Finally, after 72 years, the official 1950 U.S. Census individual data is being released today (Friday), a fact of little interest to anyone other than genealogists and historians — and me.
The reason such data is kept private for that long is that 72 years was the average life expectancy when the law sequestering census data was passed.
Marc Perry, a senior demographer for the U.S. Census Bureau, calls the old data set a "genealogy gold mine." In 1950, U.S. society was on the brink of transformation.
New technologies like TV and computers had not yet reached most people, the interstate highway system and air travel were yet to make mass travel accessible, and suburbs were just starting to spring to life.
Everything we think about the 1950s was about to happen.
So the census data is like a black-and-white photograph of a post-war society on the verge of seismic changes, including the sex, drugs and rock n roll revolution of my generation, the baby boomers.
The oldest among us were four in 1950; today those who have survived are 76. As useful as the census data may be to demographers, it can’t really tell our stories.
Only we can do that. There were about 76 million of us born between 1946-1964 and quite a few of us are still left.
That amounts to a lot of stories waiting to be told. Have you started on yours?
To get you in the spirit, here is an excerpt from an essay I wrote on memoir-writing on July 12, 2006:
The first step is to gather together as many old letters, journals, photos, and other resources as you can easily locate.
Then, focus on emotionally loaded moments from your past. Just try to write one scene that captures what it was like to live through one of those moments.
The next day, jump to another emotionally compelling incident and try to write about that. Do this every day for a week.
The moments do not need to connect together, at this point. They can be random scenes from your life.
After a week, this exercise should trigger other memories. These may involve more complexities than the first set of memories. You may also start dreaming about memories, or find they come to you when you're doing something else.
Pay close attention to these randomly accessed memories, these discoveries of what your brain has been storing away for years or decades.
Many memoir writers who follow this method end up discarding their initial wave of memories -- the stories they had thought they wanted to tell, in favor of the more complex, and often less resolved material that floods into the vacuum once they've swept the initial layer of memory away.
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Today’s Story List (44):
UK spy chief says Putin ‘massively misjudged’ war (CNBC)
Ukraine Strikes Inside Russian Territory, Russians Say (WSJ)
Zelensky says Russian invasion of Ukraine is at a "turning point" (Axios)
Ukrainian forces are preparing for new Russian attacks in the southeast region where Moscow's guns are now trained after its assault on the capital Kyiv was repelled, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. (Reuters)
Expect 'even more suffering' in Ukraine, NATO chief warns; intense battles near Kyiv despite Russian pledge (USA Today)
Russia Steps Up Attacks Amid Reports of Rifts in Moscow (NYT)
Heavy fighting rages near Kyiv as Russia appears to regroup (AP)
Less than 20% of Russian troops around Kyiv are 'repositioning': Pentagon on Day 35 (ABC)
Five weeks into an invasion that has blasted cities into wastelands and created more than 4 million refugees, U.S. and European officials said Russian president Vladimir Putin was misled by his generals about the dire performance of Russia's military. Britain's GCHQ spy chief said Russian soldiers refused to carry out orders. (Reuters)
Russian troops deployed to invade Ukraine are undermining their own offensive by rejecting orders and destroying their equipment, including aircraft, according to Jeremy Fleming, the head of British intelligence agency GCHQ. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about his forces' poor performance in Ukraine. [HuffPost]
Putin’s advisers may be afraid to deliver bad news to him, according to U.S. intelligence (WP)
Biden is considering a plan to release up to a million barrels of oil a day from the nation's strategic reserve to help fight dramatic surges in gas prices, according to multiple reports. Gas prices have remained high for the last month amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has disrupted oil and gas deliveries around the world.[HuffPost]
US orders biggest ever release from Strategic Petroleum Reserve (Financial Times)
Zelenskyy Says Russia Massing Troops In Donbas For New Attacks (NBC)
US works to gauge peace prospects as it warns Putin ‘misinformed’ by advisers (CNN)
As Russia sees tech brain drain, other nations hope to gain (AP)
Germany condemns Putin gas supply 'blackmail' (BBC)
How the West Got Russia’s Military So, So Wrong — Good equipment and clever doctrine reveal little about how an army will perform in a war. (Atlantic)
Inflation in Germany and Spain reaches record levels, driven by Russia’s war. (NYT)
Ukraine says most Russian forces have left Chernobyl nuclear plant (Reuters)
Ukrainians in US mobilize to help 100,000 expected refugees (AP)
‘Like Living in a Horror Movie’: A Ukraine Town Dying a Slow Death (NYT)
Evacuation buses en route to Mariupol held at Russian checkpoint (CNN)
Ukrainians navigate a perilous route to safety out of besieged Mariupol (NPR)
Treasury hits Russia with new sanctions targeting evasion networks, tech (Politico)
Putin signed a decree ordering 134,500 new conscripts into the army as part of Russia's annual spring draft, but the defense ministry said the call-up had nothing to do with the war in Ukraine. (Reuters)
World is seeing the greatest number of conflicts since the end of WWII, U.N. says (NPR)
'The president will get his way': Congress likely can't stop new Iran nuke deal (Politico)
A key inflation gauge sets 40-year high as gas and food soar (AP)
Kevin McCarthy is to blame for Madison Cawthorn. He deserves the consequences (Independent)
China’s Xi strongly backs Afghanistan at regional conference (AP)
Taliban Want to Control Aid Funds, a Red Line for Donors — The Taliban are asserting control over nongovernmental organizations working in Afghanistan, demanding a greater say over who receives aid and the staff NGOs hire, jeopardizing lifesaving deliveries to the Afghan population. (WSJ)
China, neighbors vow continued humanitarian aid for Afghanistan (NHK)
China’s zero-Covid policy tests small businesses in a make-or-break it year (CNBC)
Study finds ivermectin, the horse drug Joe Rogan championed as a COVID treatment, does nothing to cure the virus (Fortune)
Biden got his second COVID booster shot, announced a new coronavirus vaccine and treatment website, and urged Congress to continue providing funding to help with the pandemic — all as polling shows the country is losing interest in the 2-year-old public health crisis. “Americans are back to living their lives again. We can’t surrender that now,” Biden said. [HuffPost]
C.D.C. to Lift Order Restricting Immigration During the Pandemic (NYT)
'Cannibal' coronal mass ejection will hit Earth at nearly 2 million mph, scientists say (LiveScience)
Ghazipur fire: Gasping for air as massive Delhi landfill burns (BBC)
Volunteers are working to protect newts that are crossing the Petaluma hills streets by the thousands.(Guardian)
1950 Census data to be unveiled Friday after 72 years under wraps (WP)
Study Finds Gap Widening Between Rich Pets And Poor Americans (The Onion)
(Timeless) Lyrics:
“Lost in the Fifties Tonight”
Sung by Ronnie Milsap
Written by Reid Michael Barry / Seals Troy Harold / Parris Fredericke L
Close your eyes, Baby
Follow my heart
Call on the memories
Here in the dark
We'll let the magic
Take us away
Back to the feelings
We shared when they played
In the still of the night
Hold me darlin', hold me tight
So real, so right
I'm lost in the fifties tonight
These precious hours
We know can't survive
But loves all that matters
While the past is alive
Now and for always
Till time disappears
We'll hold each other
Whenever we hear
In the still of the night
Hold me darlin', hold me tight
So real, so right
Lost in the fifties tonight
(One more time it here)
So right
So real, so right
So real, so right
I'm lost in the fifties tonight
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