John William Heisman - Benjamin Rose

Even if you are not much of a football fan, you probably have heard of the Heisman Trophy. The award for the best college football player in the country is presented each year by the Downtown Athletic Club of New York and is named after John William Heisman, in recognition of his contributions to the sport. Although the award is not exclusively given to quarterbacks, that is the position most likely to receive the honor. Eleven Heisman Trophy winners have gone on to play for the Cleveland Browns, including Baker Mayfield, Robert Griffing III, Johnny Manziel, Vinnie Testaverde and Charles White. It may not be a predictor of success in pro football, but the annual selection, and the weeks leading up to it, are a regular part of sports reporting and speculations on the next NFL draft.

John Heisman was born in Cleveland on October 23, 1869. I know this because on my weekly trips to the West Side Market, I would walk past the house on Bridge Avenue with the historical marker at the site of his childhood home. The plaque notes Heisman’s contributions to the sport of college football as a quarterback (at Brown and the University of Pennsylvania), a coach (he is credited with developing the forward pass and audible signals on offensive plays) and a passionate promoter of the sport.

One day, the sign was gone. John Heisman never lived there.

A few weeks later, the sign reappeared. This time, at the correct address, 3928 Bridge Avenue, the home where John Heisman was born. The marker is several blocks southwest from its former location, and on the opposite side of the street. This section of Ohio City had seen streets renamed and renumbered since Heisman’s birth. Ohio City was annexed by the City of Cleveland in 1854. Streets were rerouted, renamed and renumbered to accommodate construction and align addresses on either side of the Cuyahoga River. In 2020, after 42 years, the sign was moved to the right house. The replanted sign made news – a victory for sports fans, history majors and Cleveland trivia buffs.

This is a blog about documentation.

John Heisman was a person of note. A star athlete and coach. A successful author and attorney. Famous in his lifetime. Revered and remembered for his contributions long after his death. But the record was wrong.

Imagine if you were not as famous as John William Heisman. Can you prove who you are? Where you were born? Your age? Are you sure?

One of my uncles was a history buff and spent years cataloging the family tree and the history of our ancestors in central and eastern Kentucky. Family bibles, old photographs and grave markers offered clues. Uncle Ray began his research when a few of his great aunts and uncles were still living, and able to provide oral histories of places, jobs and important events. More than once, his efforts to document a story end with a note about a fire or flood in county courthouse that destroyed birth records, death certificates or marriage licenses.

A family friend shared this story when he retired. Born at home on the family farm, he grew up in a small town and joined the army after high school. GI Bill benefits helped him get an education, and he owned a business that produced cheese blends for pizza restaurants. (He said it offered better hours than milking cows.) It was only when he decided to sell the business and retire that he learned that his Social Security records were not accurate. He could not produce a birth certificate. His military service record did not have a social security number connected to it. Self-employed, he was not subject to employment verification requirements that might have flagged the error. Fortunately, he did have photographs that placed him with living relatives who could vouch for identity.

Social Security numbers, and the associated cards, were first issued in 1936 following passage of the Social Security Act. Initially, Social Security numbers were issued through employers whose workers were covered under the Act. Later, individuals could apply for a card directly through the Social Security Administration, often done when opening a bank account or starting a first job. Beginning in 1987, SSA began allowing parents to apply for a Social Security Card for newborn children as part of the Enumeration at Birth process. My friend who worked on his family’s dairy farm did not need a social security number for that, nor for his first “real” job in the military in 1950s. “Don” was born at home in 1939, and the doctor apparently did not file the birth certificate correctly.

Social Security numbers, birth certificates and other official documents are often required as proof of identity or eligibility, but they are not always universally available.

Prior to the Brown v. Board of Education decision, many states maintained separate record systems based upon race, including birth certificates, death certificates and marriage licenses. Local school districts—many of them segregated—kept separate graduation records. County records, especially in the days before digital archives, were often manually catalogued, and prone to damage or loss.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 brough federal oversight into housing and lending practices, employment and public accommodation. Oversight and enforcement led to greater standardization of records and information, making it easier to document and verify information, including deeds, titles, rental contracts and employment information.

In 1974, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act outlawed discrimination based on sex or marital status in banking, making it possible to women to access credit cards, and expanding access to banking services.

What is required to prove you are who you say you are? Or that you are eligible to participate? Let’s start with a driver’s license. A valid photo ID is requirement for many transactions, including voting, applying for unemployment and flying on a commercial plane. Ohio’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles requires applicants to provide proof of their full legal name, date of birth, Social Security Number and two proofs of address. The Ohio BMV has a list of acceptable documents on its website, these include birth certificate, passport, Social Security card, pay stubs W-2 forms and other documents. So far, so good.

But…

What if you are a widowed, African American female, born in the deep south prior to 1955?
Or you were orphaned, and later adopted, and took the last name of your adopted family?
Or you divorced, and later remarried?
Or the paper copy of your Social Security card that you have had since you turned 16 is no longer legible?
Or you don’t have a copy of your birth certificate? (After all, you were very young when that happened.)
Or you are a stay-at-home mom who raised the kids and kept the house, but did not work a job that would provide a W-2 form?
Or, your home was robbed, or destroyed in a tornado, including the documents you kept in a safe place?

That task of getting a driver’s license just got a little more complicated. You also might find yourself in a requirements “loop” where the requirements of one document include other documents you are unable to access? (Social Security will accept a passport as proof of age, but you need a valid Social Security card to obtain a passport or Ohio driver’s license.) That photo ID requirement just got more complicated.

You may assume that you can access replacement documents. And up to a point, that is true. The Centers for Disease Control has a helpful map on its website that provides information, organized by state, on how to get vital records. In Ohio, most birth or death certificates are available through the State Department of Health, but a search for a marriage license, or divorce decree requires contacting a county Probate Court or Clerk of Courts. There are fees for certified copies of documents that may require a certified check or money order. More information is available on Ohio Department of Health website. Each state’s requirements are different, including required documentation to make a request. For example, in Alabama, requests for a birth certificate require a valid form of identification from the applicant…such as a driver’s license.

One of the challenges facing vulnerable low-income older adults is the application for benefits they are entitled to as Americans. The challenge of managing a chronic disease, coping with the loss of a spouse or caring for a loved one can be overwhelming. Often the barrier to obtaining a benefit is not about eligibility, but the difficulty in documenting it.

There are valid reasons why proof of citizenship or eligibility are required to vote, operate a car, obtain employment, receive Social Security benefits obtain Medicare coverage or participate in entitlement programs like Medicaid. These are public benefits, and good stewardship requires addressing the potential for fraud, waste or abuse. But the laws and agencies that establish these requirements are also responsible for the systems that create the required documentation. Laws and regulations that require a government issued ID should also take into consideration requirements to obtain those documents, including the costs, time and technology involved in obtaining replacements. Compassion and accountability are not at odds with each other, and we should aspire to have systems that can do both.