Untangling Chinese Family Roots: Genealogist offers some tips
September 26, 2003
Jeanie Low, a San Francisco-based genealogist and lecturer for the National Genealogical Society, specializes in Chinese American history and offers tips on how to begin a search for family history. Additional help can be gleaned from her book China Connections: Finding Ancestral Roots for Chinese in America. Much of Chinese American history for families whose ancestors came through San Francisco, particularly during the Chinese Exclusion Act era (1882-1943) and earlier, and up to pre-1965 immigration, is housed at the U.S. National Archives & Records Administration (NARA), Pacific Sierra Region offices in San Bruno, Calif.• Talk to relatives. If the first-generation immigrant entered before 1965, find out what port that ancestor entered, the name at entry and the year. If the person left and returned to the United States, find out the latest year of entry.
• If the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) investigated the subject person sometime between the ’50s and the ’70s concerning resident status, naturalization or confession and amnesty, an Alien File, or “A-File,” was created. These documents are not open to the public and a Freedom of Information Act records request must be made to the INS (now the Department of Justice’s Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services). Be able to provide the naturalized name or any other name used, the port of entry and the naturalization year.
If the subject person is still alive, that person must execute a notarized document giving the researcher permission to access the documents. If the subject person is deceased, a copy of the death certificate or signature of the executor giving permission to access the documents is required.
The U.S. government began keeping A-Files in 1944 under the authority of the Alien Registration Act of 1940.
• If the subject person entered the United States before 1965 and was not investigated, the immigration documents are most likely at NARA and can be located through a name index database.
Researchers may call ahead and make an appointment with NARA staff. The staff may conduct a search, pull files and have documents available prior to arrival at the NARA offices.
• As with the Holt A. Cheng case, variations of his name have come into play. If a name does not appear, try flipping the name around. (Many Chinese surnames were mistakenly documented as first names and many given names were used as last names by immigration officials.) Try variations in spelling. Also keep in mind the “paper sons” issue: After records were destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake and fire in ’06, many Chinese used false documents and adopted a U.S. “sponsor’s” surname to immigrate under the guise of being a son, a “paper son” or son in name only. Talking to relatives will reveal whether the current surname is the original family name or a “paper name.” The Chinese character surname is usually the true family name. Many families with paper names revert back to the true family name upon naturalization.
Often, a search at NARA returns a number of people by the same name. Have other identifying information available, such as other individuals who may have immigrated at the same time or photos of the subject person at the age of entry. Researchers may want to copy photos from NARA to show relatives for positive identification.
• Other places to search include:
– U.S. census records from 1790-1930. Note that the 1890 census records were lost in a fire.
– Look to individual Chinese communities. Many family and benevolent associations and the community-at-large keep records.
– If the subject person came through San Francisco from 1892 to the 1930s, look to the Chinese Business Partnership registry. Immigrants during those years were required to register with the INS through this registry so that the INS could enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act, albeit with rather loose criteria: “working with hands” meant a laborer subject to the act as compared to a “business partner.”
– If the subject person died between 1870 and 1933 in California, the INS compiled a list to compare with any entering immigrants allegedly using false identification. Low adds that placing family history within the larger historical context will aid in successful searches.
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