Historical Statistics of the United States: A Case Study in Government-Professional Organization Cooperation

The history of the development of Historical Statistics of the United States over three editions and two supplements offers an interesting case study in federal government‐professional organization cooperation. In this article, White uses new sources to show the perspective of the economists and historians who were deeply involved in its development and the activities of their professional associations, including the Social Science Research Council, the American Economics Association, the Economic History Association, and the American Statistical Association, in working with the Bureau of the Census. As White shows, the relationship differs from the more common funder‐fundee relationship seen in other government‐professional organization collaborations for the production of information sources.