she couldn't.
Such, it life.
As an avid genealogy researcher, I found this episode to be incredibly informative. Thank you for your research, and your appreciation of the past.
Loved the video! I have known the records were destroyed for quite some time and now knowing exactly how tragically the records were mishandled even makes the story sadder. The up side is not all the census records were destroyed.
As an amateur history buff all I can say is this guy is great. No hidden agendas only facts accurately explained. Kudos to you sir!
Love watching your videos 👍
Another wonderfully presented history lesson. History Guy, you're the best!
While doing research into my family history I found my great, great grandfather, as well as my great grandfather in the census records. My grandfather was born in the mid 1880's, and the 1890 census would have had him listed if they hadn't burned. Then, when the 1900 census was done, my grandfather was in Mexico building bridges and he was not recorded. I finally found him in the 1910 census.
Please do an episode about the 1973 fire in St Louis at the National Personal Records Center where millions of military personal fire were lost.
I hope he does! I work there, and we have pictures of the aftermath in the lobby as a reminder of what happened.
Any fire sprinkler system?
@@chriswright8464, it was always explained to me that they were more worried about something going wrong with the sprinkler system, and flooding the records than a fire happening, so they had to make a decision of which would be worse, flooding or fire. They chose poorly, especially since what records didn't burn, a large number got flooded by the efforts to control the fire.
Unfortunately, the National Archives suffered another fire in Washington DC in 1978 which was also was a great loss to us history buffs: unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2018/12/04/disaster-strikes-the-national-archives-the-1978-nitrate-vault-fire/
@@randymckillip6661 That old nitrate film is dangerous stuff. I saw a clip on RUclips(wish I had kept the address) of a Belgian fire department training film from 1965. Although it had French subtitles which I can't read, you could see they had discarded film and they pulled out a piece from the can and light it. It burned inside the can and they lowered it into a bucket of water and smoke bubbling through the water, this is like a Class D (burning metal ) fire. They then went through their arsenal of fire fighting methods, CO2, dry chemical, foam, all ineffective. The fire would go out, then a few seconds later flare up again like trick birthday candles. Class D fires are terrifying, about all you can do is clear the area and let it burn out on it's own.
It took me almost 45 minutes to get my old youtube account back so i could put a reaction to this video. I just wanna say that i love your work and all the great short history stories you put out here.
Its now a weekend breakfast thing for me and my girlfriend to watch a few of your episodes while we eat breakfast. I think its one of the best things out there. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this. While doing research on my family genealogy, I often ran across gaps and had the devil's own time of trying to figure out where family members were between 1880 and 1900. I knew of the fire, of course; but never knew the extent of what went on afterward. Kudos to you for bringing this to light.
I'm really glad you covered this. This and the military records fire are the biggest frustration to me as someone who does a lot of genealogy work for my family and for others.
What a wonderful lesson. I have been doing genealogy research for over 40 years and did not know this story. Thanks!
Thank you for explaining so well and concisely why my Greatgrand mother's birth is not recorded. Mead Goodwin (Lukenbill) was born in 1890. She was an amazing person, with so many great accomplishments who was a great influence on me. I was lucky enough to have her around until 1991 when I was 29 and she died at 101 years old. I have been able to trace her heritage back beyond her time but it is very sad for me that the first time she appeared on the stage of our human story she is no longer recorded. And I know there are literally millions of amazing people who share the same condition.
I FULLY understand your pain. I'ma historian, of the country that had 90% of her archive and library resources destroyed. Imagine that. You're loosing 90% of all archive records and 90% of all the books you have. That's Poland under the German occupation 1939-1945. A war on culture. Nearly won. NEARLY.
When the influx of immigrants and other races get done with America, It will all be destroyed too.
Ron The Rebel Dumbass. American is not a race and people coming in to the US are what made the history and will keep making history. Where do your people originate from?
@Ron the rebel. You apparently have no idea that ALL Americans are immigrants or their descendants. (Dont bother saying except Native Americans, there are no Homo sapiens indigenous to the Americans land mass)
And that was not the first time the country was hit by such a destructive wave of vandalism and looting, the swedish did a proper mess back the days of Jan II Kazimierz Waza, studing the story Poland since that period to this days must a depressing yet extremely interesting thing.
