Feature Science & Society

How the U.S. census has measured race over 230 years

The 2020 census faces the same challenges as previous counts

illustration of people in the United States

As the U.S. census gets under way, a review of historical data shows the difficulties in measuring race.

Delphine Lee

By Betsy Ladyzhets

- More than 2 years ago

On the first Monday in August 1790, just over a year after the inauguration of President George Washington, America’s first census marshals began knocking on doors.