Nancy Buker

Nancy was born Agnes McCormick, 1902, in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1913, her father, a ship carpenter, died. Her widowed mother decided her daughters would have a better life in Canada, so in 1920, Nancy and her two sisters immigrated under the Saskatchewan government assisted passages program for farm labourers and domestics. Nancy paid off her passage by working on a farm for a year before moving to Saskatoon where she lived at the YWCA, working as a waitress and clerk for several years. She relocated to British Columbia with her daughter around 1929 following her first husband’s death. She worked in Vancouver’s shipyards, joined the steamfitters and plumbing union, and eventually became shop steward. Nancy later worked in a logging camp with her husband and steam engineer, Clarence Buker (1896-1981). By the early 1980s Nancy was living in Clearbrook, B.C.

Audio Interview [1979]

Description

Buker describes working at 13-years-old in Scotland’s shipyards during WWI; differences between that work and  WWII shipyard work in Vancouver;  how she became a shop steward with the Steam Fitters and Plumbers Union; her first job in Vancouver at Wallace War Workers, Burrard Dry Dock;  her husband’s work as a steam engineer in logging camps; how they coped when he was unemployed in the Depression; his helping build Kitsilano Pool while on relief; going up to Prince George and later Queen Charlotte Islands [Haida Gwaii] when he was part of the effort to log spruce for airplane construction; packing her fine china with her back and forth to Vancouver; her mother looking after her children while she worked; her job as a copper pipe worker; the training process fo women for rivetting and operating the cranes in the shipyards; providing care for her mother in Victoria in her last months.

Transcript

Full interview: Buker, Nancy

Some mic noise.

Title: [Nancy Buker – 1/2]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Buker, Nancy

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_404_03A

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

 

Some mic noise.

Title: [Nancy Buker – 2/2]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Buker, Nancy

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_404-03B

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

 

Video Interview [1987]

Description: Nancy Buker discusses her family’s immigration from Scotland to Saskatchewan in 1920, and her subsequent experiences growing up in the area. She also talks about moving to and living in Vancouver during the Great Depression and World War II. She discusses working in the shipyards of Vancouver and the Burrard Dry Dock (finding work, first day on the job, daily duties, working with men), and joining the steamfitters and plumbers union, and becoming shop steward. Finally, she discusses social life within the union.

Title: [Nancy Buker – 1/2]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Buker, Nancy

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1987-09-16

Type: Moving Image

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 3/4 inch videotape: U-matic

Format: video/mp4

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_336

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Videos provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use these videos must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

Description: Nancy Buker discusses living at the Humphrey Creek logging camp with her husband, and her short term job in the kitchen. She also further discusses notable incidents at the shipyard, her feelings towards the war effort, what she learned from her time on the job, and advice for the next generation of women.

Title: [Nancy Buker – 2/2]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Buker, Nancy

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1987-09-16

Type: Moving Image

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 3/4 inch videotape: U-matic

Format: video/mp4

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_337

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Videos provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use these videos must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.