@@scarletfluerr Well, at one point there were no humans on any landmass. Natives were here for thousands of years. It's fair to say the land was theirs. African Americans are mostly descendants of enslaved people, not immigrants. You're not an immigrant if you came here against your will.
my dad was a town historian, and he found a stash of glass negatives in a local factory's abandoned darkroom, labed "negatives of no value", it was a gold mine of info about how our town grew from the gold rush to the 1930s. when it was discovered that local families of importance were mostly all descended from a prostitute living in a large local hotel, who later became an influential woman of means, my dad was literally run out of town, and most of those glass negatives were destroyed. he restored a carnegie library in a nearby town and curated a museum there until he died. that towns history was similar but the locals were not traumatized by the scandals, an dhe was treated warmly for the last couple decades of his life.
This is one of my favorite videos you've shared. The loss makes my stomach clench...just like it does when I think of the Alexandrian library. 👍Pookie must have lucky toes!
@Jim I agree....but both still make me cringe for the loss. At least humanity still has a chance with the remaining scrolls found in Herculaneum.
@Jim so if your personal book collection was destroyed you would not mourn the loss?
@Jim I've read that much of it may have been spirited away....
I never said the losses were comparable.
Any loss of historical information is sad. If I had to choose between which to save...of course it would be Alexandria.
@@bob_._. I'd be devastated...especially if my journals were included. 🤗
Really? First, the records of the previous and following census weren't involved. Second, back then the census didn't asked about toilets and other such nonsense. It's just no big deal.
So THAT'S why I couldn't find my Great-grandparents' names in that census. I was annoyed when I saw their entries for the 1920 census. The last name was correct, but the family's German first names were all altered to sound more English. GGDad was Karl Friedrich, but it was changer to Carl Fredrick, Johann changed to John, etc. I think it likely had to do with WWI and the hatred some had for Germans. I don't know if they altered their own names, or the census taker did.
FANTASTIC and informative video..thank you so very much!
I'm a genealogist, and had heard of the fire, but not of the congressional act later to wipe out the census.
I wish they'd show this at Rootstech in a few weeks. Your programs are TOP NOTCH! Thank you!
I am finding that the comments accompanying the history guy episodes are very often well worth reading!
This was one of your best videos. I do a ton of genealogy research and the loss of the 1890 census is still absolutely devastating. So much happened in America between 1880 and 1900. Massive immigration to America, and massive migration from east to west across America. Excellent closing words to this video. Protect history.
My whole family archive, pictures, papers, etc, going back to 1900, were destroyed in a fire. So much lost and never again to be known.
Super. Well done. Sad conclusion. I'm a retired college professor of physics and astronomy, so I do understand the value of research. Plus, I have been doing family history since 1970, when it was necessary to visit cemeteries, county clerks' offices, churches, and visit many relatives for stories and for their bibles that often recorded family history. Now, in 2019, one can get almost everything online. I soon found out that the 1890 census was not available, and I couldn't get the 1900 Census immediately in 1970... and the 1940 census has been very helpful; waiting for the 1950 one to come out. Not until your video here did I realize the extent of loss and damage. Thank you for sharing. I just told my brother about the loss of the 1890 census, like yesterday. Now I can tell him more. - Dr Dave Menke, Tucson.
I truly enjoy this channel and how comprehensive the information is!
Great photos!!! I know I'm repeating what many others have said but I sure am glad you're here. Gave up on the History Channel years ago!!!
How the emergent digital era will fare as far as preservation of records remains to be seen. I would guess however that the potential for catastrophic record loss is on a scale which would make the 1890 loss look like one grain of sand on the beach.
@Tangerine Sky333 You wish. I've spent last week trying to locate some records from 1982. Originally stored on large tapes, then moved to magnetic tapes, then to CD-ROM and then to harddisk.
But something seems to have gone wrong in the last move to the hard disks and nobody noticed for the last ten years. Now we're trying to find out if the CD-ROMs are still in some basement or are gone.
