Finding Ancestral Photos on Passport Applications

Another venue to find ancestral documents 

This is an excerpt from a recent Ancestry.com notice:

U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925 
Nearly 400,000 new passport records have been added to our existing collection of passports. In the collection, you'll find:
Regular – majority of the applications, which were made by citizens planning to travel overseas
Emergency – issued abroad and good for 6 months; the earliest were issued in 1874, and the practice was discontinued in 1926
Special – include diplomatic and other passports issued under special circumstances
Insular – issued from territories controlled to some extent by the U.S., including Hawaii (1916–1924), the Philippines (1901–1924), and Puerto Rico (1915–1922)

To receive a U.S. passport, an applicant had to submit proof of U.S. citizenship, usually in the form of a letter, affidavits from witnesses, and certificates from clerks or notaries. If you get lucky, these additional documents and even a photo will be included as part of the application packet, too. 


Look for passport applications on Ancestry
Look for passport applications at National Archives
Look for passport applications at Family Search.org