History
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Agency History FAQs
When did the U.S. Census Bureau become a permanent agency?
The Census Bureau became a permanent agency within the Department of Commerce and Labor following passage of An Act to Provide for a Permanent Census Office in 1902. In 1913, in became part of the Department of Commerce upon its separate establishment.
President Theodore Roosevelt signed legislation establishing the permanent Census Bureau in 1902. Roosevelt (left)
was the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane. This photograph was taken on October 11, 1910, before taking off
from Aviation Field in St. Louis, MO, with pilot Arch Hoxsey.
Photo courtesy of the National Park Service
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