The Census is absolutely vital to academic researchers

History Professor Andrew Highsmith explains why.

April 1 is Census Day! To complete the census, go to my2020census.gov

To learn more, see our Census 2020 site under the Pedagogy Resources drop-down menu. There's a powerpoint that you can easily use to inform your students.

Records from the U.S. Census Bureau are absolutely vital to academic researchers. As an urban historian who studies the history of social inequality in modern America, I rely on census data to trace important demographic shifts over time and across space. I used them extensively in my most recent book project on Flint, Michigan, to understand and illustrate changes in racial occupancy patterns in urban neighborhoods experiencing "white flight." I am using them currently to understand the relationships among housing quality, income, racial segregation, and public health outcomes. As someone who regularly relies on U.S. Census Bureau records, it is difficult to overstate their importance to the process of knowledge creation.