Handwritten letter from Mohaiyuddin Khan
This handwritten petition for a passport in 1921 provides a glimpse of Khan's transnational life and the circuits he traveled, from London to Calcutta to Brooklyn.
Mohaiyuddin Khan, trader
Khan left Guiana at the age of ten and traced out a seaman's or trader’s trajectory over the course of his life, traveling across the Malay States, India, South America, Africa, Japan, China, Switzerland, Ceylon and Italy. Khan had become a naturalized U.S. citizen the year before. For six months in 1921-1922, he traveled to London to buy skins and hides as an agent for an A.M.
Mohaiyuddin Khan Photo, 1919
At 5’11’’, Mohaiyuddin Khan was tall and striking, with an aquiline nose, a pointed chin and an oval face. His passport photos show a man who could have passed for Greek or Italian. Indeed, when he landed in New York in 1913, in his mid-twenties, he declared his intention to naturalize and gave his “color” as “white” and his birthplace as London.
Photo of Mohaiyuddin Khan with his wife Gertrude
Mohaiyuddin Khan's passport applications suggest that he was often away from his wife Gertrude’s home in Bedford-Stuyvesant. In 1920, the census showed him living in Brooklyn with her and her German immigrant family. The 1930 and 1940 censuses record her shorn of the surname Khan, using her maiden name again and working for an insurance company, with Mohaiyuddin no longer living with her.
Shew Persaud's Naturalization Petition
Shew Persaud was born in Georgetown, Guiana's colonial capital, in 1881. After arriving in the United States on a ship that sailed via Barbados, he petitioned to become a U.S. citizen twice, in 1917 and 1924. The first time, he was working as a dishwasher and living in West Harlem, separated from his wife, who was still in British Guiana.
To the friends of India
Publication entitled "To the Friends of India," released in 1919 by the Hindustan Ghadar Party to protest the U.S. government's detainment and planned deportation of Gopal Singh, Taraknath Das, Bhagwan Singh, and Santokh Singh. Also includes a list of imprisoned freedom fighters in India and a photo of Gopal Singh.
Letter from Kamala Cornelius
Page one of letter from Kamala Cornelius (Pennsylvania College for Women Class of 1918) reprinted in the June 1919 issue of the Alumnae Recorder. The letter includes a discussion of Cornelius' work in Madras, India and how coursework at PCW served to prepare her. The letter offers congratulations to the class of 1919 and is continued on the second page.


Letter from Kamala Cornelius Reprinted in the June 1920 Alumnae Recorder
Update on the Class of 1918 printed in the Alumnae Recorder of June 1920 and including a reference to the activities of Kamala Cornelius.


Letter from Kamala Cornelius Reprinted in the June 1921 Alumnae Recorder
Letter from Kamala Cornelius (Pennsylvania College for Women Class of 1918) reprinted in the June 1921 issue of the Alumnae Recorder. The letter is dated April 3, 1921 from the A.B.M. Girls' High School and addressed to the Alumnae Association of the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University).
Letter from Kamala Cornelius Reprinted in the June 1922 Alumnae Recorder
Letter from Kamala Cornelius (Pennsylvania College for Women Class of 1918) reprinted in the June 1922 issue of the Alumnae Recorder. The letter is dated April 3, 1922 and from Nellore, S. India. The letter begins with a discussion of Cornelius' return to work in Nellore and continues for three additional pages.


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info@saada.org
215-259-8055
1650 Arch Street, Suite 2130
Philadelphia, PA 19103