The construction of high schools across the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s represents one of the largest-ever increases in access to human capital. We show that high schools transformed economic opportunities for young adults, particularly women, who outnumbered men as high school graduates until the 1940s. We estimate the effect of high school access on short- and long-run outcomes for both men and women using a new, complete panel of schools in over 25,000 towns and cities across the United States. We find that high school access caused sharp increases in school attendance rates for high school-aged students but not (placebo) younger cohorts. Linking children to young adult labor market outcomes, we show that high school access boosted labor supply, increased job quality, and reduced the probability of marriage by age 26, with effects concentrated among women. Using structured biographies of eminent adults (e.g., scientists, politicians), we also find that high school access increased the probability that a child would grow up to be eminent, increasing access to the most prestigious positions in science, politics, and business.

My co-authors have presented this project at the NBER Summer Institute (2022), the Annual Meeting of the Economic History Association (2022), and the Mountain West Economic History Conference (2023).