Electronic Records in the National Archives Documenting Immigrants

Electronic Records in the National Archives Documenting Immigrants to the United States Theodore J. Hull Archivist Electronic Records Archival Services National Archives and Records Administration A presentation for the Annual Meeting of the Society of American Archivists August 2011

Introduction • Computerization of 19 th Century Passenger List Records • “Born-digital” records of immigrants from the Immigration and Naturalization Service • Index to Alien Case Files

Computerization of 19 th 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 19 th 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 19 th Century Passenger List Records Volume of Records Included in each Electronic File: Immigrant Group “Famine Irish, ” 1846 -1851 Number of Records 604, 596 German immigrants, 1850 -1897 4, 068, 907 Russian immigrants, 1834 -1897 527, 394 Italian immigrants, 1855 -1900 845, 368 TOTAL 6, 046, 265

Information extracted from Passenger list for computerization First Name Last Name Age Sex Occupation City/Town of Last Residence Destination City / Country

Record as originally coded in the German immigrants database file: KOERBER, MICHAEL, 28, M, FMR, U, 14, ZOCHENREUTH, BUFFALO-NY, S 13, 8056 LIST OF FIELDS 1. Last Name 2. First Name 3. Age 4. Sex code 5. Occupation code 6. Literacy code 7. Country of Origin code 8. City/Town of Last Residence 9. Destination City/Country 10. Transit and/or Travel Compartment code 11. 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

AAD Full Record Display Manifest Identification Number = 8056

Information extracted from Passenger list for computerization 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

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 Volume of records by series: 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, 598 Derivative Citizenship Files, 1974 – 1983 209, 875 Exclusions File, FY 1993 5, 120 Lawful Immigrants Files, FY 1972 – FY 2004 21, 793, 339 Naturalizations Files, FY 1972 - FY 2004 11, 373, 311 Removal of Aliens from the United States Files, FY 1992 - FY 1997 Required Departures Files, FY 1974 – FY 1993 323, 252 627, 941

“Born-digital” records of the INS Lawful Immigrant record contents: Name Immigration and Naturalization Service assigned identification number ("A" Number) Age Country of birth Country of chargeability Sex Marital status Nationality Occupation Port of entry State and area of intended residence Class of admission as an immigrant or nonimmigrant Type of immigrant Year of nonimmigrant admission After 2000: “In care of" address Date of green card issuance Decision date

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 Central Index System record contents: Alien Identification Number First and Last Name Date of Birth Port of Entry Date of Entry Sex Country of Birth Previous Field Control Office Date Record Entered in the Central Index System Father's Name Mother's Name Naturalization Location Naturalization Date Naturalization Court Alias First and Last Name

Conclusion • NARA has long committed itself to identifying, accessioning, and preserving electronic records files documenting the immigrant experience • Transcribed 19 th 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, Archivist Electronic Records Archival Services theodore. 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/