Our History

Concerned Demography

1969 - 1974

Concerned Demography was an episodic publication edited and published by graduate students in demography in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was a product of the zeitgeist of an era when social consciousness meant that beliefs should be accompanied by actions, and by graduate students whose most radical impulse was to found a quasi-professional journal.

The first four issues (volume 1, numbers 1 to 4), were written, mimeographed, and mailed to the PAA mailing list by students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The idea of Concerned Demography was embraced by graduate students at other major population centers, and subsequent issues were written and published by students at Michigan, Penn, Cornell, and Brown. The Population Council even published an issue. Within a few years, most of the original editors had received their PhDs and embarked on academic and professional careers.

The demise of Concerned Demography was no more predictable than its birth. The times had changed, the initial group of editors had other commitments and publication outlets, and the next generation of graduate students wondered what the fuss was all about.

Editor’s Note

All issues of Concerned Demography were scanned into PDF files by the first editor of the journal, PAA Past-President Charles Hirschman, now at the University of Washington. He assures us that there are no copyright or other ownership issues. By posting them here to the PAA History web page we are providing otherwise unavailable access to their contents.

Volume 1

No. 1. September 1969, 6 pages, University of Wisconsin, edited by Charles Hirschman

No. 2. December 1969, 10 pages, University of Wisconsin, edited by Paul Schollaert

No. 3. February 1970, 22 pages, University of Wisconsin, edited by Avery M. Guest

No. 4. April 1970, 15 pages, University of Wisconsin, edited by Norma Nager

View Issue 1

Volume 2

No. 1. September 1970, 4 pages, University of Wisconsin, edited by James J. Zuiches

No. 2. December 1970, 48 pages, University of Michigan, edited by Fred Arnold

No. 3. January 1971, 24 pages, University of Pennsylvania, edited by Gretchen Condran, Alfredo Lattes, and Eric R. Weiss-Altaner

No. 4. March 1971, 69 pages, Population Council, edited by David Sills and William Seltzer

No. 5. April 1971, 44 pages, Brown University, edited by Ernest Attah

View Issue 2

Volume 3

No. 1. Fall 1971, 103 pages, Cornell University, edited by Parker Marden and Reid Reynolds

No. 2. April 1972, 19 pages, University of Wisconsin, edited by David Brown

View Issue 3

Volume 4

No. 1. Spring 1974, 39 pages, Women’s Caucus, edited by Gretchen Condran, Julia Ericksen, Eileen Gardner, and Barbara Wolfe

No. 2. Winter 1974, 66 pages, Cornell University, edited by Reid Reynolds and Barbara Segal.

View Issue 4