By Heather Robertson Corrigan
The IDC group met in Halifax at the Seaman Cross Limited showroom in the new Trade Mart Building (part of the Scotia Square complex).
The members that I remember attending the IDC meeting and reception hosted by Seaman Cross and owner William Kitchen were Howard Ferguson, Maryla Schmanski, Betty Lou Pugh, Jack Miller, Augora Delamere, Richard Mallory, Alberto Berardinelli, and Alex Horne.
I was a Ryerson Polytechnical Institute student at the time and was employed at Seaman Cross for the summer in the Interior Design Studio.
I remember the reception because the Seaman Cross secretaries were servers and got new matching dresses (I did not get a new dress as I was an invited guest to the reception).
A group photo was taken of the founding members and this photo was published in the Halifax Mail Star. I remember this as one of my tasks at the Seaman Cross Design Studio was to clip all ads and articles that featured Seaman Cross; for pasting into a scrapbook.
All interior designers that worked locally in Nova Scotia were invited to the IDC reception to showcase the idea of a national interior design association.
IDNS was formed following that meeting with my father George Robertson, a lawyer registering IDNS under the Societies Act of Nova Scotia. This registration was required for IDNS to have a bank account and charge a membership fee.
I was a student member in 1972, and then in 1975 a Full active member following graduation from Ryerson.
