New Orleans Life Expectancy by Race (1880–1915)

Annual Period Life Tables from Historical Death and Census Data

Abstract

This paper documents a new dataset of annual period life tables by race (Black and White) for New Orleans, 1880–1915, derived from an extensive, person-level index of registered deaths and full-count census data. The dataset provides single-year age intervals (0–84, plus an open interval at 85+) and yields annual estimates of life expectancy at birth (e₀) and other ages. These data shed light on New Orleans’ late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century mortality transition—a period marked by major public-health interventions and the hardening of racial segregation. The life tables reveal a widening racial gap: White life expectancy rose steadily from the early 1890s while Black life expectancy stagnated, producing a more than 15-year difference at birth by 1915. The dataset adheres to FAIR principles and is documented for reuse, supporting historical demographic, urban, and health-inequality research. Supplementary materials include benchmark-year race-by-sex tables and a codebook. Together, these resources provide a detailed city-level reconstruction of mortality by race in the pre-registration-era United States and a foundation for comparative analyses of racialized health transitions.