Filtering a Spreadsheet

Open your dataset

We'll use data about manumissions of enslaved people in Albany, courtesy of the Albany County Hall of Records

"Data" > "Create a Filter"

Filter using the small toggle on each column

Filters can be used to:

  • Get an overview of your data
  • Sort alphabetically or by date
  • Filter out blanks or irrelevant records
  • Get only records for a specific range
  • Create a new dataset

Not all Blanks are irrelevant!

Hint: To avoid having to uncheck every option you don't want, use "clear" or "select all"

You can also use a filter to do a text search.  How many women were identified as someone's wife?

  • What's the date range of our data?

  • What's the geographic scope? What towns are represented?

  • What's the problem with the place names?

  • Are there any patterns in the manumissions of children?

  • (Hint: Filter "Slave First Name" by condition "Cell is not empty" and "Child Name" by "Cell is not empty" and try to interpret the results)