San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Scanned Employee Cards Reveal Life In A WWI-era American Shipyard

Scan of an employee identification card that showing the date of birth 1885, and the occupation ship fitter helper
Union Iron Works Employee Card
NPS Photo

Quick Facts

GETTING READY FOR 2016:

A Call to Action
Action Item:
Go Digital
Year Accomplished:
2012

San Francisco Maritime NHP is scanning, cataloging, and making available online cards held in its archives that record the employees building ships at Union Iron Works during the 1910s.  The cards contain a wealth of data of interest to family, labor, and demographic historians, often including the employees' home addresses, age or year of birth, jobs, pay history, and state or country of birth.  As the cards are scanned and cataloged, a transcription database is being built that will eventually make the complete data set available in multiple formats.  A search for "San Francisco Maritime NHP UIW Employee Cards Digital Collection" on NPS Focus will retrieve all cards currently scanned; more are being added every week.