While conducting a routine search for a District of Delaware naturalization record, one of our Archi
While conducting a routine search for a District of Delaware naturalization record, one of our Archives Technicians came across an individual whose petition for naturalization was denied in 1942 due to the fact that her “good moral character” was not established during the course of her naturalization proceedings. Having “good moral character” is still a requirement of naturalization today. At the time that Amalia was petitioning for naturalization, having bad moral character could have meant anything from an actual criminal conviction to engaging in an activity that the judge found to indicate immorality. We cannot tell from the records why her initial petition was denied, but luckily Amalia Di Vincenzo petitioned for naturalization again and was approved three years later.Interested to learn more about our naturalization holdings? Many of our naturalization records have been digitized and made available online by our digitization partners (see a list of records digitized by our partners here: https://www.archives.gov/digitization/digitized-by-partners.html). Free access to these services is available in all Research Rooms at the National Archives. Patrons are also welcome to stop by our facility without an appointment to use these services. Our hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 3:30 p.m. Legal holidays are an exception. Please call us at (215) 205-2044 or visit www.archives.gov/philadelphia for any changes in our hours. You can also email us at [email protected] to request a search of our naturalization holdings.Today’s post was written by Grace Schultz, Archives Technician at the National Archives at Philadelphia.Citation: Petition #5465 for Amalia Di Vincenzo, Box 24, Petitions for Naturalization, District of Delaware, United States District Court, Record Group 21: Records of the United States District Court, National Archives at Philadelphia (Record Entry ID: PH-142) (NAID: 567323). -- source link