Indiana, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1892-1992

This collection consists of several card indexes to petitions for naturalization filed in both the Southern and Northern U.S. District Courts in Indiana. The card indexes are organized by division within each district, and include the divisions of Fort Wayne, Hammond, Indianapolis, Lafayette, and South Bend. Most of the naturalization records in this collection fall within the years 1892 to 1992, though some records from earlier and later years are included as well.

Each printed index card provides a petitioner's first and last name, the petition number, a residential street or rural route address, the town or city, the certificate of naturalization number, and either the date citizenship was granted and the certificate was issued, or the date of a court order that denied the petition. Some cards provide the petitioner's signature. Cards for petitions filed beginning in 1940 also provide an Alien Registration number, which the Immigration and Naturalization Service assigned to the immigrant upon the person's arrival in the United States beginning in 1940.

The cards reflect immigration from Poland, Germany, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), South Korea, Japan, and other countries. They also include references to petitions filed by soldiers during the First World War, the Second World War, and the Cold War era immediately following the Korean War. Some cards contain cross-references to changes of personal names, including a noticeable number of Roman Catholic religious nuns (listed on cards by the title "Sister") and children who were adopted from South Korea during the 1950s.