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October 27, 2004
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Immigration Records
(Ship Passenger Arrival Records)

Updated October 4, 2004

Table of Contents Passenger list from S.S. Carpathia
Sample Ship Passenger Arrival page,
S.S. Carpathia arrived at the Port of
New York, April 18, 1912.
Part 1: Introduction

Immigration records, more popularly known as "ship passenger arrival records," may provide evidence of a person's arrival in the United States, as well as foreign birthplace. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has immigration records for various ports for the years 1800-1959.

Part 2: 1538-1819

What NARA Has.

Until January 1, 1820, the U.S. Federal Government did not require require captains or masters of vessels to present a passenger list to U.S. officials. Thus, as a general rule, NARA does not have passenger lists of vessels arriving before January 1, 1820. There are, however, two exceptions to this general rule:
Arrivals at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1813-1819, are reproduced in NARA microfilm publication:
Roll 1 of M2009, Work Projects Administration Transcript of Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1813-1849 (2 rolls).
Arrivals at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1800-1819, are reproduced in two NARA microfilm publications:
Rolls 1-29 of M425, Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1800-1882 (108 rolls), which is indexed by M360, Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1800-1906 (151 rolls). Note, however, that M425 undoubtedly does not include everyone arriving at Philadelphia during 1800-1819.
What NARA Does Not Have.

To locate other passenger lists from 1538-1819, consult these books (among many others), which are found in libraries with genealogical collections:

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Part 3: 1820-1959

Early records relating to immigration originated in regional customhouses. The U.S. Customs Service conducted its business by designating collection districts. Each district had a headquarters port with a customhouse and a collector of customs, the chief officer of the district.

An act of March 2, 1819 (3 Stat. 489) required the captain or master of a vessel arriving at a port in the United States or any of its territories from a foreign country to submit a list of passengers to the collector of customs, beginning January 1, 1820. The act also required that the collector submit a quarterly report or abstract, consisting of copies of these passenger lists, to the Secretary of State, who was required to submit such information at each session of Congress. After 1874, collectors forwarded only statistical reports to the Treasury Department. The lists themselves were retained by the collector of customs. Customs records were maintained primarily for statistical purposes.

On August 3, 1882, Congress passed the first Federal law regulating immigration (22 Stat. 214-215); the Secretary of the Treasury had general supervision over it between 1882 and 1891. The Office of Superintendent of Immigration in the Department of the Treasury was established under an act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. 1085), and was later designated a bureau in 1895 with responsibility for administering the alien contract-labor laws. In 1900 administration of the Chinese-exclusion laws was added. Initially the Bureau retained the same administrative structure of ports of entry that the Customs Service had used. By the turn of the century it began to designate its own immigration districts, the numbers and boundaries of which changed over the years.

In 1903 the Bureau became part of the Department of Commerce and Labor; its name was changed to the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization when functions relating to naturalization were added in 1906. In 1933 the functions were transferred to the Department of Labor and became the responsibility of the newly formed Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Under President Roosevelt's Reorganization Plan V of 1940, the INS was moved to the Department of Justice.

Part 4: Sample Immigration Records

Partial list of survivors of the Titanic who were taken aboard the Carpathia, which arrived at the Port of New York, NY, April 18, 1912. This list was erroneously filed by the INS with June 18, 1912, arrivals, and can be found in NARA microfilm publication T715, Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957, Roll 1883, Vol. 4183.

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Part 5: Available 1800-1959 Immigration Records

Various NARA microfilm publications reproduce passenger arrival records from the ports listed below. This section was last updated October 4, 2004.

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Part 6: Where to Find These Records

Washington, DC

You may do research in immigration records in person at the National Archives Building, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001. Go to Room 400, the Microfilm Reading Room. Staff is available there to answer your questions. NARA microfilm publications may be examined during regular research room hours in Room 400; no prior arrangement is necessary.

Researchers coming from a distance may wish to call in advance of their visit (1) to verify research room hours and (2) to have any additional questions answered. The Consultant's Office can be reached at 202-501-5400.

NARA Regional Facilities

Some National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regional facilities have selected immigration records; call to verify their availability or check the online microfilm locator.

Libraries

Libraries with large genealogical collections also have selected NARA microfilm publications.

To obtain immigration records by mail Paper copies of immigration records can be ordered by mail using one NATF Form 81 for each person or family group traveling together.

You can obtain the NATF Form 81 by providing your name and mailing address to www.archives.gov/global_pages/inquire_form.html. Be sure to specify "Form 81" and the number of forms you need.

You can also obtain the NATF Form 81 by writing to: National Archives and Records Administration, Attn: NWCTB, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001.

Part 7: For more information

For useful guides on the historical and legal background of passenger arrival records, explanation of what information they contain, and search strategies, see:

Colletta, John P. They Came in Ships. 2d ed. Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry, Inc., 1993.

Tepper, Michael. American Passenger Arrival Records. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1988.

For more detailed examinations of immigration in U.S. history, see:

Handlin, Oscar, ed. Immigration as a Factor in American History. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1959.

Handlin, Oscar, ed. The Uprooted: The Epic Story of the Great Migrations that Made the American People. Reprinted, 2d edition enlarged, Boston: Little Brown & Co., 1973.

Higham, John. Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1955. Reprint, New York: Atheneum, 1963-1981.

Konvitz, Milton R. Civil Rights in Immigration. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1953.

Wittke, Carl. Refugees of Revolution: The German Forty-Eighters in America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Press, 1952. Examines German immigration to the U.S. following the failed 1848 revolution in Germany.

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