History

Legislation

Legislation 1902 - 1941

• An Act to Provide for a Permanent Census Office (March 6, 1902) Download PDF [684KB PDF]**
  • Makes the temporary census office a permanent bureau within the Department of the Interior. Authorized a census of manufactures to be conducted in 1905 and every five years thereafter, an annual survey of cotton production, and other economic censuses.
• Thirteenth Census Act (July 2, 1909) (P.L. 61-2) Download PDF [1.15MB PDF]
  • Authorizing legislation for the 1910 and subsequent censuses. Restricted inquiries to questions having to do with population, agriculture, manufactures, mines, and quarries.
• Reapportionment Act of 1929 (June 18, 1929) (P.L. 71-12) Download PDF [840KB PDF]**
  • Authorizing legislation for the 1930 census and corresponding reapportionment of the House of Representatives. The census and reapportionment are to be automatic under the 1929 law unless a subsequent census or reapportionment statute is enacted into law.
• An Act to Provide for a National Census of Housing (August 11, 1939) (P.L. 76-385) Download PDF [51.7KB PDF]
  • Authorizes a national census to provide "information concerning the number, characteristics (including utilities and equipment), and geographical distribution of dwelling structures" to be taken in conjunction with the 1940 decennial census.
• Secretarial Order 111 (May 1, 1941) Download PDF [81KB PDF]**
  • Transfers the authority to collect foreign trade statistics from the Division of Foreign Trade Statistics of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce to the Bureau of the Census.
• An Act to Provide for Apportioning Representatives in Congress (November 15, 1941) (P.L. 77-291) Download PDF [188KB PDF]
  • Requires that House seats be reapportioned using the equal proportions method.

**This PDF is image-only and not fully searchable. For assistance interpreting image-only PDFs, please contact the Census Bureau History Staff via email or by telephone at: (301) 763-1167.