1920 US Census 14th United States Census

1920 Census Geography

• 48 States participated in the 1920 census
• New States: Arizona and New Mexico
• Participating territories: Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa, the Canal Zone, Guam, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands

Information requested for the 1920 Census

• Relationship to head of the family
• Sex, color, race, age
• Is the person single, married, widowed, or divorced?
• State or country of birth and mother tongue
• Mother and father’s place of birth and each mother tongue
• Year of immigration to the United States
• Naturalized or an alien?
• If Naturalized, year of naturalization
• Trade, profession, or occupation
• General nature of the industry, business, or establishment of occupation
• Is the person an employer, employee, or working on his own account?
• Has the person attended school at any time since September, 1919?
• Is the person's home owned or rented?
• Is the person's home owned free or mortgaged?

1920 Census Quick Facts

• It took $25,117,000, approximately 87,234 enumerators and 14,550 published reports to complete the 1920 US census
• The US population increased by 15 percent from the 1910 census to the 1920 census.

Historical Events Surrounding 1920 Census

• August 18, 1920: The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified allowing women the right to vote.
• The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, determined post-war borders from Europe to the Middle East, established the League of Nations and punished Germany with reparations and loss of territory
• F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby in 1925
• The first collection of stories by A.A. Milne featuring Winnie-the-Pooh was published in 1925
• The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified in 1919 banning the manufacture and sale of “intoxicating liquors”
• The Jazz age peaks in 1927 with the selling of 100 million phonograph records