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

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

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 sel ...

for her work in

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing 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, such as n ...

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. She was awarded the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario () is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is adm ...

in 1992. Nancy Pocock was born in Chicago as Anne Dorothy Meek. She was raised in both Illinois and Pennsylvania but by the age of ten has settled with her family in Toronto where she lived until her death in 1998. After graduating from

Central Technical School Central Technical School (CTS or Central Tech) 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 ...

she studied at the

Ontario College of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within do ...

. 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 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 a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

), 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, t ...

. 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 (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

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 or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. 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 research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Suss ...

in 1990, and the

in 1992.

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 Canadian humanitarians Women humanitarians Members of the Order of Ontario Canadian Quakers Canadian feminists Quaker feminists 20th-century Quakers