Ruth Haig

The People

Ruth Haig

← People of the Society · on record 1965–2010

This is the Society’s own record of Ruth Haig. A biography: Artisan of Yester Year →

The Society’s records

Everything the Society’s own records say of Ruth Haig: the offices held, the standings conferred, and the awards won. Where the records are silent, so is this part of the page.

In memoriam · 1 September 2011

The Society’s Fall 2011 newsletter gives 1 September 2011, at Dundas, Ontario; her published obituary (Marlatt Funeral Home, Swackhamer Chapel) gives 3 September 2011, in her 83rd year.

From Autumn 2011, page 4.

Also recorded as Ruth Haig Waechter, Ruth M. Haig, Ruth Waecher Haig, Ruth Waechter, Waechter, Ruth Haig

Standing

Society Member 1988 · Honourary Life Member 1997

Branch

Hamilton · member since 1960

Certification

Associate of the CSCL 1966
Fellow of the CSCL 1985
Certificate of Fellow standing presented by Fred Brown, President of the Council of Fellows, at the 35th Annual Meeting, 27 April 1985, alongside Karla Van Horne's Associate standing.

She won the Weston Trophy across many years and served the Society and the Artisans Guild of Hamilton in many capacities. CSCL's nomination statement for the OCC's John Mather Award (written by Dorothy McPherson) has her joining CSCL and the Hamilton Handicraft Guild in 1962. As Ruth Waechter, the name the papers of 1965 and 1966 print, her work won a Craftsman Award for a braided belt at the 11th International Assembly. Two of her pieces were chosen for “Ontario Crafts – Leather Today”, the Society’s Centennial travelling exhibition: a black braided belt and a black morocco secretary. The Canadian Guild of Crafts (Ontario) selected the articles; the exhibition opened at the Guild Shop on 2 October 1967 and was to travel across Canada during 1968. She showed three pieces in the Society's exhibition at the Craft Gallery and Resource Centre of the Ontario Crafts Council, 346 Dundas Street West, Toronto, 2-28 March 1976, whose catalogue prints her name as Ruth M. Haig, and three pieces at Leather '78, the Society's exhibition at the Etobicoke Civic Centre, 550 Burnhamthorpe Road, November 1978. One piece was chosen for the Society’s 1985 Travelling Exhibition, from about sixty entries, by the judges Robert Muma, Paul Williams and Alison Parsons: a moulded box in cowhide dyed mahogany. She showed five pieces at Leather '82, the Society's exhibition at the City of Brampton Library and Art Gallery, Bramalea, 3 July to 1 August 1982, and five pieces in the Society's exhibition at the Etobicoke Art Gallery, 4-29 September 1992. She made a square for the CSCL Leather Quilt. She showed three pieces at Leather 2000: Fifty Years of Leather Art, the Society’s exhibition in the Grand Hall Gallery of the Woodstock Museum, 466 Dundas St., 20 May to 17 June 2000 (Ranger Belt, Tan; Two-Tone Belt, Red; Leather Mache, Covered Bottle). The programme prints her as Ruth M. Haig. She wrote two projects for The Leather Craftsman, “Pocket Secretary” (1988) and “Soft Shoulder Bag” (1989) (see Members in print).

From Autumn 2011; Winter 1965–66; Summer 1965; Summer 1966, page 3; Fall 1967, page 9; Exhibition catalogue 1976: Craft Gallery of the Ontario Crafts Council, Toronto, page 5; Leather ’78: exhibition catalogue, Etobicoke Civic Centre, page 5; Fall 1985, page 4; Leather ’82: exhibition catalogue, Brampton Public Library and Art Gallery, page 4; Etobicoke Art Gallery exhibition 1992: catalogue, page 12; Fall 1998, page 2; Leather 2000: Fifty Years of Leather Art, Exhibition Programme, Woodstock Museum, page 3; and List of Associates and Fellows, c. 1985, page 2.

Held the Society's professional stamp No. XXXVIII, issued in 1986, which came back broken in 2008.

From Register of professional stamps, May 2012.

Served the Society as

President 1987–1990
Past President 1990–1994
1st Vice-President 1985–1986
2nd Vice-President 1984
Executive Council 1965–1980
I.A.L.C. Committee - Secretary 1965
Hamilton Branch Vice-President 1967–1997
Recording Secretary 1969–1971
Hamilton Branch President 1971–1994
25th Annual Demonstrator 1975
Hamilton Branch Secretary 1975–1989
Council 1978–1979
Director 1981–1998
Vice-President 1985–1986
Teaching Standards 1993–2010
Director (Hamilton) 1997

Honours

Ontario Volunteer Service Award 2000
Ontario Volunteer Service Award recipient.
Past President's Pin 1990
Presented by Madeleine Mitchell at the 40th Annual Meeting, in appreciation of her three years as President; Dorothy Muma also gave her a parting gift, a crystal vase.
Life Membership 1991
Presented by Joyce Scruton at the 41st Annual Meeting, Beacon Motor Inn, Jordan Station (Vineland), 4 May 1991. The contemporary newsletter report (Summer 1991, p2) adds: Associate 1965, Fellow 1985, three years as President.
John Mather Award 2005
Presented by the Ontario Crafts Council. In her honour, the CSCL Executive Council motioned a $100 donation to the Ontario Crafts Council, seconded by Nancy Durham and unanimously carried.

