Edith Melchior-Hawkins
← People of the Society · on record 1956–1992
Everything the Society’s own records say of Edith Melchior-Hawkins — the offices held, the standings conferred, and the awards won — gathered on one page. Where the records are silent, so is this one.
This is the Society’s own record of Edith Melchior-Hawkins. A biography: Artisan of Yester Year → · Who’s Who in Leathercraft · Spring 1979 →
In memoriam · Monday, 31 July 1995 (b. 1922, in her 74th year)
An accomplished leathercraft artisan and Fellow of the Tillsonburg Branch; a Life Member of the Society. The contemporary notice (1995-fall p7, submitted by Beula Reynolds) adds: she joined CSCL shortly after it was formed and earned her Associate and then Fellow standing; instrumental in forming a Tillsonburg branch that carried on for several years; an exceptionally good teacher, a gardener known for miniature roses and pressed-flower classes, and often played the organ at Woodstock branch gatherings.
From Fall 1995, page 7.
Also recorded as Edith Melchior, Edith Melchoir
Standing
Society Member 1988
Branch
Tillsonburg · recorded in the papers in 1957
Certification
- Associate of the CSCL 1956
- Fellow of the CSCL 1958
The election notice prints the town as “Port Burwell, Ont.”.
Edith Melchior, as the Society's 1979 profile of her is headed, started leathercraft in 1951, with two years of Tillsonburg District High School courses under Stan Savage and Marg. Jennings; she took Bob Muma’s two-week courses in June 1955 and 1956, a bookbinding course with him in 1957, and in 1965 a summer course sponsored by the Vienna School of Fine Arts. She joined the Society in 1953–54, received her Associate membership in 1956 and her Fellowship two years later, and from 1955 attended the International Assemblies and the Society’s Annual Meetings, winning craftsman and salon awards and contributing display articles and demonstrations. From 1953 she taught leathercraft, in Tillsonburg high schools or in her own home, and demonstrated at the Aylmer and Tillsonburg Fairs and the Tillsonburg Community Complex. In 1957 she was instrumental in forming the Society’s Tillsonburg Branch; when it dissolved she stayed on as a member at large until the Woodstock branch was formed. By 1979 she was also taking vocal and organ lessons, and had given her first public organ recital. An accomplished leathercraft artisan of the Tillsonburg Branch, she was a member of the Society's Executive Council (1971–1972). A tobacco farmer near Port Burwell, Ontario, she trained under Robert Muma at Mumart Studios in 1955–56, won many awards, and taught the craft to newcomers in her home. She made a square for the CSCL Leather Quilt.
From Spring 1979, page 1; May–August 2022, page 4; and Fall 1998, page 2.
Served the Society as
- Hamilton Branch Workshop Leader 1961
- Executive Council 1971
Honours
- Honourary Life Membership 1992
Lifetime Membership conferred 25 April 1992.
Awards
- Craftsman Ribbon 1977–1979
- Leather '76 Craftsman Award 1976
- Leather '76 Salon Award 1976
Demonstrations given
- Moulding boxes from heavy leather (Woodstock Branch, October) 1973
Branch meetings, autumn 1973From Winter 1973–74, page 4.
- Woodstock Branch workshops 1974-75 (instructor) 1975
Workshop, 1975From Annual Meeting 1975 — programme, Geneva Park, Lake Couchiching.
- Woodstock Branch demonstration, 1975-76 season 1976
Workshop, 1976From Annual Meeting 1976 — programme, West Plains United Church, Burlington.
- Fun with Leather Scraps 1990
40th Anniversary AnnualFrom Spring 1990, page 3.