III
IN MEMORIAM
III
IN MEMORIAM
JOHN HENRY HYDE DUNN
John Henry Hyde Dunn was born in London, England, the son of a consulting chemist. In early childhood he was dandled upon the knee of Charles Dickens, and was amused and entertained by Cruikshank, the famous illustrator of Dickens’ works. As a young man, after engaging in business in Great Britain and on the continent, he emigrated to the United States.
While waiting in a tinsmith’s shop in Seattle, Washington, he overheard two men speaking. One man quoted these words of Bahá’u’lláh, "Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country, but let him glory in this, that he loves his kind.” Mr. Dunn interrupted the conversation by saying, ”Surely these words are a message from God.” The speaker turned, and, including Mr. Dunn in the conversation, gave the message of the Bahá’í Revelations. Mr. Dunn accepted the truth of the Bahá’í Revelation immediately and it was not long before he and Mr. Ward Fitzgerald, the one who had brought him the Message, were traveling together, doing business and spreading the Faith. At one time they took advantage of a brief period of unemployment to journey to Walla Walla, Washington, where they held meetings for this purpose. This journey necessitated extreme economy on the part of the teachers so that they were often obliged to go hungry. A certain lady, who remained after one of the meetings to learn more about the great Message, soon learned, as she talked with the two teachers, that they were as hungry physically as she was spiritually. She tactfully insisted on offering them hospitality and spread a bountiful meal for them.
In 1911 Mrs. Lua Getsinger, whom Shoghi Effendi has called the mother-teacher of the American Bahá’í community, was lecturing in San Francisco on the Faith. This drew Mr. Dunn to the city and he continued to come there as often as his occupation of traveling salesman permitted. He sought out Mrs. Getsinger for every possible private interview, and she gave him generously of her time. In San Francisco he associated also with Thornton Chase, whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called the “first American Bahá’í.” Among the San Francisco Bahá’ís at that time were also Mrs. Gooddall and Dr. D’Evelyn and others whose fellowship he doubtless found most precious and helpful.
In 1911 his first wife, Mrs. Fanny Dunn, died. She had not accepted the Faith when her husband did, but had gradually come to believe in Bahá’u’lláh and His Revelation.
In the fall of 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá came to San Francisco. He had at one time given up His plan to come to the Pacific Coast. The Bahá’ís of that region were, of course, deeply disappointed, and nine of them met for earnest prayer that He might change His plan and come. This prayer was answered. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá telegraphed that He would come! Unbounded joy filled the hearts of the believers. They made arrangements for Him to occupy with His entourage, during His stay in their city, a three story house. Mr. Dunn, eager to be as near the Master as possible, rented a room at a hotel near by. On the night of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s arrival he waited on the curb opposite ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s house to catch a glimpse of Him as he alighted from the cab and went up the steps.
His meeting with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá later he
himself described as having a tremendous
effect on him. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s penetrating
glance, his life-giving words, he felt gave
him the power that enabled him later to
become the spiritual conqueror of a continent.
This meeting set ablaze the universal love that
smoldered in his heart, and the rest of his
life was devoted to scattering that love to
the best of his ever growing capacity. Not
[Page 594]
John Henry Hyde Dunn
only did he make known the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, but he gave generously material help to those who needed it. By practicing rigid economy in expenditures upon himself, he always had funds to contribute to the support of the institutions of the Bahá’í Faith and to help, secretly, in the emergencies of others.
Not long after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to San Francisco the lady who had shown hospitality to Mr. Dunn in Walla Walla, Washington, came to live in San Francisco. A love sprang up and grew between these two, and they were married. A great yearning in the heart of Hyde Dunn was gratified in this second marriage. He had longed to be able to open his home for the promotion of the Bahá’í Faith. Now this longing was satisfied. His home became a joyful gathering place for friends both old and new. Colored and white, rich and poor, of whatever religion or nationality, all were made to feel at home.
During the years 1912-1918 Mr. Dunn spent every moment he could spare from his business in spreading the “Glad Tidings” of the Bahá’í Revelation.
In 1918, when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets
calling upon the American Bahá’ís to hasten
to all parts of the world to spread the
Teachings, came, Mr. Dunn immediately
decided to respond by going to Australia,
where he felt he could best serve. Of this
decision he wrote: "It was all very simple,
—a wave that came into our lives possessing
us and satisfying every desire to serve our
beloved Cause, the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh and
His Glorious Covenant. Mother (he always
called Mrs. Dunn mother just as she called
him Father) was reading ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
. . . call to the United States and Canada,
and His appeal was so penetrating and
thrilling, it pierced our hearts. In one part
He said, ‘If I could only go in poverty and
barefooted, and raise the call of
Yá-Bahá’u’l-Abhá, but that is not now possible.’ Mother
looked up and said, ‘Shall we go, Father?’
‘Yes,’ was my reply, and no further
discussion took place. We returned to
San Francisco (they had been on a vacation), and
[Page 595]
after a few months my resignation (to my
firm) was sent, everything given up, and
arrangements made for our prompt sailing.”
Later, when Mrs. Dunn doubted the wisdom of accompanying her husband, he wrote to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for advice. "It seemed like ages,” he goes on to narrate, “before a reply came. Read carefully, how and when it came. We were all packed up ready to leave the cottage we were living in. While the carriers were loading on our luggage and Mother waiting in the wee garden, a telegraph boy appeared with a cable from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá containing these words, ‘Highly Commendable.’ Imagine our hearts’ delight and joy. This made our future an open door to service on this continent (Australia).”
On their way to Australia they stopped at Honolulu and remained there two months. This stay was ”in the truest sense a real Bahá’í visit, with a lasting profit of understanding and consciousness of real love and service to God. . . . We landed in Sydney from the Steamship Sonona, April 18, 1919.
"How strangely things happen, and how wonderfully does God act and bring His plans into our lives . . . so that we can serve Him. He is All-powerful to fulfill His Divine purpose for us in every thing. . . . O beloved ones of Bahá’u’lláh, make firm your steps and secure every opportunity to serve with a new consciousness of love and service and so justify our being Bahá’ís. Strange to say, traveling on the Sonona to New Zealand and Australia was the manager of the firm that Mother had represented in America for many years, and this gentleman landed in Australia after visiting New Zealand about the same time that we landed in Sydney after visiting Honolulu. . . . This manager offered Mother a position in the Australian company and set us right upon our feet. This (arrangement) lasted for the first five or six months. Our original plans for making a living in Australia were of no avail. Being far from well when we landed (I) was not fit for work, but how wonderfully does God guide us.
"One day at the end of September, while laying the cloth for dinner, a voice, a mental voice, said to me, ‘Now is the time for you to write to the firm in Melbourne, regarding a position.’ The mail that night carried a letter to a good firm in Melbourne, . . . to whom I felt able to give good service. By return post a reply arrived (which read) “Your application is most opportune. . . . Call and see our Sydney manager.’ (Thus) . . . a good position was obtained which ultimately took me over the whole of Australia . . . and to New Zealand with the Bahá’í Message. . . . Praise be to God!
“Mother was able to surrender her position and God made it possible for me to earn enough to travel all over the continent, taking Mother to the capital cities.
“For two and a half years we remained in New South Wales . . . Interest in the Cause continually increased and people . . . came at all times to see us. There was no breathing space at all. It was an incessant plowing ahead. One outstanding instance in the teaching work Father Dunn carried on in Sydney was the meeting and making of the first real believer in Australia, Mr. Whitaker, who proved a blessing to the Cause and all its believers, holding the friends in Sydney together and advancing the Cause while Father and Mother Dunn were traveling.
"After these two and a half years . . . work in New South Wales, another miraculous thing happened in business; the whole of the continent was given me to work in . . . Melbourne was our first stop and we remained in the State of Victoria for about six months. Early in 1923 we visited Adelaide, and the same work was repeated there with great happiness.
“Then the great opportunity came that we had been longing for, and we crossed the Great Desert to Western Australia and opened our Bahá’í campaign with many successes . . . Here in Perth . . . we had the honor and happiness to meet dear Martha Root. A successful teaching campaign followed.
"Later we visited Queensland and revisited New Smith Wales together with Victoria and West Australia.”
Father Dunn died at Sydney, February 17,
1941. The Sydney Bahá’ís have supplied an
account of his last days and funeral, which
we quote in part: “Father was at the Healing
[Page 596]
Meeting at the Center on Tuesday afternoon,
February 11th, and was his usual
bright, informative self. After arriving
home he had an unconscious spell . . . but
recovered and was fairly well until Friday
when he became unconscious and remained
so until he passed on, Monday morning.
"The funeral service was conducted by Bahá’ís. It consisted of readings of Bahá’í prayers and selections from the ‘Hidden Words’ and of words from Mother Dunn, smiling and wonderfully composed, who gave those assembled a message such as she knew Father would have wished to express.”
The following tribute to Father Dunn came from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand:
The history of the Bahá’í Cause in Australia and New Zealand during the last twenty years is bound up with the life and work of Mr. John Henry Hyde Dunn. Mr. and Mrs. Dunn together responded to the call of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the American believers for workers in other fields. It was to these countries, Australia and New Zealand, they travelled, and the story of their joint pioneer work is known and appreciated throughout the length and breadth of these dominions. Alone and unknown, with no material prestige whatsoever they raised the call of the New Day in all the capital cities of Australia, and in Auckland, New Zealand. Carefully and lovingly they nurtured the Faith. In the first few years no fewer than five local Spiritual Assemblies were established; four of these are still functioning in addition to a number of groups. In 1934 Father’s heart was rejoiced to see the further flowering of his labor when the National Spiritual Assembly came into being.
All hearts were turned in loving sympathy to Mother Dunn when the news was sent to the believers of Father’s passing to the Abhá Kingdom on February 17th, 1941. The threads binding him to earth had been wearing thinner and his hold on life becoming lighter for some time, thus preparing us for the severe blow of separation. Though conscious of our irreparable loss, grief for one so full of years and honor and who lived to accomplish so much would be misplaced. Let us rather thank God for the privilege vouchsafed us and future generations who are destined to inherit the fruit of his glorious labors. To the sincere seeker he was as a finger post on the spiritual highway.
Absolutely and completely confirmed, he was a brilliant example of one in whom the confirmations of the spirit had become a living force, vitalizing every thought and action. Bahá’u’lláh, as the embodiment of Reality, was the spring from which he drew his ever-increasing supply of spiritual sustenance. It was not alone the great message of which he was the bearer that arrested attention but in addition, the unearthly light that suffused his whole personality when giving the message, endowing him with a quality which set him on a spiritual plane to which others were blindly groping, a height reached only through the surrender of personal will and ambition. The only recompense he sought was the joy of being used in the service of Bahá’u’lláh. Every contingency he accepted as an opportunity he must seize for the furtherance of his supreme task—spreading the Message, sowing the seed which was to fructify into the world order envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh. From this task he never swerved, never lost heart, however hard the ground, or poor the soil, or meagre the apparent harvest. His faith in the ultimate triumph of the Beloved’s Cause was firm as a rock that no buffetings of indifference or adversity in the path could move.
This steadfast soul - satisfying faith coupled with his kindly graciousness and understanding heart contributed in no small degree to his unique attractive personality. But it was his dauntless faith in the power inherent in the Cause he proclaimed that enabled him to light a flame in these distant lands that can never be extinguished. Let us all unite in praise and thanksgiving to God for the privilege, vouchsafed to us of this generation, of personal friendship with dear Father Dunn. May we be moved to emulate his complete consecration. All he was and all he had of ability and talent he used in instant, exact and complete obedience to the call of the Master, and in devoted, tireless service to Bahá’u’lláh.
- National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand.
‘Abdu’l-Jalíl Bey Sa’ad
The following cable from Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada was received February 21, 1941:
I share (your) sorrow (in the) loss, (and) participate (in your) rejoicings (for the) triumph (of) beloved Father Dunn. (The) magnificent career (of this) veteran warrior (of the) Faith of Bahá’u’lláh reflects the purest luster (of the) world historic mission conferred (upon) American community by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. To (the) three heroines whose dust reposes (in the) heart (of) Persia, (in the) Pacific Island and southern extremity (of the) American continent, a fourth witness in far-off Australia (is) now added, attesting (the) first vital sparks (of) far-flung spiritual dominion American believers (have been) commissioned (to) establish. (I am) moved (to) congratulate them (for the) resplendent successes (of the) Plan destined (to) encircle (the) entire globe. Advise hold National Memorial Gathering (in) Mashriqu’l-Adhkár befitting the rank (of) Australia’s spiritual conqueror.
- (Signed) Shoghi Rabbani.”
‘ABDU’L-JALÍL BEY SA’AD
On the 25th of May, 1942, the friends of Egypt felt very deeply the passing of a valiant believer and pioneer, ‘Abdu’l-Jalíl Bey Sa’ad, to whom the beloved Guardian has given the title of “one of the Hands of the Cause of God.”
As an old Bahá’í of Egypt, who embraced
the Cause in the days of Mírzá Abu’l—Faḍl,
who was his teacher, ‘Abdu’l-Jalíl Bey Sa‘ad
was distinguished by such high and noble
characteristics that he is entitled to rank
among those rare believers who devote their
lives wholly to the Word of God. So faithful
was he to the Cause that he never
hesitated to make any sacrifice, whenever he
was called upon to do so. He loved profoundly
the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh; in its
service he endured many hardships with a
spirit of true devotion and radiant acquiescence
[Page 598]
which sustained him in the course of
many transfers of his position to remote
localities, where he was often isolated from
both his family and the believers. He lost
no opportunity to promote the interests of
the public, irrespective of creed, and we may
well believe that future generations, perhaps,
indeed, even the present generation,
will recognize the valuable services
he rendered Egypt.
In 1923, when the constitutional laws of the country were being legislated, the committee appointed for this purpose recommended that religious freedom be confined to recognized religions. ‘Abdu’l-Jalíl Bey Sa‘ad, as a judge of the Civil Courts, wrote very inspiring articles on this subject, maintaining that all religions should be treated with equal freedom. This principle was passed in the third reading by the legislators.
This noble Bahá’í distinguished himself during every phase of the development of the Cause in Egypt. In May, 1929, the situation of the believers in Egypt became critical owing to the historic verdict rendered by the Muslim Court against the Bahá’ís of Kom El Sa’ayda in 1925. As directed by the beloved Guardian, Mr. Mills came to Cairo, where he met ‘Abdu’l-Jalíl Bey Sa‘ad, and together they saw the Prime Minister and other high officials with a view to improving the situation of the friends. Later, ‘Abdu’l-Jalíl Bey Sa‘ad pursued these negotiations alone.
In 1934 the Declaration of Trust had to be legalized, but it was refused by the Mixed Tribunal on the ground that it constituted an instrument of a religious nature and was therefore beyond the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. However, the tact and persistence with which ‘Abdu’l-Jalíl Bey Sa‘ad supported the claims of the Bahá’ís to the Prosecutor General finally overcame all resistance and the Declaration of Trust was recognized as valid and legalized. This historic act greatly facilitated future transactions with the Government.
In that same year (1934) a certain learned Shaykh el Kharashi attacked the Bahá’í Faith in a series of articles under the heading “The Bahá’í Faith Is a Pleasing Illusion.” ‘Abdu’l-Jalíl Bey Sa‘ad, with outstanding zeal and courage, refuted the assertions of that writer in a series of fourteen articles under the heading “The Bahá’í Faith Is an Everlasting Truth.” So graphic was his presentation of the teachings, so, ample the proofs he adduced in support of them, that the fanatics, having failed in their arguments, sought the aid of the authorities and demanded to know how a judge in a Muslim country could be permitted to promulgate the teachings of a religion they declared to be anti-Muḥammadan. They appealed on these grounds to the Minister of Justice with a view to stopping his articles. The Minister of Justice, on his part, tried to persuade him to cease writing his articles in defense of the Cause, but ‘Abdu’l-Jalíl Bey Sa‘ad answered him: “If your Excellency wishes me to cease defending my belief, then the other side should also cease attacking it.” In connection with this incident the question of religious freedom was once again raised in the House of Parliament where the Minister stated that although the absolute freedom of religions is sanctioned by the law of the country, action had been taken to cease the publication of articles by both parties concerned.
Meanwhile, as a disciplinary action, ‘Abdu’l-Jalíl Bey Sa‘ad was transferred to a remote locality in upper Egypt where they believed he would not be able to resume his activities. On the contrary, he took advantage of this opportunity and translated the ”Dawn Breakers” into the Arabic language, thus enabling the Arabic-speaking countries to study this authentic history, so rich in subject matter, and so precious to all Bahá’ís. In 1941 his translation was published, but owing to the war had to be referred to the Publicity Section of the Government. From this department it was passed on to high Muslim authorities who pronounced it to be against the Muslim Faith and stated it should be condemned. Whereupon the entire edition was gathered for destruction. Having learned of this, ‘Abdu’l-Jalíl Bey Sa‘ad interviewed all the officers concerned and endeavored by every means in his power to procure the release of the books. Far from being daunted by the opposition and unhelpful attitude he met with, he seemed rather to be spurred on by it and, ignoring the apparent hopelessness of his efforts,
Hájí Mírzá Buzurg Afnán ‘Alá’í
finally succeeded, after untiring and persistent labors, in procuring not only the release of all the books but also official permission to distribute them in Egypt and abroad.
Among his other historic services was the translation of "Baha’u’llah and the New Era” into Arabic and the compilation of the “Laws of Personal Status” and “Rules of Procedure.”
