Chapin, Henry Dwight

Chapin, Henry Dwight

(1857–1942) pediatrician, social reformer; born in Steubenville, Ohio. He entered medical practice in 1884 in New York City and began to teach on children's diseases at the New York Post-Graduate School (1885–1920) and at the Women's Medical College of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children (1885–90). His particular work was in the area of proper nutrition for infants. Pioneering home care through trained social workers, he founded the Speedwell Society to encourage foster care (1902) and was a charter member and president of the American Pediatric Society (1910–11). With his wife, Alice Delafield, he actively secured adoptions for 1,700 children over the course of their mutual careers; their work led to what is today known as the Spence-Chapin Adoption Service in New York City. A reader of philosophy, he played the violin, loved travel, and enjoyed vintage wines.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.