Abstract
The Census of 1852 was the first and only state census conducted by California. The collection has been under the stewardship and care of the California State Archives (CSA) since its creation. Counting California: Digitizing and Interpreting the Census of 1852 examines the critical role census data played in establishing California’s government and civil society; and describes how the CSA graduate intern digitized the Census of 1852, created the descriptive metadata, and curated a related digital exhibit to provide historic context to users. Digitization projects like this, connect remote researchers with archival records and are essential to meet archival theory and best practices regarding accessibility.