Description
Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1978. Drawing on a wide range of sources from social, intellectual, and political history, Old Age in the New Land analyzes the changing fates and fortunes of America's elderly in the course of its history. By providing a historical perspective on society's conceptions of agingand its effects on human livesAchenbaum's work offers valuable insights for historians, sociologists, gerontologists, and others interested in the graying of America.
Table of ContentsForeword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. Changing Perceptions of the Aged's Roles in Nineteenth-Century America
Chapter 1. The Usefulness of Old Age
Chapter 2. Variations on a Theme
Chapter 3. The Obsolescence of Old Age
Part II. The Demographic and Socioeconomic Dimensions of Old Age
Chapter 4. The Rhetoric and Realities of Growing Old Diverge in Nineteenth-Century America
Chapter 5. Old Age Becomes "Modem" in Twentieth-Century America
Part III. Contemporary Old Age in Historical Perspective
Chapter 6. Old Age Becomes a National Problem
Chapter 7. Social Security: A Novel Solution for the Problem of America's Aged
Chapter 8. Old Age in the United States since Social Security
Conclusion
Appendix
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
