The Charles M. Fairchild Endowment Fund was created in 1985 by Mrs. Elizabeth Fairchild to honor the memory of her husband, Charles M. Fairchild, F'48. Mr. Fairchild, a real estate and office building developer in the Washington D.C. area, died in 1982.
The fund was established for the acquisition, conservation and maintenance of the Jesuit Collection of American Prints of the Twentieth Century. In addition, the fund made possible the construction of the Charles M. Fairchild Memorial Gallery on the 5th floor of Lauinger Library. The gallery, which was dedicated on April 11, 1997, houses rotating exhibitions which showcase art from the University's Art Collection.
In her remarks at the dedication of the Fairchild Gallery, Mrs. Fairchild said:
My children, my grandchildren, and my friends here this evening are overjoyed with this inaugural exhibition and dedication of this splendid fine print gallery, to the memory of our beloved Charles Marvin Fairchild, husband, father, grandfather and friend.
I know he is here with us in spirit. I can see the sparkle in his eye as he revels in Grant Wood's magnificent parcels of country real estate. I can hear the chuckle of his voice as he ponders almost two centuries of growth in his Alma Mater's hilltop property overlooking Potomac's sparkling waters. I can share his pride, as he looks out over Healy's memory-filled lawn, as he realized that now through this gallery he lives on as part of Georgetown's commitment to the education of the human spirit of generations of students to come.
Related Links:
"Recent Art Acquisitions from the Fairchild Fund," February 2021
"A War to End All Wars?" (2018 exhibition)
Treasures Since 2000 (2015 exhibition)
"Remembering Father Haller," Library Associates Newsletter, Spring 2009
"Did You Celebrate Maryland Day?" Library Associates Newsletter, Spring 2003
"Construction of the Fairchild Gallery," Library Associates Newsletter, Winter 1997
"Getting the Picture: Fine Prints in the Library," Library Associates Newsletter, November 1994
"Fine Prints and the Fairchild Fund," Library Associates Newsletter, February 1990
"The Artist Him/Her Self," Library Associates Newsletter, August 1988
"New Print Gallery and Endowment Fund," Library Associates Newsletter, February 1986
List of Exhibitions
Finding aid for photographs of the Charles Marvin Fairchild Memorial Gallery