In 1941 he again employed the Declaration of Trust as an instrument to induce the Ministry of Civil Defense to grant permission to build the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Cairo and to purchase the necessary materials for its construction. So dedicated was he to this task that he personally was often to be found on the site, supervising the work. He continued to carry on this labor of love, in spite of all his other work, and the intense heat, until he fell ill and died suddenly after an operation.
He was for many years president of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Egypt and the Sudan and a staunch upholder of Bahá’í Administration. His loyalty to the beloved Guardian, his ability as a teacher, his wide knowledge of the Holy Writings, the love he showed his fellow-Bahá’ís and the courage and self-sacrifice with which he served the Cause of God will remain forever in the memory of the Egyptian believers, who are proud of their first Hand of the Cause and of his imperishable services.
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HÁJÍ MÍRZÁ BUZURG AFNÁN ‘ALÁ’Í
Afnán ‘Alá’í was born at Shíráz in 1873. His father was Áqá Mírzá Núru’d-Dín Afnán, a close relative of the Báb;
From childhood he was attached to the Cause and when but ten years old he addressed a supplication to Bahá’u’lláh and was honored with a reply. He attained to the Presence of Bahá’u’lláh when he was eighteen years of age and stayed at the Holy Land for nine full months, his earlier return being prevented by an outbreak of cholera in Syria and Egypt.
Two months after his departure from Haifa, the Sun of Truth set, and, at the Master’s bidding, Afnán ‘Alá’í set up in business at Port Said. He proved helpful to Bahá’í pilgrims arriving at that city, and, ten years later, wound up his affairs under the Master’s instructions, returning to Shíráz with his father to take care of the Holy House. When, in 1903, Persia was rocking with the storm raised by the enemies of the Cause, this family was quietly busy, repairing the House. On the father’s death, Afnán ‘Alá’í and his brothers carried on the work to a successful conclusion and to the Master’s entire satisfaction.
At Shíráz, his home was always open to the large number of believers who flocked on pilgrimage to the Holy House from Persia or elsewhere.
An apt scholar in youth, well-versed in Arabic, and a fine penman, Afnán was eminently qualified for the education and training of children, a work into which he threw himself with his wonted zeal in Shíráz. He taught them the Aqdas, and acquainted them with the Holy Laws and Teachings. He was indefatigable in his efforts, acting as Secretary for the Local Assembly, serving on various Committees, carrying on a correspondence with friends in East and West, transcribing the Holy Tablets. Although, in later life, his health failed him, yet he was unrelaxing in his endeavors for the Faith.
In speech and action, he was an exemplary believer, both friend and foe testifying to his unwavering faith, his radiant heart, and his unquestioning loyalty.
He ascended to the Abhá Kingdom in 1941.
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MISS MARGARET STEVENSON
The Bahá’í Assembly of Auckland, New Zealand, has suffered a severe loss in the passing to the Abhá Kingdom of its secretary, Miss Margaret Beveridge Stevenson.
A short time before her sudden death she had begun to write her experiences in connection with the Bahá’í Faith in New Zealand. The following are excerpts from her notes:
“As far as I know I was the first to become a Bahá’í in New Zealand. My first knowledge of the Bahá’í Cause was through ‘The Christian Commonwealth,’ which was sent to me from England by my sister, who was at that time studying music in London. She had heard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá preach. I read the article about him in the papers, but am sorry to say did not think any more about it. My sister returned from England, and in 1912 a friend of hers, Miss Dorothea Spinney, came to New Zealand to give recitals of Greek plays. While in Auckland, she stayed with us, and told us about the Bahá’í Cause. She had met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and as she told me about it all, evidently a subconscious chord was touched. As a child, I used to wish I had lived when Christ was on earth. As Miss Spinney spoke, I remembered my childhood’s wish, and the thought came to me that I too might have denied Him as so many others had done. It was this secret thought that made me seriously think of what I heard from Miss Spinney, and through God’s grace and mercy I was enabled to grasp and believe in Bahá’u’lláh and His message. Naturally, I told others about it, but though they appeared to be interested, nothing more came of it. Mrs. Blundell, who also had read ‘The Christian Commonwealth,’ was the most interested, and we had many talks.
“Miss Spinney had given me some Bahá’í books, and I sent to America for more and also subscribed to ‘The Star of the West,’ Bahá’í magazine. The first great event after this was the visit of Mr. and Mrs. Hyde Dunn to Auckland. Mrs. Blundell invited them to her home, Lynbury Ridings Rd., Remuera, to speak to a group of about twenty people she thought might be interested. My two sisters and I were amongst them, and I shall never forget my first meeting with Mr. Dunn. On being introduced, I noticed the Bahá’í ring on his finger. I was also wearing one and turned my hand to him. When he saw my ring his pleasure and astonishment will always be something to remember, for when Mr. and Mrs. Dunn arrived in Auckland they did not know there was a believer in New Zealand. This was the first Bahá’í meeting in New Zealand. While Mr. Dunn was with us a hall was rented and public meetings held. After
Margaret Stevenson
his return to Australia, Mrs. Dunn remained for a time and formed a study group. The classes were held at our house in Cowie Road, Parnell, for about ten years, and it was here that what Mrs. Dunn called the first Bahá’í Feast took place. This was an auspicious occasion and a flashlight photograph was taken which appeared later in ‘The Bahá’í World.’
“It is through this effort of Mr. and Mrs. Dunn that the Cause in Auckland grew, and on March 11th, 1924 it was decided that the time had arrived when it was necessary for the Bahá’í Cause in New Zealand to have an official head, some person who would be responsible for the conduct of the Assembly. Quoting from the Minutes:— ‘It was proposed, seconded and carried unanimously that Miss M. B. Stevenson be first President (Chairman) of the first Bahá’í Assembly in New Zealand and that she be known as the Mother of the Cause in this land.’ This minute is an eloquent testimony to the ignorance of these early believers of Bahá’í Administration. They began to call themselves an assembly at this time, 1924, though the first properly constituted assembly was not formed till April 21st, 1926.”
The narrative was cut short at this point by Miss Stevenson’s sudden passing to the higher kingdom. Between 1924 and 1926 the little paper covered book “Bahá’í Administration” was received and a study of this resulted in the proper formation of an assembly. Miss Stevenson was elected secretary, which office she filled with faithfulness and efficiency till her days came to an end.
This steadfast servant was an active worker in the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh for more than eighteen years. Her first visit to Haifa and the Holy Shrines in 1925 made a deep impression, which resulted in an unswerving loyalty and consecrated devotion. Her duties as secretary of the Spiritual Assembly over a long period of years, as also her work as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly, were undertaken in a spirit of loving, willing service. Her sweet, lovable nature endeared her to all and her deep understanding
Mary J. Revell
of the Teachings was a great help to students and enquirers.
Her passing to the Abhá Kingdom on February 11th, 1941, was a severe loss to the Assembly and to the Faith in New Zealand. Her memory will be revered by future generations who look back to the record of her work.
- Mrs. E. M. Axford.
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MARY J. REVELL
BY JESSIE AND ETHEL REVELL
Mrs. Mary J. Revell, born October 8, 1859 in Philadelphia, Pa., had an early life filled with many difficulties, which she overcame because of her love for, and dependence on, God. In 1900 after years of illness, her husband, a devout Christian, passed away leaving her with six young children, all of whom she brought up. This developed in her strong traits of character—fearlessness, a love born of God, patience, a sympathetic nature which seemed to divine the needs of souls, a confident hope and cheerfulness, benevolence—traits which singled her out as a pioneer from the time of her contact with the Bahá’í Faith.
Though actively engaged in church work, she was searching, and that search made her receptive to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh when presented to her by her sister, Mrs. Annie E. McKinney. She proved the truth of these teachings to her own satisfaction by her analysis of Bible prophecies; accepted the Faith, opened her home as a center for meetings, attracted some of her church friends and others to these meetings, and attended classes conducted by Mrs. Isabella D. Brittingham, who was sojourning in Philadelphia at that time. This stirred up bitter persecution from the minister, which only tended to make her faith more steadfast. In an early Tablet to Philadelphia believers ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: ”It is easy to advance toward the Kingdom but it is difficult to remain firm and steadfast.” (See Star of the West, Vol. 5, July 13, 1914, No. 7.)
In the darkness of one night on three different occasions while she was praying, a brilliant light appeared before her, which made her feel that she was witnessing the light of God’s Countenance and deepened her spirit.
Perhaps it may not be out of place to quote here from a talk, given at a memorial meeting for Mrs. Revell, by Mrs. Elizabeth Pharo:
“Naw-Rúz 1926, was my first introduction to the Revell family. On that day Mrs. Revell opened the door of her home and welcomed me. My first conscious thought was one of happiness, for I was surrounded with a warmth of love I had never experienced before. In the seventeen years that have elapsed, that warmth, that loving interest, never wavered.
"Toward the end of her life, everyone affectionately referred, to Mrs. Revell as ‘Mother Revell.’ The name was an apt one for if ever a mother was tender, loving, steadfast, and of phenomenal courage, that person was Mary J. Revell.
"Before her acceptance of the Bahá’í Faith, Mrs. Revell was a staunch, God-fearing Christian, active in church circles and with numberless friends of similar interests. During ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to Philadelphia in 1912, the Revell home, then just around the corner from the North Philadelphia Railroad Station, was the only home in Philadelphia that sheltered the Master. Later, many illustrious Bahá’ís enjoyed that hospitality. Isabella D. Brittingham lived with the Revells for three years prior to her passing. Elizabeth Stewart, who devoted thirteen years of her life to service for the Faith in Ṭihrán, Persia, passed to the next world from Mrs. Revell’s home. Martha Root, May Maxwell, Keith Ransom Kehler and numberless other Bahá’ís of East and West, all were attracted by the magnet of her love.
“This presents a rosy view of life, but there was another side that Mother Revell never shirked. It took courage and initiative usually associated with youth, to leave the accepted form of religious worship in those early days; to see the established friendships of many years crumble. A few became actively hostile; indeed one esteemed member of society publicized his chagrin in a local newspaper. Nevertheless, her courage and faith never wavered.
“I have met many from the negro race, Orientals, as well as the famous and obscure of our own race, in the Revell home. The fact that they came as often as they were in the city is proof of the same selfless, unaffected hospitality.
”Week after week, year after year, this Bahá’í home was a center. The work of teaching was the major problem. Classes were held as well as feasts, anniversaries and special meetings. Literally hundreds of people have heard the Message there. Books, a constant flow of them, passed into the hands of inquirers and seekers, at no cost to the recipient. The poor, the neglected, the sick always found a practical and sympathetic helper in Mother Revell.
“No word of mine can adequately describe this spirit, that is like a beacon to those who knew her. Some folks leave a heritage of material wealth, wealth sometimes gathered at the expense of the helpless, and, in some instances, this wealth is a curse to the legator. Yet here is a lady who has scattered a wealth of love like a spiritual fragrance all over the world.
”We are of the fortunate ones to have known her. Let us be assured that her spirit will continue to inspire us to greater efforts in the Cause of God.”
It was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who wrote to Mrs. Revell in a Tablet dated October 11, 1908 (now in the Bahá’í archives in Wilmette, Ill.):
“I supplicate the True One that this maid-servant of God become the beloved in the Supreme Kingdom, and be distinguished among the people for understanding and wisdom.”
It was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá also who, on the occasion of her first visit to Him in New York City in 1912, said through the interpreter: “This is a firm believer. Her spirit is larger than her body. I will see you often in Philadelphia.” In telling about this visit, she would relate how she seemed to be treading on air in His presence, her heart full to overflowing with the greatest happiness.
A few weeks later (early Sunday morning,
[Page 604]
June 9, 1912), while she was visiting
with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at the Rittenhouse Hotel,
Philadelphia, He suddenly turned to her and
said: “I will come to your home tomorrow
morning at nine o’clock.” Her heart was
full of happiness, the hour came, the rooms
were crowded, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived and
greeted the friends bringing joy and happiness to all.
In His talk that morning, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá likened the friends present to a string of pearls, the brilliancy of which, He said, would be realized as time went on (See Star of the West, Volume 5, June 24, 1914, No. 6). Two friends, arriving late, found those present standing in line on the stairs and in the halls, eagerly awaiting their turn for a personal interview with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. After everyone had left that day, Mrs. Revell discovered the lunch she had provided for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the friends, which, in the ecstacy of the morning, she had entirely forgotten. Those realizing the station of her guest, the Center of the Covenant, the Mystery of God, will hardly wonder at this. Later the same day, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in speaking with some of the friends at the Hotel, referred to Mrs. Revell’s home as the “Bahá’í Home” (See Vol. 5, Star of the West, June 24, 1914, No. 6.)
She was present when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in 1912, dedicated the grounds of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, in Wilmette. While in Chicago, she had received a letter from a Persian believer requesting her to touch the hem of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s garment for him. On the day of the dedication, while on the grounds, she breathed a silent prayer that she might fulfil this request. Almost instantly, she found ‘Abdu’l-Bahá standing directly in front of her. Quietly she touched the hem of His robe, while thinking of the brother in far-away Persia, and then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá walked away.
On being asked which visit with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá impressed her most, she related the following incident: After a week-end with her daughter Badia in New York City, spent in hearing ‘Abdu’l-Bahá give public addresses and meeting with the Bahá’ís, she and Badia bade the friends good-bye and left for the station. Suddenly, Badia recalled that her over-night bag had been left where she had stayed. Because of this delay they could not resist attending the evening meeting where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was to speak. On entering, they found a large gathering, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sitting on a divan in the front of the room with an empty seat on either side of Him. To their surprise and delight, He motioned for them to be seated beside Him. Although they had said their farewells to the friends, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá knew they would be present that evening; and because His time had been entirely occupied, and they had had no opportunity for a personal visit, even though they had come from Philadelphia, He bestowed upon them this great favor. Many of the friends later said they had wondered for whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was reserving the seats beside Him.
What was probably her last visit with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was on a train en route from Baltimore to New York City. A group of friends boarded this train in town and rode to Wayne Junction. It was at this time that He handed her a string of beads which He had been carrying, telling her to give one bead to each of the friends. No act of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was without a deep spiritual significance.
Space does not permit the recording of her other contacts with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Chicago, New York City and Philadelphia.
Spurred on by the messages of the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, to visit towns and cities where there were no resident Bahá’ís, Mrs. Revell although now advanced in years, showed her pioneering spirit by tirelessly moving about in various outlying districts, searching for and helping to confirm receptive souls.
In August 1942, although she was very frail, she and her two daughters spent their week of vacation in Arden, Delaware, doing very intensive Bahá’í teaching work, which was systematically followed up by other Bahá’ís and which, in the period of about a year, resulted in the confirmation of three resident believers.
On October 17, 1943 these three resident
Bahá’ís in Arden, with invited friends from
Arden and surrounding points, held their
first Bahá’í gathering since becoming believers.
It was on this same day, at about
[Page 605]
three o’clock in the afternoon, that Mrs.
Revell completed her earthly journey. As
the friends were about to leave the meeting
in Arden, word was received of Mrs. Revell’s
ascension. The prayer for one recently departed
was immediately read, so that the
group at Arden, the last place of out-of-town
Bahá’í activity for her, was the
first group to offer a prayer for her released
spirit.
In striking contrast to her whole previous life, her last year was one of complete physical inactivity, but it served only to emphasize her spiritual qualities, breathing forth a fragrance of which she herself was totally unconscious. The power of her pure spirit affected everyone who came into her presence; and one heard such remarks as these:
uThat one brief day with her did something for me for all the rest of my life. It restored something. It was like a return to the flame of the Master’s days.”
"She is a person I would cross continents to meet.”
“We will always look back upon, as the dearest possession in our lives, that love we had from her.”
No difl'iculty, however severe, could cloud the happiness of her sweet nature, because she turned every obstacle into a blessing. Repeatedly, frail and almost helpless as she was, she would say: “I have so many things to be thankful for.”
As she passed to the Great Beyond, her last word was ”Yá-Bahá’u’l-Abhá”, calling to mind these words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a Tablet to Charles Greenleaf: “. . . So that nothing shall be left of thee, neither thought, mention, voice or even a whisper save the Word ”Yá-Bahá’u’l-Abhá”. What a precious, eternal, hallowed memory to witness this flight to the Abhá Paradise!
Shortly after her acceptance of the Bahá’í Faith in 1906, Mrs. Revell asked Mr. Charles Mason Remey, should he be living when she passed away, to conduct her funeral service if possible; and it so happened that he was in Philadelphia on a business trip at the time of her death. In conducting the services he spoke with such sincerity and depth of feeling that all were deeply impressed. The importance of the meeting, he said, was probably not now apparent to some of those present, but the fact that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had honored Mrs. Revell by visiting her home, would be known in the future as a great historic event.
Some of the Bahá’í Teachings on Life after Death were shared at the memorial meeting, November 20, 1943, making very real to the friends present those "days of blissful joy and heavenly delight.” Intimate glimpses of her life and service to mankind were given, and some of the numerous messages of tribute were shared. One of these letters from friends who had come from Europe mentioned how they were spared homesickness because of the warmth of her love and hospitality; one wrote of how a very serious problem had been solved by her prayers; another spoke of having been nursed and cared for by her in her home, during a grave illness; a friend abroad said the first thing he will do when he returns to the United States will be to place red carnations on her grave, and one mentioned having contributed to the Bahá’í Fund in her memory. One whom she had taught wrote that she felt now she had a short cut to Heaven by her presence there; a friend who read of her passing in the Philadelphia Tribune (a Negro publication) related that on the occasion of her husband’s death, Mrs. Revell accompanied her to the cemetery, although the day was one of cold, sleet and snow—and tried to comfort her; still another from the negro race said that one word of Mrs. Revell changed the tide of his whole life some twenty years ago, when he was experiencing a terrific test and wanted to escape it. That word was: “You can’t run away from yourself.”
