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. 2017;50(2):79-95.
doi: 10.1080/01615440.2016.1250022. Epub 2017 Jan 17.

Union Army Veterans, All Grown Up

Dora L Costa  1 , Heather DeSomer  2 , Eric Hanss  2 , Christopher Roudiez  2 , Sven E Wilson  3 , Noelle Yetter  2
Affiliations

Union Army Veterans, All Grown Up

Dora L Costa et al. Hist Methods. 2017.

Abstract

This paper overviews the research opportunities made possible by a NIA-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 US 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 US 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.

Keywords: health; historical demography; mortality; socioeconomic status.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Veterans’ Residences in 1890, by Ward Crude Mortality Quintile
Figure 2
Figure 2
Company-Level Mortality during the Civil War
Figure 3
Figure 3
Veterans’ Residential Patterns over Time, Chicago
Figure 4
Figure 4
Pension Enrollment Proportions, By Race and Wartime Medical History Source: Wilson (2010)
Figure 5
Figure 5
Union Army Data Searchable Extraction System
Figure 6
Figure 6
Example of Data Inputting Screen
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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