Mary Ellouise Black (September 18, 1895 – February 11, 1988), an occupational therapist, teacher, master weaver and writer, created almost single-handedly a renaissance in crafts in Nova Scotia in the 1940s and 1950s.
The eldest daughter of William M. and Ellouise (Eldridge) Black, she received her early education in the schools of Wolfville, N.S., and graduated from Acadia Ladies Seminary in 1913.
"[2] In June 1919, at age 23, she was trained as a ward occupation aide at McGill University in Montreal under a special program established by the federal government for disabled soldiers.
From there she was transferred to the Nova Scotia Hospital in Dartmouth in 1920, where she taught crafts to men returned from the trench warfare of World War I under the "Soldier's Civil Re-establishment" department, and subsequently organized an occupational therapy program there for civilians.
Then in 1923 she moved to the Traverse City State Hospital in Michigan, where she organized and directed occupational therapy programs for the mentally ill and instructed student nurses in OT procedures.
Word of the movement to revive Nova Scotia's rural arts and crafts had reached her in Milwaukee, and she started to write letters to anyone in the province who might advance her interests.
"On August 18, 1942, Harold Connolly, the Minister of Industry and Publicity and a tourism zealot, wrote to Mary Black, an expatriate Nova Scotian and authority on handicrafts: "It is important that we get our arts and crafts set-up into operation immediately and for that reason it is imperative that we secure the services of a director at once.
Under her guidance, craftspeople in rural communities were encouraged to develop and market their work, and classes in crafts were held all over the province to assist fledgling artists.
[5] During her tenure in the Handcrafts Division, Black provided valuable sponsorship for the development of the Nova Scotia tartan by Bessie Murray in 1953.
Craftspeople found pride and profit in their work; cottage industries arose which continue to thrive and still provide finely crafted goods.
When she was 85 years old, a still-vital Mary Black said in an interview that, when she wrote her book, she had to pretend to herself that she knew absolutely nothing about weaving, "yet I had to explain it so that anyone who was a beginner would understand what it was all about.
Her estate bequeathed to the Atlantic Spinners and Handweavers (A. S. H) a handmade chest containing, in orderly sequence, the collection of superbly woven textile samples along with research notes and correspondence relating to her published works, most notably The New Key to Weaving.
Costume and textile specialists Clary and Sharon Croft of Halifax prepared a report listing all the items and their condition, and recommending a basic conservation plan and estimated budget.
Many weavers’ and spinners’ guilds from across the continent sent contributions both large and small; and many individuals who had been influenced by Mary Black's work sent personal donations.
volunteers and friends removed the destructive adhesives, staples and acid papers, and cleaned and labelled the textiles using current basic archival standards.
As a result of collaboration between the Archives and the Atlantic Spinners and Handweavers, weavers everywhere now have access to over 150 full color, high definition images of samples used in the New Key to Weaving.