1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Computerization of 19 th Century Passenger List Records Immigrant GroupNumber of Records “Famine Irish,” 1846-1851604,596 German immigrants, 1850-18974,068,907 Russian immigrants, 1834-1897527,394 Italian immigrants, 1855-1900845,368 TOTAL 6,046,265 Volume of Records Included in each Electronic File:

6. First Name Last Name AgeSexOccupationCity/Town of Last Residence Destination City / Country Information extracted from Passenger list for computerization

7. KOERBER,MICHAEL,28,M,FMR,U,14,ZOCHENREUTH,BUFFALO-NY,S13,8056 Record as originally coded in the German immigrants database file: 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

8. AAD Main Page

9. AAD Passenger List Page

10. AAD Germans to America Passenger List Page

11. AAD Fielded Search Page

12. AAD Results Screen Displaying Partial Records

13. Manifest Identification Number = 8056 AAD Full Record Display

14. Date of ArrivalPort of DepartureShip 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

15. AAD Fielded Search Page

16. AAD Results Screen Displaying Partial Records

17. “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

18. “Born-digital” records of the INS Series TitleRecord Counts Aliens with a Verified Voluntary Departure from the United States File, FY 1992-FY 1997 29,420 Deportations Files, FY 1975-FY 1993476,598 Derivative Citizenship Files, 1974 – 1983209,875 Exclusions File, FY 19935,120 Lawful Immigrants Files, FY 1972 – FY 200421,793,339 Naturalizations Files, FY 1972- FY 200411,373,311 Removal of Aliens from the United States Files, FY1992 - FY1997 323,252 Required Departures Files, FY 1974 – FY 1993627,941 Volume of records by series:

19. “Born-digital” records of the INS 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 Lawful Immigrant record contents:

20. 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

21. Index to Alien Case Files 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 Central Index System record contents:

22. 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.

23. 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/http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/ Records Control Schedules: http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/rcs/