Utilizing the IPUMS Multigenerational Longitudinal Panel to trace industrial worker migration throughout the rust-belt and beyond

James Juip, Michigan Tech University
Don Lafreniere, Michigan Technological University
Dan Trepal, Michigan Technological University

Emmigration has long been understood by industrial historians and geographers as a central feature of a de-industrial landscape. Temporal changes in socio-economic conditions have long been understood to be linked to emigration. However, most research has focused on small historical case studies of a few individuals. Large population studies on this topic have been constrained by limitations in the ability to accurately link historical records through space and time. This paper traces the emmigration pathways of individuals leaving Michigan’s Copper Country during the period of rapid deindustrialization in the early 20th century. This project links records from the Copper Country Historical Spatial Data Infrastructure to the U.S. full count censuses by using the IPUMS Multigenerational Longitudinal Panel methodology. By tracing these records in a GIS framework, we are able to map the migration of individuals from the Keweenaw peninsula and assess how emigration linked not only to socio-economic status, but other factors including, occupational class, ethnicity, gender, and household size. This approach allows for a new and larger perspective on post-industrial emigration that cannot be obtained through the traditional case study approach.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 154. Migrants and Immigration Experiences