Chapter 4 · Life in America · Fraternals & US passports
Two record groups that families rarely think of: the life-insurance files of the great Polish fraternal societies, and the US passport applications of naturalized citizens who went back to visit Poland.
Fraternal societies
The Polish National Alliance, founded in 1880, the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America, the Polish Women’s Alliance and the Polish Falcons sold life insurance to their members through local lodges. Membership applications and death-claim files asked for date and place of birth and named the beneficiaries.
- Membership applications with birth date and place
- Death claims naming the beneficiary, often a spouse or child
- Lodge records showing which town’s emigrants joined together
- Society newspapers with member notices and obituaries
US passport applications
A naturalized citizen travelling abroad needed a US passport, and applications survive for the period up to 1925 at the National Archives. They include a photograph, the place and date of birth, the details of naturalization and the purpose of the trip, often “to visit my mother in Poland”.
How we can help
These sources are searched within larger projects when the usual records do not name the village or when a family’s movements need confirming.