1950 U.S. Census Community Project

We are excited to announce that the Clarke-Oconee Genealogical Society (COGS) has joined the 1950 U.S. Census Community Project to help fully index the upcoming census release. By reviewing records from our area, COGS volunteers will be an essential part of this monumental grassroots effort that will put this rich genealogical data set online, complete, and searchable forever. As a society, we will be focusing on Clarke County and Oconee County, Georgia records, where our interest and expertise will be most important, but you are also encouraged to review your family’s census information no matter where they were living in 1950 (as well as others living around them that you might be familiar with). If someone has misread your family data or any of the data, you can submit corrections. All edits will be kept.

Once the original images are released on April 1, 2022, the 1950 U.S. Census Community Project, a joint initiative between FamilySearch, Ancestry, and other leading genealogy societies and organizations, will coordinate efforts to provide quick access to these digital images and create a comprehensive index of all fields that will be searchable online. 

Ancestry will be using their proprietary Artificial Intelligence (AI) handwriting recognition technology to create a searchable index of the 1950 U.S. Census faster than ever before. Then, volunteers (like us) will be reviewing the AI transcription to make sure it is complete and accurate by reviewing and improving what has been indexed through automation.

Additional details about the 1950 U.S. Census and the AI handwriting recognition technology will be available at RootsTech 2022. The National Genealogical Society and Family Search posted a recent meeting discussing the 1950 U.S. Census Community Project on the NGS YouTube channel.

We will update you with more information about COGS’ participation in the 1950 U.S. Census Community Project as it becomes available. Thank you in advance for your participation. We look forward to the impact this resource will have on researchers in our area and so many others.