Peggy Pond Church
Peggy Pond Church was an American poet and author born on December 1, 1903, in Watrous, New Mexico Territory. She was the daughter of Ashley Pond, Jr., and Hazel Hadley Pond and had notable family connections, including a grandfather who served as the governor of Arkansas. Church's early life was shaped by relocations due to natural disasters and her family's educational endeavors, including the establishment of the Los Alamos Ranch School. Although she began her education at prestigious institutions, Church eventually left Smith College to embrace life in New Mexico.
Throughout her life, she experienced both personal challenges, including a struggle with depression after her father's death, and creative growth, leading her to publish poetry and prose in various literary magazines. Church's works often drew inspiration from the natural landscape of New Mexico, reflecting her affinity with nature. She is recognized for her contributions to literature, particularly her acclaimed book, *The House at Otowi Bridge*, which examines the intersection of indigenous cultures and the scientific community at Los Alamos. Despite being celebrated posthumously, Church's legacy as a regional poet remains largely underappreciated. She passed away on October 23, 1986, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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Subject Terms
Peggy Pond Church
Fiction Writer and Poet
- Born: December 1, 1903
- Birthplace: Watrous, New Mexico Territory
- Died: October 23, 1986
Biography
Margaret (Peggy) Pond Church was born on December 1, 1903, at Watrous, New Mexico Territory, the first child of Ashley Pond, Jr., and Hazel Hadley Pond, the granddaughter of former Arkansas governor, Ozra Amander Hadley. Church’s father had moved to New Mexico prior to his marriage to recuperate from typhoid. Purchasing land adjacent to the Mora River, he established a boys’ school. After a September 1904 flood inundated the family’s property, Church lived in her father’s hometown of Detroit, Michigan, for six years. When her paternal grandfather’s estate provided a large inheritance, Church moved with her family to Roswell, New Mexico, then to the Pajarito Canyon where her father built the Los Alamos Ranch School.
Frustrated by ranch life, Hazel Pond encouraged her husband to move to Santa Fe in 1917. Church studied in local schools, including Santa Fe High School, and private institutions in California and New England, receiving a diploma from Hillside School at Norwalk, Connecticut, by 1922. After attending Smith College for two years, Church quit school, preferring New Mexico life to classrooms. She married Fermor Church, a teacher at her father’s school, in June of 1924 and settled in a Los Alamos home. Church wrote about her experiences on the Pajarito Plateau, commenting how the Rio Frijoles aided her sense of poetry timing.
Church’s father’s death in 1933 resulted in her being hospitalized for depression. She underwent Jungian therapy and dream analysis in Berkeley, California, and New York, continuing therapy until 1959. Church temporarily moved to California where her husband taught school after the federal government established the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos; her family then returned to Taos, New Mexico, reestablishing the Los Alamos Ranch School there in 1944. Church moved into her Santa Fe home in 1960 and participated in literary events at St. John’s College. She joined the Society of Friends and promoted pacifism. Her husband died in February 1975. Church, suffering from incurable blindness, committed suicide on October 23, 1986, in Santa Fe.
Church began writing poems when she was eleven years old. She won an Atlantic Monthly writing competition before she graduated from high school. In New Mexico, Church benefited from mentors, including poets Haniel Long and Mary Austin. She published her work in Poetry, The Saturday Review of Literature, and other literary magazines. Church often wrote about her affinity with the earth and emphasized that nature was the source of her poetic inspiration.
Critics consider Church a gifted yet mostly unrecognized regional poet and author. Her children’s book, The Burro for Angelitos (1936), received the Julia Ellsword Ford Foundation Award. Her best known work, The House at Otowi Bridge (1960), which won the Longmont Award, explored the dichotomy of indigenous Pueblos and the atomic scientists at Los Alamos. In 1984, Church won the Governor’s Award for Literature granted by her home state.