Her precious remains are resting in Mount Vernon Cemetery, Philadelphia, about fifty feet from those of Isabella D. Brittingham, whom Shoghi Effendi has named a disciple of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Priceless is the tribute paid to her by the Guardian himself in a Cable received October 20, 1943:
“Grieved passing dear Mother. Her services unforgettable. Deserve rank immortal pioneers Faith. Praying abundant blessings. Assure you loving sympathy.”
Dr. M. Ṣáliḥ
DR. M. ṢÁLIḤ
On November 12th, 1943, the friends of Egypt were greatly shocked and deeply grieved by the sudden death of Dr. M. Ṣáliḥ, the chairman of both the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Alexandria; a true exemplar of the Bahá’í Faith, and a faithful servant of the Cause.
He was born in 1884; and at the age of 16, when he was yet receiving his secondary education at Alexandria, he was attracted to the Cause through one of his school-mates who was then a Bahá’í.
His intelligence and high standard of character recommended him for free education, as, at that time his financial situation made him unable to continue his studies.
In 1901 he entered the University of Beirut for medical study, where he was so happy just to be near to his beloved Master ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and to be able to visit the Holy Spot whenever chance availed. Owing to illness during his last year of study he left for France, where he received his degree. In France he cooperated with Mr. and Mrs. Dreyfus (then Mr. Dreyfus and Miss Barney) and Mr. Edwin Scott in serving the Cause. But his greatest privilege was in 1911—1912, when he served ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as translator on several occasions.
In 1913 he returned to Egypt and continued his activities in promulgating the Cause.
In 1937 and 1938 he visited Tunis and France respectively, in compliance with the request of the beloved Guardian with a view to strengthening those centers and encouraging their activities.
In 1943 he resigned from his government post with a cherished hope of more energetic activities in serving the Cause, whether in Egypt or abroad, wherever directed by the beloved Guardian. During his last stay in Cairo he was fully occupied in planning for the preparations of the centenary celebrations, and revealed his plans to almost every member of the National Spiritual Assembly.
He was much interested in translating Bahá’í literature and in making compilations and was very careful and accurate in such work.
He was buried in the Bahá’í cemetery near the resting places of his former teacher, Mírzá ‘Abu’l-Faḍl and Mrs. Lua Getsinger.
Dr. M. Ṣáliḥ will remain an ideal for the believers in Egypt both as regards character and as regards faith, and will never be forgotten by those who knew him whether Bahá’ís or others.
May his soul rest at peace in the Abhá Paradise!
————————
OSWALD A. WHITAKER
"Blessed is the man that hath turned his face towards God, and walked steadfastly in His love, until his soul winged its flight unto God, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Most Powerful, the Ever-forgiving, the All Merciful.”—Bahá’u’lláh.
Mr. Oswald Alfred Whitaker. Our bebeloved
Bahá’í brother and fellow member
of the National Spiritual Assembly was
called to his reward in the Abhá Kingdom
on the morning of July 3rd. His passing
was tragically sudden and unexpected,
[Page 607]
though he had been in indifferent health
for the last few months. Mr. Whitaker was
the first declared believer in Australia and
was an assiduous helper of Mr. and Mrs.
Dunn in the early days of their pioneering
work. It was in the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Whitaker that the first Bahá’í Feast was
held, and since those early days of the Cause
in Australia their home has always been
available as a meeting place for the friends
and for hospitality to visiting Bahá’ís. It
was here the late revered Martha Root
spent her first night in Sydney after her
prolonged stay in China. Mr. Whitaker was
Chairman of the Sydney Spiritual Assembly
for many years.
The spreading of the beloved Teachings and Divine fragrances was Mr. Whitaker’s constant endeavor. In his business contacts, in his family circle and in his continuous service at the Centre, he “lived the life” and delivered the great Message with sincerity and discretion. The Teachings became to him as a fountain ever being poured out, yet ever being renewed from the Source. In 1934 Mr. Whitaker was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly and for several years was a valued and beloved Vice-chairman. His sincerity and honesty of purpose, his staunchness and fidelity to the Faith were ever an inspiration to his colleagues. His understanding heart, his generous spirit, and a courage that admitted of no compromise when teaching the Faith, coupled with his unfailing adherence to the spiritual principles, which were the compelling force in his personal character and conduct, gained for him the respect and esteem of all who were privileged to know him. He had a rare gift of friendship, constant and deep, which communicated itself, even to strangers, as a benediction of goodwill. He never spared himself when duty called or the opportunity of extending a helping hand presented itself, and no one will ever be able to appreciate the extent of his sacrifice for the Faith. To his sorrowing wife, Lynda, and their only daughter, Margaret, we extend deepest love and sincere sympathy and pray that they may find comfort and strength in the assurance that their dear one is very near to them. May the fragrance of his memory be a reality
O. A. Whitaker
(Shown with his daughter.)
enriching their lives and enabling them to continue the work they shared with him in this earth life.
- Hilda M. Brooks.
————————
HILDA GILBERT
Shortly after the cortege for Mr. Whitaker’s funeral left for the cemetery, Miss Hilda Gilbert, another early believer, suffered a stroke, from the effects of which she died the following day. Miss Gilbert was a worker for the Cause, first in Adelaide and later in Sydney. She was one of the first secretaries after the Sydney Assembly was formed, also librarian, and has always been a valued worker on various committees. She worked cheerfully and unostentatiously, sharing in the varied activities of the community with a radiant spirit. She will be greatly missed by the Sydney community with which she was actively associated for so long.
- Hilda M. Brooks.
Elizabeth R. Greenleaf
ELIZABETH R. GREENLEAF
BY ALBERT R. WINDUST
The Guardian’s tribute to Mrs. Greenleaf is contained in a letter to one of the friends:
"Mrs. Greenleaf’s passing deprives the friends of yet another veteran and outstanding teacher. The Guardian hopes and prays that among the younger Bahá’ís many will train themselves to follow her example and profit by the methods she used so successfully in spreading the Cause. Deep knowledge of the teachings, profound human sympathy, a heart which mirrored the Master’s love, and a winning sweetness and friendliness were hers. She will indeed be greatly missed.”
In the autumn of 1941, after a lingering illness, the spirit of the revered handmaiden of the Bahá’í Cause, Elizabeth R. Greenleaf, severed its connection with this mortal world, joined her husband and their two sons in the Realm of the Unseen, entered the Kingdom of Light and the life eternal and radiant.
She was a resident of Evanston, Illinois, when married to her husband in 1882, and retained the refinement and culture of her early environment. She had a delightful sense of humor, and will be remembered by her many friends as a charming teacher of the Bahá’í Faith, not only in Chicago and its environs, but in many cities and towns of the Eastern States, especially at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine.
Soon after the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, her husband, Charles H. Greenleaf, heard the Bahá’í Message, and together with Mr. Thornton Chase (“the first Bahá’í in America”) and others, became one of the great pioneers of the Faith in this country. In a Tablet revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1907 for Mr. Greenleaf, He said:
“O thou who art firm in the Covenant! Thy services, and those of thy revered wife, are acceptable in the Kingdom of Abhá, for ye made your home a nest for the birds of God, and have engaged in teaching the Cause of God. Ye are truthful gardeners of the Garden of God, and two agreeable servants of the Holy Threshold. This confirmation must become the source of joy to life and repose to the conscience.”
Mr. Greenleaf passed to the Supreme Concourse in 1920, and was eternally honored by the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, in the publication The Bahá’í World, Vol. IV (1930-1932), not only as one of the nineteen disciples of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but as a "herald of the Covenant” and “firm supporter of the Faith.”
Mrs. Greenleaf’s last wishes were fulfilled in that her mortal remains were laid to rest beside her beloved husband, after a Bahá’í funeral service was read in the beautiful Chapel in Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago. The many friends present rejoiced for her as they listened to the glorious supplication revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for the recently departed spirit.
————————
HOWARD COLBY IVES
BY DORIS MCKAY
The life of Howard Colby Ives is a saga of the spirit. It was not its events but his interpretation of them that portrayed his genius. He had, it would seem, been born
Howard Colby Ives
with a degree of awareness that made, even of ordinary existence, a swing between ecstasy and torture. God favored him in that He had bestowed upon him the grace of a martyr’s heart: a head willing to bow, a spirit straining to soar.
Howard Ives in his spiritual autobiography “Portals to Freedom” divided his life sharply in two. The forty—six years before he met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá he compares to the experience of a child of ten! He was born in Brooklyn in 1867 and after the death of his father his family lived in Niagara Falls, N. Y., until Howard was seventeen and then returned again to Brooklyn. We hear of his spending many months on a ranch in Wyoming while overcoming a lung difficulty and are given a picture of a nineteen year old youth tending sheep on the mountain sides alone sometimes for weeks and writing poetry by the light of the moon. In 1902 he entered a Unitarian theological school at Meadville, Pennsylvania, and was graduated in 1905, 38 years of age. Of this period in his life his daughter Muriel Ives Barrow writes:
"His first parish was a small one with a beautiful New England church, Brewster, Mass, on Cape Cod. He was there only a year when he was called to New London, Connecticut. We lived in New London for five years, during which time father built a very nice, though modest, brick church for the people; then he was called to Summit, New Jersey. . . . In Summit, as he had in New London, he built a church . . . modelled after one of the early Christopher Wren’s. . . . It was from Summit that he started additional work with his Brotherhood Church in Jersey City and also organized his Golden Rule Fraternity—a cooperative idea, as I remember . . . one of his many attempts to help humanity in some organized way. The fact that he made it while he was so active building the Summit Church besides starting the Brotherhood is characteristic of the restlessness that always drove him. One job was never enough. Two might do. Three was better. And four was what he’d like.”
The Brotherhood Church had no affiliation with his regular denominational work
and no salary. A group of "brothers of the spirit” among whom he was a prime mover made a gesture through these Sunday night meetings to include more of humanity in the scope of spiritual endeavor. Through one of his associates there he attended his first Bahá’í meeting. It was in April 1912 that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá came to New York and the second phase of life began for Howard Ives, another Birth.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá found, then, among the crowds of thrilled and excited people who surrounded Him on His arrival, a Unitarian minister from New Jersey. He was on the outer fringe of the sea of faces, looking and feeling out of place. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá saw Howard Ives, singled him out of all the throng, beckoned to him, and as Howard later said in “Portals to Freedom”: ”such an understanding love enveloped me that even at that distance and with a heart still cold a thrill ran through me as if a breeze from a divine morning had touched my brow.” Of the interview that followed Howard could but say "He looked at me! It seemed as though never before had anyone seen me.”
We now leave the outer man behind. It is as if a musical score had been written for an instrument which was as yet but a concept in the mind of the Musician. Howard Ives had to die to truly live—by the Mercy of God, at last he has done so. When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá “saw” him He saw the tumult and splendor of one of His own chosen ones—in chains still, it is true, forever to be in chains as long as the pathetic inadequacy of the body should limit the interpretation of the Score itself.
The people about the Master were all enraptured by His heavenly aspect, which made Him the epitome of every adorable quality—there were a few, and greatly gifted among them, Howard Ives, who had the capacity to truly love celestial Beauty for Itself. Years later he wrote me in answer to a childish question concerning the love of God:
"The passionate love for the Beloved of the worlds has no relation to any bodily form or any physical expression . . . This sense imagination has been in the past the great barrier to that ‘Nearness which is likeness.’ Do not try to build a bridge. Every such effort is our own imaginations seeking vent. Throw open wide the doors of the soul and He will surely enter. But it will be in His way, not ours. The doors of the Placeless are surely wide open but it needs the blood of the lovers to adorn its lintel.”
There passed from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to Howard Ives a transfusion of spirit. A Father claimed His son, and never were time, absence, vicissitude in any way to weaken for a moment the link between them. All of the first aspect of his life Howard had been searching the Beloved, until, as he admitted, his spirit fainted. When he found ‘Abdu’l-Bahá he found not only the Man but a trace of the Beloved. He knew where to seek and find. He was indeed born into a new world. In a letter to me, he wrote in 1935:
“The universe of Bahá’u’lláh is so beautiful, so filled with wonder and with Light supreme that when one really begins to gaze on it the eye of the spirit is blinded. But how much better it is to have one’s open eyes blinded than to keep them eternally shut! It is like the brilliance of the noonday sun after being shut in a dark room. The blinding is most confusing—perhaps painful —but Praise to be God, after a while the eyes become accustomed to the light and we see our way about. Just so it is with this Celestial Light. Some great day we shall become so used to it that we shall be able to see our way about the World of Reality and all our terrors, creatures of the 'night of self’ shall vanish as if they had never been.”
————————
‘Abdu’l-Bahá paused at the flight of steps toward which He and Howard had been walking. The experience, which he has described in "Portals,” was as follows:
"Again ‘Abdu’l-Bahá turned to ascend
and I made to follow, but for the third time
He paused and turning, as it seemed, the full
light of His spirit upon me, He said again,
but this time in what seemed like a voice of
thunder, with literally flashing eyes and
emphatically raised hand: that I should remember
that This is a Day for very great things—VERY
GREAT THINGS. These last three
words rang out like a trumpet call. The long
deserted city block seemed to echo them . . .
I seemed to dwindle, almost to shrivel, where
I stood as that beautifully dominant figure,
[Page 611]
that commanding and appealing voice surrounded me like a sea . . . Who and what was I to be summoned to accomplish great things, very great things? . . .”
Howard Ives was soon to give up all denominational work and to become a "minister of the Temple of the Kingdom.” This term, which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had applied to him, Howard Ives defined “to be an adherent and promulgator of the Law of Unity and Love laid down as compulsory upon all sincere believers in one God. To be a minister,” he added "is the prerogative of every believer in the Words of God and sincere follower of His Light.” He returned to the arena—for him a literal "arena”—of the business world, chose occupations that would involve both traveling and the meeting of numbers of people. During his long train journeys he mastered the writings of Bahá’u’lláh and so became by degrees one of the great authorities on the Bahá’í Faith. In 1919 he met Mabel Rice-Wray, aflame with the same spirit of renunciation and service and the following year, November, 1920, they were married. It was like the juncture of two swift running streams: from the moment of that union the streams became a river.
The plan from the beginning was to build their lives around the propagation of the Cause of God. They settled in New York City and tried first to earn as quickly as possible enough to free their activities completely for the life of teaching, which they felt must somehow be theirs. The fate of all of us spiritual children of theirs hung in the balance on the day that these two had a certain talk in which they faced the facts: they might go on all the rest of their lives working as others did and dreaming of the future—or they could take hold of the apparently impossible by both horns and go then. In 1921 they sold or gave away all their immediate possessions, answered an advertisement for two salesmen and started on their long Odyssey.
As the years passed no one seemed to expect the Ives to have a home. We took it for granted that they should have become wanderers upon the face of the earth and that they should forever be first packing and then unpacking boxes and trunks. In 1934, Howard—temporarily in Chicago—wrote me as follows:
"You ask me how we can accustom ourselves to homelessness. Our own vine and fig tree is a natural desire to the children of men; there is nothing reprehensible in this desire. Bahá’u’lláh has provided for this in His Law, dignifying the home and hospitality as a means of serving God. Nevertheless there are a few of us to whom He whispers in the ear ‘Make My Home thy Mansion, boundless and holy.’ ‘Riswanea’ and I often have a yearning for a permanent place to bestow ourselves and our few goods. Just as sure as this longing finds a place in our hearts we are moved again . . . ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words ‘Homeless and without rest’ ring in my ears, when He is describing the attributes of the Apostles of Bahá’u’lláh. Rest assured that God does not take away an earthly home without providing a heavenly one right here on earth if we accept His Will with radiant acquiescence. . . . Rejoice, my beloved daughter, in the little home which Bahá’u’lláh has provided for you. If you are worthy He will move you into other homes and other hearts, and you will then rejoice again; for the bounty of a wider horizon of service has been given you; a greater freedom of spirit has been vouchsafed you and a few more chains of this world have been knocked from your limbs.”
Their first stop was Pittsburgh, where besides working during the day they held thirty-six meetings in six weeks. From there they moved continually from one city to another. In most of these favored spots the Divine Standard was not only raised but firmly planted. The spiritual children and grandchildren of these teachers are among the pioneers, administrators, writers, of the present generation of Bahá’ís in the eastern, central and southern parts of the country. Literally they are numbered by the scores—and the race increases! It was~indeed the "day for very great things.” How gloriously had those souls arisen to the challenge!
To account for a lion-like courage and often superhuman accomplishment we have Howard Ives’ explanation of the secret of power—so diametrically opposed to most modern philosophies on that topic.
"I think it is something like this,” he once
[Page 612]
wrote. “The Will of God and the will of individual
man . . . may, nay must, become
identified, become identical. . . . ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
speaks of losing the self in the Self of God.
We must accustom ourselves to the actual
doing of this. . . . We cannot think of God’s
Will as a passive thing any more than we can
think of our own will as passive, inert. God’s
Will is evidenced in nature, in power, in
action. To identify our will with His Will is
to partake of His activity, His Power, His
effectiveness. To submit my will to His Will
then, carries an implication of
marching—creating—overcoming. But not marching
alone; we march in step with Him. We
throw our feeble wills in with His and so
become all-conquering as He says we shall.
