United States, World War I Draft Registration Cards - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of an index and images of draft registration cards for World War I. Three registrations were conducted between 1917 and 1918. The first was held on June 5,1917, for men between the ages of 21 and 31; the second was held on June 5,1918, for men who had turned 21 since the first registration, and the third was held on September 12, 1918, for men between the ages of 18 and 45.

The registration includes cards for 24,000,000 men. Approximately 2,800,000 men were inducted into military service.The cards are arranged by state, by city or county, by local draft board, and then alphabetically by surname. The draft registration cards are part of Record Group 163: Records of the Selective Service System (World War I),1917-1939, NARA microfilm publication M1509.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
'World War I had 3 different draft registrations. Each registration was slightly different. The details are itemized with the images shown above. However, they generally included the following information:


 * Name
 * Birth date
 * Birthplace
 * Draft registration date
 * Sometimes, father’s birthplace
 * Name of nearest relative
 * Age in years
 * Sex is implied, since all registrants were males
 * Marital status
 * List of any dependents
 * Address


 * Sample Draft Registration Cards
 * Sample draft registration card for June 5, 1917
 * Sample draft registration card for July 5, 1918
 * Sample draft registration card for September 12, 1918

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the soldier.
 * The county and state of residence for the soldier.
 * The age of the soldier at the time of the draft:
 * 1st Registration (5 June 1917): men born 5 June 1886 to 5 June 1896
 * 2nd Registration (5 June 1918): men born 6 June 1896 to 5 June 1897
 * 3rd Registration (12 September 1918): for men born 12 September 1873 to 12 September 1900

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in your ancestor’s name in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about those in the list to what you already know about your own ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the "State" ⇒Select the "Local Draft Board" which takes you to the images.

Look at each image. Again you will need to compare the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor.

Be aware that with either search you may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections, see the wiki article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next ?
When you have located your ancestor’s World War I Draft Registration Card, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details such as a title, an occupation, or land ownership. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use these records to learn the date and place of birth. The information could also be used to search for a birth record and for information on parents and siblings. This is the best source of birth information for men born in states where birth registration began late.
 * Use the names of spouse, dependents, and residence to look for additional records about the registrant and his family such as census, church, and land records.


 * Additional World War I State Collections
 * New Jersey State Archives World War I Deaths
 * World War I Discharge Records Arkansas History Commission
 * Washington State Archives Statement of Service Cards

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties and states.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them Email. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Digital Books
Soldiers of the Great War Casualties. The volumes are arranged alphabetically by state. Within each state the entries are broken down in the following order. First are photographs of  soldiers averaging twenty per page. Next are the casualties arranged by Killed in Action; Died of Disease; Died of Wounds; Died of Accident; and Wounded in Action. For each soldier the volumes give name, rank and residence.


 * Soldiers of the Great War Volume 1 Alabama-Maryland
 * Soldiers of the Great War Volume 2 Massachusetts-Ohio
 * Soldiers of the Great War Volume 3 Oklahoma-Wyoming
 * Kansas Casualties starting on page 26

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: