History of the Census and Its Samples

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Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses from 1790-2000
This volume was published by the Census Bureau in 2002. It contains a record of all census questions, enumerators instructions, and brief histories of every census from 1790-2010.
Histories of Enumeration Procedures for Each Census

The procedural histories provide detailed information on the collection and processing of each item on the questionnaire. The essay on the 1790-1940 censuses was written by a historian. The 1940 procedural history was prepared as part of the PUMS creation in the 1980s; the other volumes were published by the Census Bureau shortly after each census was taken.