Nancy Churchill Sawin (June 21, 1917 – April 18, 2008) was an American artist, local historian, educator, and

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

Early life and education

Nancy Churchill Sawin was born on June 21, 1917 in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. She was the daughter of Sanford Wales Sawin, a civil engineer, and Ellen Quigley Sawin, one of the first women in Delaware to earn a master's degree and the daughter of

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

leader Ada Gould Quigley. Sanford and Ellen Sawin founded the

Sanford School Sanford School is a co-educational private school in Hockessin, Delaware for students from preschool to high school. The school was founded by Sanford and Ellen Sawin as the Sunny Hills School on September 23, 1930. The school's name w ...

, a prep school in

Hockessin, Delaware Hockessin () is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 13,478 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. History Hockessin came into existence as a littl ...

, in 1930. Sawin's peripatetic schooling began in public school in

Marshallton, Delaware Marshallton is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Mill Creek Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The community was founded in 1836 and is named for John Marshall, mill owner. History ...

, then she received a scholarship to attend the

Tower Hill School Tower Hill School is a private college preparatory school in Wilmington, Delaware, offering instruction for pre-school through 12th grade. History Tower Hill was founded in 1919. Its main building was designed by Wilmington architects Brow ...

in Wilmington for third through seventh grades. After a year at Misses Hebb's School in Wilmington, she attended high school at the Principia School, a Christian Scientist institution in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. Sawin earned a bachelor's degree in art in 1938 from

Principia College Principia College is a private liberal arts college in Elsah, Illinois. It was founded in 1912 by Mary Kimball Morgan with the purpose of "serving the Cause of Christian Science." Morgan wrote in her book, Education at the Principia that, "Alt ...

, a master's degree in American history from the University of Delaware in 1940, and an Ed.D. in education administration from the University of Pennsylvania in 1962. In 1938, she began working for the Sanford School, teaching and coaching a number of sports, including field hockey, tennis, softball, basketball, riding, and lacrosse, and serving as head of the school from 1961 to 1974.

Field hockey

Sawin began playing field hockey in the third grade. She was named to the All-American Team seven times from 1948 to 1959, serving as captain twice and coach once. In addition to her coaching at Sanford, she coached for over 20 years at Constance Applebee's intensive field hockey summer camps. She also served as president of the Delaware Field Hockey Association, the United States Field Hockey Association, and the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations. Sawin was inducted into the

Delaware Sports Hall of Fame The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame was founded in 1976. Al Cartwright, who helped found it, was its first president and was inducted to its hall of fame in 1980. The current museum building was constructed in 1993. The Delaware Sports M ...

in 1977, and the

Hall of Fame of Delaware Women The Hall of Fame of Delaware Women was established in 1981 by the Delaware Commission for Women, a division of the Secretary of State of Delaware. The hall of fame recognizes the achievements and contributions of Delaware women in a variety of fiel ...

in 1981. Sawin was one of the first group of inductees into the

USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame The USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame honors the achievements of sportsperson, athletes and/or Coach (sports), coaches of USA field hockey teams. The permanent home of USA Field Hockey's hall of fame is located at Ursinus College#Athletics, Ursinus Col ...

in 1988.

Art and history

As a child, Sawin took lessons from artist

Frank Schoonover Frank Earle Schoonover (August 19, 1877 – September 1, 1972) was an American illustrator who worked in Wilmington, Delaware. A member of the Brandywine School, he was a contributing illustrator to magazines and did more than 5,000 paintin ...

. Throughout her life she traveled regularly with a sketchpad. Shortly before retirement, she travelled to Europe and had her first art show "on a clothesline outside a small condo on the Mediterranean." In retirement, she began publishing a series of books about local history in Delaware, including her own sketches of historic homes, buildings, and other structures, including mailboxes and outhouses.

Death

Nancy C. Sawin died on 18 April 2008 at the age of 90.

Bibliography

* ''Playing Hockey, Four Fundamentals of Hockey''. 1958 (with Constance M. K. Applebee) * ''Playing Hockey, If You Play Forward''. 1958 (with Constance M. K. Applebee) * ''History of Sanford School'', ''1930-1970''. 1970 * ''Delaware Sketchbook''. 1976 (with Janice M. Carper). * ''Backroading Through Cecil County, Md''. 1977. (with Esther R. Perkins). * (illustrator) ''Man-O-War, My Island Home''. 1977 by Haziel Albury. * ''Between the Bays''. 1978 (with Janice M. Carper) * (illustrator) ''Bandages of Soft Illusion'', 1979, by Paul J. Wingate * ''RFD Country Art''. 1979. * ''Up the Spine and Down the Creek''. 1982. * ''Canal Town''. 1983 (with Esther R. Perkins). * ''Locks, Traps, and Corners''. 1984. * ''Brick and Ballast''. 1985 (with Janice M. Carper). * ''China Sketchbook''. 1985. * ''A Hockessin Diary''. 1987. * ''Privy to the Council, Seats of Yore''. 1987. * (illustrator) ''New Sweden on the Delaware'', 1988, by Clinton A. Weslager. * ''The Oulde King's Roade''. 1989. * ''North from Wilmington by Olde Roades and Turnpikes''. 1992. * ''Once Upon a Time in the Countryside''. 1994. * ''Sketches of Early Delaware Main Streets''. 1997. * ''Delaware USA''. 1999.

References

External links

*
Collecting Delaware Books: Nancy Sawin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawin, Nancy Created via preloaddraft 1917 births 2008 deaths American field hockey coaches American field hockey players Sportspeople from Wilmington, Delaware Historians from Delaware Artists from Delaware Educators from Delaware Principia College alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Writers from Delaware