CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS : WORLD WAR II SELECTIVE SERVICE FILES CAN INCLUDE DETAILS OF THE OBJECTION

The military records for those who registered and served, or did not, are open to the GENERAL PUBLIC through the National Archives of the United States (NARA) since it has been more than 62 years since World War II.  The records are not all digitalized or in databases and so we often must ask an archivist for help.

NARA RECORDS OF THE SELECTIVE SERVICE - OBJECTORS

This is the link to the page with very much information.  To focus, this excerpt:

147.2.2 Records of the Selective Service System, 1940-47 (This is a record group)

Textual Records: Central correspondence, 1940-47. Correspondence concerning protests over various aspects of the draft, 1940-44. Correspondence relating to men released from active duty, 1941; and to appointments in the Selective Service system, 1940-47. Microfilm copies of the lotteries held in 1940, 1941, and 1942 to determine registrant classification order, 1940-42 (11 rolls). Issuances of national headquarters, state directors, and local boards, 1940-47. Microfilm copy of Methods For Preservation of Selective Service Records, vols. 1-5, 1944-45 (2 rolls). Case files on conscientious objectors, 1940-47, with indexes (including 4 rolls of microfilm). Microfilm copy of case files, including "cover sheets" on conscientious objectors who served in work camps, 1941-45 (282 rolls), with index (2 rolls). Locator cards for conscientious objectors sent to camps, 1941-47 (including 9 rolls of microfilm). Microfilm copy of case files on registrants appealing to the President, 1941-47 (226 rolls), with index (12 rolls of microfilm). Microfilm copy of the docket book of the Presidential Appeal Board, 1941-47 (5 rolls). Microfilm copy of records of the President's Amnesty Board, 1941-47 (4 rolls). Retained sample of appeal and local board records, 1940- 47, for Utah Appeal Board and for local boards in the Bronx, NY; Franklin City, MA; Holmes County, MS; and Pima County, AZ.

Note that "Local boards" comment.  It is always possible that a Local Board presided in the case of your ancestor.

Camps are were some COs performed service state-side in supportive, non-combat roles. They were called Civilian Public Service Camps.

My suggestion is to first get the draft registration, then find out if the person WAS drafted and if they served. If they were successful in their Objection, you will likely need to give the archivist all the information you have from those earlier documents.

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CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS : NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES : ARCHIVES THAT HOLD THE RECORDS : WORLD WAR II OBJECTORS ACCESS

Are you a child or spouse of a veteran? A "Next-of-Kin" is defined this way: Veterans and Next-of-Kin of deceased veterans have the same access rights to the record. The next-of-kin is defined as any of the following: the un-remarried widow or widower, son, daughter, father, mother, brother, or sister of the deceased veteran. Next-of-kin must provide proof of the death of the veteran, such as a copy of the death certificate, a letter from the funeral home, or a published obituary...

The GENERAL PUBLIC must respect a 62 year privacy law on military records. 

(U.S. involvement in Vietnam spanned from the early 1950's to 1973,escalating significantly from advisors to combat troops in July 1965. The Selective Service military draft was used to induct over 1.8 million men. A birth-date lottery began in December 1969. (The 62 years is for the DISCHARGE DATE so if the person was discharged in 1965 the records should be public next year.)

THE DETAILS FOR OBTAINING A MILITARY RECORD ARE HERE : NARA PERSONNEL RECORDS OF THE U.S. MILITARY  This is a start.  I have never personally found a World War II Draft Registration in which a CO was noted, but I hear some do.

According to NARA the primary place to find CO information for your ancestor is:

The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in Saint Louis, Missouri, which holds the official military personnel files (OMPF's) for those who served including the conscientious objectors who did serve but in non-combatant roles.

NARA NATIONAL PERSONNEL RECORDS CENTER

The collection you will likely be directed to or have an archivist at NARA look into for you is called: Record Group 147, which includes documentation on Conscientious Objectors (COs). 

