Passport Application
Veterans--Florida
This is a passport application submitted by Harry Carson in June of 1924. He claims citizenship through his father, Meyer Carson, as this is a “Form for Person Claiming Citizenship through Naturalization of Husband or Parent.” Harry includes details about his immigration from Russia to the United States in 1907 and the immigration of his father a year earlier. Harry states on the form that he works as a salesman and is traveling abroad for business. The first page contains his personal information and the second page has his photograph.
Harry Carson was born in Russia in 1897 and immigrated to the United States in 1907. Carson and his family were Jewish, and they most likely immigrated to the United States in order to flee persecution and violence that they faced as Jews living in Russia in the early twentieth century. After arriving in the United States, Harry grew up in Rochester, New York. In April of 1915 he enlisted in the US Army and served in the 12th Cavalry Regiment until August of 1919. During his service he may have been sent to New Mexico in order to patrol the US-Mexican border. After his service, Carson worked as an intelligence agent for the FBI. He eventually moved to Florida and passed away in 1989. Carson is buried at Florida National Cemetery.<br /><br />
In 2017, the University of Central Florida was one of three universities selected to launch the National Cemetery Administration’s <a href="https://vlp.cah.ucf.edu/">Veterans Legacy Program Project</a>. The program engaged a team of scholars to make the life stories of veterans buried in the Florida National Cemetery available to the public. The project engages UCF students in research and writing and fosters collaboration between students, faculty and local Central Florida schools to produce interactive curriculum for k-12 students. The corresponding website exhibit uses RICHES Mosaic Interface to create a digital archive of related data. The public can use the project-developed augmented-reality app at more than 100 gravesites at the Florida National Cemetery, where they can access the UCF student-authored biographies of veterans.
<a href="https://www.state.gov/" target="_blank">Department of State, Division of Passport Control</a>
Digital reproduction of original passport application, June 3, 1924.
<a href="https://www.state.gov/" target="_blank">Department of State, Division of Passport Control</a>
Carson, Harry
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eng
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Rochester, New York
Declaration of Intention for Herbert Alexander Wells
Miami (Fla.)
Immigration
A Declaration of Intention for Herbert Alexander Wells (1882-1960), the first African American hired by the Florida East Coast Railway Company (FEC). A Declaration of Intention was required for the naturalization of immigrants.<br /><br />Born in the Bahamas in 1882, Wells migrated to Key West, Florida, via the <em>Fearless</em> in 1900 and began working for the FEC as a fireman around 1915. He worked for the FEC for 32 years before retiring in 1947. Wells also owned and operated a drug and grocery store that was located at Northwest 2nd Court and 17th Street in Miami. Wells married Mary Ellen Knowles Wells (1892-1948) in 1916 and had one daughter, Berdina Wells (b. 1930). This item was contributed by Cary Marshall Felton, the great grandson of Wells.
Williams, Edwin R.
Digital reproduction of original 1-page typewritten document, August 2, 1935: Private Collection of Cary Marshall Felton.
Fitzsimmons, Anna M.
Felton, Cary Marshall
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eng
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Long Island, Bahamas
Key West, Florida
Miami, Florida