A Second Declaration of Intention?

[sacesta]

Today, I received from NARA the Certificate of Acceptance, the Declaration of Intention, and the Petition for Naturalization for my grandfather's brother, Camillo.

Camillo's daughter had stated that my grandfather Rocco and Camillo had come to America together on board the SS Giuseppe Verdi, arriving in New York in 1922. Well, that story turned out to be partially true. As it turns out Camillo did in fact, arrive on board the Verdi on the 8th of September, 1922, but my grandfather Rocco arrived exactly 3 weeks earlier on August 18th. And he came across on the SS Presidente Wilson.

Anyway, my question has to do with Camillo's Declaration of Intention. The document I received today was issued by the USDC SDNY and is dated 17 Feb 1943 and on line 13 it shows that Camillo had previously filed another Declaration of Intention. His first Declaration was filed with the USDC EDNY almost 20 years earlier, on 21 Sep 1922, less than two weeks after his arrival in New York. Apparently, Camillo decided right away to pursue his U.S. citizenship.

My question is - Why would Camillo have had to file twice?

Steve

[erudita74]

Steve
I know that in 1906, an immigrant had to file a Petition not more than 7 years after he had made a Declaration of Intent. The naturalization laws kept changing over the years though.

There was he Nationality Act of 1940 which stated that an applicant for naturalization, after reaching the age of 18, must make under oath, not less than 2, or more than 7, years prior to his petition for naturalization, a signed declaration of intent to become a U.S. Citizen. This didn't change until 1952 when The Immigration and Nationality Act of that year repealed the Nationality Act of 1940 and provided that a Declaration of Intent may be filed but was not a prerequisite for naturalization.

Erudita

[sacesta]

I'll have to look at the naturalization laws that were in effect for 1922. Maybe Camillo simply failed to petition within a set time frame. It seems odd to me that it took him almost 20 years before he filed his Declaration of Intent.

It's difficult enough to read the minds of my contemporaries, nearly impossible to do so for ancestors who lived more than 100 years ago

Thanks again Erudita,

Steve

[erudita74]

Steve
I just read that prior to 1930, the number of declarations of intention was far in excess of the number of aliens naturalized. This was due mainly to the failure of many aliens to file the petition of naturalization within the prescribed time limit, as well as the denial of a number of petitions for naturalization.

Erudita

[sacesta]

Ok, thanks!

[erudita74]

You're welcome, Steve. I'll see if I can find anything more specific for the 1920s when I get a chance.
Erudita

[erudita74]

Steve
Here's some additional info which may be another reason why some of the immigrants who had declarations of intent in the 1920s did then not pursue their petitions before the time limit on their declarations expired. I know I mentioned literacy in the past, but here is something specific to the time period-

(The Immigration Act of 1917 required that immigrants be able to read and write in their native language. With this end in mind, the Immigration Service began administering literacy tests. In 1918, the Naturalization Bureau even published the first Federal Textbook on citizenship aimed at preparing naturalization applicants. Its "education for citizenship program" distributed textbooks to public schools which, in turn, offered citizenship education classes and notified eligible aliens of available education opportunities. This continued into the 1920s).

Steve, you have to bear in mind that many of the immigrants, as in their Italian towns, were still working extremely long hours here in the U.S., laboring at their menial jobs. So for many, to attend night classes, just wasn't an option. Their primary goal was still simply to make money and provide for their families.

Erudita

[sacesta]

Thanks Erudita,
I did a Google search for "Education for citizenship 1917" and found this government publication circa 1921. Like so many government pubs, it's wordy and dry, but if you scroll to the appendix there is some interesting information about what was expected of the educated immigrant. Click on "Full View" under the heading "Viewability".
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007675994
Steve

[erudita74]

Thanks for the link, Steve. I'm on my way out but will try to go through it sometime this weekend.
Erudita