Electronic Records in the National Archives Documenting Immigrants to the United States

Theodore J. HullArchivistElectronic Records Archival ServicesNational Archives and Records Administration

A presentation for the Annual Meeting of the Society of American ArchivistsAugust 2011

Introduction•Computerization of 19th Century

Passenger List Records

•“Born-digital” records of immigrants from the Immigration and Naturalization Service

•Index to Alien Case Files

Computerization of 19th Century Passenger List Records

•1976: Microfilm original passenger lists; dispose originals by donation

•1977: Transfer original passenger lists to Temple University▫Provide a computerized index of the

passenger lists for the Port of New York

•1978: Balch Institute responsible for indexing

Computerization of 19th Century Passenger List Records•1984: Temple-Balch Center for Immigration

Research created and indexing continues•1992: Donation of “Famine Irish” records• 1998-2003: Donation of passenger list

records of German, Russian, and Italian immigrants

•2003: AAD launch with “Famine Irish” included; other records included after 2005

Computerization of 19th Century Passenger List Records

Immigrant Group Number of Records

“Famine Irish,” 1846-1851 604,596German immigrants, 1850-1897 4,068,907Russian immigrants, 1834-1897 527,394Italian immigrants, 1855-1900 845,368

TOTAL 6,046,265

Volume of Records Included in each Electronic File:

First NameLast Name

Age Sex OccupationCity/Town of LastResidence

DestinationCity / Country

Information extracted from Passenger list for computerization

KOERBER,MICHAEL,28,M,FMR,U,14,ZOCHENREUTH,BUFFALO-NY,S13,8056

Record as originally coded in the German immigrants database file:

LIST OF FIELDS1. Last Name2. First Name3. Age4. Sex code5. Occupation code6. Literacy code7. Country of Origin code8. City/Town of Last Residence9. Destination City/Country10. Transit and/or Travel Compartment code11. Manifest Identification Number

AAD Main Page

AAD Passenger List Page

AAD Germans to America Passenger List Page

AAD Fielded Search Page

AAD Results Screen Displaying Partial Records

Manifest Identification Number = 8056

AAD Full Record Display

Date of Arrival Port of Departure

Ship Name

Transcribers at the Center for Immigration Research assigned the manifest for this voyage of the Augustus MID = 8056

Information extracted from Passenger list for computerization

AAD Fielded Search Page

AAD Results Screen Displaying Partial Records

“Born-digital” records of the INS•1960’s: INS employs computers to assist in

compiling immigration statistics

•1978: INS identified seven permanent electronic records series

•1983-2004: INS transfers electronic records

•2009: new DHS records schedule for three permanent series, Lawful Immigrants, Naturalizations, and Removals / Returns

“Born-digital” records of the INS

Series Title Record Counts

Aliens with a Verified Voluntary Departure from the United States File, FY 1992-FY 1997

29,420

Deportations Files, FY 1975-FY 1993 476,598Derivative Citizenship Files, 1974 – 1983 209,875Exclusions File, FY 1993 5,120Lawful Immigrants Files, FY 1972 – FY 2004

21,793,339

Naturalizations Files, FY 1972- FY 2004 11,373,311Removal of Aliens from the United States Files, FY1992 - FY1997

323,252

Required Departures Files, FY 1974 – FY 1993

627,941

Volume of records by series:

“Born-digital” records of the INS

NameImmigration and

Naturalization Service assigned identification number ("A" Number)

AgeCountry of birthCountry of chargeabilitySexMarital statusNationalityOccupationPort of entry

State and area of intended residence

Class of admission as an immigrant or nonimmigrant

Type of immigrantYear of nonimmigrant

admissionAfter 2000:

“In care of" addressDate of green card issuanceDecision date

Lawful Immigrant record contents:

Index to Alien Case Files

•1978: INS schedules as “Automated Master Index System”

•2010: Scheduled as the Central Index System, extract accompanied “First Scrape” of Alien Case Files

•2011: NARA accessions the Central Index System “First Scrape” with over 350,000 records

Index to Alien Case Files

Alien Identification Number

First and Last NameDate of BirthPort of EntryDate of EntrySexCountry of BirthPrevious Field Control

Office

Date Record Entered in the Central Index System

Father's NameMother's NameNaturalization LocationNaturalization DateNaturalization CourtAlias First and Last

Name

Central Index System record contents:

Conclusion

• NARA has long committed itself to identifying, accessioning, and preserving electronic records files documenting the immigrant experience

• Transcribed 19th century passenger list records are available through Access to Archival Databases (AAD) resource

• Researchers can use Archival Research Catalog (ARC), and soon AAD, to identify Alien Case Files

• Researchers of the future will have access to complete Statistical Reporting System (SRS) data documenting lawful immigrants, naturalizations, and other categories of aliens.

Contacts

Theodore J. Hull, ArchivistElectronic Records Archival Servicestheodore.hull@nara.gov

•AAD: http://aad.archives.gov/aad/•ARC:

http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/•Records Control Schedules:

http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/rcs/