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Charles Lemuel Nichols
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CHARLES LEMUEL NICHOLS (1851-1929), 1924
Howard Logan Hildebrandt (1872-1958)
oil on canvas
44 1/8 x 34 (112.08 x 86.36)
signed in red paint, l.r.: "H.L. Hildebrandt 1924"
Gift of Mrs. George A. Gaskill, Harriet B. Lincoln and Charles L.
Nichols,
Jr., 1929
Weis #90
Hewes #90
More
information
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| Nichols, a prominent
Worcester physician,
was elected to membership in the American Antiquarian Society in
1897. He
was an active member, sitting on the Committee for Publication from
1909
to 1919, serving as a Councillor from 1911 to 1929 and, at various
times,
as Recording Secretary and Secretary for Foreign Correspondence.
Nichols's
interest in early American imprints and his Worcester connections
made him
an ideal candidate for the presidency of the Society, a position to
which
he was elected in 1927 and held until his death. "From early
youth
he was a visitor of our library and a student of its possessions....
He
became thoroughly imbued with the collector's spirit and with a
fondness
for the study of early Americana.... Since [Isaiah] Thomas, no one
of our
presidents has undertaken the duties of that office better fitted to
be
the head of a learned collecting society."(1)
Nichols, who practiced homeopathic medicine at his large practice
in
Worcester, was also a book collector, with a particular interest
in volumes
printed in Worcester in the eighteenth century. The year he was
elected
to membership in the Society he noted, "I have the incurable
disease,
Biblio-Mania."(2) He collected almanacs, children's
literature and
books on Massachusetts history. Nichols donated the portion of his
library
relating to Massachusetts to the Society, along with drafts and
notes
relating to his own publications.(3)
As a scholar, Nichols published his Bibliography of Worcester
(1899)
and wrote a study of the Society's founder Isaiah Thomas,
Printer,
Writer, Author, Collector (1912). He often contributed to the
Proceedings
of the American Antiquarian Society. The results of his
life-long study
of almanacs appeared as "Notes on the Almanacs of
Massachusetts"
(April 1912) and "Checklist of Maine, New Hampshire and
Vermont Almanacs,"
(April 1928). In a 1920 essay for the Proceedings, Nichols
identifies
and locates numerous portraits of Isaiah Thomas Sr. and cites his
research
on their provenance.(4)
A philanthropist who worked tirelessly for many non-profit
organizations
in Worcester, Nichols was the founder of the Worcester Welfare
Federation,
the director and president of Associated Charities of Worcester,
and a
director and board member of the public library.(5) His obituary
in the
city's largest newspaper stated: "Worcester knew Dr. Nichols,
which
is the same as saying that Worcester loved him well, admired him
sincerely,
and respected him profoundly. He deserved it all. The community
deeply
mourns the passing of this helper of the helpless, this friend of
the
poor and unfortunate, this physician-scholar-gentleman."(6)
This portrait of Nichols was painted in early 1924 by Howard L.
Hildebrandt.(7)
The artist was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania and spent his youth
in
Pittsburgh before travelling to Paris to study at the Ecole des
Beaux
Arts. In the 1890s he exhibited his work at the National Academy
of Design
in New York City and moved there around 1900. Hildebrandt had a
studio
at 306 East 51st street and painted portraits of prominent
businessmen
and academics.(8) He was elected to membership in the National
Academy
in 1932.(9)
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1) "Many Tributes to Dr. Nichols," Worcester
Telegram
February 22, 1929, American Antiquarian Society Newsclipping
File.
2) Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society
39
(April
1929): 9.
3) Charles Lemuel Nichols Papers 1851-1927, American
Antiquarian
Society Manuscript Collection. This collection contains much
unpublished
material relating to Worcester, including Nichols's manuscript of
"Worcester
Imprints 1775-1894."
4) "The Portraits of Isaiah Thomas with Some Notes
Upon
His Descendants," Proceedings of the American Antiquarian
Society
30 (1920): 251-77. His annotated offprint of this article is
housed at
the American Antiquarian Society. Many of Nichols's attributions
have
been superceded.
5) For more on Nichols' contributions to area agencies
see his
obituary in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society
39 (April
1929): 3-15.
6) Worcester Evening Gazette February 20, 1929,
American Antiquarian
Society Newsclipping File.
7) Worthington Chauncy Ford to Charles Lemuel Nichols,
March
11, 1924, Charles Lemuel Nichols Papers. In this letter, Ford
mentions
that he would like to stop by to see the completed portrait.
8) "H.L. Hildebrandt, A Portraitist,
84," New York
Times November 12, 1958, p. 37: 3. Some of Hildebrandt's
correspondence
and personal papers are preserved as the Howard Logan Hildrebrandt
Papers
1890-1919, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington,
D.C..
9) Who's Who in American Art 1938-1939,
(Chicago: A. N. Marquis
Co., 1939), 246. Hildebrandt's self portrait is in the collection
of the
National Academy of Design.
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This site and all contents © 2004 American Antiquarian
Society
Last updated December 10, 2004
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