Nancy Maybin Ferguson was born in Philadelphia and studied at the School of Design for Women (Moore College of Art) and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She worked under Elliott Daingerfield, Hugh H. Breckenridge, and William Merritt Chase. A member of the Philadelphia Ten, Ferguson's work is in the collections of the Reading (Pennsylvania) Museum of Art, the Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, the Sellersville (Pennsylvania) Art Museum, and the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia.