Through the FamilySearch Indexing project, I’ve been occasionally helping out indexing the 1940 Census images along with other records like death certificates, marriages, etc. What I like about FamilySearch is that they regularly send out emails to say thanks for helping – this is cool because these provide a gentle reminder to me to go index another batch. But the latest email offered something way cooler than just a thanks – now I can earn badges for indexing the 1940 Census records!

This has definitely motivated me to index even more records. And it’s not too late if you’re into collecting cool genealogy badges for yourself! Just hop over to the 1940 U.S. Census Project website and sign up to begin indexing and collecting your own badges.

While they have indexed over 60% of the images, there’s plenty more available. I included an example of the badges in this post and added them to the sidebar of this blog site. I’m in the process of trying to get as many states as I can. Too bad I didn’t realize they were offering badges or I’d have made sure to hit every state from the beginning! It would also be cool if they someday off the chance to order a framed certificate of all the badges earned.