The highest grade of school completed is one of those bits of data that I transcribe with a family’s 1940 census entry.

It’s also one of those bits of data that I fail to analyze in the context of the family of origin for adult members of the household. A relative asked at a recent reunion about the educational levels of the children of one of my 1860-era immigrant ancestors. Most of their children were living in 1940.

Maybe it would be insightful for me to look at how much education each child claimed to have in 1940.

All the pitfalls about census records being incorrect are applicable here, but it still is worth a look.