1920 Census of
African Americans  
in Steelton

Historical Notes

Harrisburg historian Calobe Jackson, Jr. has done extensive research into past federal census projects.  On the 1920 census in Central Pennsylvania, Jackson notes

"Census day for the 1920 Census was taken as of January 1, 1920. This is one of the few times Census Day was this early in the year. The logic was that the farmers would be home and the count would be very accurate. However a Nor'easter hit the eastern states and the counting was a disaster. Congress did not accept the results or redistrict for some time. The rural areas lost political power to urban areas for the first time."¹

Jackson also notes the absence in the listings of a noted African American citizen, Dr. Benjamin B. Jeffers:  "I was surprised that Dr. Jeffers was not listed. He is one of several elusive persons that I have been researching. He is listed in the 1930 census, but we have not found data on his birth or death."²   Dr. Jeffers does not show up in our listings because the sheets we obtained did not include Front Street.  It is certain that the sheets do not represent the entire African American population of Steelton in 1920, although we believe the 1,353 individuals here documented do represent a very large percent of that community.  Using the 1919 edition of Boyd's Directory of Harrisburg and Steelton, we find the following listing for Dr. Jeffers:

Jeffers Benj. B., phys, 36 N Front, h 34 do³

which can be read as "Jeffers, Benjamin B., physician, [practicing at] 36 North Front Street, [residing at] 34 North Front Street."  

Sources

1.  Correspondence, Calobe Jackson, Jr. to George F. Nagle, March 21, 2004.
2.  Ibid.
3.  Boyd's Directory of Harrisburg and Steelton, 1919, p. 1090.

Arrangement of Data

For family groups, use the alphabet list below.  Heads of households are listed alphabetically with sub-lists of all those other persons in their households:

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H  | I | J | K | L | M | O | P | R | S | T | W | Main Page |

Use the following lists to access only heads of households, or residences by streets:

Heads of Households, Surnames A-K list, Heads of Households, L-W list  | Streets list

For all non-heads of households, listed alphabetically, use the alphabet list, below.  People in these lists are not necessarily grouped by families:

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H  | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | V | W |