| Henry Day Penfield | |
| Office: | Mayor of Evanston, Illinois |
| Order: | 10th |
| Term Start: | 1937 |
| Term End: | 1941 |
| Predecessor: | Charles Henry Bartlett |
| Successor: | Samuel Gilbert Ingraham |
| Birth Date: | 23 July 1900 |
| Birth Place: | Evanston, Illinois |
| Death Date: | October 29, 1984 (age 84) |
| Death Place: | Scottsdale, Arizona |
| Education: | B.A. Northwestern University |
| Father: | Louis Chapin Penfield |
| Spouse: | Henrietta Calkins Penfield |
Henry Day Penfield (July 23, 1900 – October 29, 1984) was an American politician and the mayor of the city of Evanston, Illinois.
Penfield was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1900[1] the son of Louis Chapin Penfield.[2] He attended Evanston High School and finished his final year at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.[1] In 1923, he graduated with a B.A. from Northwestern University.[1] At Northwestern, he was a star athlete earning letters in football and swimming; and was named to the all-Western and all-Conference football teams.[1] After school, he took a job at the Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company.[1] In 1931, he was elected as the treasure of Evanston, the youngest to have held the position.[1] In 1933, he ran for mayor alleging that the current administration tolerated the presence of speakeasies; he lost by 2,300 votes.[1] In 1935, he won re-election as treasurer and in 1937, he successfully won a 4-year term as the mayor of Evanston.[1] His tenure was difficult as the assessed value of property had declined while the population had increased by 10,000.[1] He ran for re-election as mayor in 1941 but was defeated by Samuel Gilbert Ingraham.[1] With the outbreak of World War II, he served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy in charge of recruitment in the Chicago area.[1] After the war, he worked for a recruitment firm, George Frye Associates[1] and then as the City Manager for Paradise Valley, Arizona[3] He retired in 1963.[1]
He died on October 29, 1984, in Scottsdale, Arizona.[1]
He was married to Henrietta Calkins; they had three children: Ann,Nancy and Henry Jr.[1]