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Genealogy- Old: Medical History

Collecting Medical Information

Why Collect Medical Information?
•To better understand the lives of the people you are researching
• To learn about the medical challenges of the time period  (e.g., epidemics)
• To note possible family risks and predispositions for certain diseases and conditions
Getting Started

Ask your family members about family stories

Look for death records (see Vital Records)

Things to Look For in Records

Diseases and Epidemics


For your family health history, add inheritable diseases and risk factors:

•Cancer
•Hemophilia
•Sickle-cell anemia

For looking at social history, add:

•Childbirth complications (Puerperal causes *)
 

 * relating to, or occurring during childbirth or the period immediately following

Epidemics: Guides

Epidemics: Specific Diseases

Genealogy Resources at the University of Delaware Library

Family tree

Although not aimed at genealogy and family history, the collections of the University of Delaware Library (Morris Library) include materials useful to genealogists and family historians.

This Genealogy Research Guide is provided as a service for genealogists. It presents topics and resources to assist researchers.

The UD Library does not specialize in genealogy and does not have staff responsible for genealogy. Library staff cannot conduct research.

For questions about library resources and holdings, use the Ask the Library service.

For questions about getting research assistance, see the suggestions on the home page of this guide or on the topic/resources pages.

Educational Resources

Tracing Hemophilia