Finding families near and far in Canada and the United States

This special issue highlights recent work in the history of families in Canada and the United States. With full-count census data series from the mid-nineteenth century newly available for both countries since the mid-2010s, this issue shows how scholars are taking advantage of new possibilities for research in North American family history. The articles in this issue return to several important questions in the history of families on the continent. How did families adapt to high rates of migration over long distances, with many people moving to destinations several weeks travel from their original homes? In early and late adulthood, what have been the changing patterns of living independently, or choosing to live with parents, adult children, or relatives outside the direct line of descent? The distinctive regional and cultural patterns of fertility change in North America are also discussed. Methodologically the issue demonstrates how historians of the family are using recently-released large census datasets in distinct ways. Some are taking advantage of the ability to create new variables or measures from microdata. Others focus on particular areas of the continent, and integrate large-scale data with other sources. Linkage to other record sources is also increasingly common.