German Enemy Aliens

In 1917 the US declared war on Germany. In 1917 New York State conducted a "Military Census and Inventory." This special census was taken in May and included all persons, male and female who were between the age of 16 and 50 years of age. Approximately 5,600,000 men and women completed the form.

There was a separate form for males and females and there were about 80 questions on each form.

The names and addresses of all German males from New York City who were not citizens were printed in a series of articles in "The Herald." The list was published between December 4, 1917 and December 9, 1917. The GGG has obtained a copy of this list and has created a searchable database of the names and address. The database also notes which persons have submitted their first papers to become a citizen. There are over 26,000 names in the database.

We hope that you may find an address for a person and that the indication of "First Papers" will lead you to a Naturalization record.

On April 6, 1917 President Woodrow Wilson took the first steps to minimize the threat from German aliens residing in the United States by issuing twelve regulations for "alien enemies," persons of enemy birth who had not completed the naturalization process. To read those 20 regulations click here.

To search the German Enemy Aliens Index