Bravo, sir! I do some research into my family history, and I actually FEEL the absence of the 1890 census every time I look into my family tree. It would explain so much. I knew that it was missing but did not know the full story. Thank you.
This. This is why I subscribed! Excellent episode.
Wow, you add so much passion and depth to history! Excellent work!
You are the History teacher we wish we all had. Sub numbers way too low!
History Guy, to the ears and mind of this fellow, this is the most profound video you have yet produced. My heartiest congratulations to you! Keep up the great work. Sincerely, John
We Luv You History Guy!!
Thank you so much for every video you make. You deserve to be remembered by history.
You Sir, are a goldmine.
To me, this is perhaps the most interesting video you've produced albeit a tragic historical story. Thank you for sharing.
During the Irish Civil War (1922) an explosion at the Public Records Office destroyed a substantial amount of records from the 13th to the 19th century. Among them were the census records of 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851, an entire demographic record of pre-Famine Ireland. But all was not lost, there is a comprehensive initiative ongoing for nearly 100 years to track down copies of the documents, digitise them and make them available online.
Me too
And weren’t some some deliberately destroyed by the (British) Government too before then?
So much lost that day. RTE have a good podcast on it: www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/2009/0620/646071-bullet/
Another great video from The History Guy! I'll be sharing this one!
I look forward to every new "History that deserves to be remembered"!!
The way you teach history is great. Best regards from Panamá, Central America.
The lack of the 1890 Census is the bane of genealogists almost everywhere.
Yeah, I was trying to go through my family history and 7 of the 8 branches of my family were lost in the 1890 census. Somehow my great great grandfathers records survived
Just found this by accident & will be careful not to lose this site. Wonderful information! Now to read & catch up with other things you have researched. Thank you for keeping my questioning zeal going.
History Guy, I have recently found your videos and very much enjoy. And, though I will certainly address you as the History Guy, I would enjoy knowing your real name.
Thank you for this episode re the 1890 Census. It was indeed a tragic loss for the nation. A large 20-year gap in individual, population & migration history that can only be bridged via a detailed, time-consuming analysis of other documented evidence spanning the entire 20-year gap.
that's a great mustache for a 19 year old kid.
He was nineteen when he started working for the census in 1880. The photo was taken later...
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Herman bear
Doctor Picard nononono he bought it from the village people
Could really feel the History Guy's pain at the loss of this piece of history. Nice video, sir.
A good follow up to this would be the 1973 VA fire that lost a bunch of service record. It fits in the "they never learn" category.
Wow. And this still happens (kind of) in Canada today.
"In the 1970s and eighties, Statscan senior analyst Craig McKie was occasionally instructed to destroy information - including such valuable stuff as the last remaining copy of the 1973 data set of highly qualified manpower - to save money on storage costs. (He refused.) “That was the mentality of Statscan: You use data and then you destroy it,” he says.
Statscan’s cavalier approach to preserving data extended to the agency’s most basic functions. Some parts of past censuses and other reports are simply gone, either because files have gone missing, been accidentally shredded or dumped, or have just physically deteriorated. These include bits of the 1961 census - not just a historical relic but a cache of valuable data for researchers looking at long-term trends. “There have been instances where data has been lost - parts of the historic censuses have been lost - and no one quite understands what happened,” says Wayne Smith, Canada’s chief statistician from 2010 to 2016"
The link for that:
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-what-went-wrong-at-statscan-a-history-of-secrecy-small-time-thinking/
In this case, it's history that won't be remembered.
But it still *deserves* to be! 😄
@@PrezVeto "Treat each according to their deserts and who shall 'scape whipping?"
Another great show. I learn so much about history from these programs. Thanks
Love your videos and as someone that is retired and works on her ancestry, this was extra interesting. Which leads me to requesting a short video on Robert E. Lee and his decision to lead the South. My 2nd great grandmother, Dora Evaline Lee is distantly related to Lee and lived in Lancaster, VA in 1880. When I had my subscription to Fold3 I remember finding that 1000 Lees fought for the North and 1000 Lees fought for the South. I have listened to the "Lees of Virginia" audible which is 18 hours of the earlier Lees settling into VA and I would be interested in what you find out about Robert E. Lee. I am all about preserving history and was sadden when a new mayor took down all Confederate monuments in Baltimore City. We/a committee formed to deal with what would happen to the statues, had agreed a plaque would be added beside each Confederate monument. The new and existing mayor took them down in the middle of the night and I have no clue where they currently reside. Thanks for preserving our history through your videos, they are short and interesting!
