Naturalization Index Cards

EXHIBIT 14 of 31

RETURN TO STANDARD SIZE Naturalization Index Cards

Comments on This Exhibit

  1. Reuben
    June 26th, 2007

    I love that this soundex algorithm, used in the twenties, has been implemented as a Perl script.

  2. Nicole
    June 27th, 2007

    Soundex is AWESOME. It turns VICTOR into V-C-T-R, which is very recognizable. It doesn’t do quite as well on CHIRY, though, turning it into C-R. Dropping the H as a vowel is only useful in languages where H’s are silentish- the CH sound is so very Heebrewish though, that I think you need it here. N240 (N-C-L).

Submit a Comment




EXHIBIT 14 of 31

Naturalization Index Cards

These index cards were created to help government clerks locate completed Petitions for Naturalization. They are sorted by last name using Soundex, a pronunciation-based system which accounts for variations in the spelling of foreign names transliterated into English. For Hyman, there were two cards: one for Victor (Soundex V236); and one for his original surname, recorded inconsistently as either Chiry (Soundex C600, above) or Chirom.

Source: The National Archives, Chicago

ENLARGE