The Society in brief
← The Society · short answers to the questions most often asked about the Canadian Society for Creative Leathercraft
The questions people most often ask about the Society, each answered in a sentence or two from its own records, with a link to the page that gives the full account and its sources.
What was the Canadian Society for Creative Leathercraft?
A Canadian society of leather crafters, founded in Toronto in 1950 and dissolved in 2025. It taught the craft, judged and rewarded its members’ work, and published a newsletter for seventy-five years (How the Society started).
When and where was it founded?
At a meeting at the central Y.M.C.A. in Toronto on Thursday 8 June 1950, with seventeen people present and Robert Muma in the chair. It was founded as the Canadian Society of Creative Leathercraft; the name became “for” between 1965 and 1969 (How the Society started).
Who led it?
Twenty-six Presidents between 1950 and 2025, the first Deane H. Russell of Ottawa and the last Sean Dalgetty (the final count).
When did it end?
The members voted to dissolve the Society at its 75th Annual General Meeting on 10 May 2025; seventeen members in good standing cast the vote (Minutes of the 75th Annual General Meeting).
How large was it?
Its largest membership on record was 205, in 1978–79 (the final count).
Where were its branches?
Twelve branches over its life: Barrie, Belleville, Hamilton, London, Mississauga, Norland, Peterboro, Petrolia, Tillsonburg, Toronto, Windsor and Woodstock. Three were still part of the Society when it dissolved: Hamilton, Mississauga and Norland. Members who lived far from a branch belonged as Members-at-Large (Branch histories; Members-at-Large).
What was its newsletter?
Canadian Leathercraft, from its first issue in September 1951 to its final issue in Fall 2026: 253 issues, quarterly for most of its life and three a year from 2021. It is registered as ISSN 0045-5121 (print) and ISSN 2370-9847 (online). Every surviving issue is in this archive, transcribed in full (The Newsletter).
What were Associates and Fellows?
The Society’s two ranks of certification, granted on members’ work judged by the Council of Fellows. 139 members were certified: 125 as Associate and 47 as Fellow, 39 of them both (Fellows and Associates; how the ranks worked).
What was the Weston Trophy?
The Society’s team prize: each year a branch entered a small set of pieces by different members, and the Board of Selection marked them. It was first won by the London Branch in 1957 and last presented in 2019 (The Weston Trophy).
What awards did it give?
Named awards such as the Robert Muma Award and the Betty Heacock Memorial Award, and Craftsman and Salon ribbons for individual pieces (Awards and Ribbons).
What happened at the Annual Meeting?
Once a year the Society held its business meeting, judged its members’ work and presented its trophies, from the first meeting in 1950 to the last in 2025 (The Annual Meeting, 1950–2025; A chronology of the Society).
Did the Society write its own history?
Yes: Fifty Years of Leather Art, written for its fiftieth anniversary in 2000, and several shorter accounts collected in How the Society started (Fifty Years of Leather Art).
Where are its records?
Here, in this archive: the newsletters, papers, photographs and the register of the people its records name. The newsletter is also deposited with Library and Archives Canada under its ISSN (Documents; The register of people).
Every answer above is taken from the page it links to, where the Society’s own papers are cited.