The response of an open spin chain with isotropic antiferromagnetic interactions to a uniform magnetic field is studied by classical Monte Carlo simulations. It is observed how the induced on-site magnetization is nonuniform, due to the occurrence of edge staggered terms which decay exponentially over a distance equal to the zero-field correlation length of the infinite chain. The total magnetic moment associated to each staggered term is found to be about half of the original single-spin magnitude and to decrease as the inverse of temperature (i.e., to behave as a Curie-like moment). The numerical results are compared to recent NMR findings in spinless-doped Y2BaNiO5; the remarkable agreement found shows that, for temperatures above the Haldane gap, the classical approach gives a correct picture of the boundary effects observed in the Heisenberg S=1 chain.