… London! After several years of virtual conferences, the 43^rd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy returns to an in-person event, from 30 July – 3 August, 2023.

I will present The Alphabet Soup of Naturalization Records: Meet the P- File. This talk introduces researchers of 20th Century immigration to the Petition File (P-file), a document created for immigrants who started the naturalization process between 1906 and 1950. P-files come in two distinct versions: P-briefs, and later, more detailed P-files came to be. P-files, created by US Naturalization Examiners for every Petition for Naturalization filed, provide a good deal of information on the applicant: details on the arrival to the USA; place of birth, parents’ names; names of relatives; and often a photograph is found in files created after 1929. These files, available only via FOIA request, are in the custody of USCIS, and scheduled for destruction in 2050. Advocates, including myself, are working to make P-files more accessible and fighting to save them.

You can also find me helping out at the JewishGen Latvia & Estonia Research Division, during Sunday’s Share Fair.

Will I see you in London?