Fonds 2013.02 - Dillow family fonds

Nancy Dillow was born in Toronto in 1928. She was educated at the University of Toronto, and graduated with a B.A in Art and Archaeology in 1952. She went on to work at The Art Gallery of Ontario and notably curated exhibits on Canadian painters J. E. H. MacDonald and Jack MacDonald. By 1963, she was promoted to head of the extension program at the AGO. In 1967 Dillow had become the director of the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan. She was instrumental in creating education and outreach programs at the gallery, that specifically targeted rural areas of Saskatchewan. While in Saskatchewan, she also worked as a lecturer at the University of Regina and organized exhibitions at the Edmonton Art Gallery. From 1976-78, she was appointed president of the Museum Association of Saskatchewan, following which she was elected president of the Canadian Art Museum Directors Association. In 1979, Dillow moved to Manitoba, and became the first curator at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. She stayed with the gallery until 1984 and focused on showcasing local artists. By 1991, Nancy had moved back to Toronto where she spent her time volunteering at the AGO and the Textile Museum of Canada. She received the Museums Association of Saskatchewan Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 and the Ontario Museum Association`s Volunteer of the Year award in 2008. Nancy retired in 2017 and died in March of 2021 in Toronto.

Robert Spelman Robertson was born in Goderich, Ontario in 1870. He was called to the Bar in 1894 and began a private practice in Stratford, Ontario. In 1917, he had been recruited by international business law firm Fasken, where he became a prominent civil litigator. He was favoured by 10th prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King as a litigator in constitutional cases. In 1930 he had been elected as a bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and eventually became treasurer in 1937. In 1938, Robertson was appointed Chief Justice of Ontario, which he held until 1952. He died in 1955.