How can the result be other than Victory?”
Reiterating again this central theme originating in the Master’s words in 1912, Howard, burned out with the strenuous and unstinted efforts of twenty years, in 1939, still gloriously invincible, wrote “Never be afraid of expecting too great things. Nothing is too great for this Day!”
It was in Knoxville, in 1934, that Howard began to write—at sixty-seven. He was employed to write articles about the great dam project there, the T.V.A. Suddenly he found the knack of writing vivid prose. In the late spring and early summer he sat four hours each day at his typewriter in the unaccustomed heat of Tennessee. One morning he fell unconscious on the floor by his bed—his first attack of angina. He had found a gift which might have resulted in a relief from economic stress only to lose the use of it almost at once. His health, always precarious, was now undeniably gone, also his eyesight and hearing began rapidly to go, and he now, already facing an end that might come at any moment, began to struggle for time. Time to put down in his new found style the spiritual memoirs we have referred to as "Portals to Freedom.” Forbidden to use his eyes, he learned the touch system on the typewriter and completed the book, which was published by Dutton and Co. in 1937. Then followed his book-length poem, the “Song Celestial.” He wrote two later works which have not as yet been published. From Winnetka he wrote: “I am content to wait. It may be that Bahá’u’lláh has still some work for me to do. As you say, the doctors are often mistaken. I remember an old doctor friend of my mother’s, who, when I was eighteen years old, said I would not live beyond twenty-five. Yet here I still am.”
I have said that the All-Bountiful One had bestowed upon Howard Ives a martyr’s heart. After five long years of debility and actual suffering through which he wrote steadily he was told by a Memphis oculist that the persistent and increasing dimness of vision that had halted the use of his eyes so alarmingly was cataracts! Already cut off from normal association by his deafness, the closing of another channel of perception might well have reminded him of a parallel in the story of Job. He did not live to lose his sight, which seemed miraculously extended to fill the needs of his remaining year and a half of life, but he had abruptly to face the ever-present imminence of still another blow. How did he feel about it? From some notes that he wrote, April, 1940 we are permitted to know that too. He begins:
"Yesterday was a marvelous day of spiritual realization, and, God willing, shall mark a new and great step on the path of Reality.” He said that his reaction to the doctor’s statement was; a triumphant inner shout and that it was then as if a voice spoke through the doctor’s words saying, "See how I am trusting you! . . . You have offered your life as a sacrifice in My Path. . . . I have taken you at your word. . . .” Then comes the self-revelation of a noble spirit "at the culmination of calamity,” following several pages of honest self-analysis:
“If, as I can sincerely say is true, ever
since I have been intellectually and spiritually
conscious, approximately from my
15th-17th years, my passionate longing has
been for spiritual attainment; and if, ever
since I met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the path of attainment
has been sincerely shown to me to
be the path of self-renunciation, self-sacrifice,
detachment from all save God; if it
has been my sincere and earnest prayer:
‘Shower Thy sorrows upon me that my soul
may live!’ What, then, I ask, must be the
instant reaction when that life-long yearning
is even partially appeased? What the
response of my soul when those very trials
and sufferings and even the supreme tests
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descend from the heavens of His Mercy
and Bounty? . . . Has He not in effect said
to me: ‘I have taken from you one by one
the normal use of your organs. There is
scarcely a part of your body unaffected by
My Decree. Your nerves, your back, your
feet, your heart . . . your hearing, and now
your sight—and you have not repined, you
have not sought to evade nor have you
turned away for a single moment from My
Love. Nay, rather, have you accepted all
this as the very evidences, signs, proofs of
that Love.’ I can almost hear Him saying
with that divine smile ‘Congratulations!’ ”
The concluding words of this fragment of Spiritual Diary might be the voice of his translated being speaking, not then to us but NOW, from the realm to which he has been gathered:
"When I recognize the undoubted fact that all this life has taught me, or could ever possibly teach me, is but a sign, a token, a symbol, of what the future worlds of God shall surely teach—my whole being is lost in thanksgiving and praise of Him Who has bestowed on me—this boundless Gift and this infinite Bounty.”
————————
On June 23rd, 1941, a group of about fifty friends, gathered in a chapel in Little Rock, Arkansas, to gaze for the last time upon the heroic outer shell of this great man. His beloved wife, teaching in a summer school of Vogel Park in Georgia, had reached his bedside in time. The pain in the last days was like the exquisite throbbing of violins, stabbing the heart with their terrible but ecstatic beauty. Then his long patience was rewarded. With his sheaf of VERY GREAT THINGS in his hands he went forth to meet his Beloved. Crowning his life was the Guardian’s cablegram:
"Profoundly deplore tremendous loss outstanding promoter Faith. Evidences his magnificent labors imperishable. Deepest sympathy. Ardent prayers.
- Shoghi Effendi.”
————————
MÍRZÁ ‘ABDU’L-RAHÍM KHÁN ḤÁFIẒU’Ṣ-SIḤḤIH
Born in the Jewish fold in the very year which witnessed the birth of the Cause, he almost saw the turn of the first century of the Bahá’í era, for he lived up to the age of 99 years.
He died with the Greatest Name on his lips on the 27th of December, 1942, his death being as peaceful as his life had been stormy.
Devoted to the Cause ever since he embraced it at the age of 32 years, he was in the very nature of things bound to encounter and overcome formidable obstacles in its service.
His skill and fame as a physician placed within his reach wealth and influence, which he dedicated unhesitatingly to the service of the Faith.
Numerous were the schemes, the plottings, the assaults of the Jewish, and to a lesser extent, the Muslim populace, directed against the Jewish Bahá’ís in his native city, Hamadán. Whenever the enemies could secure the ear of one in power, they would make the most of their opportunity. And it was at such moments that the zeal and resourcefulness of Ḥáfiẓu’ṣ-Ṣiḥḥih were manifest. Approaching governors, and securing on more than one occasion the ear of the King himself, he pleaded and argued until he got their wrongs redressed, their oppressions removed. At one time, for instance, a Bahá’í was refused burial in the Jewish cemetery; Ḥáfiẓu’ṣ-Ṣiḥḥih offered the friends a plot of land for this purpose. At another, the Jews conspired to refuse admittance to the Bahá’ís to their public baths; he constructed one at his own expense and placed it at the disposal of the friends. He assisted in the establishment of two Bahá’í schools at Hamadán and contributed largely towards the purchase of a site for the Bahá’í center. He lived the life and brought numerous souls into the Faith. The first Jewish converts to the Bahá’í Faith at Kirmánsháh were due to his efforts.
Although his house was burnt, his property pillaged, his son killed, he never swerved from the true course of action he had marked for himself, loving even those who had wrought such atrocities on him and, in several instances, setting them again on their feet when they were in straitened circumstances and bringing them into the Cause through this means. It was on the occasion of his visit to the Capital in connection
Mírzá A. Ḥáfiẓu’ṣ-Ṣiḥḥih
with this particular outrage that the Central Government offered him as amends the title of "Ḥáfiẓu’ṣ-Ṣiḥḥih” (i.e., Superintendent of Public Health) and a post in the Foreign Ministry but he felt that his work lay at Hamadán and obtained permission to return to that city.
Not even old age and failing health could keep him idle and he continued serving right till the end.
He attained to the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at Haifa after His return from America and the Tablets revealed in his honor both by the Blessed Beauty and the Master attest to his high station and his devotion and fidelity to the Cause.
————————
MATHEW KASZAB
Pioneer Bahá’í Teacher in Nicaragua
BY LOULIE MATHEWS
While Mathew was a student at the University of New York, he met Mrs. Louise Talbot, who gave him the Bahá’í Message. From that moment, Mathew’s real life began. The heroic age of the Báb and the martyrs absorbed his mind and The Dawn-Breakers became his constant companion. He never spoke of his childhood or youth or of anything prior to his contact with the Revelation. He was utterly without personal ambition. He worked at anything that would allow him time to study the Bahá’í writing. At one time, he motored to Washington with a friend, and Mrs. Preston (then Miss Vail), who offered him a room in her house. He went to work in a restaurant, happy and content to be under the roof of a Bahá’í.
When Shoghi Effendi’s Advent of Divine Justice was published in February, 1939, it contained words that lighted a flame in his heart:
“Let some, at this very moment, gird up the loins of endeavor, flee their native towns, cities and states, forsake their country, and, putting their whole trust in God, as the best
Mathew Kaszab
provision for their journey, set their faces and direct their steps towards distant climes, those virgin fields, those unsurrendered cities, and bend their energies to capture the citadels of men’s hearts.” (page 52)
These dynamic utterances carried Mathew away, and without delay he set out for Panama. I was, at this time, Chairman of the Inter-America Committee, and was obliged to write Mathew that the post of Panama had been already assigned to two pioneers, Louise Caswell and Cora Oliver, who would arrive in about six months’ time.
I sensed his immense disappointment at the news contained in the letter, but like the good soldier of Bahá’u’lláh that he was, he accepted our suggestion that he go to Nicaragua. We knew he had some family connections there and we hoped this would make it easier for him.
After his acceptance of the new post, he was made radiantly happy by a letter from the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, who wrote in his own hand:
“Dear and precious co-worker: I have just heard of your transfer to Nicaragua and hasten to assure you of my special and loving prayers wherever you may labor and whatever circumstances under which you serve. You should feel proud, grateful and happy. The rising generation will be stimulated and inspired by the example you and your fellow-workers are setting. May the Beloved achieve your heart’s dearest wish. Persevere and rest assured.
- Your true and grateful brother,
- Shoghi.”
While in Panama, Mathew wrote articles for all the leading journals: The Panama-American, The Star and Herald, and The Tribune. He gave Bahá’í talks on the radio and brought into the Faith our first Panamanian believer.
We wanted him to take a cabin steamer on his journey to Nicaragua but he wrote that this was an unnecessary expense. He embarked on a small cattle ship, The Alajuela. He wrote of this journey that he lay on the floor of the deck at night looking up at the sky and reviewing in his mind the stormy journey of the Báb and Quddús, during which they continued writing and praying as though in the atmosphere of complete calm.
- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%*****************++++++++++++===============
From the very beginning, everything in
this sick land was a disappointment. The
property that had belonged to Mathew’s
grandmother had been sold and he was not
able to secure any redress. He went to work
[Page 616]
in the gold mines of Blue Fields. He described
the deplorable conditions of poverty
and vice and was so appalled by the ignorance
of the miners’ children, that he took
a night shift and taught school in the day
time. When I remonstrated with him because
he was giving himself no time for
sleep, he replied that his time was so short
he could not afford to sleep! All his efforts
at betterment in Blue Fields having failed,
he returned to Managua. Suddenly, while
walking on the street, he was arrested. The
reason given was that he uttered words in
criticism of the Nicaraguan government.
This may have been the reason or not,—the
cause is very obscure. He remained in prison
from March lst to 23rd. As suddenly as
he was interned, he was liberated. He determined
to leave Nicaragua, sensing danger,
and began to make preparations for his departure.
When they were complete, he came
to say goodbye to our first native believer,
who was teaching school nearby. He was
loved by the children of the school, who
gathered around him and sang their songs
for him. The group of students that had
studied with Mathew came to say goodbye
and wish him Godspeed, they would have
accompanied him to the airport but, as it
was far from the town, Mathew would not
let them. When he reached the airport, an
officer stepped forward and presented a
warrant for his arrest. The day was September
28th of 1942. It was some time before his
friends learned the sad news. On November
first Mathew was attacked by an illness the
nature of which was never learned, his
condition was so grave that he was moved from
the dungeon to the Guard’s hospital. His
friends were allowed to visit the hospital but
he did not recognize any one. At that time
death seemed imminent but his strength
slowly returned and he was sent back to the
prison. On December 28 the authorities
announced that he was free, but must leave
the country. Silently and alone, he took a
plane to Mexico City and there reembarked
for Brownsville, Texas, where he died
January 13th, 1943.
It is due to Mrs. Louise Caswell that we know the details of his death. She visited Brownsville in the summer of 1943 and placed flowers on Mathew’s grave and interviewed the proprietor of the small hotel where Mathew died.
On his arrival, Mathew went to the Brownsville hospital, but he did not remain there; though his left side was completely paralyzed, he rented a small room in a modest hotel. He locked himself in and went to bed. As no sound came from his room after repeated knocking, the manager had the room broken into at the beginning of the fourth day of Mathew’s silence. He was unconscious, though still breathing, and died before a doctor could reach himi He was buried in the city graveyard of Brownsville. On his tombstone are engraved the words cabled by our Guardian Shoghi Effendi when he received the news of Mathew’s death:
"His services are unforgettable.”
His short life, filled with suffering and pain, Was oflered to Bahá’u’lláh. Down all the ages, he will be remembered and remain a beacon light to the Bahá’í world. His example will become a spur to achievement. Where he labored and lost, a bright victory will follow. The high standard of purity and faith set by his life will not die with him but live on forever.
MABEL RICE-WRAY IVES
BY EDRIS AND COLSTON RICE-WRAY
uAs my Lord wills,” she said frequently during her last illness. Indeed this thought had been the undercurrent of her life and continued so to the end.
Mabel Ricc—Wray Ives, known to many of her friends as uRizwanea,” was born in 1878 in St. Louis, Mo. She was the daughter of Caroline MeGrew Simon and Albert G. Simon. Her grandfather’s parents were from Germany while her mother’s parents came from Virginia and Were of English extraction. She was always a very Vital and active person, loving outdoor sports, especially tennis, horseback riding and swimming. She grew up to be a very beautiful, charming and sought after young woman. At the age of 21 she heard of the Bahá’í Message from Mrs. Doty of Baltimore, Md., and not many months later became a Bahá’í.
Mother often related that from the time she was a young girl, she had an intense
Mabel Rice-Wray Ives
desire to find truth. She investigated every avenue which gave the least promise of being able to fulfill her intense desire to know until she found the Bahá’í Faith.
In those days they knew nothing of the details of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. They had no books, only a few tablets from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. She was asked one day how it was possible to accept this Faith. She replied, “I only knew that a Manifestation of God had again walked the earth and that was enough.”
In 1903 she married Theron Canfield Rice-Wray. They established their home in Newark, N. J., and during the first four years, became the parents of three children: Edris Roushan, Landon Carter (who died in infancy.) and Rouhi Colston. During this period they were frequently hosts to many of the early believers such as the Haneys, ‘Ali Kuli Khan, Harlan Ober, Hooper Harris, and others.
Mrs. Haney remembers that she and Mrs. Brittingham frequently spoke of Mabel
Rice-Wray’s beauty and radiance, but particularly her spiritual capacity, so unusual in such a new believer and especially in one so young.
From 1909 to 1914, we lived in the vicinity of Los Angeles. Though her Faith was very vital and absorbing, she still had time to be active in various women’s organizations, particularly those she felt would further the cause of women or of children or of World Peace.
During these years in California her activity in teaching the Bahá’í Faith gradually increased. There were frequent meetings and study classes at our home in Tropico. She and Mrs. Kathryn Frankland became close friends at that time and worked together in teaching the Cause. Mrs. Frankland says that a local Spiritual Assembly was formed there in Tropico, Cal., now a part of Glendale.
Mrs. Mariam Haney writes of her at this time: uThrough the throes of tests and trials she was proving how well fortified
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she was spiritually. Life in this world was not easy, but as the tree of her existence was well rooted in the revealed Word, she was ever faithful, though the whirlwinds of tests were many and tragic. . . . There was a mark upon her; there was a distinction about her. There was that spiritual pull she said she always felt.”
In that memorable year of 1912, When ‘Abdu’LBaha came to America, mother looked forward with great longing to the time when He would visit Los Angeles and she would at last see Him face to face. When she heard the electrifying news that He had indeed arrived, we were in the midst of moving into a new house. She dropped everything to the consternation of the movers and of my grandmother. She managed somehow to get herself and her children dressed. We were then six and eight years old. We arrived at the hotel just as He and a group of the believers entered the lobby and we rode up with Him in the elevator to His room, where we spent an hour or more, along with 12 or 14 others. We children did not fully appreciate the importance of this meeting at the time; to us He was as a kind grandfather, but to our mother it was a moment of rededication, a moment of increased awakening. She became inflamed with the deepest longing to serve this Cause, of Which He was the authorized Interpreter and Exemplar.
Our next home was in Detroit, Mich, where we moved in 1914. Here her teaching activities continued and soon a group was formed. Through a host of personal difficulties at this time, she learned complete renunciation. Of this period, she said, ”I turned to God, saying that I wanted nothing but His will—that I asked no personal happiness, nothing but one thing—to be permitted to serve His Cause. Whatever was His Will was also mine.”
Her second marriage, to Howard Colby Ives, was a very rare and beautiful spiritual union. She said, in speaking of her marriage, “There is no greaterthrill than for two souls to grow spiritually together, to explore the spiritual universe together, to learn spiritual lessons together. To share all this with one you love is a most marvelous
experience.” One of the last things Howard,
her husband, said to her before he left this
world was this, “Darling, we’ll be together
through all the worlds of God.” And they
both knew that this was the truth.
From the time of her marriage with Howard Ives, her effectiveness as a teacher increased amazingly. Together they accomplished wonders. She excelled in attracting the public and giving lectures, he at deepening and confirming those attracted.
During the first year of their marriage they lived in New York City near Grace and Harlan Ober. These four were closely associated in business and in the teaching work, and there grew up between them a _ love and affection which continued the rest of their lives. This was an example of the bond Which unites Bahá’ís, a bond which is not like any. other relationship, beCause it is founded upon eternal values. Many times in the years to follow, the Obers or the Ives would travel long distances to help one another establish a group in virgin territory.
