The U.S. Census Bureau is proud of its history of continually 

evolving to ensure an accurate count of the people of the United 

States. To accomplish this, the Census Bureau has long embraced 

the hiring of a diverse workforce representative of local 

communities and the people who were a part of the 

neighborhoods that they counted. For this reason, census work 

was often one of the few government jobs open to minorities. 

Beginning with the 1870 Census (the first after the abolition of 

slavery), the Census Bureau began hiring African Americans as 

enumerators and data processors. With the creation of a 

permanent Census Bureau in 1902, Black workers and statisticians 

found an environment with an inclusiveness far greater than 

many contemporary institutions. 

John Willis Menard was born on 

April 3, 1838, in Kaskaskia, Illinois, just seven years before 

flooding of the Mississippi River forced a relocation of the town. 

John’s relations included New Orleans Creoles as well as brothers 

Pierre and Michel Menard, the latter of whom founded 

Galveston, TX. Born free and educated in schools for free blacks, 

John worked as a farm hand before enrolling at Iberia College, 

Ohio, in 1859. In 1863, as the Civil War raged, John briefly joined 

the Army as a hospital steward, before receiving an appointment 

to the Interior Department’s Immigration Bureau. However, this 

groundbreaking posting came with a cost and John soon resigned 

due to harassment from fellow employees. He then sailed for 

British Honduras (present day Belize), in the employ of the British 

Honduras Company, in order to survey the country and see if it 

was a good site for the possible 

relocation of some of his newly emancipated countrymen.

John returned to the United States following the end of the Civil War 

in 1865, and settled in New Orleans and established a newspaper, 

The Free South (later renamed The Radical Standard). On his return 

trip, he had passed through Jamaica, where he met his wife, 

Elizabeth, with whom he would raise a family. In New Orleans, John 

also became involved in politics. After the 1868 death of 

Congressman James Mann of Louisiana’s 2nd District, John ran as the 

Republican in the ensuing special election. Despite John winning a 

clear majority, his opponent challenged the results all the way to the 

U.S. House of Representatives. On February 27, 1869, John became 

the first African American to speak before the entire house, in 

support of claiming his seat. Despite his appeal, the House remained 

deadlocked, and the seat went unfilled until the next general election.

 

Newspaperman, Politician, and Census Clerk

Library of Congress.

John and his family on the 1880 

Census.

The Herald and Mail

(Columbia, TN) February 1, 1878.
Following this defeat, John next moved to 

Jacksonville, Florida, in 1871, where he 

continued as a newspaper editor and 

politician. He served in the Florida 

legislature, was elected justice of the peace, 

and received appointments as deputy 

collector of internal revenue and customs 

inspector. In 1874, John once again 

attempted to run for U.S. Congress, but was 

forced to drop out of the race due to 

intimidation and political mudslinging.

Throughout his political career, John 

maintained a reputation as an eloquent and 

thoughtful speaker. John used his talents not 

only to support his own business interests 

and ambitions, but also to support those of all African Americans. In one lecture to a Washington 

audience in 1878, John used census figures to disprove racist predictions about the future of the 

black population in the US. W.E.B DuBois, who worked with the Census Bureau on the 1900 

Census and greatly influenced the civil rights movement in the 20th century, would make the same 

observations several decades later.

By 1880, John’s family had relocated to 

Washington, D.C., where he worked as a clerk in 

the Treasury Department. John maintained his 

business concerns in Florida, continuing to buy 

and edit newspapers, and only permanently 

returned to Washington in September 1889, when 

he received an appointment to work on the 1890 

Census. Despite his political connections, John 

still had to pass the civil service exam to ensure 

that political patronage did not harm the quality 

of the census work.

One great contribution to the compilation of statistics for the 1890 Census was the introduction of 

Herman Hollerith’s tabulation machine, one of the first proto-computers. Hollerith's machine 

required information from the census questionnaires to be transferred to a card, which was holepunched at various places to indicate the characteristics of each person enumerated. The cards 

were then run through an electronic tabulating machine, 

which, using metal pins to complete circuits through the 

punched holes, counted or cross-tabulated different 

characteristics. Additionally, the 1890 Census represented one 

of the most in-depths attempts to provide statistics on the 

United States up to that point, and the final report 

encompassed 25 volumes, covering population, agriculture, 

manufactures, vital and social statistics, transportation and 

several other subjects. Even with the advances of Hollerith’s 

machine, the results were not completed until July 1, 1897.

Unfortunately, John did not live to see his final work 

completed. After returning to Washington, starting another 

newspaper, and working as a census clerk for four years, John 

passed away on October 8, 1893, after a lifetime of public 

service. We are grateful to John for his extensive service to the 

U.S. Census Bureau and our country.

John addressing Congress, making the argument to claim his seat.

Library of Congress.

The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) September 10, 1889.

The Washington Bee (Washington, DC) October 14, 1893.

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