COVID-19 Data in Historical Perspective

Lessons from Chicago’s 1995 Heat Wave

Abstract

This project explores death data compilation history from Chicago’s July 1995 heat wave, framing the heat wave as a case study through which to examine the city’s public health data pipelines in the lead-up to the COVID-19 pandemic. By examining decades-old data classification discrepancies, data compilation challenges, and the surrounding landscape of fragmented and aging technical systems, the project argues the history of this information infrastructure is crucial to contextualizing the COVID-19 data we have today.