Vault # 7: Family Records
Discovering Your Ancestor’s Journey Through Angel Island
Uncovering family records can be a complicated process, but they can reveal valuable information about a person’s background, including interrogation questions, photographs, witness testimony, and cross-references to other family members. Like Ellis Island, we do not house immigration records and other historical documents from the Immigration Station.
Angel Island Immigrants
In the early 20th century, Angel Island was home to the largest immigration station on the Pacific Coast. By 1936, there were at least seven other immigration stations in the United States (Boston, Ellis Island, Gloucester City, Galveston, Detroit, Seattle, and Honolulu).
As you begin your search, keep in mind that one million people passed through the Port of San Francisco when the Immigration Station was in service. Only half were sent to Angel Island as they entered or left the country. Passengers not sent to Angel Island were screened aboard their ship and landed directly in San Francisco.
If you believe your family member arrived in San Francisco between 1910 and 1940, search the links below. After confirming they arrived in San Francisco, you may be able to see if they were held for “Special Inquiry.” These records indicate an individual was detained at the Immigration Station and subject to an investigation.
You will need to create a free account with FamilySearch.org. The website also has additional information (passenger manifests, naturalization documents, census records, etc.) not included in these two lists.
Finding an Immigrant File
Immigrant files, also called A-Files, originate from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Immigrants found on the lists above may have an A-File at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) or USCIS. These files can contain valuable information like visas, photographs, applications, interviews, and more. The A-Files below show the types of documents you may find at NARA.
Immigrants Born Before 1920 (NARA)
If an immigrant’s birth year was over 100 years ago, their file might be available at the NARA, San Bruno. There are currently 76,000+ immigrant files available. A few hundred have been digitized and made available online. Click the button below, then “Search within this Series,” to begin your search. If a file you are looking for is not online, you can request to have it scanned and emailed to you.
Immigrants Born After 1920 (USCIS)
USCIS has 60 million+ A-Files in its database. There are two ways to retrieve them. A-Files with a registration number below 8 million can be found at the USCIS Genealogy Program. All other records, including those of living persons, must go through the National Records Center. There are fees associated with filing a document request.
Finding Aids
National Archives and Records Administration
Leo J. Ryan Memorial Federal Building
1000 Commodore Drive, San Bruno, California 94066
(650) 238-3501 sanbruno.archives@nara.gov
Always contact NARA before visiting. Many case files are indexed online and available at universities and libraries.
Ancestry.com
You can access ship manifests, census records, naturalization papers, and other government documents after creating an account. Additionally, members may upload photographs to their family tree that will appear in a search
California, Index to Chinese Exclusion Case Files, 1903-1944
San Francisco, Chinese Passenger Arrivals and Disposition, 1903-1947
USCIS Genealogy Program
P.O. Box 805925, Chicago, IL 60680-4120
(800) 767-1833 genealogy@uscis.dhs.gov
After locating your family’s immigration records, you can contribute to our growing collection of oral histories and immigrant stories. Learn how you can participate in AIISF’s Immigrant Voices here.
Researcher Resources
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The collection contains over 1,500,000 pages of significant historical California newspapers published from 1846-present, including the first California newspaper, the Californian, and the first daily California newspaper, the Daily Alta California.
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The Library of Congress offers free online access to 3,048 American newspapers from 1789-1963. These can be used for researching marriage announcements, obituaries, and articles that wouldn’t otherwise be found in other immigrant records.
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Friends of Roots offers you the opportunity to discover the roots that link you to the past and place you in the present … to journey back to ancestral beginnings, to explore the land and lives of those who shaped your heritage, and to relate your family’s history to the totality of the Chinese American experience.
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San Francisco Genealogy Group at the San Francisco Public Library supports those who are just starting out researching their family history or have been doing it for years and need ideas on how to get past some brick walls. A genealogist leads meetings from the California Genealogical Society.