The development of the Early Indicators project spans across more than two decades. During this time the principal researchers have gathered ideas, data sources, personnel, and technology to facilitate the development of the current data set. As outlined in their funding proposal to the NIH, the research project seeks to quantify the long-term effects of the Civil War experience on the health, wealth, productivity, and mortality of 39,616 Union Army veterans. The large scale of the sample has required a team of investigators, consultants, and researchers from several disciplines and universities to come together. A detailed description of the historical development of the Early Indicators project can be found in the 2003 book edited by Dora L. Costa, Health and Labor Force Participation over the Life Cycle: Evidence from the Past.   The article, Reflections on the Early Indicators Project:A Partial History, written by Larry T. Wimmer for the Costa volume, also provides a comprehensive history of the EI project.