Figure 1
Census taker Marie Cioffi obtains the necessary data from a woman at East 112th Street in New York City on April 2, 1930. Credit: © Bettmann/CORBIS.
Figure 2
Census sheet showing North Street in Boston, Massachusetts. Source: FamilySearch, United States census, 1900, Massachusetts, Suffolk County, ED 1232, Precinct 4, Boston City, Ward 6.
Table 1
Occupational categories of male workers (individuals aged fifteen and older).
| OCCUPATIONAL CATEGORY | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Shipping crew | Seafarers and others working aboard ships |
| Port labourers | Those involved in handling goods or maintaining ships |
| Other labourers | Unspecified or general labourers |
| Hospitality services | Men working in boarding houses, taverns, restaurants |
| Artists | Musicians, performers and other creative professions |
| Sales | Commercial agents, salesmen and real estate agents |
| Retail | Shopkeepers, grocers, peddlers and small-scale vendors |
| Wholesale | Merchants and traders engaged in large-scale or bulk sales |
| Artisans and specialized workers | Skilled workers who practice a craft, trade or precision work |
| Subordinate and unspecialized workers | Assistants, apprentices and general helpers working under skilled workers or in support roles across various industries |
| Protective service workers | Police officers, soldiers and firemen |
| Clerical workers | Clerks, office workers and administrative employees |
| Other | Categories not fitting into the main categories |
| No occupation | Men explicitly recorded as having no occupation |
| Not specified | Entries where no occupation was listed or the description was illegible or unclear |
Table 2
Occupational categories of female workers (individuals aged fifteen and older).
| OCCUPATIONAL CATEGORY | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Domestic service | Women employed in domestic roles |
| Textile and clothing workers | Dressmakers, seamstresses and other workers in clothing, textile or sewing industries |
| Hospitality services | Boarding housekeepers, innkeepers and others in hospitality |
| Retail | Women involved in small-scale trade or shop work |
| Prostitution | Women identified as sex workers |
| Hairdressers | Women working in hairdressing |
| Labourers | General or unspecified female labourers |
| Housewives | Women engaged in general housework |
| Other | Occupations not fitting into the main categories |
| No occupation | Individuals explicitly recorded as having no occupation |
| Not specified | Entries where no occupation was listed or left blank |
Table 3
Descriptive statistics of the dataset. Note: individuals listed as “boarder” or “lodger” in the census records were excluded to maintain consistency with the Antwerp data.
| CATEGORY | ANTWERP | BOSTON | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 1900 | 1880 | 1900 | |
| Number of addresses | 97 | 100 | 89 | 77 |
| Number of individuals | 929 | 989 | 1,439 | 1,777 |
| By sex | ||||
| Males (all ages) | 458 | 485 | 720 | 904 |
| Females (all ages) | 469 | 504 | 719 | 873 |
| Unknown (all ages) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| By age group | ||||
| Adults (+15) | 601 | 705 | 916 | 1,099 |
| Children (–15) | 328 | 284 | 523 | 678 |
| Male children | 166 | 143 | 265 | 336 |
| Female children | 160 | 141 | 258 | 342 |
| Unknown (children) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Number of households | 333 | 393 | 321 | 390 |
| Average number of individuals per address (%) | 9.6 | 9.9 | 16.2 | 23.1 |
| Average number of households per address (%) | 3.4 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 5.1 |
| Average number of individuals per household (%) | 2.8 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 4.6 |
| COLUMN NAME | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| ID | Unique identifier assigned to each individual in the dataset |
| ID house | Unique identifier assigned to each address |
| ID family | Unique identifier assigned to each household |
| Year | Year of the population register or census |
| Source | Original source document (population register or federal census) |
| Series | Series of the census records (U.S. only) |
| Roll | Microfilm roll number of the census record (U.S. only) |
| ED | Enumeration District of the census (U.S. only) |
| State | U.S. state where the census was taken (Massachusetts) |
| City | City in which the individual was recorded (Antwerp or Boston) |
| County | County of the census record (U.S. only) |
| District | Administrative district in the Antwerp population registers (Belgium only) |
| Street | Name of the street where the individual was recorded |
| House number | House number on the street |
| Surname | Last name or family name of the individual |
| First name(s) | First name(s) of the individual |
| Head? | Indicates whether the person is the head of household (yes/no) |
| Sex | Sex of the individual (male/female) |
| Birth (place) | Place of birth as recorded |
| Birth (region) | Region or country of birth |
| Birth (year) | Year of birth |
| Age | Age of the individual at the time of recording |
| Adult/child | Classification based on age (15+ = adult) |
| Immigration date | Year of immigration (U.S. only, if recorded) |
| Marital status | Marital status (e.g. single, married, widowed) |
| Occupation | Recorded occupation of the individual |
| Occupation (category) | Standardized occupational category used for analysis (see Tables 1 & 2) |
| Race | Racial classification (U.S. only) |
| Father birth (region) | Birth region or country of the individual’s father (U.S. only) |
| Mother birth (region) | Birth region or country of the individual’s mother (U.S. only) |