title: Richard Spencer Childs (1882-1978). His role in modernization of medicolegal investigation in America.
abstract: Richard Spencer Childs, the son of a wealthy businessman, was born in Manchester, Connecticut in 1882. His father, William Hamlin Childs, was founder of the Bon Ami Company. The family moved to Brooklyn in 1892 and Childs lived the rest of his life in the New York area. Childs emerged as an important and influential political reformer during the early years of the 20th century, the so-called Progressive era. His steadfast belief that only major elected offices attracted large electorates and that the long ballot strengthened political machines motivated him to launch the short ballot movement. He remained active for two generations in the drive to democratize the machinery of government. His reform zeal was rooted in the conviction that an inefficient and undemocratic government was caused largely by structural deficiencies. Although the Progressive period in American politics is well-known for the social reformers it produced, Childs became a prime mover of the lesser-known but equally important structural reform movement. The development of the medical examiner system as a replacement for the outmoded and politically marked coroner's system, therefore, was the outcome of this movement. Through his activities in the National Municipal League, his work with Dr. Alan Moritz and Dr. Richard Ford, and the support of Milton Helpern, Childs helped to promote knowledge of the model medical examiner law requirements, which was deveoped by the efforts of Childs and this organization. He was always interested in the progress in America of the advancement and adoption of adequate medicolegal investigative systems. American medicolegal investigation is indebted to the activities and support of Richard Spencer Childs.
mesh_terms: D003334:Coroners and Medical Examiners / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009519:New York City; D009934:Organization and Administration; D011057:Politics; D014481:United States