Ancestors all around – millions of dead people linger in Americans’ memories

By Emily Smith-Greenaway, Dean's Professor of Sociology and Professor of Spatial Sciences, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Ashton Verdery, Professor of Sociology, Demography and Social Data Analytics, Penn State, The Conversation · October 23, 2026

The shadow population of deceased relatives is more than three times as large as today’s living population.

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