# James Chapin

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For the American painter and illustrator, see [James Ormsbee Chapin](/source/James_Ormsbee_Chapin). For the jazz musician, see [Jim Chapin](/source/Jim_Chapin).

American ornithologist (1889–1964)

James Chapin Born James Paul Chapin (1889-07-09)9 July 1889 Died 5 April 1964(1964-04-05) (aged 74) Alma mater Columbia University (BA, MA, PhD)

**James Paul Chapin** (July 9, 1889 – April 5, 1964) was an American [ornithologist](/source/Ornithologist) and curator of the [American Museum of Natural History](/source/American_Museum_of_Natural_History).[1]

## Biography

Chapin is one of the highest-regarded ornithologists of the twentieth century.[2] He was joint leader (with [Herbert Lang](/source/Herbert_Lang)) of the Lang–Chapin expedition, which made a biological survey of the [Belgian Congo](/source/Belgian_Congo) between 1909 and 1915. For his work *The Birds of the Belgian Congo, Part I*, he was awarded the [Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal](/source/Daniel_Giraud_Elliot_Medal) from the [National Academy of Sciences](/source/United_States_National_Academy_of_Sciences) in 1932.[3] He received a bachelor's degree in 1916, master's degree in 1917, and a doctorate in 1932, all from [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University), and then began a lengthy career at the [American Museum of Natural History](/source/American_Museum_of_Natural_History).[2][4]

Chapin served as the 17th president of [The Explorers Club](/source/The_Explorers_Club) from 1949 to 1950.

### Intelligence officer in the Congo

In 1942, Chapin was recruited by the [Office of Strategic Services](/source/Office_of_Strategic_Services) [intelligence agency](/source/Intelligence_agency) as an intelligence officer. Under the cover of special assistant to the US consul based in [Léopoldville](/source/L%C3%A9opoldville), Chapin took the code name CRISP and reported back military and economic information. According to [Susan Williams](/source/Susan_Williams_(historian)), he was "evidently more comfortable bird-watching than spy-watching" and was withdrawn from the Congo after a while. He was then admitted at a psychiatric clinic, was finally discharged in September 1943 and went back home. He resumed his functions at the American Museum of Natural History in October 1943.[5]

## Legacy

Chapin is commemorated in the scientific names of three species of African reptiles: *[Ichnotropis chapini](/source/Ichnotropis_chapini)*, *[Pelusios chapini](/source/Central_African_mud_turtle)*, and *[Trioceros chapini](/source/Trioceros_chapini)*.[6] Chapin returned to the Belgian Congo in 1953 to continue fieldwork which he had started more than half a century earlier. When asked about his most famous discovery, he mentioned the [Congo peafowl](/source/Congo_peafowl), adding that he had obtained a feather from this hitherto unknown bird from a pygmy on one of his expeditions, but had never seen the bird. It was unknown to science. Years later he was able to identify it as the rare Congo peafowl.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Dr. James P. Chapin Dies at 74; Adventurous Authority on Birds; Natural History Museum's Curator Emeritus Sought Secrets of the Jungle"](https://www.nytimes.com/1964/04/07/archives/dr-james-p-chapin-dies-at-74-adventurous-authority-on-birds-natural.html). *The New York Times*. 1964-04-07. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0362-4331](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2021-09-25.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Staten_Island_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Staten_Island_2-1) ["Staten Island on the Web: Famous Staten Islanders"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090210133645/http://www.nypl.org/branch/staten/index2.cfm?Trg=1&d1=1391). New York Public Library. Archived from [the original](http://www.nypl.org/branch/staten/index2.cfm?Trg=1&d1=1391) on February 10, 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Elliot_3-0)** ["Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140620152242/http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/awards/daniel-giraud-elliot-medal.html). National Academy of Sciences. Archived from [the original](http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/awards/daniel-giraud-elliot-medal.html) on June 20, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Columbia College (Columbia University). Office of Alumni Affairs and Development; Columbia College (Columbia University) (1996). [*Columbia College today*](http://archive.org/details/ldpd_12981092_037). Columbia University Libraries. New York, N.Y. : Columbia College, Office of Alumni Affairs and Development.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Williams, Susan](/source/Susan_Williams_(historian)) (2018). *Spies in the Congo: The Race for the Ore that Built the Atomic Bomb*. London: C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. pp. 29–39. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781849049528](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781849049528).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Beolens, Bo](https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Bo_Beolens); Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). *The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles*. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4214-0135-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4214-0135-5). ("Chapin", pp. 51–52).

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [James Paul Chapin](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:James_Paul_Chapin).

- [Works by James Chapin](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/36227) at [Project Gutenberg](/source/Project_Gutenberg)

- [Works by or about James Chapin](https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3A%22Chapin%2C%20James%20Paul%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Chapin%2C%20James%20P%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Chapin%2C%20J%2E%20P%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22James%20Paul%20Chapin%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22James%20P%2E%20Chapin%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22J%2E%20P%2E%20Chapin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22James%20Paul%20Chapin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22James%20P%2E%20Chapin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22J%2E%20P%2E%20Chapin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22J%2E%20Paul%20Chapin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Chapin%2C%20James%20Paul%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Chapin%2C%20James%20P%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Chapin%2C%20J%2E%20P%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Chapin%2C%20J%2E%20Paul%22%20OR%20title%3A%22James%20Paul%20Chapin%22%20OR%20title%3A%22James%20P%2E%20Chapin%22%20OR%20title%3A%22J%2E%20P%2E%20Chapin%22%20OR%20description%3A%22James%20Paul%20Chapin%22%20OR%20description%3A%22James%20P%2E%20Chapin%22%20OR%20description%3A%22J%2E%20P%2E%20Chapin%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Chapin%2C%20James%20Paul%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Chapin%2C%20James%20P%2E%22%29%20OR%20%28%221889-1964%22%20AND%20Chapin%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at the [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive)

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