Twentieth-Century Brick Walls: Finding People Born 1900–1950
Recent ancestors can be surprisingly hard to find, because privacy rules close many records. The sources that are open, and how to use them for grandparents and great-grandparents.
It seems backward, but many researchers find their great-grandparents born in 1880 easier to trace than their grandparents born in 1925. Privacy laws restrict recent birth, death and census records, people moved more, and fewer records were published in local histories. But the 20th century also produced a flood of records. You just have to know where to look.
Why recent records are restricted
- Census records are closed for 72 years. The 1950 census opened in 2022; the 1960 census will open in 2032.
- Birth records are typically restricted for 75 to 125 years, depending on the state, and death records for 25 to 75 years. Close relatives can usually order copies sooner. Check your state's rules with its vital records office.
- Military personnel files become archival and open to the public 62 years after a service member left the service; before that, next of kin can request them.
Records that are open
The 1940 and 1950 censuses
Both are free online. The 1940 census records where each person lived in 1935, and the 1950 census, for people on sample lines, where they lived a year earlier. See How to Read the U.S. Federal Census.
City directories
Published annually in most cities into the 1990s and beyond, directories track addresses, occupations and spouses year by year. See City Directories.
Draft registration cards
World War I (1917–1918) and World War II (1940–1947) draft cards give exact birth dates, birthplaces, addresses, employers and a contact person. See Draft Registration Cards.
Social Security records
The Social Security Death Index and the Numident files, plus SS-5 applications that name parents. See Social Security Records.
Newspapers
Twentieth-century local newspapers are full of genealogical gold: birth announcements, engagement and wedding stories with family details, anniversary stories, social columns ("Mr. and Mrs. Smith visited her parents in Peoria"), and obituaries listing every surviving relative. Many are digitized through 1960 and beyond. See Getting More from Old Newspapers.
Obituaries of relatives
An obituary of your grandmother's sister may list your grandmother, her husband and where they lived. Search for every sibling, aunt and uncle. Modern obituaries from the late 1990s on are often online through funeral home websites and memorial sites.
Yearbooks and school records
High school and college yearbooks, many digitized, give photos and activities and place a person in a specific school and year.
Naturalization records
For 20th-century immigrants, naturalization papers after 1906 give birthplace, arrival, spouse and children, often with a photo after 1929. See Naturalization Records.
Other sources
- Funeral home records, which may name parents and the person who paid
- Cemetery records and gravestones
- Church records, including baptism, confirmation and marriage, which may be accessible when civil records are not
- Land, court and probate records, which are public records
- Voter registration lists, in some states
- Telephone books
- Military records, including discharge papers often recorded at the county courthouse
Talk to people
For the 20th century, living people are your best source. Interview older relatives, family friends and neighbors while you can. See Interviewing Relatives.
Use DNA
DNA is especially powerful for recent generations. A grandparent whose parents are unknown, or who was adopted, may be identified through close DNA matches. See Finding Birth Family.
Respect privacy
When you research people who may still be living, or who died recently, be thoughtful. Keep living people's details private in online trees, and consider how sharing information might affect their families. See How to Ask for Genealogy Help Online.