At this time they also saw a great deal of Juliet Thompson and the Kinneys, as well as May Maxwell, who was in New York a good part of this first year. There was a strong bond of love and understanding between Mabel Ives and May Maxwell, Which was augmented by their many contacts in the Cause throughout the years” After Mother’s passing, Rúḥíyyih Khánum Wrote, “Mabel seems to me to be my own mother’s (May Maxwell’s) tWin sister. Something in them is just exactly the same stuff. Pure, courageous, wonderful stuff! They know the spiritual laws which we all do so desperately need to know.”
One day in 1921, the Ives’ made a momentous decision. In Mother’s words, "Our plan had been to earn a lot of money rapidly—enough to make us independent so we could give the rest of our lives to spreading the Cause. This proved to be a chimera, and our dream of traveling and teaching was no nearer fulfillment. Then one day we realized that we might go on the rest of our lives trying to establish security so that we might go out in the teaching field, but never do anything but simply work and dream of this future. So we decided that, because it was utterly impossible and
couldn’t be done, as we had no money, we would now go out and teach.
uSo began our long Odyssey. We advertised for some selling proposition for two salesmen who wished to travel, received 21 answers, chose one, and felt ready to go. We sold or gave away all our earthly possessions, reduced all our earthly goods to a trunk or two and a couple of suitcases. When we had bought our train ticket to Pittsburgh, we had just $7.00 between us.”
From this time on, they never stopped. At first they earned their living by making show-cards on a little machine. They were printed in different'styles and colors and had appeal to the average store. Later they sold an adult education course which included the books. Think of the difficulties which beset these two precious souls, both of them past middle life; Howard, who was trained for the ministry, and Mabel who had been brought up in the South to be a lady. Neither of them knew anything about business, nor were they equipped to earn their living in this manner. They worked hard calling on prospective customers all day and then spent their evenings holding Bahá’í lectures, Classes, fireside groups. Their housework and all the rest was sandwiched in between. Mother once wrote us that they were having such interesting experiences and that she hoped God would help them learn the lessons that they were supposed to learn from them. One of these "interesting experiences,” it turned out later, was the problem of finding themselves with only twenty—five cents between them, in a new city. If they could not make a sale that night, they would neither sleep nor eat.
Kenneth Christian writes of 1934 when they were in Albany, N. Y. ”They invited me to bring a group of college friends to their apartment one evening. It was a glorious evening. Later I found out, by a slip on Mabel’s part, that they had spent their last dollar in order to buy refreshments.”
On another occasion, down in Tennessee, difficulties beset them from every side; the lack of money, difficult personalities, impossible living conditions, and so on. Mabel turned to Howard and said, "I give up; I
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just can’t take it any longer!” He replied, “Bahá’u’lláh said, ‘The only escape is in submission.’ ” So she went off by herself and started to submit. In her words, “I Was very much in earnest and I repeated, ‘I submit, I submit, I submit,’ and kept on saying it until at last I began to feel it. I submitted with everything that was in me, until I finally had the feeling that my whole being was fluid. All the feeling in my being was gone. There was a sense of fluidity, of openness. I felt in utter amazement that I really.had submitted and I began to feel pretty good that I really had done it, and then a voice deep, deep down inside of me said, ‘Oh yes, but you haven’t gone far enough. There is another step.’ I exclaimed, ‘But what more can I do? I have submitted.’ And then the Voice said, (But you must be thankful.’ And I said, 'Be thankful? I can submit to the thing and I will, but how can I be thankful about it?’
”I started being thankful and I thanked God, expressed thanks for each phase of the rather large situation and, at first, it Was just words and then pretty soon I began to feel it more and more, until at last I really meant it, for everything that Was happening, and this little voice began talking again and said, ‘But you haven’t gone far enough.’ I said, ‘Another step?’ ‘Yes, you must love.’ I thought, ‘I can submit and be thankful but how can I really love it?’ I said, “All right, I am going to love it.’ ” A couple of days later, all those problems were somehow resolved, she said and then added: “Submission, thankfulness, love. It has never failed. This is one of the Laws of God. It works. I have tried it again and again. You have to mean it. You can’t fool God.”
Her teaching activities took her the length and breadth of the continent, from New York to California, North Dakota to Louisiana, as well as middle and eastern Canada. In her notes concerning this period we read: “During our six weeks in Pittsburgh, after working during the day, we held 36 meetings.”
And again: "During our 19 days in Buffalo, we spoke 17 times.”
The list of Cities in which they spread the Faith seems almost endless.
One winter in Pittsburgh the Obers, the
[Page 620]
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Willard MacKays and the Ives all lived together and worked together in business and in teaching the Faith. Here the six of them further demonstrated the amazing results of group activity when the members are completely unified in their common dedication to a great Cause.
Noreen Keith-Beattie, writing of Mother’s teaching techniques during her stay in Toronto mentions her unfailing patience. She said, “We (the young group particularly) peppered her with questions, our only excuse being the ignorance of the very young. And yet we received her full, undivided, courteous concentration and interest. She always made you feel that you had thought of something wonderful or important. Her answers were invariably truly important and really wonderful and profound and yet simple, logical and clear-cut. Another remarkable faculty she possessed (and this was almost psychic) was her ability to sense and penetrate to the heart of your particular individual dilemma or problem and to set your feet firmly on the right path to recovery. She always knew the right answer. She never hurried you. She never seemed impatient.
“We were all so constantly impressed with her power to choose the best approach to her various audiences, gauging both their mental and their spiritual needs and capacities. You felt at all times her reliance, not on herself but on God. You could almost see her drawing unto herself that invisible power. She was a marvelous demonstration of radiant acquiescence. Nothing seemed to daunt her spirit. That inner light seemed to glow through her skin. . . . Now here is something that delighted us. She was so good to look at, so dainty, so exquisitely groomed, that we could be proud of her.
"We also had constant admiration for her executive ability, the swiftness and smoothness with which she could organize and get things done. No grass grew under her busy feet. It never seemed to occur to anyone not to do what she asked them to. Everyone was made to feel necessary and thus was encouraged to take an active part. This was a reflection of her own dynamic vitality.”
In the fall of 1940, they went to Memphis, Tennessee, and then to Hot Springs and Little Rock, Arkansas. From then on until 1943,
her activities were localized in the South.
It was in Little Rock that her beloved husband, Howard Colby Ives, ascended. And it was there, possibly more than in any other place or time, that she showed her spiritual stamina.
She was put in a most difficult position, for there was no one for her to lean on or draw strength from. Her children and all the older Bahá’ís were far away. The people there were either young in the Faith or newly interested. During those two days, until the day of the service, when we arrived, it was a matter of their continuing to draw on her for strength. But she was able to rise above her personal grief and continued as usual to give herself for others. At the memorial service for her husband, her beloved Howard, she felt that 'certain things should be said that only she could say. So she took part in the service and eloquently and beautifully told of his quality of renunciation, his great spiritual capacity, his tremendous devotion, and self—sacrifice in the path of God. ‘
After his passing, she spoke frequently of being aware of his presence and assistance. In speaking with others of the eternal quality of a spiritual union in which there can be no separation, she had expressed the belief that after his passing, she would find her work augmented by assistance from the unseen world. It was amazing, during the last two years of her life how she was able to combine both her former qualities and his as a Bahá’í teacher. She could still make contacts, attract people and give lectures, but now she also had his distinct quality of being able to confirm souls and deepen them in the teachings.
Gertrude Gewertz writes of her teaching methods in Birmingham: "She was so weary when she arrived. She was to have rested that week. But the next morning there she was, dressed up as pretty as a picture and ready to plunge in and start the campaign. During the four months that I had been in Birmingham, I had gathered together the names of some who I thought would be good material for the Cause. She took the list and the details and went forth. Late that afternoon she called me at my office saying that she had alreadytlunched with
the Theosophists and was going to talk to them that Sunday. She had received an invitation to talk before the Women’s Club and the Civic Club (this led to invitations to two other clubs).
“It was her method to interest a few people who would direct her to others and they in turn would direct her to still others. In this way she would build up lists of people Who were thinking more or less along Bahá’í lines. It was wonderful how she would track down information, not resting nor letting one lead get away from her. From these lists, and the contacts she made from her talks before clubs, and the people she met, she gathered her first audience. This was what she was working for, to build up an audience. The hotel room was then arranged for, the invitations printed, and posters made up and distributed.
"She told me she found from experience that it was better not to mention Baha’u’llah as the Prophet or to give the direct Message until the fourth lecture, because she found from the trial and error method that more people came back that way. This gave them the opportunity to become imbued with the Bahá’í spirit. After these lectures were over she gave three more if they wanted it. Those who followed through to the last of the lectures came to the classes. There were about nineteen. '
“She used the thirty-six lesson study course. From these people she gradually took out the ones whom she felt were ready for a deeper class and then started on the 'Dispensation.’
”What was so unique about her teaching was that she seemed to know at the right time What questions to put before them, such as, ‘Do you believe in progressive revelation?’ If they said they did, then she asked them if they thought it was possible that Baha’u’llah was the One sent by God in this day. It was at this point that some of the friends for the first time expressed themselves as believing. Then she would lead up to the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá authorizing the institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice. Then finally came the signing of the card for membership.”
During all this intensive teaching work,
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she suffered greatly from ill health and often had to stay in bed. She always managed to get up somehow and go and give the lecture even if she had to return directly and go back to bed. Following the 1942 convention in Wilmette she Was very ill and during this time suffered a great deal of pain. One day she exclaimed, “I give up. I can’t take any more of it. I’m through.” Then after a little while she said, “Why, I have been praying that the quality of my work might improve. I know I can’t increase the quantity of it because there aren’t any more than twenty—four hours in the day. The only way one can improve the quality of one’s work is by deepening. Now, I know no one deepens without suffering. Why, this is exactly what I asked for and I am going to make the most of every minute of it.” When she got well, she said, “Oh, I have gained so much spiritual growth through this illness that it was indeed a small price to pay. I realize now that When one teaches, it depends upon the plane of consciousness from Which one speaks. One sentence when spoken from a plane of great selflessness touches the heart and may change a life, whereas from a lower plane one may talk for a week and produce no effect.” The next fall the work was resumed, this time in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where Annie Romer and Ruth Moffett had been working and already had a group. November found her in Louisville, Ky. Early in January she entrained again. This time it was the West, across the continent to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where her efforts were again joined with those of Kathryn Frankland. She wrote enthusiastically about the exquisite blueness of the sky and the continual sunshine. She had always loved to be out in the sunshine. Often When completely exhausted, she would take the morning off to lie in the sun, and it worked like a tonic. Her three months’ stay in this lovely Spot was full of activity. There was time for the lectures and classes and many personal contacts. When she left there were a number of new believers, and a beautiful unity had been established in that center. She wasn’t coming to. the 1943 convention because she was too exhausted. But we persuaded her at the last minute and at
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the last minute she flew to Chicago from Albuquerque, getting a tremendous thrill, as she would, out of the long trip by air. This convention was particularly wonderful to her because she saw so mahy of her spiritual children strong and active in the Faith. She remarked, "How thrilling to see how they grow from year to year.” One of her characteristics as a teacher was her habit of pushing her students away from dependence on her and urging them to get to work and start teaching on their own.
Everywhere she turned during those few days people surrounded her, each insisting, "But you must spend some time with me. I am your special baby.” Of course that was impossible, since everywhere she looked were those who had heard about the Faith through her efforts . . . dozens and dozens of them. It must have been a tremendous source of inner joy to see gathered under one roof so many to whom she had given new life. She had once said to Sylvia King while teaching in Om'aha, Nebraska, “I have lived longer than you have and so I will tell you this; some day you won’t remember when you were happy, you won’t remember the times when you were sad', you will only remember the times when you helped the Cause of God.” This convention surely roused those memories.
A week afterward she started out again, to Oklahoma City. She had planned to rest a couple of weeks here before starting the lectures. As usual it seemed as though she never could really rest. If anyone needed her help or Wanted to hear of the Teachings, she always put aside every personal consideration. The series of lectures was planned as usual. She gave the first one and then became ill and had to cancel the second. When she was told that the people were expecting her at the next she realized the disappointment of the Oklahoma friends, who had spent money on this campaign, and of the people who were interested, and she left her sick—bed to give two more. At the last one, even the audience could see that she was very weak. She finally realized this herself and consented to enter a hospital. She said several times, "I have let the people down. I have let the Guardian down. I have let Bahá’u’lláh down.”
THE BAHA’T WORLD
After a stormy illness of ten days, she ascended to the supreme world. We were both with her at the last. Almost her final Words were, "My children.”
"Yes, we are both here,” we answered.
After a pause she went on, uBut I have so many children . . . and there’s so much work to be done!”
She passed on at 19 minutes after eight on June 18, just two years, lacking two days, after the ascension of her beloved Howard. Now they are again united. What a power they must be in the unseen world to assist us who carry on the great work to which they gave their lives. Her physical remains were interred in Memorial Park in Oklahoma City.
In the Babd’z’ News of September, 1943, speaking of the settling by Bahá’ís in various centers where the Faith was not established, the National Teaching Committee said, uHowever great the sacrifices entailed in making these necessary moves at the earliest date, they can never exceed the magnificent deeds of souls like Mabel Ives, those Who have dedicated their lives to the triumph of the Seven Year Plan. The single devotion of Mrs. Ives to the fulfillment of the Guardian’s hopes for North America will be remembered in years to come. Her achievements in numerous virgin states and provinces are yet to be recounted. Throughout the cntire course of the first six years of the plan she gave her energies, her time and her spirit. It is surely significant that her passing should have been in Oklahoma City, the first of the organized assemblies to be pioneered and organized under the plan. Not until the last hours did her labors cease. She was an example to us all.”
Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, cabled as follows: uProfoundly deplore loss self-sacrificing, distinguished teacher Faith Mabel Ives. Manifold contributions teaching activities before and since inception Seven Year Plan outstanding, memorable, highly meritorious. Assure daughter deepest loving sympathy, prayers. Abiding felicity crowning noble labors.”
Mother had a full and complete awareness of what it meant to be living in the Day of God. She realized the bounty of being of the few with sufficient insight to have
Bridget Hill (On the right)
recognized God’s Messenger for this day. She, furthermore, was thoroughly conscious of the responsibility Which goes with this knowledge. First, Was the responsibility of obedience to the laws of God which involved steadfastness in her belief, firmness in her Faith. Secondly she put into practice in her daily life the teachings and admonitions of her Faith.
Every personal consideration was secondary. She used to say, ”When you are in doubt about any particular action you are contemplating, stop and ask yourself whether or not it will be for the good of the Cause or not. That is the final criterion.”
Her strict obedience to the admonition to teach this Cause was coupled with her full realization of humanity’s desperate, if unrecognized, need of it. The knowledge that God works through men to help other men made her burn with a desire to become more and more the hands and feet of God. She prayed constantly that she might be a perfect instrument for his will. She strove daily to further purify herself so that the
light of God might shine through. By many experiences she learned that the only way her work could be done was to get herself out of the way and let God do it. Whenever her successes made her think she was pretty good and feel important in her own right, she said all the doors would slam shut in her face and her work would lose its effectiveness. She would then become aware of what she was doing, and with the realization that she of herself could do absolutely nothing, that her effectiveness and power were in direct proportion to the degree to which she could empty her own heart of self so that the power of the Holy Spirit could flow through, she would go forward again and be assisted.
BRIDGET HILL A TRIBUTE BY R. ST. BARBE BAKER
Bridget Hill of the Air Transport Auxiliary,
only daughter of Major General and
Mrs. Walter P. H. Hill of West Amesbury
House, Wiltshire, was killed on active ser
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vice in an aeroplane crash on Sunday, March 15th, 1942. Her immortal spirit winged its flight into the Great Beyond leaving her friends stunned With unutterable sorrow and anguish.
It was in June, 1937, while staying at Government House, Jersey, that I met her when she was a fellow guest. That too was her first introduction to the Bahá’í Cause.
On her return to Salisbury, her parents at once became interested, independently investigated the Bahá’í Faith and were subsequently inspired to invite Bahá’í speakers to their beautiful home to interest their many friends.
Bridget and her mother were very welcome members of the Bahá’í Summer School at Matlock Bath Where they were able to make a deeper study of the Teachings. It was after long and careful research that Bridget declared herself a Bahá’í.
I had never met a single human being so human yet so divinely human as Bridget.
In her new Faith Bridget beCame more radiantly lovely then ever before and, whenever I saw her, there seemed to me to be some new grace and charm reflecting divine attributes.
Bridget was fond of trees and all living things, she was clever with horses and even the most highly strung animals immediately responded to her.
When she was so suddenly taken it came as a rude shock which took me unawares. It seemed such a ghastly waste, so young, only twenty-seven, so courageous, so daring, so competent, so kind and with infinite understanding and personal charm. I was angry and resentful, forgetful of the profound teachings so clearly given in the Writings. Then on Thursday night following the tragedy, perhaps at four o’clock in the morning, I felt Bridget was standing near me; she did not speak but had a look of such divine radiance I was at once aware that all anger and resentment had vanished forever.
How can we extol a life so full of joy and solace, so rich in imperishable memories? How certain in her belief, how steadfast her faith in the Bahá’í Cause. Her radiant spirit will forever conquer space, she has created an abiding place in our hearts’ affections, which time will not obliterate nor the passing years change.
