Excerpts from 1940 Census
for Glendale
Story furnished by Clarence
Crocker
( Editor's Note: Rev.
Crocker has also used the 1940 Census to compile a
listing of Black familes in Glendale at that time.
To see this, click on Glendale Black families.)
The National Archives
released the 1940 census to the public on April 2,
2012 after a mandatory 72 years waiting period. The
census was taken during the month of April, 1940.
Besides names, ages, relationships and occupations,
other pertinent questions such as internal migration,
education, employment status and weeks worked along
with total 1939 earnings, etc., were asked and
recorded.
The nation had not
fully recovered from the great depression which
started in 1929 and the mills were still curtailing,
giving some employees less than 40 weeks of work
during the year. Only a few got as much as 50 weeks of
work. This resulted in a considerable variance of
earnings. The census showed that some were still
working on the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a
few in the CC Camps and many were still unemployed.
Glendale census was
taken under the heading of Glendale Mills and was
divided into 3 enumeration districts listed as,
ED42-78 containing 38 pages, ED42-79 containing 10
pages and ED42-80 containing 40pages. It appears that
the census included about a 4 mile radius from the
mill site. Parts of Clifton, the Goldmine-Bethesda
area, the Country Club road area up to and including
parts of Ben Avon, parts of the Fernwood-Hillcrest and
Sloan’s Grove area were all included in the Glendale
Mills census. (See
attached map)
With this mixture, it
looked impractical if not impossible to discern and
list the residents of the Glendale village and the
immediate areas as I was able to do in earlier censuses. In order
to present a picture of conditions in and about
Glendale village at that time, I have tried to pick
and list the names of leaders of the mill and
community as shown in the census.
Though the census
showed the reported 1939 earnings of each individual,
I feel this to be too personal for me to republish the
exact figure of each individual so with the exception
of two persons, I am listing the average yearly
earnings according to occupation as given in the
census.
Typical Wages and Earnings
Plant Superintendent:
$4500.
Postmaster: $750.
Overseers, $1650-$2000.
Second hands, Section hands and loom fixers, $650-$960.
Weavers, Spinners, Card, Drawing and spooler hands and
cloth room personnel, $600 - $700.
Shop personnel, machinist, carpenters and painters,
$800-$1200.
Watchmen & Policemen, $600-$900.
Boiler fireman, elevator operators, $500-$700.
Sweepers, rest room cleaners, cotton handlers, etc.,
$450-$550.
Bus drivers, $570-$1300.
Salesmen, $750-$1500.
Bookkeepers, $600- $1400.
Radio announcers, $450- $750.
Teachers, $650-$1100.
Nurses, $400-1200
Representative
Listing Only - Not the Full 1940 Glendale Census
