Happy 100th Anniversary, Arizona (With an Asterisk?)

Figure 1. Reproduction of Arizona Republican article from September 21, 1926, page 8.¹ September, 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of Arizona’s admission into the federal birth and death registration areas. The last step needed for admission was a survey that, according to the Census Bureau, demonstrated that Arizona’s system of collecting vital statistics captured at least 90 percent of the state’s births and deaths (see FIgure 1). But did the survey really demonstrate that level of completeness? Or should Arizona’s admission to the registration areas have come with an asterisk? Let’s look at the circumstances of Arizona’s admission. In Part 1 (this post), I’ll briefly review vital statistics in Arizona’s territorial and early statehood days, and examine what motivated the need for accurate vital statistics. The article reproduced in Figure 1 quotes Dr. F. T. Fahlen, the state superintendent of the Board of Health. But the Board statistician in 1926, the person who actually collected…