New Orleans Life Tables by Race, 1880–1915

Variable Type Description Units / Notes year integer Calendar year (1880–1915). Period life table year. race string Population category (“White”, “Black”). Harmonized from historical “white/colored”. sex string Sex (“Female”, “Male”). Only present in byRaceSex_benchmarkYears.csv. age integer Exact age at start of interval. 0–84 = single years; 85 = open interval (85+). population integer Population at age x (mid-year exposure). Census values with intercensal linear interpolation. deaths integer Deaths at age x in year t. From WPA/NOVA death index. mx float Central death rate (mₓ = Dₓ / Nₓ). Deaths per person-year. ax float Average fraction of interval lived by decedents. 0.30 for infants; 0.5 (single year ages); 2.0 (1–4); 2.5 (≥5); 1.5 (85+). qx float Probability of death between age x and x+1. Unit interval; for age 85 set to 1.0 or NA. lx float Survivors to exact age x (out of 100,000 at birth). l₀ = 100,000. dx float Deaths between x and x+1 (out of 100,000). lₓ − lₓ₊₁. Lx float Person-years lived in interval x to x+1 (per 100,000 births). lₓ₊₁ + aₓdₓ. Tx float Total person-years lived above age x. ΣLₓ to end of table. ex float Life expectancy at age x (Tₓ / lₓ). Years. e₀ = life expectancy at birth. CODEBOOK — New Orleans Life Tables by Race, 1880–1915 " " " " " " " " " Calculation Parameters Parameter Value Source a₀ (infancy) 0.30 Coale & Demeny (1983). aₓ (1–84) 0.5 Uniform deaths within interval. aₓ (1–4) 2.0 Abridged 5-year group. aₓ (5+) 2.5 Abridged 5-year group. a₈₅⁺ 1.5 UN convention. q₈₅ 1.0 Closed final interval. Interpolation method Linear by age, race, sex. Benchmarks: 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 + 1890 reconstruction. Calculation Parameters Interpretation Notes Period life tables reflect mortality conditions for each year, not cohort lifespans. Annual estimates are more variable than decadal averages but capture epidemic fluctuations and infrastructure changes. Historical racial categories are preserved for data integrity but interpreted as social constructs shaping health outcomes. Age heaping at multiples of 5 and 10 is present but unsmoothed to retain original distributions. Infant exposures use census-based denominators to minimize bias from differential registration. Sensitivity tests (variable a₀, alternate upper-age truncation) altered e₀ by <0.1 year, confirming robustness. Key References Billings, J. S. (1896). Vital Statistics of the Eleventh Census. U.S. GPO. Chiang, C. L. (1984). The Life Table and Its Applications. Krieger. Coale, A. J., Demeny, P. G., & Vaughan, B. (1983). Regional Model Life Tables and Stable Populations. Academic Press. Preston, S. H., Heuveline, P., & Guillot, M. (2001). Demography: Measuring and Modeling Population Processes. Blackwell. Ruggles, S. et al. (2021). IPUMS Ancestry Full Count Data: Version 3.0R. https://doi.org/10.18128/D014.V3.0R Louisiana Archives (2006). Orleans Parish Death Index, 1880–1915. http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/orlean s/death-index.htm