Designated in 2019 as an Exceptional Person.
Nominator: Dale Jarvis
Anna Templeton is perhaps best known today for a craft centre named in her honour in downtown St. John’s. But our province’s modern crafting scene would not exist as it does today without the woman herself. She was a pioneer of the province’s cottage craft industry. Through her work with the Jubilee Guilds and the Department of Education, Templeton made craftwork accessible and profitable for rural women. She empowered women to learn new skills, gain personal confidence and earn their own income. Anna defied societal expectations of women through her fieldwork and her leadership as she championed the wider recognition of traditional crafts and craftspeople. She contributed to the creation of the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador and to the textile arts diploma at the College of the North Atlantic. The province’s vibrant craft industry owes its modern prominence in no small part to the foundations laid down by Anna Templeton.
LEARN MORE > Commemorations Research Paper – Anna Templeton and Her Legacy, by Ellen Power
LINKS
Anna Templeton Centre for Craft, Art & Design
Anna Templeton (From the Women’s History Walking Tour Booklet)
1st on left with family, circa 1926. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
Top right, as a member of the 1934-35 Memorial University Ice Hockey Team. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
McGill Graduation Photo. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
Possible Jubilee Guild photo. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
Jubilee Guild and NONIA women spinning wool, Harricott, c1939-1940. From The Rooms Archives.
Jubilee Guild in Harricott, established September 1935. From The Rooms Archives.
1st on left, with father and three aunts. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
Far right front row, shown with the 8 children and 8 grandchildren of Robert and Agnes Templeton. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
On a trip to Europe. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
Possibly taken when she worked for the Department of Education’s Craft Training Division. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
Trades College Photo (you can probably guess which one she is). Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
Unknown woman weaving at loom. From Memorial University Digital Archives.
Jubilee Guilds Display. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
Women weaving baskets. From Memorial University Digital Archives.
1st on left with Women’s Institute members. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
Photo taken at the time of the presentation of her Honourable Doctorate. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
Photo taken at the time of the presentation of her Honourable Doctorate. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
Operation Homespun and mitten, 2010. Photo by Martina White, Flickr.
Dr. Anna Templeton. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.
Last photo of Anna, taken the year before she died, at the opening of the Anna Templeton Centre. Photo courtesy Margaret Angel.