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I now have the date my grandparents were naturalized. I emailed my cousin Anne yesterday, because Mom thought my aunt Lea and my grandparents were naturalized at the same time, and before my mother, because Lea was still under 18 and could be included on her parents application. Anne said that didn't match her recollection, and offered to have Dave (Lea's widower) see what he could find.
I mentioned this to Adrian, who told me where to find US naturalization records online.* It turns out that my grandparents were naturalized a few months after my mother, who came here several years before they did, and became a US citizen about a month after her 21st birthday.
Anne also asked why I'm putting in the application, if it wasn't too long to explain. The shortest answer, which I gave her, is "Trump scared me," I described applying for German citizenship as being like buying an insurance policy you hope never to use.
*Conveniently for my purposes, the records for that period for the eastern district of New York state are searchable online, though the southern district isn't. When Adrian asked which federal court district New York City is in, I said "southern" without thinking. Then I decided to check whether that had been true in 1951-52: the districts haven't changed, but Brooklyn and Manhattan are in different districts. My mother's family lived in Brooklyn, which is in the eastern district, and those records are online and searchable. Once in a while it's relevant that New York City is divided into five counties.
ETA Feb. 23: I sent my mother a draft of an email to the German embassy about this. She sent back a couple of changes, which I'm going to make, and asked me to hold off until the weekend so she can check the documentation on something rather than going from memory.
I mentioned this to Adrian, who told me where to find US naturalization records online.* It turns out that my grandparents were naturalized a few months after my mother, who came here several years before they did, and became a US citizen about a month after her 21st birthday.
Anne also asked why I'm putting in the application, if it wasn't too long to explain. The shortest answer, which I gave her, is "Trump scared me," I described applying for German citizenship as being like buying an insurance policy you hope never to use.
*Conveniently for my purposes, the records for that period for the eastern district of New York state are searchable online, though the southern district isn't. When Adrian asked which federal court district New York City is in, I said "southern" without thinking. Then I decided to check whether that had been true in 1951-52: the districts haven't changed, but Brooklyn and Manhattan are in different districts. My mother's family lived in Brooklyn, which is in the eastern district, and those records are online and searchable. Once in a while it's relevant that New York City is divided into five counties.
ETA Feb. 23: I sent my mother a draft of an email to the German embassy about this. She sent back a couple of changes, which I'm going to make, and asked me to hold off until the weekend so she can check the documentation on something rather than going from memory.
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