Immigrant Documents Archival Collection

 

Immigrant at Registration Desk at Ellis Island ca 1910s. Bain News Service.

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

 

Kokoppe Indpodnings Attest - Cowpox Vaccination Certificate - 1821

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.

 

Front Side of Vacinnation Certificate Card, Issued by the American Line to I. O. Kilgarriff on 5 March 1893

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.

 

Issue Of Inspection Cards To Steerage And Cabin Passengers

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.

 

Proof of Registration for Inclusion in the Roll for Kristian Johannes Jansen, a Danish Emigrant to America.

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.

 

Second Cabin Landing Card - Canadian Port - Early 1900s

Landing Card - Canadian Port for U.S. Immigration Service - ca 1907

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.

 

Inspection Card for Immigrants and Steerage Passengers on the RMS Oceanic, Departing Liverpool for New York on 5 June 1901 and Arriving in New York Ellis ISland on 14 June 1901.

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.

 

Front Side, Inspection Card for Immigrant and Steerage Passengers, for Norwegian Immigrant Hans Johansen Røsholt of Rårdal, Norway.

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.

 

Front Side of Inspection Card (Immigrants and Steerage Passengers) for Danish Emigrant Kristian Johannes Jansen of Copenhagen

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.

 

Front Side of Immigrant and Steerage Passengers Inspection Card on the RMS Carpathia of the Cunard Line.

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.

 

Allan Line Landing Card from the SS Corsican, Canadian Port of Entry, for the United States Immigration Service, 1907.

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.

 

 

Front Side, Canadian Immigrant Inspection Card, SS Dominion Sailing from Liverpool to Québec, 4 November 1909.

SS Dominion Canadian Inspection Card - 1909

Canadian Immigrant Inspection Card, SS Dominion Sailing from Liverpool to Québec, 4 November 1909.

 

Immigrant Inspection Card - Liverpool to New York - 1910

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.

 

Front Side, Immigrant ID Tag. When landing at New York this card was pinned to the coat or dress of the passenger in a prominent position.

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.

 

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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.

 

Steerage Passenger Inspection & Vaccination Card - Canadian Port of Entry - 1912

SS Corsican Inspection Card - 1912

Canadian Immigrant Inspection Card was issued in 1912 to a steerage passenger on board the Allan Line SS Corsican.

 

Nowegian Bank Note - Loan for Norwegian Immigrant to U.S. - 1913

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.

 

Front Side of an Immigrant Inspection Card, Issued in 1913 by the Cunard Line on Board the RMS Laconia.

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.

 

Immigration Control Card - Australian Immigrant - 1913

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.

 

Inspection Card for Immigrant to Canada - 1915

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.

 

Inspection Card for Immigrant to Canada - 1915

German Certificate of Innocence - 1915

An essential German document, "Zeugnis der Unbescholtenheit," loosely translates into Certificate of Innocence from 2 July 1915.

 

Transmigrant Certificate, Third Class Passenger Will Margarethe, RMS Olympic, 1921

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 - Hamburg Amerika Linie 1922

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.

 

Canadian Alien Card, White Star Dominion Line SS Canada - 1922.

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.

 

Front Side of Inspection Card - Swedish Immigrant (1923)

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.

 

Front Side of a Holland-America Line Inspection Card (Third Class Passengers) for Lithuanian Immigrant, Sailing on the SS Ryndam (Rijndam) from Rotterdam to New York on 26 September 1923.
Front Side of an Immigrant Identification Tag Worn on the Outer Garment - This One Was for Barbara Vitkiene of Lithuania, 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 Identification Card, United Stated Department of Labor for Non-Quota Immigration Visa - 1928

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.

 

Front Side of US Immigration Inspection Card, Norwegian Immigrant, Lauri A. Grava from Haugo, Voss, Norway, Contract Ticket No. 45947, Departing from Liverpool on the RMS Scythia of the Cunard Line on 27 October 1928.

Front Side of US Immigration Inspection Card, Norwegian Immigrant, Josua Grava from Haugo, Voss, Norway

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.

 

United States Landing Card - Elizabeth HAUSEN

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 Identification Card - Third Class Passenger - 1939

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.

 

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