On October 6th
(ironically my daughter’s birthday), PBS station KMOS out of St. Louis aired a
documentary that explored the charges made against my great-grandmother, Bertha
Gifford, and her subsequent trial.
You can watch that documentary by signing in to your local PBS station (and if you’re not a PBS member, why aren’t you?) and using the search bar to find the program by its title: Bertha Gifford: Sinner or Saint?
Months before the documentary aired, the producer, Timothy Oar, asked to interview me. I will confess to having a great deal of trepidation about agreeing to interviews about her. There are now at least a dozen podcasts featuring her—most are truly awful—and a couple of videos, including the one produced for the Deadly Women series. Her segment for that series can be found on YouTube, and it’s absolutely dreadful. (I’m sorry, Bertha.)
To my expressed reluctance, Mr. Oar responded with “This is PBS…” and continued to remind me that certain standards of unbiased journalism would be adhered to. I believed him.
I’m glad I did. Actually, I’m downright grateful for this well-researched, engaging doc. It begins with a thoughtful explanation of the use of arsenic for cosmetic and health purposes (yes, you read that correctly) during my great-grandmother’s time. She used arsenic for herself. She used it to treat others—by her own admission. Was she evil? A psychopath? Opinions are like…. Well, you’ve probably heard that old banality, so I don’t need to spell it out.
I posted a link to the documentary on my Facebook page, and a number of people responded positively to it, which validated my own feelings. At long last, someone has actually done some serious historical research in regard to Bertha’s case and offered a balanced presentation of the findings.
Bravo to Mr. Oar. I hope you’re okay with it, Bertha.
PS: If you found this post because you watched the documentary and were curious to learn more, there’s a link to my book about discovering Bertha (The Tainted Legacy of Bertha Gifford) at the top of this page.
