Bhagat Singh Thind (1892-1967)
b. Amritsar, Punjab, India
United States v. Thind (1923)
Do You Know? Bhagat Singh Thind was one of the first turbaned Sikh to serve the United States in World War I.
What: Thind challenged the courts when his US citzenship was revoked because he was an Indian.
Decision: Thind was ineligible for naturalized citizenship because he was not a "free white man."
Today: Ethnicity does not determine whether or not a person can naturalize to be a US citizen.
(Portrait by Arlene Penaloza, SFSU 2020)