Those monuments were put up in the 1920's to honor traitors! 😑
I'm so delighted you reported this subject. Doing my own family genealogy beginning in the year 2000, I learned of this gap in previous family records. That gap is significant because every 10 years back then impacted birth records, etc. Much family history was lost disappointing. I tried other types of records to validate. It is a source of satisfaction to be curious of people you never knew. Because of them I entered the world! Lots of leaves to account for.
The population numbers are astounding.
I can see the dismay in this poor historian's eyes at the galling mismanagement of those records. We can only hope that this kind of thing will never happen again. And thank you for this video.
Still say that fire was no accident. Great Video!
George McNamee the Democrats did it. Same old.
@@donnebes9421 (eyeroll)
Wow. Thanks for the great video. Only you can find and make something like history about the census interesting and watchable. You're awesome.
You always have the most poignant summaries. I don't know if the scripts are written by Mr. or Mrs. History Guy but this script was exceptional.
This script was written by my son. the author of the script is written the bottom of the video description. "THG" is me, "HCW" is Ms. History Guy, and "JCG" is my son.
Thanks, I think, for this sad post. *For many decades, Viktor Kamkin Bookstore in Rockville, Maryland was the Premiere Source of Russian language publications in the Western Hemisphere*. I bought dozens of books there to refresh my shoddy skills in the first couple of decades after taking an intensive undergrad course - dictionaries, weeklies, novels, Comic books... But by the 90s the place was losing money because of competition from the internet. Eventually the store couldn't pay its rent, and the building owner sued, and when the store couldn't make the arrears, packed up the unsold books to make the space available to a new client. In 2006 a number of books were saved after the store had been in receivership, but at least Two Hundred THOUSAND volumes of all kinds were sent by the building owner to the Montgomery County Incinerator and destroyed. Wonder if that guy ever heard of the Library at Alexandria...
Fahrenheit 451..........
I was an iqnumerator for the 2000 census and I had fun with it. The best part was this apartment complex about 30 units and there was a grandmother for the whole apartment complex she would watch babies and toddlers during the day and then she would watch the older children as they got home from school. I was so lucky after she understood the need and finished her own senses she called all of the children into her apartment she had the front door open and they were going in and out as they pleased you know and using the kitchen and bathroom as they needed and this was a small horde of children it was wonderful and of course she had the babies on the couch and playpens everywhere. Like I said she called in all the older kits and she had them take a look at me literally take a look remember her face because this lady is going to come and count your family and this is important because it means we get represented and the most important thing is it's for the schools. Now she repeated the it's for the schools several times and every child came and looked at me until we're sure that they knew they could tell their parents what I look like and that it was important that they talk to me. Then she dismissed her troops. She told me that everybody picked up their kids by about 6 p.m. And so if I were to come back at 7 I will find all the apartment building willing to talk to me. So I did just that I got back at 7 and every single door was open to me. I had talked to Grandma I had Grandma's see you of approval every apartment was more than happy to sit down with me with the parents answering my questions even putting up in some cases with my fumbling Spanish. This was in Phoenix Arizona and I can honestly say it was one of the most fun experiences I've ever had all because of Grandma.
On the other hand I did not participate in the last census. The emphasis on breaking down Hispanics into their various categories, while whites have as diverse nationalities of which they're comprised proved to me the government's uneven hand in directing funds and importance towards hispanics, to the ignoring of recognizing whites. It's rigged. I'll never be part of it again. It's become a political tool.
That's a great story Laura,and I gave it a like,but please,punctuation is your friend.
@@thebruce9042 You are right. I was trying out the voice dictation.
For a moment, people understood each other. That is a beautiful story.
Thank you. Grandmas-- the highest form of female endeavor.
