Nancy Meek Pocock, (October 24, 1910 – March 4, 1998), known as "Mama Nancy", was a Canadian Quaker who was the 1987 recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace for her work in disarmament, development and feminism. She was awarded the Order of Ontario in 1992.

Biography

Early life and Career

Nancy Pocock was born in Chicago as Anne Dorothy Meek. She was raised in both Illinois and Pennsylvania but by the age of ten had settled with her family in Toronto where she lived until her death in 1998. After graduating from Central Technical School she studied at the Ontario College of Art.

thumb|left|alt=Advertisement for "Nancy Meek Hand-Made Jewellery|Advertisement from the [[Canadian Review of Music and Art, April 1942]]

In 1930, she studied design and bench work in Paris, and upon returning to Toronto opened a jewellery studio on Gerrard Street which she shared with potter and friend Nunzio D'Angelo. Pocock (with Harold Stacey) was one of the founding directors of the Metal Arts Guild of Ontario and the only one to be described as a "silversmith" in its letters patent. Her work was included as part of the craft component for the Canadian Pavilion in the Universal and International Exhibition in Brussels in 1958. She later moved her studio to Yorkville, where she worked until 1970.

Pocock married her husband, Jack (John) Pocock, in 1944. While he served in World War II, she joined the Canadian Society of Friends (the Quakers), and soon he became a member as well. an honorary doctorate of divinity from Queen's University at Kingston in 1990, and the Order of Ontario in 1992.

References

  • The Pearson Peace Medal Recipients
  • Nancy Pocock fonds (F0171) available at the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections, York University