The info that I thought was Census stuff, isn’t Census stuff, it is actually Commissioners of the District of Columbia stuff. Once upon a time DC had a board of Commissioners and off the top of my head I think they were appointed by Congress. Anyway those Commissioners put out some lovely annual reports which have a good deal of info. Sadly, that info seems to be on scratched microfilm in the GovDocs section of my place’s library. The photocoping fees for it is a strong disincentive for me to make copies and I should shop around. I hear the Library of Congress and the University of Maryland are more affordable.
So why would you, with your mild interest in the past have an interest in some old annual reports? Well besides knowing they counted only 11 Chinese women in all of the District in 1897, 4 of them living on Sq. 425 (currently being occupied by the Convention Center), the reports break down the blocks or squares with some interesting information. Their census was enumerated by the police in some instances, and I can’t determine who did the other sections of the report. There is a break down between “White” and “Colored”, colored I’m gathering would include the Chinese, Indians, African Americans, and other non-Europeans, by square. Some go further by locating the handful of Chinese (327 men, 11 women), one Japanese guy, and enough Indians to count on your fingers (3 men, 2 women) in the District in 1897. Gives you a sense of how cosmopolitian the city was, uhm? [