Awards

1992 Biennial Exhibition: Moore Pearsall Award for Best Moulded Piece 1992
Bramalea Ribbon, Leather '82 1982
C.S.C.L. Executive Award for Most Functional Piece 1986
CSCL Executive Award 1982
Canadian Handicraft Guild Competition 1966
Canadian National Exhibition Category 213: 2nd 1978
Canadian National Exhibition Category 215: 1st 1978
Canadian National Exhibition Category 217: 1st 1978
Canadian National Exhibition Hobby Class 210 (Household Articles) 1980
Canadian National Exhibition Hobby Class 212 (Belts) 1980
Canadian National Exhibition Hobby Class 213 (Handbags and Carrying Cases) 1980
Canadian National Exhibition Hobby Class 214 (Pocket-sized Items) 1980
Canadian National Exhibition Hobby Class 215 (Molded Articles) 1980
Canadian National Exhibition Leathercraft, 1981: 2nd 1981
Canadian National Exhibition Women's Division 1977
Craftsman Award, 11th International Assembly 1965
Craftsman Ribbon 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2006
International Assembly Salon Ribbon 1966
Irva Ford Award 1984, 1993, 1994
John Mather Award 2005
Leather '76 Craftsman Award 1976
Michigan Soft Leather Award 1980
Moore-Pearsall Award for Best Belt 1994
Ontario Crafts Council Award 1990
Robert Muma Award (tooled/colour work) 1995
Salon Award 1985, 1986, 1992
Salon Ribbon 1978, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997
Special Table 1985
Weston Trophy Winning Piece 1993

Demonstrations given

Turning corners in leather 1968
Woodstock Branch first meeting, autumn 1968
From Creative Leathercraft branch organized.
Pocket Secretary 1971
21st Annual
From Summer 1971, page 2.
Soft Bag 1982
32nd Annual
From 32nd Annual Meeting 1982: programme, Holiday Inn West, Toronto.
Covered Bottles, at St. Margaret's Church, Hamilton, sponsored by the Hamilton Branch 1988
CSCL Workshop, Hamilton, 14 May 1988
From Winter 1987–88, page 14.
Molded Credit Card Holder 1991
Workshop, 1991
From Fall 1991, page 7.
Wallets 1991
41st Annual
From 41st Annual Meeting 1991: programme, Beacon Motor Inn, Jordan Station (Vineland), page 1.
Working with Belting Strips 1991
Workshop, 1991
From Spring 1991, page 8.
Boxes, Using Lasting Technique 1992
Workshop, 1992
From Summer 1992, page 9.
Desk blotter pad (Hamilton Leathercraft Guild, Jan/Feb 1997, with Muriel McKnight) 1997
Workshop, 1997
From Spring 1997, page 4.
Lasted boxes (Mississauga Branch, Cooksville United Church, 22 Nov 1997) 1997
Workshop, 1997
From Fall 1997, page 7.

Where this comes from

Life and work

From her biography in the archive (compiled from her own 2005 résumé, the Society's records and her published obituary) and from the Society's nomination statement for her John Mather Award, written by Dorothy McPherson and printed in the newsletter. Other lines come from the sources named under each.

Background: Ruth Matilda Haig was born on 18 September 1928 and raised in Mildmay, Ontario. The date follows her published obituary, which is consistent with its own statement that she died in her 83rd year; her own résumé gives her birth only as "the early 1930s".
From the biography “Artisan of Yester Year”.
Family: She was predeceased by her husband, Alvin Haig, himself an Associate of the Society.
From the biography “Artisan of Yester Year”.
Work: Her work as an X-ray technician led her to Hamilton in 1960. She worked 23 years at DOFASCO Inc. as Director of Medical Radiography Services, retiring in 1993.
From Autumn 2011, page 4.
Study: She qualified as a Registered X-ray Technologist in 1954. In 1962 she enrolled in an eight-year leather course at the Hamilton night school under Irva Ford.
From the biography “Artisan of Yester Year”.
Teaching: She conducted leather workshops in Buffalo and Rochester, New York.
From the biography “Artisan of Yester Year”.
Community: In 1983 she became a charter member of the TEXTURES craft co-op in Hamilton's Hess Village, where she helped launch fellow leathercrafter Lauchlan Harrison's retail career. She attended the World Craft Conferences in Vienna (1980) and Vancouver (1986).
From Autumn 2011, page 4.
In the press: The Hamilton Spectator of 12 October 1999 announced the Hamilton Leathercraft Guild's monthly meeting at Tundra Leather, King Street East, where she would demonstrate dyeing techniques.
From “Too good to miss: a guide to community happenings”, The Hamilton Spectator, 12 October 1999.

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