SS-5 Application for Social Security Card
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~ Name
~ Address
~ Date & place of birth (sometimes city and country are listed, sometimes only country of origin)
~ Parents names (may or may not list mother's maiden name)
~ Signature

"Beginning in the 1970s, the SSA's paper files were converted into a
computer database. The original forms were microfilmed and then destroyed.
The database includes only five of the sixteen questions asked on the
original form. Therefore, request a microprint from the microfilmed original
rather than a computer printout from the database. (The printout for a
remarried widow, however, gives both surnames, and this is not on the
original application; therefore, it is best to request both the microprint
and the printout in such cases.) When there is a claim file, request all
documents, such as birth certificate, alien registration card, or
naturalization record. Documents exist if a lump sum file was sent.
Unfortunately, documents are usually destroyed five years after death."
(Extracted from "The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy," Revised,
edited by Loretto D. Szucs and Sandra H. Luebking) 

Social Security Death Index (Death Master File - DMF)
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~ Name
~ Date of Birth
~ Date of Death (Month/Year)
~ Residence (Zip Code - City/County/State)
~ Address of last benefit paid (Zip Code - City/County/State)
~ Social Security Number
~ Where & When issued (State & Year unless before 1951)

Other Records
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Once you perform a successful search in the Death Master File, several
research options are now open. Armed with the individual's death date,
Social Security number and probable death state, you may request an obituary
or death certificate. The same is true for birth certificates. Although the
birth date is also provided, birthplace is not, though it is still possible
that the individual had been born in the same state in which he/she applied
for their Social Security card. (Extracted from "Social Security Death
Master File: A Much Misunderstood Index," by Jake Gehring
http://www.ancestry.com/ssdi/article.htm)

WHERE ARE THE RECORDS?

Social Security Administration
Office of Central Records Operations
FOIA Workgroup
P.O. Box 17772
300 N. Greene Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21290
http://www.ssa.gov/foia/foia_guide.htm 

Fees:
~ Social Security Number application search when you have the number (Search
SSDI for number at: http://www.ancestry.com/ssdi/advanced.htm) - $7.00
~ Social Security Number application search when you don't have the number -
$16.50. In these cases we need identifying information (name, date/place of
birth, father's full name, and mother's given and maiden names) to find the record. 

No form is required, just a letter stating your FOIA request. Requests can
be charged to MasterCard or Visa or paid by checks or money orders payable
to the Social Security Administration. Ancestry.com searchers can
automatically create a form letter for successful searches in the SSDI
database at http://www.ancestry.com/ssdi/advanced.htm.