Clare S. Spackman

Clare Spencer Spackman (December 8, 1909 – August 5, 1992) was an American occupational therapist. She and Helen S. Willard) co-wrote Principles of Occupational Therapy (1947), a textbook widely used in the field. She was president of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists from 1957 to 1962, and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Early life and education
Spackman was born in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Henry Spackman and Jane (or Jennie) S. Spackman. Her grandmother, Anna C. Spackman, was commended by Abraham Lincoln for her work on caring for wounded soldiers during the American Civil War. She graduated from the Philadelphia School of Occupational Therapy in 1930, and earned a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Career
Spackman was a professor at the Philadelphia School of Occupational Therapy beginning in 1937, and at the University of Pennsylvania after 1950. She was also director of the Philadelphia Curative Workshop until she retired in 1970. With her colleague Helen S. Willard, she co-authored Principles of Occupational Therapy (1947), an influential and widely used textbook in the profession. She was president of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists from 1957 to 1962. She served on the executive committee of the Council of World Organizations Interested in the Welfare of the Handicapped, and on committees of the International Society for Rehabilitation of the Disabled.

In 1956, Spackman received the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)'s Award of Merit. In 1970, she was named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania. Spackman and Willard traveled together to professional conferences and speaking engagements in the United States and abroad, including a tour in Asia and Australia in 1960.

Publications

 * "The Approach to the Patient in a General Hospital" (1937)
 * Principles of Occupational Therapy (1947, with Helen S. Willard)
 * "The Second Pan-Pacific Conference on Rehabilitation" (1963)
 * "A history of the practice of occupational therapy for restoration of physical function: 1917-1967" (1968)
 * "The World Federation of Occupational Therapists: 1952-1967" (1969)

Personal life
Spackman and Helen S. Willard lived together in Philadelphia, and shared a summer residence in Vermont. Willard died in 1980, and Spackman died in 1992, at the age of 82, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. In 2017, she was named by the AOTA as one of the 100 most influential people in occupational therapy.