Calvin Lunsford Beale (June 6, 1923 – September 2, 2008) was an American demographer who specialized in rural population trends. He first identified a reverse in

population decline A population decline (also sometimes called underpopulation, depopulation, or population collapse) in humans is a reduction in a human population size. Over the long term, stretching from prehistory to the present, Earth's total human population ...

in some rural areas, and his work led to development of the

Beale code In geography and demography, a Beale code is the Rural-Urban Continuum Coding system originally developed by David L. Brown and later popularized by Calvin Beale at the United States Department of Agriculture in 1975.David L. Brown, Fred K. Hines, ...

for categorizing rural development.

Life and career

Born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, Beale graduated from Eastern High School and the

Wilson Teachers College The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall C ...

After earning a master's degree in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, he worked at the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

for 50 years.Barringer, Felicity (September 2, 2008)
Calvin L. Beale, Demographer With a Feel for Rural America, Dies at 85.
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''Wildman Jim (September 20, 2008)
Traveling The Rural Road With Calvin Beale.
''

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

'' In addition to his work as a demographer, Beale was noted for his photographs of county courthouses across the United States.

Death

Beale died of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

Schudel, Matt (September 14, 2008)
Demographer Looked Past the Numbers To Discover the Heart of the Heartland.
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''; accessed December 14, 2016.

References

External links

* 1923 births 2008 deaths American demographers Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. United States Department of Agriculture officials University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni People from Washington, D.C. University of the District of Columbia alumni Eastern High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni {{US-statistician-stub