Henry Pratt Fairchild (August 18, 1880 – October 2, 1956) was an American sociologist who was Professor of Sociology at New York University and actively involved in many of the controversial issues of his time.

He was involved with the founding of Planned Parenthood[2][3] and served as President to the American Eugenics Society (1929-1931).

Fred Rogers Fairchild, a Professor of Political Economy at Yale University, was his brother.

[1] Fairchild grew up in Crete, Nebraska, where his father was professor at Doane College.

[6] He was a critic of immigration to the United States, authoring the 1926 book The Melting Pot Mistake, which argued that the United States could not assimilate the vast number of immigrants that it had accepted in the previous fifty years.

[1][10] In 1942, he played a leading role in advocating for Earl Browder, former Communist Party secretary, to be released from jail.