Discovering Your German Roots at the National Archives |
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by Jean Nudd, Archivist Introduction Census, Immigration and Naturalization Records Immigration records available at NRAP include passenger arrivals at the ports of Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia, as well as Canadian border crossings. Smaller ports such as Portland, Maine; Vanceboro, Maine; New Bedford, Massachusetts; and Providence, Rhode Island, are also available. Most of these records begin in 1820. (Congress passed the law requiring them in 1819.) Philadelphia begins in 1800 and the Canadian border crossings don’t begin until 1895. Most of the ports have indexes for some years. New York, for example, is indexed from 1820 to 1846 and then from 1897-1948. New Orleans, on the other hand, is indexed from 1820 to 1906. German researchers should also be aware that the Latter Day Saints (Mormon) Family History Centers have access to the Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934. These lists include nearly one-third of all the people who emigrated from central and eastern Europe between 1850 and 1934. For information on using immigration records, see Archival Anecdotes, volume 2, number 2, December, 1997; volume 3, number 1, March, 1998; volume 3, number 2, June, 1998; and volume 3, number 3, September, 1998. Finding an ancestor’s naturalization papers can assist a researcher in locating his or her arrival records. Prior to the standardization of naturalization applications in 1906, some courts, such as those in Massachusetts, asked for arrival information while others, such as New York and Connecticut, required little information on arrival. Naturalization indexes for New England, 1790-1906 (longer for Connecticut) and New York Federal District Courts, beginning in 1824, can help locate the naturalization record for ancestors by giving the court information as well as certificate and application numbers. The New England index also includes date and place of birth (on some cards; the boxes are there but not always filled in). NRAP also has applications and declarations for the Federal District Court in Boston from 1906-1929 with an index to 1966. For more information on using naturalization records, see Archival Anecdotes, volume 4, number 4, December, 1999. World War I Draft Cards Census, Immigration and Naturalization Records |