RICHARD MARLOW
Richard Marlow was for over thirty years a familiar figure in Southbourne. Having been deprived of both legs by an accident, he supplemented his small pension by selling matches, knitted and raffia work. So it was that Dr. ‘Esslement one day found him,' sitting in his wheeled chair at a corner of the road, and struck by his spiritual character, gave him the Bahá’í Message. To this he made a ready response, and when a Local Spiritual Assembly was formed in the district in April, 1923, Mr. Marlow was made a meinber and when possible would be taken by friends to our meetings.
Although he had no opportunities of teaching the Cause, he lived the life, and was a shining example of quiet courage and cheerful resignation to the Will of God. When the Bahá’í group became dispersed, only Miss Challis was able to keep in touch with him through letters. But before his death he was destined to make personal contact again with the friends, who gave him every help in their power.
The spiritual assurance of Richard Marlow never seemed to falter, and one came away from his dark little room impressed by the simple faith and patience of a truly beautiful soul.
When on 30th April, in his 76th year, the mortal cage was opened, with what joy he must have winged his flight to the “Paradise of the Placeless.”
F. Pinchon.
ḤÁJÍ ‘ALÍ YAZDÍ
The oldest survivor in the Holy Land of the early days of the Faith, Ḥájí ‘Alí passed away in Haifa on November the 13th, 1943, in his ninty—eighth year. He was originally from the town of Yazd, in Persia, and proceeded to Baghdád shortly after Baha’u’llah’s exile to Adrianople. During the persecution of the believers in Baghdád he suffered severe beatings at the hands of their fanatical enemies. A few days after Bahá’u’lláh and His Family were removed from their two—year
Hájí ‘Ali Yazdi
confinement in the Barracks of ‘Akká, Hájí ‘Alí arrived at the Prison City and entered the presence of Bahá’u’lláh. From then on he lived in ‘Akká and its environs, was present at the time of Bahá’u’lláh’s Ascension at Bahjí and continued to reside in Palestine until his death. He will forever be remembered, amongst other things, as the establisher of Bahá’í endowments in the vicinity of ‘Akká through his gift of a tract of land dedicated to Bahá’u’lláh’s Holy Tomb in Bahjí. In spite of the eventfulness of his long life, the feebleness of old age and the handicap of almost total blindness, Hájí ‘Ali, up until the last Weeks of his life, continued to work, and persisted, with touching devotion, in attending all the Bahá’í Feasts and Anniversaries held in Haifa and ‘Akká, which involved a tedious journey of about four hours in either direction. He retained until the very last a clear memory of the wonderful times he had witnessed in the days of Bahá’u’llz’lh, and after His passing, and his interest in the contemporary events of the Faith, as frequently recounted
to him by Shoghi Effendi, was deep and keen. He bequeathed all he possessed to the Cause and was buried in the Bahá’í Cemetery in Haifa, at the foot of Mt. Carmel.
MRS. MARGARET DIXON
BY MRS. ELEANOR WHEELER
The passing of Mrs. Margaret Dixon recalls the early days of the Bahá’í Cause in Melbourne. Mrs. Dixon was one of the first to accept the Teachings brought to Australia by Mr. and Mrs. Hyde Dunn. By her pen and voice, in season and out of season, she strove to spread the Bahá’í Teachings wherever she went, and even when stricken with illness she carried on the work with unabated enthusiasm.
In June, 1940, she passed on, and at the funeral service conducted by the Unitarian minister at whose church Martha Root spoke from the pulpit; a fine tribute was paid by him when he said, uThe Bahá’í Teaching is the purest and most all-embracing expression of Universal Truth.”
Margaret Dixon
IDA BOULTER SLATER
BY MARIAM HANEY
Mrs. Ida Boulter Slater was born in Portland, Maine, February 19, 1860, and died in Chicago, Illinois, November 17, 1941. Her mortal remains were laid to rest in Rosehill Cemetery after a Bahá’í funeral service.
Mrs. Slater heard of the Bahá’í Faith from Mr. Thornton Chase ("the first Bahá’í in America”) in 1902; but it was in 1912, When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was traveling through the United States and Canada, that her interest in the Faith was thoroughly awakened. When He was in Chicago, Mrs. Slater and her husband had a brief interview with Him. It was observed, when they came out of the room, that she was crying. It was learned later that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had said to her: “You have sought the Kingdom of God in many places, and it was good, but now—you have arrived at home.” And her reaction was: ”I knew I had come home when I entered the Presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; those were not tears of sorrow, they were
tears of spiritual joy.” Both Mrs. Slater and her husband, Dr. William F. Slater, became members of the Chicago Bahá’í community immediately, and for a number of years were members of the Spiritual Assembly, Mrs. Slater serving as Secretary and Treasurer.
This unique and most lovable maidservant of the Bahá’í community was very hospitable, and every one who crossed her path must have felt her marvelous Bahá’í spirit and her great generosity. She poured out bounties upon young and old friends and Bahá’ís. She entertained many distinguished Bahá’í teachers, notable‘among them, Mrs. Lua Getsinger and Jenab—i-Fáḍil and his family; and during Jenab-i-Fáḍil’s teaching program in Chicago she, with Dr. Slater as a special committee, arranged for him to speak before twenty thousand people in ten days. Later she served on the Regional Teaching Committee for the Central States, and also was a delegate for many years to the Bahá’í Annual Conventions.
The visit of Dr. and Mrs. Slater to the Bahá’í Shrines on Mt. Carmel and ‘Akká,
Ida Boulter Slater
Palestine, in 1927, was another great spiritual event in their lives. There they had the privilege of being guests of the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, for about nineteen ddys. He entrusted them with a sacred mission in allowing them to bring With them on their return to America, rugs from the Shrines of the B511) and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on Mt. Carmel, and a letter addressed to Albert R. Windust, Chairman of the Chicago Bahá’í Spiritual Assembly, containing instructions to open the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois for public meetings, to furnish the Foundation Hall of the Temple, and to hang on the walls these rugs which they had so carefully, devotedly and even prayerfully carried with them every step of the way from the Holy Land. Bahá’ís will never forget the devotion and loyalty and sincerity and strict obedience with which this mission was fulfilled. Very few now in this material world, could, we venture to say, understand the depth of their spiritual emotion as they realized how the protection of the Holy Spirit o’er shadowed
them. Their recognition and appreciation of the Pure Bounty bestowed upon them was ever present.
The effect of the Bahá’í Teachings on Mrs. Slater’s life was most definitely manifest in the way she traveled “The Path paved by Bahá’u’lláh”, for during the years she lived an active Bahá’í life she rose to great spiritual heights, she functioned always on an increasingly higher level where severance and sacrifice and devotion to the Holy Threshold of the Almighty became the ”normal accent of life.”
During her long illness she had a courage born of the spirit, and endured severe trials and tribulations as if they were real gifts. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, “Tests create holy souls,” and so it was evident to all during her last days in Columbia Hospital in Chicagoeven among all those strangers there—-that she was truly a holy soul and that she would ever be remembered for her kindness, her gentleness, her uncomplaining spirit, her graciousness. She indeed was “a manifest sign for the religion of God,”——and, to the
Frank E.
Bahá’ís who knew her well, she was a living proof of the transforming power of Bahá’u’lláh.
Early in her Bahá’í life, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave her the name “Gohar,” meaning Pearl. She had truly found the pearl of priceless value in the Bahá’í Teachings, and the beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Reader of hearts, knew she would remain firm and steadfast within the Fold of the ABHA Kingdom.
Mariam Haney.
The American Bahá’í community suffered the loss, a short time ago, of one of the early believers in the Faith through the death of Frank Edward Osborne of Brooklyn, New York.
Mr. Osborne received the Bahá’í Message of the new Day of God in 1899 from Mr. George Witte, who had attended the earliest classes held in New York City. Mr. Wittc
Osborne
was very active in teaching at that time and introduced all of the men with whom he was associated, in the shop where he worked, to the knowledge of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. A few of them accepted the Faith and were for many years very active themselves in spreading the Teachings; and among them Mr. Osborne was outstanding.
He was a member of the first Bahá’í Board of Council of New York City, and served almost continuously as its secretary from the time it was organized until about the middle twenties. He also served as secretary on the Board of Council of Brooklyn, N. Y. as long as that body was in existence.
He had the inestimable honor of meeting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His visit to America and was accorded, with his family, an interview.
A Valuable service which he was peculiarly fitted to render was to serve at one time as chairman of the New York Archives Committee. Most of the Bahá’í history of
James F.
New York was within his personal experience and had been recorded by him during his secretaryship.
Mr. Osborne came from a background of New England pioneers, of English stock. Perhaps it was due to that spirit of religious devotion which brought those Puritan settlers across the ocean to people a new land, that this son of theirs was enabled to recognize the Manifestation of God for this day. He was born in Oxford, N. Y. on October 12, 1859 and ascended to the supreme world at Brooklyn, N. Y. on December 24, 1941.
From the time that he accepted Bahá’u’lláh as his Lord, he served Him unswervingly and devotedly.
JAMES F. MORTON BY M. H. James F. Morton was born in Littleton, Mass., on October 18, 1870, and died October 7, 1941, as a result of a traflic accident; he was hit by an automobile as he was walk Morton
ing along the highway in Totowa Borough near Paterson, New Jersey.
Mr. Morton had been curator of the . Paterson, N. J. Museum since 1925; he was also an author of several books and poems, a pamphleteer and lecturer.
He received his Bachelor of Arts and Masters degrees at Harvard University, from which institution he graduated cum laude in 1892. Two years later he graduated from the School of Expression; thereafter he lectured on literary and social topics. Some time was also given to journalism, as he was a reporter on The Boston Globe and Pacific Coast papers.
He was a descendant of one of America’s oldest families. One of his ancestors, the Rev. Samuel Francis Smith, was the author of “America.”
For many years Mr. Morton was a follower of the Bahá’í Faith, and his articles appearing from time to time in The Babti’z' Magazine were much appreciated and widely read. His clear presentation of the necessity for a
renewing of religion proved that this theme was nearest his heart.
"The Bahá’í Cause comes as a blessing to all, with good will to every preceding form of divine worship,” 3 statement oft repeated in private and public addresses, especially to Esperanto groups. His interest in aiuniversal auxiliary language was well known.
From one of his articles published in T1]? Bahá’í Magazine this quotation is particularly interesting:
"The world awaits new methods, a new spirit pulsing with a deeper life than it has known . . . The divine plan never fails; but it requires new steps, as the world becomes prepared for larger expressions and applications of the One Eternally True Message . . . The Messenger of the present day has arisen in an epoch when all things are again becoming new, and when the intellects of men, bafiled and bewildered by their own gigantic discoveries inventions, have vainly sought satisfaction in the tenets and the forms which were sufficient for their fathers.
"Hence5 the Message of our day is a majestic synthesis of all the truths revealed in the preceding revelations, together with clear and comprehensive applications of the principles of spiritual truth to the needs and the problems of the whole world of humanity. It offers a firm foothold for the restless spirit of inquiry, and meets the challenge of skeptical investigation with patient and lucid exposition as satisfying to the pure reason as its marvelous vision of Divine Glory is inspiring to the spirit of religious emotion. The altar to the Unknown God is no longer vacant, but is radiant with Celestial Glory.”
Mr. Morton was well known by the Bahá’ís in New York and New Jersey, and in Philadelphia and Washington, D. C. He spoke at Bahá’í meetings in many East» em cities, and will always be remembered for his great sincerity, his kindly spirit, and his loyalty to the Truth. May he receive that reward which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá refers to in these words:
“When you break a glass on which the sun shines, the glass is broken, but the sun still shines . . . The same is true of the spirit of man. Though death destroys his body, it has no power over his spirit which
and
is eternal, everlasting, both birthless and deathless . . .” "The reward of that Other World is nearness to God.”
HARRY RAVER,
THE BLIND CRUSADER
BY MARY HOTCHKISS BODE
“O thou possessor of a seeing heatt! Although, materially speaking, thou art destitute of physical sight, yet, praise be to God, spiritual insight is thy possession. Thy heart seeth and thy spirit heareth . . . ”
Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a Tablet to a blind believer.
Today I have visited a saint. As I opened the door (which is never locked) of the simple California bungalow With its sign announcing to all who pass that therein lives and works a "Busy Blind,” I felt I was entering a sanctuary where peace and repose could be found and the spirit and mind become refreshed and encouraged. ‘
As I became aware of the fine, sensitive face, the broad forehead and generous head, eyes that had lost their outer sight, the long slender body tranquilly awaiting me, I felt the power of an illumined spirit rush out and envelop me with a welcoming warmth. Such was Harry Raver; uUncle” Harry to thousands of blind and helpless, and to the Bahá’ís a great and noble person who had accepted the world’s acclaim with calm detachment, and tribulation and adversity without fear or plaint, content with the Will of God.
During my association with this rare person I witnessed his spirit working through
'an almost shattered body, spreading the
Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, and at the same time cheering, encouraging and improving the conditions of suffering humanity.
Mr. Raver was connected with the theater for thirty-five years finding his way there from the circus, which he joined at the age of twelve. From this beginning he fought his way upward until he attained an eminent position in the theater, collaborating in the production of many well known plays and having numerous theaters
~under his management.
Being always a man of broad vision,
Harry Raver
he was among the first in America to see the possibilities of the motion picture and applied all of his imaginative capabilities to its promotion, in the formative period of this industry. Seeing always beyond the usual, the tried, he imported many foreign films of great beauty and artistry, which were immediately acclaimed in this country. Among these was Gabrielle d’Annunzio’s great picture “Cabiria” and this, the first film to be exhibited at the White House, he was privileged to show before President and Mrs. Wilson. This priirilege made it possible, some time later, for him to aid in securing the President’s permission to write the story of his life for the films. He guided innumerable pioneering enterprises to a successful conclusion, attracting men of distinction and ability to association with him in all that he did. His effort was never for himself alone as it was a part of his nature to use his vision and good judgment to help others achieve their goal. This he did, in many Cases, with no thought or desire for return; but the gratitude of one whom he had so assisted brought a valued return, years later, as it was through this medium he was enabled to give, over the air, the
Words of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Overwork and strain caused a complete breakdown and forced him to go to Florida in an effort to regain his health. Out of this experience came time to search his soul and he began to find the deep spiritual knowledge that became so much a part of him. It was also there he received a letter from hisbroker announcing that all he had of material wealth was gone, wiped out.
Still broken in health, he came to California and opened an antique shop, displaying the many fine pieces he had collected from time to time. Among these was a string of rare Baluchistan black amber beads. One day these beads attracted the eye of a Bahá’í who happened to be passing. Being an archeologist and recognizing their background and their value, he entered the shop. Mr. Raver told of this meeting with a little chuckle, “I had always been interested in philosophy and so with my interest in philosophy and this Bahá’í’s interest in my Baluchistan beads we were drawn together and had many fine talks. He told me of Bahá’u’lláh, and one day he told me I was a Bahá’í!”
Harry Raver had sought for truth through
many philosophies and was a prepared soul to receive the challenge of the Bahá’í Message. "It was easy for me to become a believer in Bahá’u’lláh,” he stated quite simply, and added that whenhe read in the newspapers of 1912 the reported accounts of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s talks he thought "That is something I have always believed.”
He minimized a major tragedy by whim sically saying, “You know, I placed the .
Bahá’í books in my shop and then wore out my remaining good eye trying to read every one of them.”
Feeling the urge to remain ever useful, not allowing frailty or affliction to limit him, he pushed on and put his talents to work writing many radio programs, persuading those for whom he wrote to broadcast sections of "The Goal of the New World Order,” and was repaid by requests for further broadcasts along these lines.
As he became acutely aware of the needs of the blind he had an overpowering desire to help them, and evolved a radio program, naming it “Cheer—Up” and dedicating it to inspiring and educating the blind and handicapped to "come out of their corners,” to broaden their horizons and become selfsupporting. He knew that happiness was their need, so gave of his own, having learned well and followed faithfully the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "There is a star of happiness in every heart, let us remove the clouds so it may twinkle radiantly.” He knew their 'need to hear of their Lord and from this program, every week for a number of years, he radioed out over the ether waves the Teachings of the Blessed Perfection, Bahá’u’lláh. He invited Bahá’í guest speakers to partake of the privilege of this great service; Mme. Barney, Mrs. French, Mrs. Gibson and Mr. Hatch spoke to the blind of the beauty of the Great Day in which they were living.
The blind have been stimulated by this program to “carry on” and have learned trades and crafts that have earned them regular amounts; and Harry Raver, their kindly, courageous friend, to whom they could always turn and receive help, earned their deep love and respect for his Faith, as his teaching was based on deeds. He gave them hope and earned their eternal gratitude.
He was very fond of the following prayer, which he one day gave me, saying, "I have a prayer which I use when in a dilemma and it clears things up for me,
“ (O God! O God! Open Thou the gate, prepare the means, make straight the path, pave the way and supply my need!’
“If the gate is open so that you can see, the way is clear. If the way is paved, you won’t stumble, and if the need is supplied, that’s all we need.”
EPILOGUE.
To Harry Rush Raver, who died September 14, 1941, this sonnet was written,
by a Bahá’í friend.
My song is sad today, for yesternight
Died one I’ve known and loved through many years One who had faced Life’s plaudits—and its jeers With calm disdain! knight,
With arms e’er ready to embrace the cause
Of those who sorrowed; He would still their fears Their hopefulness and courage re-unite,
Enduing them with strength to wage the fight
To shield their brothers from both grief and
tears!
