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Union Army veterans, all grown up

Author

Listed:
  • Dora L. Costa
  • Heather DeSomer
  • Eric Hanss
  • Christopher Roudiez
  • Sven E. Wilson
  • Noelle Yetter

Abstract

This article overviews the research opportunities made possible by a National Institute on Aging-funded program project, Early Indicators, Intergenerational Processes, and Aging. Data collection began almost three decades ago on 40,000 soldiers from the Union Army in the U.S. Civil War. The sample contains extensive demographic, economic, and medical data from childhood to death. In recent years, a large sample of African-American soldiers and an oversampling of soldiers from major U.S. cities have been added. Hundreds of historical maps containing public health data have been geocoded to place soldiers and their family members in a geospatial context. With newly granted funding, thousands of veterans will be linked to the demographic information available from the census and vital records of their children.

Suggested Citation

  • Dora L. Costa & Heather DeSomer & Eric Hanss & Christopher Roudiez & Sven E. Wilson & Noelle Yetter, 2017. "Union Army veterans, all grown up," Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(2), pages 79-95, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:vhimxx:v:50:y:2017:i:2:p:79-95
    DOI: 10.1080/01615440.2016.1250022
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    1. Martha J. Bailey & Connor Cole & Morgan Henderson & Catherine Massey, 2020. "How Well Do Automated Linking Methods Perform? Lessons from US Historical Data," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(4), pages 997-1044, December.
    2. Ran Abramitzky & Leah Boustan & Katherine Eriksson & James Feigenbaum & Santiago Pérez, 2021. "Automated Linking of Historical Data," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(3), pages 865-918, September.
    3. Costa, Dora L. & Kahn, Matthew E. & Roudiez, Christopher & Wilson, Sven, 2018. "Persistent social networks: Civil war veterans who fought together co-locate in later life," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 289-299.
    4. Wilson, Sven E., 2019. "Does adult height predict later mortality?: Comparative evidence from the Early Indicators samples in the United States," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 274-285.

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    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • N11 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

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