RE PROJECT: US, New York—Eastern District Naturalization Records, 1906–1957/Record Dates

G T Deck

I often find it confusing to identify the record dates to index in this project.

Some of the forms to be indexed DO have clear record dates, such as the Oath of Allegiance (OOA).

However, the Declarations of Intention (DOI) and Petitions of Naturalization (PON) are often more difficult. Some versions of these forms have a record date on the first page, while others have the record date on the reverse side (or second image of the form).

When I am indexing the first page of a DOI or PON and there is no "Record Month, Day or Year" specifically listed on the image, should I leave those fields blank, knowing that the date will be on the next image and the researcher will find it? Or should I use the date that the person entered the USA as the date in the naturalization process? Or perhaps I should use the residency date? Please clarify for me! Thank you!

Melissa S Himes

Hello, G T.

You would never use the dates that the person entered the US, or the date that states they have continuously lived in the US. The field help, which is accessed by clicking on the purple question mark that appears when you click on the fields, gives us this instruction:

Please index only the record date in this field. Do not index the petition date or arrival date.

On the DOI, you would use the date and place that the person swore to the statement. The PON is just a little trickier because you do need to use the date that follows the affidavit of witness statement which can be on the next image. The project instructions have examples of these and can be pulled up by clicking on the last icon in the toolbar, or the project instruction link at the bottom of the entry form.

Hope that is helpful!

erutherford

Hey, G.T.,

To add to Melissa's post, there may be times where the next image with the PON is not part of your batch. To access it, click on Reference Images on your vertical toolbar (this toolbar has four icons on it). The Reference Images will open up in the lower right corner, with the next image, Next Image: +1, as the default. With Reference Images, you can go forwards or backwards five images. I've included a screenshot of my current batch. Image 2 requires me to get the Record Date from the +1 image. The record date, which has been circled, is 5/18/1948.

G T Deck

Thank you both so much. I know I have looked at those purple "?" many times. There is just such a lot to remember about naturalization records. I will add this info to my written 'cheat sheet'.