Charles V. Chapin

Charles Value Chapin, M.D., was born in Providence, Rhode Island. From 1884 to 1932, he served as the Health Officer for Providence, eventually becoming Superintendent of the Providence Department of Health. In 1927, he became President of the American Public Health Association. He also served as President of the American Epidemiological Society. He was awarded the Marcellus Hartley Gold Medal of the National Academy of Sciences and the W.T. Sedgwick Medal of the APHA. He received honorary degrees from Brown University, Rhode Island State College, and Yale University.

During his long career, Chapin published more than 113 titles on public health administration, communicable diseases, and epidemiology. In 1910, he published his first book, The Sources and Modes of Infection, which was an important work on the method of disease communication. He argued that diseases were transmitted between people by personal contact, through food, and by contact with animal carriers. Although controversial at first, his work was ultimately recognized as groundbreaking, and contributed to community hygiene and sanitary science in both the United States and Europe.

In 1918, he successfully used community hygiene practices to combat the pandemic flu in Providence.

In 1924, he published Deaths among Taxpayers and Non-Taxpayers, which was one of the first works to establish the connection between economic status and health.

In 1931, the Providence City Hospital was re-named the Charles V. Chapin Hospital in recognition of Chapin's contributions to the public health of Providence.