The U.S. Census Bureau continually strives to ensure an 

accurate count of the people of the United States. For this 

reason, it has always embraced the hiring of a diverse 

workforce representative of the local communities. In the 

middle of the 19th century, the United States expanded west 

into areas formerly governed by Spain and Mexico. Since many 

of the citizens and local officials only spoke Spanish, the Census 

Office quickly realized that it needed to employ workers fluent 

in the language. The establishment of a permanent Census 

Bureau in 1903 and increased immigration from the Caribbean,

Central and South America expanded the need for Spanishspeaking employees both in the field and at headquarters.

Jose Miquel Talavera-Toso III was born in Lima, Peru, on April 27, 

1948, to Miguel Eusebio Talavera Reinaldi, a Peruvian military officer, 

and Diana Leonor Toso-O'Connor. Following his parents’ divorce, Jose 

moved to the United States as a teenager with his mother. As the 

Vietnam war began to escalate in the 1960s, Jose enlisted in the 

United States Army at the age of 17. Jose would end up serving three 

tours in Vietnam, where he served in the infantry and as an 

interpreter. He recieved multiple Purple Hearts for wounds sustained 

in combat. In addition, he was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor, 

along with many other decorations, prior to receiving his honorable 

discharge in 1972. 

Following the completion of his military service, Jose returned to the 

Maryland suburbs, where his family lived outside of Washington, DC. His 

first job after the military was at the White House as part of President 

Richard Nixon’s Cabinet Committee on Opportunities for Spanish-speaking 

People. He then began working with the Census Bureau, headquartered in 

Suitland, MD, as a GS-2 messenger. Then Jose trained as a computer 

programmer and worked as a clerk in the Associate Directorate for 

Demographic Programs. He also taught programming to Latin American 

students sent to the Census Bureau from their home countries. Jose quickly 

worked his way up the census ranks and by 1980, he had earned a position 

in the Field Division as head of the District Office in the East Bronx. 

 

Veteran, Advocate, and Career Census Bureau Employee 

Jose outside of his District Office, 1980.

Courtesy of the Talavera family.

The Courier-News (Bridgewater, 

NJ), February 6, 1990.

Jose in Vietnam.

Courtesy of the Talavera family.
As the manager for the East Bronx District 

Office, Jose’s primary focus was 

identifying all households and increasing 

the mail-in response rate. Despite working 

out of Census Bureau Headquarters in 

Suitland, Jose knew that community 

involvement and partnership were 

essential to achieving higher response 

rates in the Bronx. Jose also knew that 

many households in the area had 

additional tenants that were often not identified in mailing lists—which he solved by sliding census 

forms under doors that did not have mailboxes, but looked as if they housed separate families. In 

addition to hiring staff that knew the area, he also worked closely with community organizations 

and achieved an 80 percent mail-in response rate—significantly higher than the 73.8 percent mail-in 

return rate for all of New York. This high response rate meant that his enumerating staff of 800 had 

to visit only 9,700 households in order to get a complete count. 

Jose continued advancing through the Field Division. He worked in several positions in New Jersey 

until he became chief of recruiting in northern New Jersey for the 1990 Census. In addition to 

problems with mail delivery of census forms and reduced funding, Jose also worked to enumerate 

hard-to-count populations, which he felt strongly 

about. These not only included members of various 

minorities, he helped by boosting opportunities 

within the Census Bureau and ensuring accurate 

representation in census data, but also homeless and 

transient people. Jose felt especially drawn to this 

group. Following the Vietnam War and the negative 

backlash against the soldiers, Marines, sailors, and 

airmen who fought in the war, the homeless 

population swelled with former service members. 

Jose realized that in order to provide services for 

homeless veterans, organizations needed to know 

how many there were and where they stayed.

In addition to his work in the field and his work with computers, Jose also contributed to the 

betterment of the Census Bureau by helping his fellow employees. He served in the American 

Federation of Government Employees, the largest union responsible for protecting the rights of 

workers in the federal government, and helped establish a childcare center at Census Bureau 

Headquarters in Suitland. In 1985, he also received an award for his contributions to the Equal 

Employment Opportunities Office. 

After several decades with the Census Bureau, Jose 

retired to New Jersey, although he did volunteer for 

the 2000 Census and fulfill his dream of working in 

three decennial censuses. In the process, he 

discovered dozens of previously unreported address 

in his hometown of Riverton, NJ.

He continued contributing to his community, helping 

disabled and homeless veterans, and participating in 

local politics. In addition to his passion for helping 

others, Jose also enjoyed collecting stamps. Jose 

passed away on December 6, 2013, survived by his 

wife of 40 years and their three children. The Census 

Bureau is thankful for Jose’s contributions, and for 

the contributions of all the members of our diverse workforce throughout the years.

The Millville Daily (Millville, NJ), March 21, 1985.

Jose and his daughter at the childcare center he helped start.

Courtesy of the Talavera family.

Jose, second from left, receiving an award at the Census 

Bureau, 1985.

Commerce People, November 1985.

HB-19-0011