APPALACHIAN INFANT MORALITY in the EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

Kailee Sites, Ohio University
Nancy Tatarek, Ohio University

Infant mortality or the death of infants under one year of age is one measure of population health. It is commonly utilized with other measures to describe the status of a both modern day and historical populations. Studies of this nature that focus on rural areas are less common than those focusing on more urban areas. In particular, historical population studies of Ohio Appalachia are lacking. Perry and Athens counties are located in the southeastern portion of Ohio, in this Appalachian region. To varying degrees, both counties were historically very reliant on coal mining and other industries that provided inconsistent sources of income and were often highly dangerous. This project examines infant mortality (here defined as under one month of age) for these two counties for the years 1913 to 1919. The first aim of this project is to establish overall patterns of infant mortality. Using these patterns, the second aim is to determine possible factors affecting infant mortality. Additionally, since the data encompasses the 1918 influenza pandemic, this project will attempt to determine the effect of the pandemic on infant mortality. We plan to examine mortality records as well as contextual records such as newspaper account for the time period examined. We expect that infant mortality will be high for both counties during all years.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 72. Fertility, Mortality, Plagues and Epidemics