Thanks Kindly History Guy! Years ago I found a 1900 Census takers badge. The soldiered pin in the back had let go. So I did research about this profession. I found that they carried guns, as some takers had been killed snooping around, or so it was thought. It was a risky job, thus the guns. Remote places in the sticks, muddy roads sometime impassable until better weather and nasty people. So this 1900 badge held many experiences thus leading me to do research on this topic.
My daughter and myself are the family archive keepers. We have photos of GGGgrandparents. My GGGGrandfather was born in Ireland in 1772 and his wife in the 1790s. They arrived here in 1815 and settled in Lancaster Co. Pa. We have their photos taken in their old age about 1859. And with history loving Grandparents the history fire was set a blaze in me at an early age. In their old blue Plymouth we travel about the countryside investigating and researching our heritage, our history. I still do this and your channel only adds to all the excitement. I believe history should be studied intently in our schools. Seems it has taken a back seat to sports. History repeats itself and there is so much to gain in these lessons. You certainly help with this and are greatly appreciated! Many Thanks to the History Guy and Gal! DaveyJO in Lancaster Co. Pa.
Everyday that I discover I was ignorant when I woke, but not when I lay down that night, is a great day. Thank You for educating me.
Definitely! Try to not go to sleep until you've learned something new.
@@spikespa5208 ...that's my daily goal; to learn something new.
I can see your passion for history in the final moments of this video. To the layman, the loss of such records would be of no consequence but to you , it is truly a tragic loss.
The story of how and why "computing tabulating registers" became IBM is in itself, history worthy remembering. A great story H.G. see "In Search of Excellence"....
As is IBM's role in record keeping for the Nazis in World War II.
It was also the underlying technology of the Holocaust as the German government used census records on Hollerith cards to trace the Jewish population.
@@daveh3997 and their role in making, of all things, guns for the US.
Reminds me of the loss of state records in Nashville, Tennessee in 2010, when the Cumberland river over flowed its banks and soaked the State archive which had been built with full knowledge of the State Legislature in a flood plain. Great job guys! Thanks for rolling the dice with things that can't be replaced!
I hope you have backups of all your videos here!
As the geneolical historian of our family I can tell you of the irrectable loss of this data is for us! I always view this data as the trunk and limbs of our history. Yet it's the stories told that put the leaves on the tree and brings that tree back to life! That's what the History Guy does with his stories. He helps bring history alive, one story at a time! As one historian to another, thank you!
Lets start a petition to consider the 6,000 man figure of the 1890 census as official.
Jakub A ;
America dropped from ~60,000,000 people to 6,000 people in the course of ten years. Ten years later they all came back and in greater numbers.
6,000 in 1890 to ? million in 1900. *That's* a bomb.
As someone who loves doing Ancestry...you just don't know how big of loss this was. Thank you for the great video.
The 1890 census did not spark joy.
One of your best history lessons on our national history. Well done History Guy!
How come you don't repeat the info 8 times like History TV does?
Glen Walden Homestead Yellow-Jacket no commercial breaks.
Absolutely amazing to watch. Your conclusion at end really hit home the impact of what happens when you destroy precious records or artifacts
I wonder how much else has been lost and destroyed?
The Oklahoma City bombing was done specifically to destroy records.
Look into the history of San Fran, I’m convinced we inherited the buildings of the World Fair, or something even stranger...
As a family genealogist I am painfully aware of the loss of the 1890 census. I have traced our family connections to a single ancestor arriving from Germany in 1744, and yet there is that 20 year period between 1880 and 1900 where so many connections are very difficult to document. In some cases the birth of a child can't be connected to a parent without great effort. It is indeed a loss of history.
I heard census and fire and thought about all the genealogists who need that info.
I have been so insanely busy at work lately (working at a Walmart in the apocalypse) so when I got the mail to fill in this years census I did not take time to do it. I was planning to buy I keep getting delayed by work and recovery from work. None of that is good reason mind you but it is what it is, just got a reminder card in the mail today and I will have it filled out ASAP.
That is one headcount you can be glad your history lesson got in, hopefully there will be more viewers who see this and respond.