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A PATRIOTIC THANKSGIVING

Perhaps you family genealogists will ask your relatives about their

 politics or military service after you've given thanks this day.

Perhaps you'd like to write out some memories to contribute to the family history project?

 

CITIZENSHIP : UNITED STATES OF AMERICA : #3 EVOLUTION OF THE DECLARATION OF INTENT "FIRST PAPERS" : IS CITIZENSHIP A RIGHT OF BIRTH IN THE UNITED STATES

 ARCHIVES GOV : HISTORY OF THE DECLARATION OF INTENT (CITIZENSHIP)

Read here about the changes through history and the Old Law (1795 till 1906) in which various courts had different forms, and the New Law (in which the forms were unified).

The "3 papers" we often seek were in general from 1906 until 1952.

Excerpt: Waiting Period between filing the Declaration of Intent and more paperwork.

January 29, 1795 and June 17, 1798 3 years
June 18, 1798 and April 13, 1802 5 years
April 14, 1802 and May 25, 1824 3 years
May 26, 1824 and December 23, 1952 2 years


Remember that filing a Declaration of Intent does not meant the person(s) followed through and actually became citizens.

Check by state for "walk into the courthouse and swear on a Bible" Citizenship. A typical walk in would be a person who just turned 18, who was brought into the country by immigrant parents (or who was born in the country to them) and they didn't complete the process due to their deaths or some other factor. Such a person and their situation was usually known to the community.

Has BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP in THE UNITED STATES CONSITUTION - The 14th Amendment - always been interpreted the same way? 

This has become controversial.

Here is a link to THE FEDERAL REGISTER at the NATIONAL ARCHIVES (NARA), a Daily Journal of the United States Government in which President Donald Trump's notions have been published: A Presidential Document by the Executive Office of the President on 1/29/2025

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/29/2025-02007/protecting-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship

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CASTLE GARDEN UPDATE : NATIONAL ARCHIVES CASTLE GARDEN COLLECTION BEING DIGITALIZED

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE : CASTLE GARDEN   This Castle Garden information page tells us what the new immigrant saw and went through as they arrived in New York Harbor before the Ellis Island facility was set up. Castle Garden opened in 1855 and was used until 1890 - or so.

In the past I had a link to a Castle Garden search page, which I've personally used for my own research. (Ancestors who came on first and second class tickets did not go through Ellis Island.) However, that page no longer exists and has been taken down from my sidebar.

The NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES is planning digitalization of those records: NATIONAL ARCHIVES CASTLE GARDEN COLLECTION

public domain image

Publisher Charles Magnus

In the meantime, you can find records for all classes of passengers on ships coming into New York harbor on genealogy databases under topics such as New York Passenger Lists.

CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS (CCC's) RESOURCES

Click on the label CCC's or Civilian Conservation Corps to bring up other informative posts on this subject from the past here at Ancestry Worship - Genealogy BlogSpot

***

Three million young men, from families in poverty due to the Great Depression, joined the CCC;s from 1933 to 1942. Some of these men also then enlisted to serve in World War II. 

Here are links to good resources to start your exploration.

The National Archives of the United States. I know that the search in their expansive catalogue is intimidating and difficult for most people but they did recently announced it had been reworked. My suggestion is that you open an account with them and then use the Ask the Archivist opportunity to get to where you want to be with these records.  

NARA archives - RESEARCH GUIDE CCC's

National Archives U.S.A Catalogue - CCC's

The next link is to a blog and website that someone put up on the internet years ago that was a true labor of love. I want to honor that person for all the information they have provided to us.  It features so much information including state by state guides that is useful. Topics such as soil conservation and segregation have their own pages.  Many THANKS to that person...

https://cccresources.blogspot.com/search/label/Accidents - see the sidebar to go to the topic you are interested in.

