New York, New York City, World War II Draft Registration Cards - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection consists of draft registration cards of men who registered during World War II, with the exception of the fourth registration. Images courtesy of Ancestry.com. The event place is the residence of the registrant.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Passenger lists
 * Name of immigrant
 * Age
 * Sex
 * Marital Status
 * Occupation
 * Port of entry
 * Nationality
 * Race
 * Place of birth
 * Name of vessel
 * Date of arrival
 * Last permanent residence
 * Destination
 * Physical description
 * Accompanied by

General Information About Passenger Arrival and Custom Lists
Passenger arrival lists, or customs manifests, date back to 1820. The first official emigration station for New York was Castle Garden, located at the tip of lower Manhattan. Congressional action in 1891 resulted in federal immigration officials recording the immigrants’ arrival. After January 1892, passengers arriving in New York debarked at Ellis Island, located east of Manhattan in the New York Harbor. From 1892 to 1924, almost all immigrants entered the United States through the port of New York. When passengers arrived at Ellis Island, they were asked a series of questions designed to determine whether they would be able to support themselves and did not have any health problems. The information was supplied by the immigrant or a traveling companion (usually a family member). Only 2% of immigrants were denied entry into the United States.

The passenger lists are usually two typed pages divided into columns and rows. When you select an image to view, sometimes the manifest includes more than one page, and when you use the "click to enlarge manifest" link, the image that appears is not always the first page. To view the other page, use the "previous" or "next" links.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the person you are looking for
 * Location of departure
 * Approximate age

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the  Select NARA Roll Number to view the images

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you biographical details which can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members
 * Use the person's name and place of birth to find a birth certificate which should list the names of the parents
 * Use the country of citizenship to lead you to immigration or naturalization records
 * Use the person’s age and residence to find family in census, church, and land records
 * Use the marital information to find marriage records. Witnesses were often family members
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct
 * Continue to search the index and records to identify siblings and other relatives who may also have registered for the draft
 * Census, military service, military pension, immigration, naturalization, and land records can be very useful
 * Use employment information to lead you to trade, business, land, property, or education records

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Check for variant spellings. Realize that the indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings and misinterpretations
 * Entry clerks tried to record names correctly; however, mistakes may have been made in spelling foreign names. Often many second or third generation United States citizens Americanized their names, so the spelling in the passenger list may be different than the spelling that you are familiar with
 * Try a different index if there is one for the years needed. You may also need to search the passenger lists year by year
 * Search the indexes of other port cities
 * A fire broke out in the original buildings on 15 June 1897 destroying most of the immigrant records dating back to 1855. Record of your ancestor’s arrival may have been among those records

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the state of New York.
 * New York Guided Research
 * Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

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