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Dr. Bhagat Singh Thind
1918
Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
Washington, DC, United States
Dr. Bhagat Singh Thind poses with a rifle in his U.S. Army uniform.
Details
- Title: Dr. Bhagat Singh Thind
- Date: 1918
- Story: Bhagat Singh Thind, a devout Sikh and U.S. Army combat veteran, was granted American citizenship in 1920. However, the Bureau of Naturalization disagreed. In 1923, the U.S. Supreme Court concurred: Singh’s citizenship was revoked on the grounds that, although “Caucasian,” he did not belong to “the various groups of persons in this country commonly recognized as white.” Undeterred, he applied again, and again, and was finally granted citizenship in 1936.
- Rights: Courtesy of the Thind Family
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