He was a flawless
I do not grieve that he is gone—I find
That I myself ‘would ask no moment’s pause If I might go, and going, leave behind
So grand a record for the world’s applause,
As this man leaves, who was both ill—and
blind!
Harry Raver’s beautiful and heroic service was ended abruptly by the hand of an assassin who entered his unlocked door, as he lay on his couch, and brutally attacked and robbed him, leaving him in such a serious condition that after ten days of grievous suffering he slipped away. At the last one who loved and always assisted him in his labors for the blind, held his paralyzed hand and repeated the Greatest Name. On the last syllable of the ninety-fifth mention of this Name, Harry Raver was released and his spirit winged its way to meet his
Lord, \Vhom he had served so well and so lovingly.
Before becoming unconscious he pleaded for mercy for his assailant, saying, “He must have needed the money so much more than I did.”
Though the skill of the physicians failed to bring him to consciousness, he would come out of his coma whenever “Alláh—uAbhá” was repeated. Shortly before the end he heard the Name of Bahá’u’lláh mentioned and in a clear, strong voice asked, u\Who speaks of Bahá’u’lláh?” and uWhat' is said of Him?”
In life his only thought was of Bahá’u’lláh and at the moment of his passing he lingered to tell once more of Him. He truly was one of whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke in His Tablet, "Thy heart seeth and thy spirit heareth.”
SYDNEY SPRAGUE
BY WILLARD P. HATCH
His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has written: “True life is not the life of the flesh but the life of the spirit. . . . This life knoweth no death, and this existence is crowned by immortality. Even as it hath been said: ‘He who is a true believer liveth both in this world and in the world to come.’ ”
Sydney Sprague lived in this world, and lives now in the world to come. He was born into this world in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in the year 1875; he ascended to his heavenly home Monday, August 16th, 1943, at the age of 68 years. His body rests in Inglewood Cemetery, Inglewood, a town adjacent to Los Angeles, California. His grave is beside that of Tom Collins, husband of Amelia Collins, and lies just across the road from the grave of Thornton Chase, “First Bahá’í of America.”
The Bahá’ís of Los Angeles, California, to which Bahá’í community Sydney Sprague returned in 1941, after 28 years of absence from membership in the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, quickly learned to love their newly reinstated Bahá’í brother. Some saw the great humility it.took for him to turn his back upon his error, of which so many in the Cause knew, and to return to their companionship in the Truth.
The distinguished Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, was reported to have warned the believers that no one should reproach Sydney Sprague with the past. The friends heeded this advice. Tenderly, they guided his feeble steps, as he left the automobile which brought him to the Bahá’í Feasts and meetings. They provided him with an armchair to make him comfortable while he was with them. They, too, rejoiced in his evident happiness at being once more in the company of the friends of God.
Some of the Bahá’ís knew that there was recorded in the papers of Thornton Chase :1 copy of a Tablet written by the beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in which He had stated that Sydney Sprague, as he neared the end of his life, would return to the Bahá’í Faith. The friends were happy to realize the fulfillment of this prophecy. They were appreciative of the fact that those last days of Sydney Sprague’s Bahá’í life were to be spent in Los Angeles.
How glad the friends were to visit their dear brother. They found him like a thirsty traveller newly rescued from a desert. He drank in, through his eager questioning, the facts which brought him up to date in his knowledge of what had occurred in the Faith of God in the years intervening since his own close association with its dramatic history. In this effort also, he was best assisted by reading the uW/orld Order of Bahá’u’lláh,” pamphlets by Shoghi Effendi. These formed the best bridge by which he could cross over the gap between the days of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the heroic age of the Faith, and the present transitional period of the Guardianship, in which the Bahá’í Administrative Order becomes the “cradle” for the future, spiritual Bahá’í commonwealth.
The believers, in their turn, also learned from Sydney Sprague. They heard from his own lips the story of how he fell ill from fever while traveling for the Faith in India; of how he lay helpless in bed in that far-off country, and of how an Oriental Bahá’í came to nurse him. This Oriental, spiritual brother remained faithfully with Mr. Sprague until he recovered. But, in the meantime, the fever had passed from the patient to his nurse and the nurse failed
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Sydney Sprague
to withstand its attack. When the nurse died, Mr. Sprague became the first Occidental Bahá’í for whom an Oriental Bahá’í had sacrificed his life.
After his own passing, the press of Los Angeles carried items concerning Sydney Sprague that its world of readers would most likely be interested in noting—that world which, for the most part, is so heedless of spiritual truth, a fact to which His Holiness Jesus testified when He said: ”Let the dead bury their dead.”
There was no mention in the newspapers of the happiness that came to Sydney Spraguc When he returned to the Bahá’í Faith and thus to that eternal spiritual life which is theirs who accept the Manifestation of God in the Day of His Dispensation. These papers wrote that Sydney Sprague had been an author, lecturer, and composer. They stated that, at twenty—three, he had studied at the Sorbonne, Paris, France; that he was at one time a “free lance” writer, and, as such, ”covered,” in France, the trial of Captain Dreyfus, and the funeral of Emile Zola. The press also stated that in Persia Mr. Sprague had taught music to the daughters of the ruling Lhah; that he is credited with having later introduced Persian music to the Occident.
Since every useful work that one does is acceptable to God, in its fullest sense, only after the individual has achieved faith in his Creator and the knowledge and love of God, these deeds of Sydney Sprague now weigh heavily in his credit. As Jesus stated: “But rather seek ye the Kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
The newspapers had not stated how difficult affairs had gradually become for Sydney Sprague, during his period of absence from his Faith. They passed by his financial losses in his attempt to become a producer of plays. They said nothing of his being swept into failure and into debt. They failed to remark on his being afflicted with apoplexy. They did not mention his ever growing yearning to return to the Bahá’í Faith, the proof of his understanding of the purpose and work of all of the
Prophets of God Who had preceded the Bab and Bahá’u’lláh. But to the Bahá’ís, this intense longing to return had become known and was understood. They encouraged it.
There came a day when the power of his innermost heart longing surmounted some difficulties. In 1931, Sydney Sprague appeared at the home of this writer in the city of Los Angeles. He introduced himself, he stated his wish to return to the Bahá’í Cause. He was advised to get in touch with the Guardian of the Faith, as his was an internationally known case. This action, after 10 years more of troubles, Sydney Sprague succeeded in accomplishing. He expressed to the Guardian his acceptance of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, of the Guardianship, and of the spiritual Bahá’í Administrative Order.
The repentance of Sydney Sprague was sincere; it was accepted. Word of it was sent to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. The news that he was to be readmitted was conveyed to the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the City of Los Angeles, California. Sydney Sprague, to the joy of those concerned, was reinstated by this Spiritual Assembly to full membership in the Los Angeles Bahá’í community, with the approval of the National Spiritual Assembly, in the year 1941. This was the 47th year of the Bahá’í classes in America. It was the 97th year of the Bahá’í Revelation in the world.
His Holiness Jesus recited to His disciples the parable of the man who had two sons, the younger of whom became a prodigal. He departed from the homestead, while the older son remained at home. When the prodigal repented, it was for him that the father killed the fatted calf. The elder son had always had the companionship of the father, an all-sufficient recompense. The prodigal son had been lost. He had been counted as one dead. This prodigal had returned. He was as one resurrected from a tomb.
His Holiness Baha’u’llah once wrote: "How often hath a sinner, at the hour of death, attained to the essence of faith, and, quaffing the immortal draught, hath taken
his flight unto the celestial Concourse. And how often hath a devout believer, at the hour of his soul’s ascension, been so changed as to fall into the nethermost fire.”
Sydney Sprague, who had gone out from the "impregnable fortress” of the home, or Faith, of the divine Father, had returned to the Cause of God over two years before he passed through the portals of earthly death. He is now in the realms of eternal, spiritual life. Having died firm in his Faith, he is happy in the certainty of Divine forgiveness. "He hath taken his flight unto the celestial Concourse.” “All praise be to Thee, O God, my Lord, the
-most glorious.”
CAROLE LOMBARD GABLE
People who knew Carole Lombard will tell you of her amazing vitality. They cannot imagine her as not living. They say the films do not show her as she really was, that because of her coloring and vibrant quality she was more beautiful in real life.
The daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth Knight Peters, she was born Carol Jane Peters, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. At seven she was brought by her mother to Los Angeles with her two older brothers, Frederick and Stuart. As a young girl she won medals in the Los Angeles schools for sprinting and jumping. She appeared in school plays, attended a drama school, obtained roles in the movies, in 1930 was placed under contract by Paramount, and by 1936 was a top ranking star. Miss Lombard was twice married; in 1933 she became the wife of William Powell, but their careers gave them little time together and a divorce resulted two years later; in 1939 she married Clark Gable.
Carole Lombard’s closest Bahá’í friend
was the well-known teacher, Mrs. Beulah
Storrs Lewis, who writes: “The Carole who
longed to meet and know her Lord, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
the Carole who planned to see Him,
the Carole who spoke with the writer of
the service she wanted to render her Lordthis
Carole few people knew.” Carole attended
Mrs. Lewis’ classes held in Mrs. Peters’
home; at fourteen she wrote the Master of
her love for Him, her ambitions and longings,
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636
teams. .m‘x‘ . .
and she said, "‘If only He approves, I shall not fail.” His Tablet came, praying for her success. Mrs. Lewis writes, “Carole never failed to give credit to her Lord.” Miss Lombard in later years rote to the Guardian—the tone was that of a child writing to its father, Mrs. Lewis says and received his answer.
Mrs. Lewis taught many persons of the Cause in Miss Lombard’s home. On the threshold of what was to be her last journey, Carole Lombard had a long talk with her friend; she spoke of her desire to see the Faith spread, and discussed plans for a trip across the United States in its interest.
Carole Lombard’s acceptance of the Faith is recorded in the April, 1938, issue of the Los Angeles Bahá’í newsletter. Mrs. Lewis states that both mother and daughter came into the Faith because of their_great love for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. After many visits with Carole, Mrs. Lewis told her: “The time has come for you to stand up on this earth openly and declare your Faith.” She answered, “Well, Beulah, I am ready if you
Carole Lombard Gable
flea as 1 iv 9‘
Will take me to the Center and stay with me.”
Mrs. Sara Kenny, then a member of the Los Angeles Assembly, describes Carole Lombard as she appeared that night. She looked very young, in a simple tailored suit; usually so vital, now she was subdued and reverent, "like a bride.” Later that night Carole, her face streaming, said to Mrs. Lewis: “I have acted many parts, I have been in many plays, but this is the greatest act of my life, this is why I was born.”
Miss Lombard was famous for her democratic attitude, her lack of ostentation; at home she liked to wear simple clothes, and her three cars were all Fords. ' She was a good hostess; an eminent judge who met her socially describes her as an intelligent conversationalist, and well—read. She was popular for plain speaking and hatred of sham. Marked character traits were her sense of humor and her love of practical jokes. Most important were her continual acts of kindness.
After the plane crash which took the
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IN MEMORIAM
lives of both Carole Lombard and her mother, a brother asked Mrs. Lewis to assist in selecting the memorial readings. The Los Angeles Assembly likewise appointed a committee to offer Bahá’í participation on this occasion. In this way the words of Baha’: u’llah beginning “I hav’e made death even as glad-tidings . . .” and “O Son of Man! Thou art My dominion and My dominion perisheth not . . .” were read as part of the memorial at Forest Lawn.
Carole Lombard died in the service of her country. For this, tributes were paid her editorially, both in the New York Times and the New York Herald—Tribune, and she was publicly commended by Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. She had been on a bond-selling tour and was nearing exhaustion. At the State House, Indianapolis, in a few hours she had sold two million dollars worth of bonds. With Mrs. Petets and her press representative she boarded a plane for home. On the evening of January 16, 1942, miners in the Nevada mountains heard a terrific explosion; then they saw flames shoot from a peak, and vanish. Some fourteen hours later, rescuers had toiled up almost vertical slopes to the wrecked transport. They found the pine trees burned for yards around, and a Wide pit melted in the snow. There were no survivors.
She was a second generation Bahá’í. Her mother had been brought into the Faith by Mrs. Orol Platt, and as a child Carole often served at Bahá’í gatherings held at Mrs. Platt’s Los Angeles home. Mrs. Platt remembers how happy Carole was when the Master’s Tablet came, saying that He would pray for her to be an actress, and a successful one.
MiR ‘ALi A$G_HAR FARiDi USKI’Ji
Mir ‘Ali Asghar Faridi Uskfii, a true and faithful Bahá’í and pioneer, was famed for his sincerity and trustworthiness and charity among friends and non—Bahá’ís alike. He met the Master in person, visited the Holy . Shrines, and received many Tablets from the Blessed Beauty and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. At Adifirbéyjén and ‘Tshqébad, at Tashkand and Mashhad, wherever he settled, he quickly distinguished himself by his zeal, his activity,
Mir ‘Ali Asghar Faridi Uskt’ii
and hospitality. His service and selflessness promoted him to the Spiritual Assembly of whatever locality he resided in and thus he continued to a very advanced age when infirmities checked his long career of useful service and he finally ascended to the spiritual Kingdom km the 11th of May, 1942.
NARAYENRAO RANGNATH (SHETHJI) VAKIL, (B.A., LLB.)
1866-1943
“(1) share fully (the) poignant grief (of the) Indian Bahá’í community (at the) passing (of) its distinguished champion, firm pillar, able teacher (and) administrator, beloved Vakil (stop) (The) concourse on high acclaim his pioneer (and) historic services (stop) (I) advise (you to) hold befitting memorial gatherings (as a) recognition (of) and (a) tribute (to) his high station. . . . Shoghi Rabbani.”
His Bahá’í friends referred to him as Mr.
Vakil, although he belonged to the well— ‘
known Shethji family of Navsari, an important
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principality in Baroda, the progressive Indian State under the Mahratta Prince, the Gaikwad of Baroda.
He was the first person from the Hindu community to identify himself with the Bahá’í activities in India, and the first Indian Bahá’í to address an All-India religious conference. He was the first president of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India and Burma, and enjoyed such universal confidence that in spite of ill health in the later years, but for a single exception, he was re-elected President of the N.S.A. year after year. Only four days ago he had been re-elected President, and the healing prayer offered for him by his loving colleagues, when he passed away on 2nd May, 1943, aged 57 years. He was born at Navsari in 1866 A.D.
He was a graduate of the Elphinstone College, the premier college of Bombay, and a graduate in Law of the Bombay University. He was an Advocate of the Bombay High Court, and one of the senior legal Practitioners of Surat, where he practiced for 30 years. He was universally respected for his sobriety and integrity and he was well
Narayenrao Rangnath Vakil
known for putting the interests of his clients first. Whenever he found that the parties had really no cause for action, or, that although they had a cause but the matter could be settled better out of court, he exercised his personal influence to bring about a compromise out of court. This led to his being elected a City Father at one of the Municipal elections, but as it encroached upon the time that he was giving to the Bahá’í Cause, he persuaded his admirers to leave him out at the next elections. For a short while he was similarly appointed Assistant Government Pleader, because of his detached outlook.
He came to hear of the Bahá’í Cause in
December, 1908. The story of his initiation
is of more than personal importance, so it
may be told here. Incidentally the year
1909 marks a fresh milestone in the history
of the Bahá’í Cause in India, and three
students of the Elphinstone College who
joined the Indian Bahá’í community in the,
course of three consecutive months that
year through one of the most outstanding
Bahá’í Teachers of Persia (Mirza Mahram
Iṣfahání) have rendered considerable services
[Page 639]
in close collaboration throughout the ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Muhammad Ridé Shírázi (who later came to be known as Professor Shírázi) was studying at the Elphinstone College, Bombay. The Bahá’í Hall was located at 29 Forbes Street, on the 3rd (top) floor. (This has since been rebuilt and the present number is 26.) It was within a few minutes walking distance of the college, being immediately east of the Equestrian Statue of King Edward VII.
Mirza Mahram was the resident Bahá’í teacher. He had so arranged matters that every day ten or fifteen college students came to see him and try their dialectic strength. Mirzá Mahram had become known throughout the city for his short, convincing and irrefutable repartees, as well as his learned and‘ highly illuminating discourses. Mr. fiirézi Was one of those students who was proud of his powers of discussion and repartee; and Mirza Mahram found in him an apt student for being made into a Bahá’í teacher.
It was Mirzá Mahram’s invariable practice to start his students on a course of teaching from the very first week. He used to advise his students to consult their fellow students and further test out With their help What seemed to them irrefutable in his arguments. Mr. Vakil was one of those intelligent, sober minded fellow students whom Mr. Shírázi selected for this purpose. Thus was started the life long friendship and collaboration between these two star servants of the Cause in India.
Mr. Lhirazi resided at the Anjuman-iIslam hostel at Bori Bunder, and Mr. Vakil at the Elphinstone College hostel at Apollo Bunder. But every day, these friends went out for a morning walk together on the sea shore, and discussed what Mirzá Mahram had told Mr. Shírázi. One day, in January, 1909, Mr. Vakil declared to Mr. shirézi that he had no further inclination left for picking holes in the arguments of Mirza Mahram, and that he was desirous of joining the Bahá’í movement (as it was then known).
Mr. Vakil went to see Mirza Mahram in company With Mr. S__hirazi, and declared to him that he had become a Bahá’í. But
639
Mirzá Mahram was not the person to be satisfied with a lip declaration. He believed in making each new-comer a living link in an interminable chain of effective teachers. He said to Mr. Vakil “If you want me to believe that you have intelligently accepted the station of Bahá’u’lláh, then prove it to me by leading your friends and neighbors to accept Him as you have accepted Him. If you cannot do this by yourself, then, you can at least make them sufficiently interested to come to me with you and continue their enquiries.”
