As the Census Begins, Remember Two Census Workers Killed on United Flight 93

April 1, 2020, marks the 24th nationwide decennial census, when our Federal Census Bureau attempts to count and gather demographic data about the American population from every household. For the first time, Americans can choose to respond to the Census questionnaire online as well as by phone and by mail.

For the first time, public health mandates may halt census field workers from paying follow-up visits to non-responding homes—unless deadlines or tallying tactics shift.

Twenty years ago, 281,421,906 people resided in the United States, as enumerated by the 2000 Census. That figure and the many political ramifications derived from it were the outcome of the training and persistence of the Census Bureau’s workforce, under the U.S. Department of Commerce. Two veterans of that national process are commemorated on the names parapets of the 9/11 Memorial’s South Pool: Marion R. Britton, age 53, and Waleska Martinez, age 37.

Britton, a Brooklyn native, had worked for the Census Bureau in New York City for 21 years, rising in the ranks to become its assistant regional director. Posthumously, friends, relatives, and colleagues have recalled her compassionate nature, noting that when working as a door-to-door surveyor, she sometimes encountered families in need and revisited their homes later with contributions of food and clothing.

Born in Puerto Rico, Martinez had been employed at the Bureau for 13 years, where her computer science degree and expertise found a meaningful fit. By 2001, she had been promoted to automation supervisor at the Bureau’s 26 Federal Plaza offices in lower Manhattan. Among the items donated to the Museum by the Martinez family in her memory are various citations, certificates, and awards from the U.S. Department of Commerce recognizing her exemplary service, including, and especially relevant for April 1, a desk-top souvenir acknowledging her participation in the 2000 Census.

On the morning of September 11, the two coworkers boarded United Flight 93 at Newark Airport for a business conference in San Francisco. At the meeting, there would be opportunities to swap lessons with other colleagues about data collection and computerization. Perhaps they would have shared their own demographic insights arising from the analysis of answers to the short- and long-form questions of the recently completed federal census. But fate intervened. Britton and Martinez were among the 40 passengers and crew who tried to avert another catastrophic airborne attack on a national landmark, most likely the U.S. Capitol. The hijacked aircraft crashed into a remote field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all aboard by never reaching its intended target.

In 2002, for the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks, then U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald L. Evans presided at a tree-planting ceremony honoring Britton and Martinez at the headquarters of the federal Census Bureau in Suitland, Maryland.

As you fill out your 2020 census form, please take a moment to remember the professionalism of these two women, and their dedication to the purpose and benefits of gathering accurate population information once every decade.

By Jan S. Ramirez, Executive Vice President of Collections & Chief Curator, 9/11 Memorial Museum