The Boy With the U.S. Census

A series of episodic reports follows census agents as they travel widely to document American life, moving from mountain hollows and industrial workshops to immigrant ports, frozen northern settlements, and crowded city districts. Vivid scenes portray encounters with feuds, smugglers, organized crime, child labor, and acute poverty, while also detailing methods of data collection, tabulation, and the logistical means of reaching remote populations. Interwoven are portraits of immigrant neighborhoods, efforts to record Black communities, and the practical challenges and hazards of counting people in diverse and often dangerous environments.