James Read Chadwick

James Read Chadwick (November 2, 1844 – September 23, 1905) was an American gynecologist and medical librarian remembered for describing the Chadwick sign of early pregnancy in 1887.

Early life and education Chadwick was born in Boston on November 2, 1844. His sister, Elizabeth (née Chadwick) Whittier, was married to Brig. Gen. Charles A. Whittier.

He received a B.A. at Harvard in 1865, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1871, studied obstetrics in Europe from 1871 to 1873, and then worked as a gynecologist in Boston.

Career From 1874 he worked at the Boston City Hospital, helping to found the gynecological department, and taught at Harvard Medical School. He was a founder of the Boston Medical Library Association in 1875, and worked as the librarian until his death. He was voted president of the Association of Medical Librarians in 1904. He was the first president of the Harvard Medical Alumni Association in 1891. He was a supporter of women in the practice of medicine, writing a report which cited the contributions of women in medicine.

A strong advocate of cremation, he was president of the Massachusetts Cremation Society from 1894 until his sudden death in 1905.

He contributed many articles on his specialty to the Transactions of the American Gynecological Association, the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, the American Journal of Obstetrics, among others. Margaret Chadwick Elizabeth Lyman "Bessie" Chadwick (1875–1912), who married Douglas H. Thomas (1872–1915) in 1901. James Read Chadwick Jr. (1877–1879), who died young. Elbridge Gerry Chadwick (1881–1945), who married Dorothy Curtis Jordan, a granddaughter of Eben Dyer Jordan (co-founder of the department store chain Jordan Marsh).

His wife died on July 13, 1889, in Birmingham, England. Chadwick died from a fall from a piazza roof at his summer home in Chocorua, New Hampshire, on September 23, 1905. He was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.