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ELEANOR HOLLIBAUGH
1897—1987
On 15 February 1987, two days before her 90th birthday, Eleanor Hollibaugh, longtime pioneer, passed away in Montreux, Switzerland. She was laid to rest in Glion, near her beloved fellow pioneer Dagmar Dole Who had laid down her burden so many years before in that village above Lake Geneva.
On hearing the news of her passing, the Universal House of Justice sent the following message on 18 February:
PASSING GRACIOUS NOBLE ELEANOR HOLLIBAUGH WHOSE PATIENT WISE STEADFAST
‘ EXEMPLARY SERVICE AS PIONEER LATIN AMERICA AND EUROPE SPANNED ALMOST HALF A CENTURY DEPRIVES Bahá’í WORLD OF MODEL OF TIRELESS UNFLINCHING DEVOTION. HER EXAMPLE ‘WORTHY EMULATION PIONEERS EVERYWHERE AND NOTABLY EUROPE WHERE RISING GENERATIONS MUST ZEALOUSLY SAFEGUARD SEEDS SHE AND coWORKERS PLANTED AND ENSURE BOUNTIFUL HARVEST.
IN MEMORIAM
She was born Eleanor Smith on 17 February 1897 in Hastings, Nebraska, U.S.A., the elder of two children from her mother’s first marriage. Very rapidly she became the moral support of her unhappy mother and, later on in the second marriage, her mother’s help with her five new brothers and sisters.
As a young woman, she left her family to go West, eventually arriving in California. She lived in Hollywood for some time, working as a fashion model, chorus dancer and actress, and marrying film writer, F elix Adler, whom she later divorced.
Eleanor accepted the Bahá’í Faith in 1939. The opportunity to attend her first fireside was so important to her that when she was called to jury duty the same day, she appealed . to the judge to postpone the sessionwand the request was granted.
Entering the Bahá’í Faith with fervour and high dedication, Eleanor almost immediately decided to go pioneering. To obtain sufficient cash for the venture she sold her jewellery and headed for Bolivia, the only country left in South America without a pioneer at that time. “I felt raised by the Power of the Greatest Name, and while everything seemed strange, I did not feel alone in the sense of loneliness”.
Upon her arrival in La Paz, Bolivia, Eleanor developed altitude sickness. A woman who saw her great need took her to the home of a Mrs. Cuellar who, incidentally, became very rapidly interested in the Faith. “Too glowing an account cannot be given of Sefiora Yvonne de Cuellar”, Eleanor later wrote.
Her immediate response and thoughtful and unqualified acceptance [of Bahá’u’lláh] opened the gates in regard to freedom of teaching and contacts. She was a channel for the free flow of the Teachings. I know of no other soul whose contacts were so varied or who was so free from prejudice. Through her, the other two women who declared were contacted.
Eleanor developed a deep interest in the
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future of the native Indians. Her tender heart identified with their plight and spiritual potential. After seven months of intensive work, however, she had to return to California for health and personal reasons.
She later pioneered to the southern United States, and also to Reno, Nevada, where she was associated with Florence Mayberry. In the words of friends who knew her then,
Eleanor was a godsend to these struggling Bahá’ís, especially to the Mayberry family with their weekly firesides. She Was valuable not only as a speaker but in adddition she put us on fire. As a discussion leader she was a dynamic catalyst, so convinced of the truth of this Revelation that she magnetized others to recognize it. An impulsive and passionate individual, she did not follow paths devised by others, but tended to clear her own.
She moved from Reno to Glendale, California, where she met and married her second husband, Merle Hollibaugh.
At the end of World War II the European Teaching Committee asked Eleanor, who still was on fire for pioneering, to join Dagmar Dole in Copenhagen, Denmark. She stayed there from May 1947 to October 1948, and then again from March 1950 to October 1950.
She played a very important part in the history of the early days of the Bahá’í Faith in Denmark. She and Dagmar began firesides and study classes, and during her stay 14 people became Bahá’ís in Copenhagen. It is recorded that “some of the success can be attributed to Eleanor, who was very Charming, full of humour and laughter, always ready to proclaim the Faith, very valuable when making contact with new people”. And early Danish believers have written the following about Eleanor: “Although we have not seen her for a long time, she is still part of our daily life and will continue to be so as long as we live. We owe her and Dagmar Dole so much for having introduced us to the Bahá’í Faith more than forty years ago.”
