Henry Pratt Fairchild (August 18, 1880 – October 2, 1956) was a distinguished
American sociologist who was actively involved in many of the controversial issues of his time. He wrote about race relations, abortion and contraception, and immigration. He was involved with the founding of
Planned Parenthood
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reven ...
and served as President to the
American Eugenics Society.
Early life
Fairchild was born in
Dundee, Illinois
West Dundee is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,686 as of the 2020 US Census. It is considered a far northwest Chicago suburb.
West Dundee lies across the Fox River from East Dundee and Carpentersville.
...
. His father was Arthur Babbitt Fairchild, a descendant of Thomas Fairchild, who settled in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
in 1639. His mother a member of the Pratt industrialist family.
Henry Fairchild was his grandfather.
Fred Rogers Fairchild, who became an economist and educator, was his brother.
Fairchild grew up in
Crete, Nebraska, where his father was professor at
Doane College
Doane University is a private university in Crete, Nebraska. It has additional campuses in Lincoln and Omaha, as well as online programs.
History
Doane College was founded on July 11, 1872, by Thomas Doane, chief civil engineer for the Burl ...
. Fairchild attended
Doane (AB, 1900) and
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...
(PhD, 1909). He also received an honorary LL.D. from Doane in 1930.
Organizer and professor
Fairchild was president of the Population Association of America from 1931 to 1935(?). He was president of the American Sociological Society in 1936.
He was active with
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Higgins Sanger (born Margaret Louise Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966), also known as Margaret Sanger Slee, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth control ...
in founding
Planned Parenthood
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reven ...
.
Fairchild's major teaching appointment was at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, t ...
. He served for 26 years, from 1919 to his retirement in 1945, and became chairman of the Department of Sociology in the Graduate School. Much of his work focused on race, nationalism, immigration, and ethnic conflict.
See also
*
Eugenics in the United States
Eugenics, the set of beliefs and practices which aims at improving the Genetics, genetic quality of the human population, played a significant role in the history and culture of the United States from the late 19th century into the mid-20th c ...
*
Fairchild family
The Fairchild family has long roots in New England, United States. They descend from Thomas Fairchild who came from England in 1639 and settled in Stratford, Connecticut, a part of the fledgling New Haven Colony.
Genealogy
Among the notable mem ...
References
External links
*
"Henry P. Fairchild" biography at the American Sociological Society Website.* Henry Pratt Fairchild
Immigration: World Movement and its American Significance New York: Macmillan, c1913.
*
1880 births
1956 deaths
20th-century American educators
American sociologists
Henry Pratt
Doane University alumni
People from West Dundee, Illinois
{{US-sociologist-stub