Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh ——Bio and Archives--January 14, 2026

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Births were recorded for administrative purposes, i.e., population tracking and inheritance rights, as far back as Egypt and Rome, and in Mesopotamia. In ancient Egypt, for example, births were found documented on papyrus as far back as 3000 B.C.

In medieval times, the church kept records of births for property, for inheritance rights, to prove that one exists, and such births were legitimate.

During the 19th century states began to directly administer the civil records, thus ending the need for a church to keep accurate records.

United Kingdom had compulsory birth records in 1853. The United States began oversight of birth records in 1902 when the Act of Congress established the Bureau of Census. By 1919 all U.S. states kept birth records which became standardized in the 1930s.

Today, a........

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