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Eleanor Hollibaugh
In 1949, the European Teaching Committee asked Eleanor if she would serve in the Netherlands, where one year before the first Spiritual Assembly had been formed in Amsterdam. She accepted, moving to Amsterdam Where she spent a few years. From there she moved to The Hague and took up residence in the Haziratu’LQuds.
The Local Spiritual Assembly of The Hague was established in 1952 and Eleanor was elected as its secretary. She was a great stimulus towards co-operation between the Benelux countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) which culminated in the election of the first National Assembly of the Benelux Countries in 1957.
It must be remembered that those historic days were materially extremely difficult, especially for pioneers. Eleanor is reported to have said on one occasion, “Are we not lucky to live with such inconvenience?”.
During all of these hard times Eleanor was sustained by the love of Baha’u’llah, and the encouragement of Shoghi Effendi, who wrote to her on several occasions words such as these (30 May 1947):
THE Bahá’í WORLD
May the Spirit of Baha’u’llah guide, sustain and bless your meritorious and historic labours, aid you to surmount every obstacle, however formidable, in your path, and enable you to establish in the near future a flourishing and exemplary centre and assembly in that city.
Eleanor went back to Copenhagen to help with the organization of the third European Teaching Conference which was held in July 1950. Apart from further short periods assisting in the teaching work in Luxembourg, Eleanor stayed in the Netherlands for nine years. When she left to go to France in 1958, the Dutch community counted two Local Assemblies and a number of groups well on their way to becoming Local Assemblies. Among them was the community of Rotterdam, which enj oyed particularly close contact with Eleanor. A friend in the Netherlands wrote:
Eleanor was goodlooking, gracious, intelligent, with a good sense of humour; she was also determined and had an independent mind; was very wise in her way with friends and contacts, and was an excellent hostess who got on well with everybody. Her only goal was to serve the Faith for which she had a great love. She succeeded in transmitting this love to many people who had the great fortune of meeting her.
In France, Eleanor served for a short time in Nancy and then went to Dijon where she remained from August 1958 until March 1960. She was the only Bahá’í and pioneer in that town, far away from others, but apparently in those days there were many French people who were eager to make contact with her. Eleanor, at that time, had no knowledge at all of the French language, but was able to attract 75 persons in that town for a public conference she organized singlehandedly for Mrs. Meherangiz Munsiff.
In 1960, the European Teaching Committee of the United States requested her to go to Switzerland, where she lived until her
IN MEMORIAM
passing. She was instrumental in forming the first Local Assembly in Vevey. There she joined another valiant American pioneer, Mrs. Marion Little. There again, due to the tremendous impetus of the pioneers, including Eleanor, the Assembly was formed in 1961.
Eleanor remained steadfast at this pioneering post, never giving up until 1984 when she moved to a Home for the Aged. This was a very great test for her, because she had the feeling that her independence, which had been a mainstay of her life, both as a woman and as a Bahá’í, had come to a close. From then on, though, her heart opened in very tender affection to the believers, and they loved to Visit her until the end, and weep sorely when she departed.
It may be interpreted as characteristic of Eleanor to have died two days before her 90th birthday, which would have been celebrated both by the municipality of Montreux and the Bahá’ís. She had always preferred to avoid the limelight. She was a pioneer in the true sense: she broke the ground, found the first contact, animated the seekers and gave them the Vision through her devotion and loyalty to the Cause. Eleanor was deeply loyal to the Central Figures of the Faith, and would stand no criticism, not even from a new Bahá’í.
Eleanor Hollibaugh had not attended college or university. Her level of formal education was minimal. From the time she accepted the Faith she was self—taught, open not only to Bahá’í literature but also other literature, and always interested in new fields of science or development. She made it a point to be abreast of political events and whatever was new in the world of religion and science. She was appreciated as a very animated listener.
As a great friend of hers put it: “ofi one subject she was steady as the proverbial rock, that was love for and devotion to her Faith. The fiery flickering part of her nature was saved for teaching and in that she was a flame thrower.”
AGNES GHAZNAVI-FISCHER
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