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CTyankee

(67,675 posts) Sun Oct 19, 2025, 09:47 AM Oct 19

OMIGOD! Found copy of my mother's birth certificate from 1911, question 6 was "Legitimate?"

The answer was "Leg." But who cares?

Interesting. But why? What was the government's business in asking that question?

I'd be interested in what you think it was all about.

There was also a question about "color or race" for each parent. Written in was "American." I guess that means "white."

5 replies

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OMIGOD! Found copy of my mother's birth certificate from 1911, question 6 was "Legitimate?" (Original Post) CTyankee Oct 19 OP

"American" instead of "white" means you had enlightened grand parents Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #1

I do remember my grandmother HATING Billy Graham. She used to do a mean parody of him preaching. It was fun to watch. CTyankee Oct 19 #4

I'm not sure it was all malign, albeit intrusive. Infants born to mothers with no father indicated were 59% more hlthe2b Oct 19 #2

My 1947 birth certificate from West Virginia comradebillyboy Oct 19 #3

Brown v. Board of Education was decided the year I graduated from high school so I went to legally segregated CTyankee Oct 21 #5

Bernardo de La Paz

(60,320 posts)

1. "American" instead of "white" means you had enlightened grand parents

Reply to CTyankee (Original post)

Sun Oct 19, 2025, 09:53 AM

Oct 19

"Legitimate" in 1911 means inside a marriage and parentage is claimed by both partners. It is not a reference to immigration, I am sure.

Not a question government should be asking, but I guess it, at that time, was to help adjudicate parentage questions later in life perhaps with regard to divorce (had to be "fault" back then), child support (don't know if that was a thing back then), or inheritance.

CTyankee

(67,675 posts)

4. I do remember my grandmother HATING Billy Graham. She used to do a mean parody of him preaching. It was fun to watch.

Reply to Bernardo de La Paz (Reply #1)

Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:05 AM

Oct 19

She called herself a "theosophist." I looked it up. There was a group of people who adopted "theosophy" from the British, who adopted some aspects of religion from their conquest, and subsequent information about, the country's religious groups. A little unusual but then my grandmother was a little strange.

hlthe2b

(112,368 posts)

2. I'm not sure it was all malign, albeit intrusive. Infants born to mothers with no father indicated were 59% more

Reply to CTyankee (Original post)

Sun Oct 19, 2025, 09:59 AM

Oct 19

likely to suffer early infant death--presumedly from a lack of resources. Those who listed two parents, but not living together, were 17% more likely to die early. This is from data from the UK, but presumedly similar in this country. So, it was a means to monitor social welfare issues. Again, there might have been more malign reasons, but at least this documented the problem with
(mostly) fathers who ditched any financial responsibility.

https://shs.cairn.info/revue-annales-de-demographie-historique-2006-1-page-89?lang=en

comradebillyboy

(10,932 posts)

3. My 1947 birth certificate from West Virginia

Reply to CTyankee (Original post)

Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:00 AM

Oct 19

lists both my parents race as white. It also notes my father was a coal miner and my mother was a house wife. Racial segregation was still going strong back then.

Fortunately for me my father didn't like being a coal miner and got the hell out of WVa.

CTyankee

(67,675 posts)

5. Brown v. Board of Education was decided the year I graduated from high school so I went to legally segregated