Working with PostgreSQL information_schema and tables (with same names, in different schemas) whose names start with a number
@ypercube's solution (in the comments above):

SELECT column_name, data_type
FROM   information_schema.columns
WHERE table_schema = 'crs_1973' AND
table_name = '2015_04_21'
ORDER  BY ordinal_position;


worked perfectly. I'm writing it up here so that I can accept the answer.