Ethnicity

Title: Hibbing Census Page
Type: Data
Date: 1900
Source: Minnesota Historical Society

Description: This is a section of a page from the 1900 Hibbing census.

Activities:

1. What information can we learn from this census page?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: This page can give us a "snapshot" of the people who lived in Hibbing at the time. We can learn their name, age, family relationship, home country and the home country of their parents, and their occupation.
2. Why might it be important to know where a person's parents were born?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: If we know where a person's parents were born, we might be able to understand what brought them here (there may have been a famine or other disaster pushing them from their home country) and what needs they might have had once they arrived (such as what language they could speak and understand).
3. What could the government do with the information gathered on the census?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: By knowing the number of people in an area, their ages and places of origin, the government could encourage certain programs to help them or plan government aid for public facilities or improvements.
4. How do you think this information was gathered?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Local citizens were hired by the federal government as temporary census-takers and went door to door to get the information.