Angela O'Leary
(1874-1921)
Artist Angela O’Leary was born on May 10, 1874 in Providence, Rhode Island, to Dr. Charles (1832–97) and Louise O’Leary (née Dietrich [1838–1921]). She grew up in Providence and lived in her parent’s home at 68 Jackson Street for much of her early adult life. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design and studied art under the tutelage of the multifaceted artist and art patron, Sidney R. Burleigh (1853–1931), a proponent of the Art and Crafts Movement.
O’Leary spent time abroad in pursuit of art education in England and on the continent. In a March 5, 1916, Providence Journal Bulletin article, “At the Art Club,” the author reviewed an exhibition produced by O’Leary and three other artists. It stated that her work “includes a number of European scenes and Southern and New England landscapes, with figures, painted with charm and distinction, and as in ‘Cold and Lonely,’ imbued with poetic feeling and a touch of poignant beauty.” O’Leary frequently painted the port of Providence at the foot of the historic College Hill neighborhood, where the waterfront teamed with people engaged in commerce and trade.
O’Leary belonged to the Providence Art Club and the Providence Water Color Club and exhibited nationwide. She died tragically on October 1, 1921, at the famous Fleur-de-Lys Studio building. The cause of death was “poisoning by illuminating” gas and ruled a suicide by physician Clifford Griffin. Some claim that the ghost of Angela O’Leary haunts the premises of the Fleur-de-Lys building to this day.
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George Pearson, RIC Student and Providence Police Officer (retired)
Gallery
Angela O'Leary (1874-1921)
Artist Angela O’Leary seems to have been born Catherine E. O’Leary on May 10, 1874 in Providence, Rhode Island, to Dr. Charles (1832–97) and Louise O’Leary (née Dietrich [1838–1921]). Her father, once a faculty member at Mount St. Mary’s University, in Emmitsburg, Maryland, had written a textbook on Greek grammar that became standard in Roman Catholic Colleges of that era. During the Civil War he served as a surgeon with the 175th Regiment New York Surgeon Volunteers and saw combat during the Peninsula and Maryland campaigns. From 1881–2 he served as president of the Rhode Island Medical Society.
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Angela O’Leary grew up in Providence and lived in her parent’s home at 68 Jackson Street for much of her early adult life. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design and studied art under the tutelage of the multifaceted artist and art patron, Sidney R. Burleigh (1853–1931), a proponent of the Art and Crafts Movement.
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O’Leary spent time abroad in pursuit of art in England and on the continent. In a March 5, 1916, Providence Journal Bulletin article “At the Art Club,” the author reviewed an exhibition produced by O’Leary and three other artists. It stated that her work “includes a number of European scenes and Southern and New England landscapes, with figures, painted with charm and distinction, and as in ‘Cold and Lonely,’ imbued with poetic feeling and a touch of poignant beauty.” O’Leary frequently painted the port of Providence at the foot of the historic College Hill neighborhood, where the waterfront teamed with people engaged in commerce and trade.
O’Leary belonged to the Providence Art Club and the Providence Water Color Club and her exhibitions showed nationwide. She died tragically on October 1, 1921, at the famous Fleur-de-Lys Studio building (designed by Sidney Burleigh and architect Edmund Wilson) at 7 Thomas Street. The cause of death was “poisoning by illuminating” gas and ruled a suicide by physician Clifford Griffin.
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In his book Haunted Providence, Strange Tales from the Smallest State, author Rory Raven claims that the ghost of Angela O’Leary haunts the premises of the Fleur-de-Lys building to this day.
George Pearson, RIC Student and Providence Police Officer (retired)
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Further Reading
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Miner, George L. Angell’s Lane: A history of a little street in Providence. Providence, R.I,: Ankermann-Standard, 1948.
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Raven, Rory. Haunted Providence: Strange Tales from the Smallest State. United States: History Press, 2008.