C 2023 Ancestry Worship - Genealogy

LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF LABOR DAY - U.S. HISTORY at THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

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NARA gov : LABOR DAY

Excerpt: The National Archives and Records Administration holds records created or recieved by the U.S. Government on issue of labor and labor rights, including records on unions, strikes, and responses, debates about women and children in the workplace, and the Government's role in providing economic security and workplace rights....

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OFFERS STUDENTS GRADE 8 OR ABOVE VOLUNTEER HOURS - TRANSCRIBE HISTORICAL DOCUMENST

NARA CITIZEN ARCHIVIST PROGRAM 

Will you be the one to transcribe the records of "Colored Troops" in the Civil War?  How about Family Data Cards from the Bureau of Indian Affairs? Or the names of nurses who served in the Red Cross?

STEVE MORSE INTERVIEW: THE 1950 UNITED STATES FEDERAL CENSUS IS RELEASED

The 1950 census will be released on April 1, 2022.  I anticipate being one of the people who will hit that site within the first day or two, hoping it doesn't crash. What discoveries I hope to find!  Here is an interview with Stephen P. Morse ie Steve Morse, and his ONE STEP TOOLS.

USING FINDING ENUMERATION DISTRICTS - LARGE CITIES by streets.  RURAL AREAS are different.  Volunteers included rural areas with a population of 5000 or more. If the town are area was smaller, you will look for the city first and then search for the ED definitions to see which ones mention that small town .  ONE STEP volunteers transcribed from Microfilm. He's saying that unlike the 1940 census, the National Archives has been less willing to give over information.  He believes the definitions of ED through ONE STEP will be more "robust" than those from National Archives.  Also he says they got good cooperation from FamilySearch.

Interview from Lisa Louise Cooke's Genealogy Gems

VETERANS DAY - NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY RECORDS SEARCH

 

ARCHIVES GOV MILITARY RECORDS SEARCH BY BRANCH

You can also search by MILITARY CONFLICT such as Civil War or Viet Nam.

I see one soldier is asking for photographs of himself.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES - GENEALOGY UPDATES

NARA ARCHIVES GOV RESEARCH GENEALOGY

While stuck at home, citizens have been adding to the National Archives, which is an excellent way to pass the time.

Has it been a while since you looked to our NATIONAL ARCHIVES in the United States to do research?  There's lots to do!

SAVING THE NATIONAL TREASURES : NOVA DVD : THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

This was a fascinating film, about restoration efforts to preserve our founding documents, focusing on the preservation of the much faded Declaration of Independence. In the 1940's a dead bug had infiltrated the state of the art case for the parchments and had eaten some of the edging. An effort to preserve the documents from all natural disasters including the atom bomb was made. It might have been state of the art but it was not good enough.

In the 1990's technology had advanced and so a team of experts - perhaps too many - came together to debate and design the cases. Crystals were forming on the surface of the parchment. Even vibration could have been damaging the documents. Helium gas had been used and was leaking. There is always the problem of humidity. The new case uses argon gas. An effort to include silica for humidity control was dismissed.

Funniest thing. The whole operation of moving the documents and restoring them was a secret operation. CODE NAME ELVIS!

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD : NO SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER?

If you're looking for a Social Security number, on the Death Index, or because you want to send for the Original Application, which would give you the mother's maiden name for an ancestor, and can't find one, the reason may be that the person never applied or paid into the system because they were WORKIN ON THE RAILROAD! Here is a link to the RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD. It announces that the information will now be acquired through the National Archives.

MONDAY APRIL 2nd 2012 IS THE DAY THE 1940 CENSUS BECOMES AVAILABLE!

72 years after the 1940 U.S. Census was taken, by law it is no longer protected, and can be revealed to the people.
The 1940 census will be released DIGITALLY by the National Archives only, meaning those of us who also love microfilm will have to use computers and click away. (I think medicine needs to concentrate on forefinger joint replacements! I know mine is arthritic!)
The census will be AVAILABLE ON LINE AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES SITE at no charge! (You may want to search this blog for other 1940 census information, including the project that helps you go to the right ED (enumeration district) based on the 1930! But did you know that the census also counted people who were not technically living in the United States on April 1, 1940?

