The FBI for Genealogy? Really?? Yes.
Yigal Rechtman, 1998-1999 ©
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, has kept records
in files on various people for different reasons and purposes.
All conspiracy theories aside, these files are a genealogical
resource you should not overlook! The files of deceased persons
are considered - for the most part - within the "public
domain". This means, in brief, that a family-historian could
get copies of records from the FBI if she or he can demonstrate
that a person is "reasonably" deceased, i.e. has the
age of over 100 years or that there has been a formal
notification of the death: death certificates, obituaries,
citation from an encyclopedia, a photo of a gravestone, or
perhaps even "mass cards" (prayers cards with the
deceased name and date of death used by some denominations) could
suffice as a "formal notification." If the researcher
has not a so-called "proof" of death, and the person
would have been over 100 years of age, a birth certificate is a
sufficient proof the individual's age. Here too, the FBI will
accept other "proofs" of birth such as a birth
announcement, baptism, marriage, or any other printed record that
indicates the person's date of birth. A technical and full
description of these records is available from the National
Archives in Washington, D.C. ("Guide to Federal Records in
the National Archives, record group 65, "Investigative
Records, 65.2.2"; same is also available online at
www.nara.gov)
The FBI records, technically since 1908 but in fact most are
from 1924 onwards, could be retrieved from the Bureau. The come
in the form of photocopies of various paper format(s)
regarding a particular individual. The FBI maintains one
"main file" on each individual that was investiaged by
the Bureau. Sometimes a main file is said to be
"Crossed-referenced; This means that there is a mention of
that particular individual at another person's file. If there are
cross-references to files from other agencies (such as the State
Department or the Department of Defense.) The FAIA office will
- if the information is within the "public domain" -
notify you about that. The FBI Does not make available internal
computer records. Researchers will not received official
documents that are "restricted" per the Privacy Act of
1974. Example of such restricted documents are birth certificates
of other people. The FBI keeps, a manual index of
cards for persons who had "security files" (for
example, active communists, etc.) was closed prior to 1958. An
manual index for "criminal files" exists for files
closed prior to 1973. The computerized search will sometimes lead
to files and information about people from 1958 onwards,
depending on when the file was "closed" (i.e.
officially non active.) Records prior to 1958 or 1973 (depending
on the type of file) are manually indexed.
Your letter to the FBI should be addressed to: FBI Freedom
of Information Act Unit, Office of Congressional and Public
Affairs, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 935 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW, Washington, DC, USA 20535-0001 (Tel. +1 202-324-3000.)
In the inquiry letter, a genealogists is advised to keep four
elements: (1) Include the statement of death
("proof") or a statement of birth ("proof")
if the age exceeds 100 years. When the source of the
"proof" is not immediately understood (such as in a
Obituary,) include a short citation of the source; (2) A request
identifying the individual by all known facts:
include all other aliases and maiden name, cities where the
individual resided, professional and personal affiliations
(church attended, titles obtained, degrees et al.) Providing
these will help the FBI avoid long and bureaucratic
correspondence (pun intended) it will aid the Bureau to
distinguish one John Doe (pun again!) from another... (3) if you
are unsure about the period the person lived in,
include a request to search for cards in the
manual pre-1958/1973. This could help expedite your request
(otherwise, your request my by treated as a "false
negative," if they would bother to check the card index.)
The FBI generally limits its search for your requests that
"Cross Referenced" files should be consulted and
unrestricted documents sent to you. (4) You must also Include a statement
about payment: "I agree to pay reasonable fees
associated with this request up to $25; Please inform me if
related expenses are in excess of this amount." This amount
is not arbitrary; the minimum that the FBI would expect
the researcher to commit to is $25 for copies and research
expenses. Note: the actual expenses might be lower (and often
are) than $25 (incidentally, most U.S. government agencies
requires similar commitment from researchers.) A researcher need
not show a proof of relationship to the inquiry's subject. When
asking about an individual who is alive, the
letter must be notarized. If that person is anyone other than the
requester, a permission to obtain the information has to be
obtained (and notarized,) by the subject of the request. Inquires
about deceased people not does his or her letter needs to be
notarized or certified.
The expected time for copies of records to be sent back to a researcher is eighteen to forty-eight months (!!). The FBI will, however, send a confirmation of receipt of the inquiry within six weeks of receipt. If the file has been requested before or if it's short, the reply might take less time. It is probably a good idea to avoid multiple requests within the same letter, because the whole letter is assigned one case number and this may delay the Bureau's reply. Although some reading work could be done at one of the 56 regional offices and some dozen Legal Attaché offices abroad most old records are destroyed. Note that some files available at the local offices are not available at the Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Therefor, to make a thorough examination a researcher should also contact the local office in the state where the sought-for individual was likely to have lived when (and if!) a FBI file was created.
Yigal Rechtman, 1998©
Ackonowledgement
Thanks to FBI Public Information officer, Ms. Linda Kloss for
fact checking and review. Thanks are also extended to Mr. Michael
Ravnitzky for his contribution and review.
Sources
www.fbi.gov
www.nara.gov
Sample letter to the FBI - Fill in information where you see bold
italics
YOUR ADDRESS
YOUR PHONE NUMBER
TODAY'S DATE
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Attn: Freedom of Information - Privacy Act Unit
Office of Public and Congressional Affairs
935 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20535-0001 USA
Sirs/Madams:
This is a request for records under the Freedom of Information
Act concerning Name of Person, who was
born on Birth Date in Birth
Place and who died on Death
Date. Enclosed is a copy of proof of
death.
I request a copy of all records about this (deceased) individual
which are at the FBI. This includes documents, reports,
memoranda, letters, etc. [Optional: this person lived much of
his/her life before 1958, so please search your central general
indices and not just the more recent computer indices.]
Please send me all "Main Files" and notify me of any cross references from other government agencies.
Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
Counter to popular belief...
writing to the FBI will not "start a file" on the writer; Administrative correspondence is archived for several years, however, and then dispose of. Inquiries of public domain information are legislated by law. Although most files include information about adults, there are a few files that keep track people under the age of 18, typically very famous or wealthy children who have been involved in FBI related activity. For example, the Lindeberg baby has a file at the FBI archives.
Yigal Rechtman, 1998-1999 ©