Hi Everyone!
You can access and search by Surname 100% of the 1940 Census at Ancestry.com.
You can access the material at the following link:
1940 Census Data At Ancestry.com
However, if you have not been looking at the data at Ancestry.com, you do need to establish a “free” account at Ancestry.com in order to actually use the 1940 Census if you currently do not have an account with Ancestry.com. If you have any “qualms” about sharing anything with Ancestry.com then you will want to take a good look at the Privacy Policy at the Ancestry.com 1940 Census data site.
Here is what you will see when you try to access the 1940 Census data at Ancestry.com and you do not have an account with them:
Ancestry.com “Free” Account Page To Access 1940 Census Data
For many of us, we already have an account with Ancestry.com and are familiar with accessing their data and providing information about ourselves.
If you want 100% access to Surname searching the 1940 Census now, then tap into the “free” account with Ancestry.com if you do not have an account.
Or if you can wait a little bit longer and do not want to share anything with Ancestry.com, then FamilySearch will have 100% of the 1940 Census data available in about 2 weeks. You do not need to establish any kind of account with FamilySearch in order to access the 1940 Census data.
Loosen up your fingers. Do some finger-stretching.
Now is your time to dig into the 1940 Census, 100% Surname Searchable, at Ancestry.com.
Enjoy.
Tony Kierna
Genealogy Coordinator
Schaumburg Township District Library
Thanks for the updates Tony. I saw this too and jumped on it. Unfortunately for my family, the indexers did a horrible job of transcribing. I can almost understand an error in the surnames, but one family was split because the head of household was listed last on the census rather than first. And the worst was the street name, WOLEVTT AVE for Wolcott Ave., it’s obvious that indexers just rushed through the process to win prizes, quantity over quality. If they had taken their time, used other sources, like maps, the 1930 census, WWII drafts, etc., I think my family would be searchable. So just keep it mind, if you can’t find them, try viewing the whole ED just like you would have on April 2nd. And I’m hoping that the FamilySearch indexers were really good!