United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925

1,894,809 records

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Immigration & Travel

Citizenship, Passport and Naturalization

United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925

United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925

1,894,809 records

This collection contains applications for US passports. Relatively few citizens had the means to travel internationally in the early 19th century. As a result, most of the passport applications in this collection are from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. The amount of information found on the applications also varies. Earlier passport applications required relatively little information, containing only the applicant’s name, birth date, residence, and destination. Later applications contain significantly more information such as an applicant’s name, address, birth place, birth date, occupation, ship name, destination, oath of allegiance, prior destinations, age, and even physical descriptions (height, eye color, forehead, nose, mouth, chin, hair color, complexion, etc.). Of particular interest, these later applications also contain a photo of the applicant and the information of a friend or family member vouching for their citizenship. This collection is composed of NARA publications M1372 and M1490. It is important for genealogists to note that prior to 1952 US passports were generally not required for international travel. There were only two time periods during the span of this collection when passports were required for traveling internationally: during the Civil War and World War I. Many individuals who traveled internationally will not appear on any passport index simply because passports were not required. However, passports were of particular benefit to naturalized US citizens traveling abroad as the passport reduced the likelihood that their birth country would try to detain them or prevent their return to the United States. In addition to this passport collection, it may be beneficial to search passenger manifests. While an individual may not have needed a passport to travel internationally, they will be listed on a US citizen manifest. However, the information found on US citizen manifests is sparse compared to the information found on later passport applications. It was also rare for a single passport to cover multiple trips abroad. Many wealthy US citizens appear multiple times within this collection because they applied for a new passport with every voyage.

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Citizenship, Passport and Naturalization

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Sample record

John D. Rockefeller Jr.

The only son of John D. Rockefeller Sr, one of the richest men to ever live. He financed the construction of the Rockefeller Center in New York City, becoming one of the largest real estate holders in New York. He was a strong supporter of the League of Nations and the United Nations, donating the land for the United Nations headquarters in New York. He would dedicate his life to philanthropy, giving the equivalent of $10 billion to a variety of charitable interests.