LEADER 03534cam a2200361 a 4500001 247475 005 20240621200319.0 008 151110s2010 enka b 001 0 eng 010 2009049008 020 9780199733422 |qhardback |qacid-free paper 020 0199733422 |qhardback |qacid-free paper 020 |z9780199750856 |qe-book 020 |z0199750858 |qe-book 035 (OCoLC)ocn457160531 035 247475 049 LHMA 040 DLC |beng |erda |cDLC |dYDX |dBTCTA |dYDXCP |dUKM |dBWX |dCDX |dSBM |dRCJ |dDOS |dUCDLL |dMOF |dORX |dUKMGB |dMIX |dBDX |dOCLCQ |dOCLCF |dOCLCQ |dCHVBK |dOCLCO |dFHL |dLHM 050 00 KF4794 |b.R63 2010 100 1 Robertson, Craig, |d1969- 245 14 The passport in America : |bthe history of a document / |cCraig Robertson. 264 1 Oxford ;New York, N.Y. : |bOxford University Press, |c2010. 300 x, 340 pages : |billustrations ; |c25 cm 336 text |btxt |2rdacontent 337 unmediated |bn |2rdamedia 338 volume |bnc |2rdacarrier 504 Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-321) and index. 520 "In today's world of constant identification checks, it's difficult to recall that there was ever a time when "proof of identity" was not a part of everyday life. And as anyone knows who has ever lost a passport, or let one expire on the eve of international travel, the passport has become an indispensable document. But how and why did this form of identification take on such a crucial role? In the first history of the passport in the United States, Craig Robertson offers an illuminating account of how this document, above all others, came to be considered a reliable answer to the question: who are you? Historically, the passport originated as an official letter of introduction addressed to foreign governments on behalf of American travelers, but as Robertson shows, it became entangled in contemporary negotiations over citizenship and other forms of identity documentation. Prior to World War I, passports were not required to cross American borders, and while some people struggled to understand how a passport could accurately identify a person, others took advantage of this new document to advance claims for citizenship. From the strategic use of passport applications by freed slaves and a campaign to allow married women to get passports in their maiden names, to the "passport nuisance" of the 1920s and the contested addition of photographs and other identification technologies on the passport, Robertson sheds new light on issues of individual and national identity in modern U.S. history. In this age of heightened security, especially at international borders, Robertson's The Passport in America provides anyone interested in questions of identification and surveillance with a richly detailed, and often surprising, history of this uniquely important document"--Provided by publisher. 505 0 Introduction -- Document -- Name -- Signature -- Physical description -- Photograph -- Application -- Bureaucracy -- Dubious citizens -- Suspicious people and untrustworthy documents -- Reading bodies, reading documents, and "passport control" -- "The passport nuisance" -- Conclusion -- Appendix : Important dates in the history of the regular United States passport. 591 Record updated by Marcive processing 21 June 2024 650 0 Passports |zUnited States |xHistory. 650 0 Citizenship |zUnited States |xHistory. 650 7 Passports. |2homoit 852 0 |bstacks |hKF4794 |i.R63 2010