Series I. Applications for Companionship [Membership Applications], 1895-1963, inclusive

The series includes the completed applications for veteran or hereditary companionship in numbered sequence from #1, submitted at the beginning of the organization in 1895, to #1750, dating from 1963. Later applications were not included in the donation to N-YHS.

In addition to the applicant's basic identifying information, such as name, address, occupation, date and place of birth, the applications include the applicant's service record or, in the case of a hereditary companionship, the ancestor's service record and identifying information. Supplementary documents, such as letters of recommendation, are also included.

The pre-printed application forms, which changed over time, include the various attestations required of a successful applicant, including some no longer required by the organization, such as being of the Caucasian race [sic] (from about 1918 to 1962) or that a hereditary applicant be of the male line of descent from the veteran.