Nancy Sweezy

Nancy Sweezy (October 14, 1921 – February 6, 2010) was an American artist, author, folklorist, advocate, scholar, and preservationist. Known initially for her work as a potter in the 1950s, Sweezy became a scholar of the history and creation of pottery and wrote several authoritative texts and books on U.S. and international folk pottery. She was a major figure in the establishment of markets for folk and traditional crafts. Other major accomplishments in her extensive career included the founding of the crafts organization Country Roads, the revival of North Carolina's historic Jugtown Pottery, and the creation of the Refugee Arts Group in Massachusetts for immigrant folk artists. Her advocacy work also included developing apprenticeship programs. She also was involved with Club 47, a famous performing scene in the American folk music revival. In 2006, she was awarded the Bess Lomax Hawes Award and a National Heritage Fellowship Award by the National Endowment for the Arts. She was the author of two books, Raised in Clay and Armenian Folk Arts, Culture and Identity.

She was married to the economist Paul Sweezy, whom she divorced in 1960. She died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on February 6, 2010.