library - North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

For 9 years, Roanoke Rapids disputed their 1930 census count of 3,404 residents. The town’s area was enlarged in 1931, increasing the population by almost 3 times the number counted in the federal census! By 1937, there were almost 12,000 residents, but locals couldn’t get that number recognized until the 1940 census. Read more at #ChronAm: https://bit.ly/34Btrzj #ChronAmParty #PastCensus

In 1920, the people of Elizabeth City, NC, found the federal census not at all satisfactory. It recorded 531 new residents, but a local newspaper, The Independent, believed numbers should be far higher, citing hundreds of new families and new homes in town. Read more at #ChronAm: https://bit.ly/2XA1gzl #ChronAmParty #PastCensus

This month’s #ChronAmParty is all about the #PastCensus! Did you know that the Census of 1860 cost less than $2,000,000? The 1890 Census cost $11,200,000, and the 2020 Census is estimated to cost $15.6 billion dollars! Though it seems like a high price tag, the Census is invaluable for helping the federal government know how to fairly allocate government spending to different states and regions. Learn more about the historic cost of the Census at #ChronAm: https://bit.ly/2VuU3hg

In honor of #IndigenousPeoplesDay. This map of tribal nations in NC is available in the NCC. Did you know that NC has the largest American Indian population east of the Mississippi?

Fascinating article published by ProPublica and The New Yorker on effects of heirs' property law in North Carolina. Noted NC historian David Cecelski quoted: You can’t talk to an African-American family who owned land in those counties and not find a story where they feel like land was taken from them against their will, through legal trickery. https://features.propublica.org//heirs-property-rights-wh/

#OTD in 1978, the NCGA designated the #emerald as the state's official precious stone. Check out http://tinyurl.com/y37ux7wa for more information on emerald mining in NC, and this story from a 1912 Farmer & Mechanic newspaper: http://tinyurl.com/y5fk7ffc #ChronAm