J. David Hacker

Biography

I am a demographic historian with expertise in nineteenth and early twentieth century census data and the use of indirect methods to estimate long-term population trends and differentials. Currently, my research focuses on three topics: (1) the demographic cost and consequences of the American Civil War; (2) the long-term decline of fertility between 1790 and 1940; and (3) the demographic behavior of immigrants in the early twentieth century. I am currently principal investigator of an NIH-funded project to construct and disseminate complete-count linked datasets for the 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 censuses.