Podcast Episode 152: Charles Henry Gifford

Welcome, Kyle DeCicco-Carey to In-Focus Podcast Number 152! Kyle is the Library Director at the Millicent Library in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and will speak with us for the fourth time about Charles Henry Gifford. In our last conversation with Kyle on In-Focus Podcast Number 146, he spoke about Robert Swain Gifford, also known as R. Swain Gifford. Kyle’s first visit was Episode 132 about William Bradford.

His second was Episode 133 about Lemuel Eldred. This is a five-part series on celebrated Fairhaven artists from days gone by. This series is supported in part by a grant from the Fairhaven Cultural Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

“Kyle DeCicco-Carey has nearly 20 years of professional library experience. He comes to the Millicent Library from Harvard University, where he was a senior reference archivist in the property information resource center. He has experience as an interim library director at the Mattapoisett Free Public Library, and is president of the Board of Directors of the Mattapoisett Historical Society.” [Fairhaven Neighborhood News]

Kyle holds a master’s degree in library and information science from Simmons University and, a digital archives specialist certification from the Society of American Archivists. He also holds certifications from the Academy of Certified Archivists and the Harvard Extension School in nonprofit management. He has over twenty years of library, archive, and museum experience.

CHARLES HENRY GIFFORD
American Landscape Painter
July 13, 1839 – January 20, 1904.

Charles H. Gifford was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and was a part of the late second-generation Hudson River School painters. Primarily a marine artist, Gifford lived and worked in a house he had built at 7 Lafayette Street in nearby Fairhaven, Massachusetts in 1875.

He demonstrated a natural artistic talent early in life and was inspired by one of Albert Bierstadt’s paintings at an exhibition in New Bedford. Although Gifford was resolved to become an artist, his family wanted him to choose a more practical profession. He became a shoemaker and worked as a carpenter.

Gifford served in the Civil War and was captured by the Confederate army and incarcerated in the Libby Prison. Released, he returned to New Bedford and after selling a painting of Palmer’s Island, decided to paint for a living and opened a studio in New Bedford. He also worked in New York where he refined his painting technique. He would later add a tower to the rear of his Lafayette Street home where he established his studio on the second floor

Listen in on this conversation as The Artist Index’s Co-Founder/Host – Ron Fortier – delves more into Charles Henry Gifford’s life, work, and legacy with Kyle DeCicci-Cary. The whole concept of The Artists Index and our journey is still in the making and very organic. If you would like to be a guest or, have a suggestion, please let us know!