This week’s #FridayFind is a pair of early 20th century census annotations!

Written By Dmitri Schmidt, B.A.

In the 1920 census, Jack Sabin’s “Mother tongue” is listed as “Russian.” While that itself is not unusual for an immigrant from Bessarabia (today part of Moldova and Ukraine), what is interesting is the small “OL” written above “Russian” and the “Rom” written above “Bessarabia. “Rom” likely stands for “Romania,” as Romania was in control of the region at the time. Meanwhile, “OL” as used here, stands for “Other Language.” Since Romanian would have been the national language, Russian would have been considered “Other.”

Need help deciphering old census annotations? Email us at emma@backlog-archivists.com!

Dmitri Schmidt, B.A.

Dmitri Schmidt, B.A., holds a degree in anthropology and German studies from Saint Louis University and has experience in museum collections, archival outreach, and digitization.

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