Comment

Post a comment

Leave a comment below or email dmj@mindspring.com with corrections.

1940 US Federal Census Data South Portland
Where one member of the family was an East European immigrant
Data extracted by DMJ consultants (2020)

Name	date of birth	place of birth	marriage status	relation to head of household	address	occupation	industry	residence in 1935	highest grade	days worked in prior year	income in prior year
Myer Simon	1896	Lithuania	Married	Head	29 Thomas Street	Owner	Auto Supply	Same	Elementary school, 7th grade	52	0
Florence Simon	1897	Maine	Married	Wife	29 Thomas Street			Same	High School, 4th year	0	0
Adelle Simon	1922	Maine	Single	Daughter	29 Thomas Street	New Worker		Same	High School, 4th year	0	0
Lester Simon	1923	Maine	Single	Son	29 Thomas Street			Same	High School, 4th year	0	0
Harriet Simon	1929	Maine	Single	Daughter	29 Thomas Street			Same	Elementary school, 5th grade
Bernard Simon	1937	Maine	Single	Son	29 Thomas Street				None
Sarah Rosenbloom	1908	Russia	Married	Wife	39 Walnut Street			Same	Elementary school, 7th grade	0	0
George Lamport	1868	Russia	Widowed	Father-in-law	39 Walnut Street			Same	None	0	0
Abraham Rosenbloom	1901	Russia	Married	Head	39 Walnut Street	Proprietor	Retail Ice & Coal	Same	Elementary school, 7th grade	52	0
Sylvia Rosenbloom	1925	Maine	Single	Daughter	39 Walnut Street			Same	High School, 1st year	0	0
Ruben Black	1889	Russia	Married	Head	320 Preble Street	Proprietor	Lunch Stand	Rural, Cumberland, Maine	Elementary school, 8th grade	8	0
Gertrude Black	1901	Germany	Married	Wife	320 Preble Street			Rural, Cumberland, Maine	Elementary school, 8th grade	0	0
Lillian J Black	1921	Germany	Single	Daughter	320 Preble Street	New Worker		Rural, Cumberland, Maine	High School, 4th year	0	0
Charles Rosenbloom	1874	Russia	Married	Head	8 Bonny Bank Road	Salesman	Real Estate	Same	High School, 4th year	52	0
Rose Rosenbloom	1884	Scotland	Married	Wife	8 Bonny Bank Road			Same	College, 4th year	0	0
Ralph Lamport	1897	Russia	Married	Head	344 Broadway	Manager	Retail Ice & Coal	Same	High School, 4th year	52	0
Goldie Lamport	1897	Maine	Married	Wife	344 Broadway			Same	High School, 4th year	0	0
Saul G Chason	1898	Poland	Married	Head	6 Albany	Operator	Insurance Real Estate	Same	College, 1st year	52	0
Charles G Chason	1926	Maine	Single	Son	6 Albany			Same	High School, 1st year	0	0
Dorothy Chason	1899	New York	Married	Wife	6 Albany	Manager	Apt Hotel	Same	College, 2nd year	52	1800
Joseph August	1865	Poland	Married	Head	Highland Avenue	Laborer	Piggery	Same	Elementary school, 6th grade	52	375
Jennie August	1870	Maine	Married	Wife	Highland Avenue			Same	Elementary school, 5th grade	0	0

Methodological notes :


	This data was culled from the original U.S. census manuscripts, as found on www.ancestry.com. Jews are understood to constitute an ethnic group of Eastern and Central European origin characterized by common names and occupational pursuits, as well as a distinctive language. This definition lends itself well to analysis of the data preserved in census records.
	Two primary methods were used to identify Jews:
	1. Individuals born abroad whose mother tongue is "Yiddish," "Jewish," or "Hebrew" were automatically included in the spreadsheet, as were all members of their families.
	2. For individuals born abroad whose mother tongue was another Eastern or Central European language (e.g., Russian, Polish, German), or individuals born in the U.S. with one or more parents from Eastern or Central Europe, we examined surnames, given names within a household, and occupations in light of common Jewish characteristics. This method of analysis is, of course, subject to inaccuracy, as we may have excluded Jews with uncommon names or occupations or included non-Jews whose characteristics appear Jewish. Individuals listed with the annotation "nj?" in the far right-hand column are those whose Jewish ancestry is plausible but questionable.
	This method of analysis easily misses Jewish households whose members' parents were all born in the United States. In 1930 Maine, however, such households were quite rare. Special efforts were made to identify households of this nature in Portland, where they constituted less than 1% of identified Jewish households.
	All members of a household containing a Jew are included in the spreadsheet, with the exception of Jewish lodgers and servants, who are listed individually. Household members who are evidently not Jewish (such as non-Jewish servants and some spouses or in-laws) are listed with the annotation "nj."
	Information on place of birth
	Some people replied with the name of the place when they left; others replied with the name of place when the census was taken; in other cases it just seems that it was easier for the census taker to write ‘Russia’ rather than Lithuania, Ukraine or other unfamiliar country names.
	And there is another reason to be skeptical of the accuracy of the place of birth information. Immigrants from the Pale had a very justified fear of the Russian and often local governments. One way to manage this reality was to tell government representatives what they expected they wanted to hear or what they thought would bring them the least trouble. This may well explain why a number of family members, who were clearly from Eastern Europe, may have answered ‘Maine’ or ‘New York’.

Last Updated : Jan 2 , 2021

Add a Term

Theme:

Sub-theme:

Sub-Sub-Theme:

Post a comment

1940 US Federal Census Data South Portland Where one member of the family was an East European immigrant Data extracted by DMJ consultants (2020)

Methodological notes :

Add a Term

1940 US Federal Census Data South Portland
Where one member of the family was an East European immigrant
Data extracted by DMJ consultants (2020)