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Research in Other Countries => United States of America => Topic started by: Lindyboo on Saturday 17 March 18 14:25 GMT (UK)
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Hello
I'm trying to trace the graduation year of a person born in 1925 in the USA who graduated from Georgetown University.
I have the following questions:
1. At what age would a man begin and graduate from that University - was this ever flexible?
2. This person is listed on the draft registration as a student - no date given - in Ancestry's collection for the years 1940 to 1946, so, a) did everyone who registered at this time go on to serve in the forces? b) If a student left University to serve, would he go back after completion of service to finish his degree? c) Would there be a time or age limit on returning to complete his degree?
The University has its yearbooks online but they were not published 1944 through 1946. I've searched back to 1942 and forward to 1952 but the person is not listed. The only other reference I found to him was his engagement notice in 1957 which referred to him being a graduate of Georgetown, so evidently he completed his degree at some stage. Any pointers appreciated.
Thank you
Lindyboo
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He would have ordinarily entered the university at about age 17 - 18 and graduated four years later. But, if he was able bodied and without dependents he would have been drafted out of the university. [That's what happened to my father - drafted out of college ten days after Pearl Harbor. He returned to complete his degree after the war.] Sounds like your guy might have been drafted in 1943 as soon as he got out of high school and then gone to Georgetown after the war.
Enlistment records are available at FamilySearch but they are incomplete.
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2028680?collectionNameFilter=false
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Thank you Erato, that's a good pointer. Would the usual length of time to get a degree have been 3 years, as it was in the UK?
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No, it normally takes four years for a full time student, more if he was working and studying part time.
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Thank you again, most helpful.
Lindyboo
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Couldn't you pin down his age from the 1940 census?
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Yes, I have his age, date of birth, marriage, death and parentage, but I need his education records and the only reference I've found to his education is that he was a graduate of Georgetown Uni, but I've now checked 15 years worth of yearbooks and he's not listed.
Thanks
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What was his profession? You might be able to track him that way
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Aye, there's the rub. It's his profession I'm after ... I was hoping to get some sort of pointer from his education. I've not found any trace of him in pre-University education either. I know he lived in Maryland all his life and I've traced his in-laws and his parents for several generations - but he's elusive. He had no children either. I'll keep digging ...
Thanks
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Is he still alive? If not, maybe you can find an obituary. Also, maybe he didn't get an undergraduate degree at Georgetown but went to law school or graduate school there.
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He died in 1996 - found his death record on the SSDI but no obit discovered, though he gets mentioned in the obit of his wife and parents, but nothing on his profession.
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He could be listed in an alumni directory from before he died. I'm not finding any online, but it looks like the Georgetown library has some. Maybe contacting the library or the alumni association would work.
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Thank you for the suggestion, that's a good idea. I found them online (search for Georgetown Domesday) and all of them - I think - are there. I'll see what shows for the year or the next year of his death.
Thanks again.