Women and Naturalization in the United States

GSBC General Meeting @ Ridgewood Public Library
Women and Naturalization in the United States
Presentation by Joy Kestenbaum, MA, MLS
Monday, 22 June 2026 @ 7pm Eastern
In-Person at the Ridgewood Public Library Auditorium
Free and open to the public; Presentation replay available to GSBC Members

This presentation will provide an overview of the history of citizenship acquisition for women in the United States and the records that were generated from the Federal period to post–World War II. It will review key federal and state laws which shaped the naturalization of women and focus on examples of women—married, widowed, and single—who sought, obtained, or lost citizenship. Significant laws pertaining to naturalization for both men and women will be addressed, with a focus on laws specifically affecting women, including the Cable Act of 1922 (also known as the Married Women's Independent Nationality Act). Beginning in the mid–19th century, eligible immigrant women automatically derived citizenship through their American spouses. The presentation will also examine cases of women, both naturalized and native-born, who lost their citizenship after the implementation of the 1907 Expatriation Act due to marriage to non-citizens—and how some were able to regain it in subsequent decades.

Speaker
Joy Kestenbaum, MA, MLS, is a professional genealogist and historical research consultant. She has been the Vice President of Programming of the Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc. (New York) since 2015 and is a consulting genealogist at the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Research Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. She has lectured on family and local history, Jewish artists and architects, and historical buildings and landscapes at international conferences in the United States, England, and Germany, as well as for organizations in the Northeast. She previously served on the library and teaching faculty at Queens College (CUNY), Pratt Institute, and Purchase College (SUNY), and was also Director of the Gimbel Art and Design Library at The New School.