Alumni Office (Clarence Gifford correspondence), 1953-1977 | Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

Clarence Gifford was a member of the first graduating class of Eastern Kentucky State Normal School in 1909. He began his career in education as a teacher and principal at Ewing, Hanson and Guthrie, KY and he was superintendent of the Elizabethtown KY schools before embarking on a career in finance and real estate which eventually led to his own mortgage company, C.H. Gifford, Company, later the Clard Corporation in Katonah, NY. He was a long-time supporter of the arts and the Gifford Theatre in the Campbell Building was named in his honor. Gifford was also a major supporter of the Meditation Chapel and the Century Fund Drive that helped endow the position of University Chaplain. He died August 11, 1977 at his home in Katonah, New York.