Stolen passports, pleading letters, and fake visas all appear in the US State Department's Records of Foreign Service Posts. These documents tell harrowing tales of families separated by WWI, and the incredible lengths people went to in order to leave war-torn Europe and reunite with relatives in America. In the years before WWI, husbands immigrated to the USA, intending to send for their family after getting settled, but the outbreak of war turned temporary situations into lengthy separations. Other cases illustrate a short visit to see family in the Old Country morphing into a years-long ordeal. Both during and particularly after the war, the emergence of new European countries meant new rules and regulations controlling movement and emigration. Simultaneously, panic over an assumed mass influx of war refugees spurred the US Congress to pass restrictive laws that imposed quotas on would-be immigrants. This presentation highlights some of the incredible experiences families endured during this era and explains the records used to recount their stories. Speaker Renée Carl is a professional genealogist and advocate for historic preservation and records access.
Manhattan, New York, NY