File:Lead Belly draft registration card, ca. 1942.jpg

English: Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter) draft registration card, ca. 1942.

The U.S. officially entered World War II on 8 December 1941 following an attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Just about a year before that, in October 1940, President Roosevelt had signed into law the first peacetime selective service draft in U.S. history, due to rising world conflicts. After the U.S. entered WWII a new selective service act required that all men between ages 18 and 65 register for the draft. Between November 1940 and October 1946, over 10 million American men were registered. This database is an indexed collection of the draft cards from the Fourth Registration, the only registration currently available to the public (the other registrations are not available due to privacy laws). The Fourth Registration, often referred to as the "old man's registration", was conducted on 27 April 1942 and registered men who born on or between 28 April 1877 and 16 February 1897 - men who were between 45 and 64 years old - and who were not already in the military. Information available on the draft cards includes:

Name of registrant

Age

Birth date

Birthplace

Residence

Employer information

Name and address of person who would always know the registrant's whereabouts

Physical description of registrant (race, height, weight, eye and hair colors, complexion)

Additional information such as mailing address (if different from residence address), serial number, order number, and board registration information may also be available.

For individuals who lived near a state border, sometimes their Draft Board Office was located in a neighboring state. Therefore, you may find some people who resided in one state, but registered in another.