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Race, health, and disease in 19th‐century‐born males
Author(s) -
de la Cova Carlina
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.21434
Subject(s) - demography , socioeconomic status , ethnic group , race (biology) , cobb , gerontology , geography , medicine , sociology , population , biology , anthropology , gender studies , genetics
This study analyzed skeletal health disparities among African American and Euro‐American males of low socioeconomic status born between 1825 and 1877. A total of 651 skeletons from the Cobb, Hamann‐Todd, and Terry anatomical collections were macroscopically examined for skeletal pathologies related to dietary deficiencies and disease. Individuals were separated into age, ancestry, birth (Antebellum, Civil War, Pre‐Reconstruction, and Reconstruction), combined ancestry/birth, enslaved versus liberated, and collection cohorts. These groups were statistically evaluated using ANOVA and χ 2 analyses to determine if age, ethnic, and temporal differences existed. Results indicated that African Americans, especially those born during Reconstruction, had significantly higher frequencies of tuberculosis ( P = 0.004) and treponematosis ( P = 0.006) than Euro‐Americans. Historical sources are important in contextualizing why these different ethnic and temporal patterns were present, pointing to environmental conditions related to enslavement, postliberation migration to the industrialized North, crowded urban living conditions, and poor sanitation. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.