Naturalization Records - Assigning gender if petitioner is married?
When reviewing recent naturalization records, I have noticed that some indexers are assigning a gender (when there is no field on the form) if they have information for their spouse filled out (e.g., they are assigning a male gender because they have indicated they have a wife).
Is this correct?
Best Answer
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I agree. We can determine the gender based on the time of the document and evidence in the language. The field help says:
Index the sex only if it was specifically recorded or you can tell what it was from relationship terms, such as "son" or "daughter," titles or terms, or other evidence in the language.
If the petitioner has a wife, then they are a husband and vice versa because of relationship terms.
Moving forward the language in these documents will probably be changed, but, it is doubtful we will index them anytime soon. Same sex marriage became legal in some other countries around 2019 and in the US in 2015. So, based on the timing of the documents and the evidence in the language it should be safe to index gender dependent on relationship terms.
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Answers
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Yes, my opinion - except for image #2 (which I agree should be <BLANK>).
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Thanks for your input genenthusiast and Melissa. I wish the examples they showed would be more consistant. The "US, New York—Naturalization Records, 1820–1991" project's examples: (1) Declaration of Intention, Example 1, is unknown since neither sex nor husband/wife is selected for the spouse; (2) Declaration of Intention, Example 1, has a "Sex" field for male/female; (3) Oath of Allegiance, no relevant data for gender shown; (4) Petition for Naturalization sample does not include the gender even though it shows he has a wife.
It was the last example that initially raised this query, since whomever created the example DID NOT ADD "Male", and there is a wife on the form. Following the examples shouldn't make this more confusing when they aren't consistant. 😝
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I agree. The examples need to be carefully proofread and compared with the field helps before a project is released.
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