Nancy Meek Pocock, (October 24, 1910 – March 4, 1998), known as "Mama Nancy", was a Canadian

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

who was the 1987 recipient of the

Pearson Medal of Peace The Pearson Medal of Peace is an award given out annually by the United Nations Association in Canada to recognize an individual Canadian's "contribution to international service". Nominations are made by any Canadian for any Canadian, excluding ...

for her work in

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing Weapon, weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, ...

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. She was awarded the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

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 Central Technical School is a Canadian composite high school in Toronto, Ontario. The school is run by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB); before 1998, it was run by the Toronto Board of Education (TBE). Central Tech is located in the H ...

she studied at the

Ontario College of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD U, is a public art university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its main campus is located within Toronto's Grange Park and Entertainment District neighbourhoods ...

. 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 Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

), and soon he became a member as well. They helped establish the Grindstone Island programs, a series of seminars devoted to tackling the problems of war through peaceful means. Pocock was also a founding member of the Voice of Women and Project Ploughshares and was involved with the Canadian Peace Research Institute, the Canadian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and a variety of Quaker peace projects including the

Canadian Friends Service Committee The Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC) is a charity that acts on the peace and social justice concerns of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Canada. Quaker service work is rooted in the daily practice of pacifism, integrity, ...

. She was also a Quaker representative to the Inter-Church Committee on Refugees (ICCR) and co-ordinator of Toronto Refugee Affairs Council. Pocock committed much of her time to working with refugees during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

by helping American draft dodgers and deserters as well as Vietnamese refugees find homes in Canada. She visited Vietnam four times, the first time during the war as a member of a Quaker committee sending aid to

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. After the death of her husband in 1975, her work with refugees intensified and she expanded her scope of interest to include refugees from Latin and Central America. Nancy Pocock was awarded the Medal of Friendship by Vietnam in 1978, the Pearson Peace Medal in 1987, an honorary doctorate of divinity from

Queen's University at Kingston Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public university, public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and ...

in 1990, and the

in 1992.

Death

At age 86, she stated she would not retire. And indeed, she never did. Lying on a bed in the Emergency unit just days before she died, she continued to sign documents for an Iranian refugee. She passed on March 4, 1998.

References

External links

The Pearson Peace Medal Recipients

available at th
Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections, York University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pocock, Nancy 1910 births 1998 deaths Members of the Order of Ontario Canadian Quakers Canadian feminists Quaker feminists 20th-century Quakers