Immigrant Documents Archival Collection
Immigrant at Registration Desk at Ellis Island ca 1910s. Bain News Service. The photograph shows a man waiting, with others in a queue behind him, at the registration desk in the immigration station on Ellis Island; an immigration official is seated at the desk. Library of Congress # 97501640. GGA Image ID # 148505c990
Our Immigrant Document Archival Collection Includes Vaccination Certificates, Immigrant Identification Cards, Immigrant ID Tags, Alien Cards, and similar ephemera.
Genealogists will find these especially useful in identifying the documents they have in their family heirlooms. Students often find the illustrations and information ideal for completing reports on immigration for school.
Immigrants passing through Eilis Island were occasionally detained and chalked with a code letter to indicate the reason for the further examination —"K" for hernia, "L" for lung, "E" for eye, "H" for heart, "X" for mental disorder. Other numbers commonly found on the Immigrant Inspection Card were the manifest page and line number where their information was recorded. Holes on the bottom of some inspection cards were punched by the ship's surgeon during daily inspections.
Immigrant Documents Available at GG Archives
Cowpox Vaccination Certificate - 1821
Example of a Cowpox Vaccination Certificate Carried by an Immigrant Wherever He Traveled. It Was Later a Requirement for All Steamship Passengers to Have Been Vaccinated.
SS City of Berlin Vaccination Card - 1893
"Vaccination. Protected." A card was provided to passengers to provide evidence of that passengers' vaccination for smallpox issued in 1893.
Steerage And Cabin Passenger Inspection Cards (1894)
Information and Illustrations Relating to the Labeling of Baggage and the Issue of Inspection Cards to Steerage and Cabin Passengers.
Danish Emigrants' Proof of Registration for Military Service - 1900
This document was carried by a Danish emigrant when he later immigrated to the United States in April 1903. It was proof of where he registered for conscription into military service.
Early 1900s Immigration Landing Cards
Two examples of Landing Cards from the SS Corsican of the Allan Line, dating from the early 1900s, for Canadian and US Immigration Service.
Immigrant Inspection Card - RMS Oceanic - 1901
Inspection Card for Immigrants and Steerage Passengers on the RMS Oceanic, Departing Liverpool for New York on 5 June 1901.
Immigrant Inspection Card - RMS Germanic - 1902
Inspection Card issued to an immigrant traveling in Steerage by the White Star Line RMS Germanic in April 1902 that provided information about the immigrant.
Danish Emigrant's RMS Saxonia Inspection Card - 1903
Inspection Card (Immigrants and Steerage Passengers) for Danish Emigrant Kristian Johannes Jansen of Copenhagen, Who Departed on the RMS Saxonia on 21 April 1903 From Liverpool for Boston.
RMS Carpathia Immigrant Inspection Card - 1904
Inspection Card issued to an immigrant traveling in Steerage on board the RMS Carpathia of the Cunard Line dated 18 October 1904.
US Immigration Landing Card - Canadian Port of Entry - 1907
Card from the Allan Line SS Corsican to be filled up and handed to Purser to each First and Second Class Passenger destined to the United States of America.
SS Dominion Canadian Inspection Card - 1909
Canadian Immigrant Inspection Card, SS Dominion Sailing from Liverpool to Québec, 4 November 1909.
RMS Lusitania Inspection Card - 1910
Immigrant Inspection Card from the Cunard Line RMS Lusitania dated 9 July 1910 for Swedish Immigrant K. E. Paulson from Gothenburg, Sweden.
RMS Lusitania Immigrant ID Tag - 9 July 1910
An Immigrant ID Tag, worn on the outer garment, boldly displays pertinent information about K. E. Paulson, who traveled to the United States on the RMS Lusitania.
SS President Grant Inspection Card - 1912
A fine example of an Immigrants and Steerage Passengers' Inspection Card issued on 24 April 1912 by the Hamburg America Line for an Austrian Immigrant.
SS Corsican Inspection Card - 1912
Canadian Immigrant Inspection Card was issued in 1912 to a steerage passenger on board the Allan Line SS Corsican.
Norwegian Bank Note - Loan for Immigrant to U.S. - 1913
An example of a Norwegian Bank Note from 1913 used to fund the expense of traveling from Norway to the United States by a Norwegian Immigrant.
RMS Laconia Inspection Card - 1913
An Immigrant Inspection Card issued in 1913 by the Cunard Line on board the RMS Laconia to a Norwegian Immigrant traveling in Steerage.
SS Seydlitz Australian Immigration Control Card - 1913
Example of an Immigration Control Card for Australia, issued by the North German Lloyd for a German immigrant on 14 July 1913.
Canadian Steerage Immigrant Inspection Card - 1915
Inspection Card for Steerage Passenger on board the Canadian Pacific steamship SS Missanabie departing from Liverpool on 13 March 1915.
German Certificate of Innocence - 1915
An essential German document, "Zeugnis der Unbescholtenheit," loosely translates into Certificate of Innocence from 2 July 1915.
RMS Olympic Transmigrant Certificate - 1921
Transmigrant Certificate, issued in 1921 on the White Star Line RMS Olympic, indicating this passenger was Vaccinated, Examined, and Vermin-Free.
Passenger Transport Notification - 1922
1922 Transcript of a HAPAG Hamburg-America Linie Telegram from the Passenger Transport Department providing the emigrant with essential information regarding their voyage to the United States.
SS Canada Canadian Alien Card - 1922
The Canadian Alien Card Was Issued to Each Non-Canadian Passenger, Indicating the Number of the Sheet and Line number on the Manifest Sheet Their Name Was Listed On.
SS Drottningholm Inspection Card - 1923
U.S. Inspection Card (Immigrants and Steerage Passengers) for Earnst O. W. Carsuer, Sailing from Gothenburg 15 September 1923 on the SS Drottningholm of the Swedish American Line, Arriving in New York 25 September 1923.
Lithuanian Immigrant Document Collection - 1923
This incredible collection of Ellis Island documents from September 1923 about Barbara Vitkiene, a 65-year-old Lithuanian immigrant, provides insight into the immigration process. The collection includes an Immigrant Inspection Card, Immigrant ID Tag, passenger manifest extracts, Postcard of the SS Ryndam, and additional images illustrating Ellis Island in 1923.
Immigrant ID Card for Non-Quota Immigration Visa - 1928
1928 Immigrant ID Card issued by the US Department of Labor for Non-Quota Immigration Visa, provided to a Peruvian refugee, Jose Mario Farban of Lima, Peru.
RMS Scythia Immigrant Inspection Cards - 1928
Inspection Cards are used as a landing card and shown on request to a U.S. Immigration Inspector. Norwegian Immigrants Lauri A. Grava and Josua Grava from Haugo made the journey from Liverpool to Boston on board the RMS Scythia of the Cunard Line.
Immigrant ID & Vaccination Certificate - 1930
Health Certificate and Photo ID: Italian Immigrant Salvatore J. Milluzzo sailed on the SS Conte Biancamano of the Lloyd Sabaudo Line departing from Naples on 25 October 1930.
RMS Duchess of York Landing Card - 1931
United States Landing Card issued to Elizabeth Hausen traveling on Canadian Pacific Steamship RMS Duchess of York. Content Includes the History of Landing Cards.
Canadian Immigration ID Card - 1939
Third Class passenger's Immigration Identification Card for Canadian Immigrant Rose McMahon on board the Duchess of York of the Canadian Pacific Line.
