In a message dated 12/29/2005 4:13:25 PM Central Standard Time,
jebold@comcast.net writes:
Al, did that registration apply to naturalized Americans (Germans) , or
only those
who had not applied for citizenship. This is very interesting, never heard
that before.
I've never heard it either. If a naturalized citizens was exempt, would this
prove by process of elimination that they were a naturalized citizen? Does
anyone know if these records exist for IL, WI or OK?
Viele Grüße aus Illinois
John Rodenburg
Rodenburg (Tarmstedt, Hannover)
Brunkhorst (Hannover)
Werner (Langen, Hesse-Darmstadt),
Steinke (Pommern)
Krause (Pommern)
Schröder (Warsow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin),
Meyer (Wechold, Hannover)
Zum Mallen (Schierholz, Hannover)
Röhrdanz (Mecklenburg-Schwerin)
It's somewhat confusing, but in a nutshell, no one was exempt - aliens or naturalized citizens - from the WWI draft registration requirements effected in 1917 and 1918, if you met the targeted criteria. The records Al and Lila cited appear to be part of the forms that were required at that time as part of this draft and security initiative. Clearly more information and documentation was being requested of German aliens. Whether these 'Alien Registrations' are technically considered part of the WWI Draft Registration initiative is hard to say. Perhaps it is nothing more than two different, but similar, faces of the war coin.
Al's record states US Department of Justice, and thusly is held at the NARA Federal Archive (central). Lila's indicates Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, and appears to be in the holding of that State as opposed to a Federal jurisdiction. Odd to say the least.
Per the Iron Range Research Center in Minnesota preface that Lila included:
Any immigrants who were not naturalized by February 1918 had to complete an Alien Registration and Declaration of Holdings form.
Makes you wonder why so late also, considering the Wilson Administration had declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917.
I also saw this in a different article on the Net:
Patriotism" became a powerful political weapon, legitimized by the creation by the Minnesota Legislature of the Commission of Public Safety, whose excessive jurisdictional latitude allowed for unbounded control and trampling of civil rights. The Alien Registration Act of 1918 required all aliens to register, to declare their holdings, and to state why they had not become citizens. Foreign language instruction was discontinued in many schools. Foreign language speakers were disparaged as unpatriotic. It was a dark chapter in the history of a state renowned as progressive.
So was Minnesota as a state alone in this regard? Was the 'Registration Affidavit' of Al's relative just 'par for the course' at that time, albeit more comprehensive because of heightened security?
You might want to check the 'WWI opinions' thread also. There is an overlap of info shared between these two.