Eventually certain subscription databases will work on making an index but they too will have to wait for the NATIONAL ARCHIVES release to do so! Since this is going to be a MASSIVE PROJECT most of us will not wait!


Because this release is of momentous importance to genealogists, I will be blogging a lot about it in the next couple months!

LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY STILL HAS 1930 CENSUS ON FILM but WILL NOT PURCHASE 1940

Good and bad news here. LDS - FAMILY HISTORY CENTER REOPENED A FEW MONTHS AGO and HAS GOTTEN RID OF THEIR 1930 CENSUS MICROFILMS. BUT LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY HAS THEIRS!

So much of the research I've done could not easily (or at all) be duplicated using Ancestry or other genealogy databases, which are as good at the typos. I TRIED!

BOTH LDS and LAPL WILL RELY ON ELECTRONIC DATABASES for the 1940.

But here is the link to the NATIONAL ARCHIVES SITE WHICH TELLS US THAT "The release of the 1940 population census schedules is approaching! It will be released digitally on April 2, 2012. (That is less than one year away!) You will be able to access all 1940 census records online at any of the public computer workstations at National Archives facilities, as well as from any computer connected to the internet."

Hey! I think the whole Mayan Calander/End of the World hoopla is bogus! I plan to live through it and be researching using the 1940 !

CIVIL WAR ON LINE EXHIBIT THROUGH NATIONAL ARCHIVES

And here is the ONLINE version of the CIVIL WAR exhibit!

NATIONAL ARCHIVES TRAVELING EXHIBIT ON THE CIVIL WAR MARKS 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR THAT DIVIDED (and THEN UNITED) THE STATES

It's been 150 years since the start of the CIVIL WAR and that will be commemorated in magazines, book selections, and much else over the next year or two. The National Archives are probably our most valuable resource in genealogy research. So many of our nation's records are used by other libraries and databases.

I'm linking to the article by the National Archives about the show above...

NATIONAL ARCHIVES ON WOMEN BECOMING INSTANT CITIZENS OR NOT!

"In general, immigrant women have always had the right to become U.S. citizens, but not every court honored that right. Since the mid-nineteenth century a succession of laws worked to keep certain women out of naturalization records, either by granting them derivative citizenship or barring their naturalization altogether."


THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES IS THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY when it comes to using their records, and naturalization papers may be nonexistent for your female immigrant ancestor.

Link to a good read about this issue now!

WHAT DOCUMENT IS THE MOST WANTED from THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES?

Answer: Copies of the picture of Elvis Presley posed with President Richard Nixon, Elvis' letter to Nixon! Link to the Los Angeles Times article out today, about that day...

1940 CENSUS coming up - WE CAN BARELY STAND TO WAIT!

The 1940 U.S. census is going to be released in a few months and most of us can barely stand to wait! Actually you don't have to. You can use CITY DIRECTORIES to get an address for a family, and then be ready to find the ENUMERATION DISTRICT for that address as a first step, as it will be some time before any of the INDEXED DATABASES catch up with the volume of need for information.

Of course, if you're using the 1940 to find someone who is not showing up on CITY DIRECTORIES or the 1930 census, someone who has, perhaps, been the victim of terrible handwriting or inaccurate indexing or transcribing to databases, this can be frustrating.

My advice is NOT TO BE AFRAID OF DOING THINGS THE GOOD OLD FASHIONED WAY!

At least half of my personal genealogy has NOT been possible to replicate using Ancestry Databases, to give you an example. And believe me I tried.

When you pull something up instantly on a database it's a blessing, because it will save you time. However, don't get lazy looking for your family... Don't hesitate to call the closest archive, library, or museum to find out about any local publications such as newspapers, trade magazines, ethnic-oriented club literature, and historical books, to get a better position in your research!