Thus, in January, 1909, Mr. Vakil Was started on his career as a Bahá’í teacher, and continued teaching throughout his life. An indefatigable urge to teach the Cause, in spite of obstacles and handicaps, has been the outstanding characteristic of those who have been taught by Mirza Mahram.
In 1910, A.D., a very big exhibition was held at Allahabad. This included an AllIndia Religious Conference. Siyyid Mustafé Rumi, the Grand Old Pioneer, was to represent the Bahá’ís and read an address, which had been printed for distribution to' the delegates. But, he had a strong attack of bronchitis, and was unable to read it himself. He requested the Spiritual Assembly of Bombay to send some one; and Mr. Vakil was sent. This was the beginning of that close relationship and collaboration between Mr. Vakil and the local Spiritual Assembly of Bombay, which lasted to the end of his days; so that whenever the Assembly took up any work which needed the collaboration of some Bahá’í who knew English well, and who could be relied upon to safeguard the interests of the Cause to the utmost, they always asked Mr. Vakil to help.
Allahabad, under its ancient Hindu name uPrayag” still rivals Benares in holiness, and as a place of pilgrimage. It is situated at the confluence of the two most sacred rivers of India, the Ganges and the Jumna. A dip in either is sufficient to wash away the life—long sins of a Hindu devotee. So, think of the incalculable eflicacy of the Waters at the confluence.
The All-India Religious Conference
(1910) was held on the banks of the Jumna
—near its confluence with the Ganges. Mr.
Vakil, to all outward appearances an ortho
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640
dox Hindu, read out the History and teachings of the Báb, Bahá’u’llz’lh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, at Prayag. It created a great stir among the delegates, who took with them the Glad Tidings of the Appearance to all corners of India and Burma. The printed pamphlet helped them to refresh their memory, and supplied them the addresses of Bahá’í Assemblies whence they could get some more Bahá’í literature.
A Brahmin from South India, Who attended the Conference, maintained touch with Mr. Vakil, and We have it on the authority of the latter’s autobiographical note, that Mr. Vakil kept on sending books and pamphlets until he decided to join the Bahá’í community. Thus, the first AllIndia Religious Conference to be addressed by a Bahá’í was by a Hindu son of the soil; and the first to respond to that call was a member of the hereditary Hindu priesthood.
Mr. Vakil was a prolific correspondent. He loved to write and receive letters. For almost 15 years his were the only letters that disseminated all sorts of Bahá’í news to the outlying parts of India. Whenever he heard of any occurrence of outstanding interest to the Bahá’ís in India, he would issue a typed circular to all who were on his mailing list. Some of his friends have happily maintained files of Vakil’s correspondence, and any historian who refers to these letters would find many items of permanent interest recorded there; which have been forgotten by contemporaries. The names of those whom Mr. Vakil interested in the Cause during his many teaching tours, and with whom he maintained contact by correspondence, some of whom declared their complete attachment to the Cause, would be of special interest to those actively interested in establishing groups and centres throughout India.
Mr. ,Vakil Was of a highly devotional temperament. He used to pray intensely for the illumination of those whom he tried to teach. He wrote to his friends always beseeching their prayers in his own behalf. During his travels, he contrived to find time, and wrote long letters to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—almost half of which were filled with “I pray that so-and-so may be confirmed in his belief—or—that so—and-so
THE -Bahá’í WORLD
may be assisted by the Unseen Hosts.”
In 1919 the first Convention was organized. Some Bahá’ís of Poona, with the concurrence of the local Spiritual Assembly of that city, had received the blessings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for holding a Convention. Mr. fihirazi, Mirzá Mahmud and Mr. Vakil played an outstanding part in organizing it, although many other Bahá’ís from India and Burma helped to make it a really memorable success. Being near Bombay and the Convention being held there, Mr. Vakil handled most of the work in EnglishMirza Mahmud Zarqani handling the Persian side. When the monthly magazine, “Bahá’í News,” (Persian section being called Al-Bisharat) was published, Mr. Vakil took a prominent part in organizing it. When the Convention elected an executive committee for 1922—1923, A.D., Mr. Vakil was its President, and when its name was changed to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India and Burma, he was its first President. Since then, till 1943, he was re-elected President every year, except once, When Siyyid Mustafé Rfimi was elected President of the N. S. A.
In 1914 Mr. Vakil voyaged by sea to Palestine, and was photographed with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a group, Prof. fiirézi and Mirzá Mahmud also being present in the group.
In 1924, Mr. Vakil went on his second pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This time Mrs. Jasodha Vakil, Miss Sushila Vakil and Miss Kapila Vakil also accompanied him. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had passed away. His beloved successor—Shoghi Rabbani was there. The greatest Holy Leaf gave her blessings to the family, bestowing on them the names of Bahíyyih, Bahirih and Táhirih respectively By these new names they have loved to be known since.
Since the passing of Mr. Vakil, his wife and two daughters have shown exemplary strength in every thing, and they are happy, now, to count Surat among cities that have developed into administrative centres with a full fledged Local Spiritual Assembly.
Mr. Vakil went out on an extensive teaching tour immediately after the first convention, visting Agra, Cawnpore, Allahabad, Benares, Calcutta, Shantiniketan, and Dacca,
[Page 641]
IN MEMORIAM
641
returning to Surat via Karachi. Later he attended the Brahmo Samaj Centenary at Calcutta with his Wife and daughter. North and South, East and West, he has toured India throughout its length and breadth proclaiming Yé-Bahá’u’l—Abhá. As late as 1940, he travelled with his wife daughters in support of the six year Plan of Teaching.
He had made it a practice to donate a fixed proportion of his income to the Bahá’í Funds. Whenever there was an appeal for funds, his was among the first donations received. On all the 9 holy days he sent something to the Funds. If, for any reason ——-e.g. the war—he could not remit his donations, he considered it a debt payable, of Which he kept a regular account. He would never allow any direct approach to individuals for funds, saying, everyone is paying all that is possible for everyone. If we ask for more, and he is unable to pay, we shall cause him shame. If he pays under personal pressure, we shall be the cause of inconvenience or hardship.
Mr. Vakil sponsored every charitable cause. When the America Persian Society
Alma Knobloch
and i
invited scholarships for frce-ships at the Tarbiyat School, Mr. Vakil communicated the appeal to everybody and secured some donations from Indian Bahá’ís, himself sharing one scholarship with a dear colleague.
Mr. Vakil had a heart full of love—love for each and all. But he also had a head. A perusal of his letters shows that he had thought out many of the plans which have come automatically into being during the last six years. There are some of his suggestions that still await the sympathetic consideration of his colleagues and successors. Perhaps they would be taken up at some future date.
(Signed) S. H. Koreshi.
June 9, 1944.
ALMA KNOBLOCH BY ROSA SCHWARTZ
Alma Knobloch, daughter of Karl and Amelia Knobloch, sister of Pauline Knobloch and Fanny Knobloch, passed into the Abhá Kingdom on December 22, 1943,‘at the age of eighty. She had been associated with the Cause since 1903 and had expended her
[Page 642]
64-2
utmost efforts to teach the Cause of God in Germany, as well as in America.
At the request of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Alma was delegated to take the Glad-Tidings of the advent of Bahá’u’lláh to the soul of the German people. The following are some of the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá concerning the undertaking.
"Thou hast written about Dr. Fisher, that praise be- to God, thou hast found a helper for him and ere long she will start for Germany. Truly I say, the beloved maid-servant of God, Miss Alma Knobloch, is very much acceptable for this servicethou hast done well to choose her. She is accepted by all means, but regarding her stay in Germany, she must stay as long as possible. Forward to this land a copy of every tablet translated into the German language. I hope that the endeavors and exertions of these two sisters, may display all-encircling effects.”
Signed: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá-‘Abbés.
She left in July, 1907, for Germany.
At first the message was spread by word of mouth only. When Alma went t9 Stuttgart, the homes of those interested were gladly thrown open to her and her wonderful news. The afternoon and evening gatherings were tremendous events in the lives of the friends, and, indeed, many a life was literally rocked as the Message of Bahá’u’lláh changed the direction and the purpose of that life; and through that change came an acceleration of life and the blessings of inner peace. Not a little part in this was the love and devotion with which Alma worked incessantly, always effacing her own strong personality and accenting the Spirit of Baha’u’llah.
Soon many young people in Stuttgart, Leipzig, Hamburg, and other cities, visited by Alma, arose and formed informal fireside groups, studied earnestly all material that was available, and many entered into correspondence with the Holy Family. The Bahá’í Faith took root in the hearts of these religiously educated souls, and through the effort and constant study Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed in Stuttgart, Esslingen, Zuffenhausen, Leipzig, and Gera.
The ‘ translation of new passages was awaited with avid interest and all with a
THE Bahá’í
WORLD
working knowledge of English offered their services. The way was not always easy, and Alma, in her fine, soft voice and well—bred manner, fought many a mental battle with the intelligentsia who had become interested. One could see the Bahá’í spirit at work in her, when some learned gentleman discussed in not always a gentle way, the different aspects of our Faith. Never once did Alma lose patience, and never once did she falter in her answers. The foundation of brotherhood was firmly cemented through prayer and combined effort.
Concerts and assemblies, held in public halls, brought this new Faith to the attention of the general public, and always the highlight of the evening was the speaker who introduced the Bahá’í Cause to an ever widening circle of souls.
Alma was in Germany before ‘Abclu’lBahá visited there, so the friends knew what a rare and wonderful privilege was accorded them, and also they became aware of the station of Alma. Her unceasing love and patience, kindness and unselfishness, gave ever new evidence of the Spirit of Bahá’u’lláh. When war was declared in 1914, Alma joined in the sufferings of her German brothers and sisters, descended into the damp cellars with them, hungered and froze with them, renounced her American citizenship (which she later resumed), in order to be free to travel in the service of our beloved Master; and indeed, the need for spiritual food was great at that time. Many evenings at the fireside meetings, the spiritual food was the only kind of food the friends had that day. But her emphatic, yet gentle, way of speaking and the tremendous power of the prayers, gave sustenance to their weak and hungry bodies.
Before Alma returned to America, she Visited Austria, Switzerland, London, and Paris. The groups in the different cities continued to flourish, and a steady correspondence was carried on between Alma and her spiritual children. Some of the German believers received Tablets from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, and these were all shared with the other believers.
The blessings of Baha’u’llah were in evidence; children’s groups or gardens, as they were called, were formed. Near Esslingen a
[Page 643]
IN ‘MEMORIAM
643
Philip Effendi Naimi
Bahá’í summer house was built, and friends from near and far came there to meet With other believers. A great day it was when the model of the Temple, that we see so gloriously in Wilmette now, was first shown at one of the gatherings.
When the new regime came to power in Germany, the Bahá’í faith was banned, the books confiscated, the Bahá’í house abandoned, the Spiritual Assemblies disbanded; but there remained that nucleus of faith which will never die, and when this conflict is finally ended, the Bahá’ís of Germany will rise anew, purified in fire, and work for the New Day, for the establishment of all that Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed.
The loving memory of our dear Alma Knobloch Will ever‘ linger in the hearts of the German believers; and their children and children’s children will remember her unselfish service in the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
PHILIP EFFENDI NAIMI
In Cairo, in 1913, Philip Effendi Naimi at the age of fifteen embraced the Bahá’í Faith. From then until his death on Jan. 8th, 1942, he remained a devoted and firm believer and rendered the Cause in Egypt many services. He was largely responsible for the establishment of the first Bahá’í Burial Ground in that country, negotiating with the Government authorities for its allotment to the Bahá’í Community.
Both in Port Sa‘id and Ismailia he was exposed to grave danger through the attacks of excited and fanatical mobs on the Bahá’ís on the occasion of the deaths of various believers who were refused burial in Muslim cemeteries. \He was at all times a courageous defender of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, championing its teachings and rights before friend and enemy alike.
After a serious operation, from the effects
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644 THE BAH
A
'i
WORLD
of Which he died, he gathered his nephews about him and addressed them as follows:
“I had great hopes of you but I am going away shortly! Know of a certainty that there is nothing in this life worth mention except serving the Cause. My earnest hope is that you will grow up and prepare yourselves for serving Bahá’u’lláh devotedly in a degree even greater than your parents did.”
The Hospital authorities summoned a priest to perform the last rites, but Philip Effendi Naimi, courageous and devoted to the last, turned to him and said: “I am a Bahá’í and I am no longer in need of your servxces.”
MUHAMMAD EFFENDI MUSSA
The passing of the late Muhammad Effendi Mussa of Port Sa‘id on August 23rd, 1939, at the age of 77 years was accompanied by a big disturbance which marked a glorious termination of a life which was once rich with services to the Cause.
He was one of those few early believers in Egypt who accepted the Cause in 1910. During the journey of the Beloved Master to Europe and America in 1911-1912 Mu Muhammad Effendi Mussa
. hammad Effendi Mussa was privileged by re ceiving the blessing of .‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Port Sa‘id. Since he embraced the cause he distinguished himself by historic activities, particularly teaching. Brave and valiant he was never frightened nor discouraged by the threatening forces of opposition.
In 1920 the fire of animosity was reenkindled; he was pelted with stones, beaten and wounded; and according to the advice of the Beloved Master he emigrated to Cairo where he settled for some years.
His last visit to the Holy Shrines in 1927 nourished his spirit with still more zeal and energy.
Firm in his belief he never ceased to utter the Greatest Name during the period of his illness.
On spreading the news of his passing away a big disturbance took place whereupon the masses attempted to set fire to his house and to burn the body which action the authorities could but hardly prevent. Finally, and during the night the body was secretly conveyed by the authorities to Ferdan, 40 miles distant from Port Sa‘id, where it was buried.
May his soul abide in eternal peace!
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IN MEMORIAM 645
IN MEMORIAM APRIL 1940 To APRIL 1944
Dr. Jeanette Matilsky, Portland, Ore.
Mrs. May Ruth Graham, Circleville, Ohio.
Mrs. Mabel Hume, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mr. Joseph Henry Inglesby, New York, N. Y.
Dr. Alfredo Warsaw, Washington, D. C.
Miss Ethelbert E. Jackson, Geneva, N. Y.
Mr. Fred J. Woodward, Washington, D. C.
Mrs. Zoreh Lathrop, Seattle, Wash.
Mrs. Caroline Lehman, West Gravenhurst, Can.
Mrs. Rosa B. Espey, Chicago, 111.
Mr. D. C. Wickham, Pentwater, Mich.
Mr. Inc. A. Roberson, St. Augustine, Fla.
Mrs. Helene Bagg Maxfield, Muskegon, Mich.
Mr. Louis Feltz, Milwaukee, Wis“
Miss Sarah R. Windust, Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Rosamond Baxter, Dunedin, Fla.
Mr. James Brittingham, New York, N. Y.
Mr. Thomas Macmechan, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Miss Amalie Tyler, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Mrs. Adelia Bartlett, Racine, Wis.
Mrs. Lida Harvey, Peoria, 111.
Mrs. Louise Leavett, Detroit, Mich.
Mrs. V. E. Shelford, Urbana, Ill.
Mr. Robert Harrison Weeks, Waukegan, Ill.
Mr. Clarence Yount, Huntington Park, 111.
Mr. Otho Wright, Huntington Park, Ill.
Mr. George Kuhlman, San Francisco, Calif.
Mrs. Doris Leete, Lima, Ohio.
Mr. Frederick R. Swift, Flushing, N. Y.
Mrs. E. Ledwell, Chicago, Ill.
Dr. Walter B. Guy, St. Augustine, Fla.
Mrs. Elizabeth Schwab, New York, N. Y.
Miss Elizabeth Muther, Honolulu, H. I.
Mr. LeRoy Rainboth, Richmond Highlands, Wash.
Mr. Adolph Chapman, Racine, Wis.
Mrs. Eflie M. Snyder, Seattle, Wash.
Mrs. Aura G. Gordon, Tucson, Ariz.
Mrs. Ella Beemer, Kenosha, Wis.
Mrs. Ella Bennett, Wauwatosa.
Mr. William Laurie, Halifax.
Mr. Roscoe Lamb, LaCanada, Calif.
Mrs. Elizabeth Farnier, Monroe, Wash.
Mrs. Annie Bartholomew, Wilmette, Ill.
Mrs. S. Shuey, Oakland, Calif.
Mr. Rowland Howard, Santa Monica, Calif.
Mrs. Katie A. Ellinger Nye, Topeka, Kans.
Mrs. Irma Johnson, Montclair, N. J.
Mrs. Peter Eckert, Milwaukee, Wis.
Mrs. Margaret Mills Sprague, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Rowena Cotton, Sacramento, Calif.
Mr. DeWitt Wickham, Pentwater, Mich.
Mrs. Katherine Fishback, Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Mary E. Lane, Baltimore, Md.
Miss Augusta Bachmann, Baltimore, Md.
Miss Alma Albertson, Greenville, Mich.
Mr. Charles Bonner, Peoria, Ill.
Mrs. Emily Keeler, Lowell, Arizona.
Dr. Nathan W. Collier, St. Augustine, Fla.
Mrs. Anna Ketterer Foster, Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Emma Lundberg, Chicago, 111.
Mrs. Belle L’Amourex, Binghamton, N. Y.
Mrs. Harriet Gibbs Marshall, Washington, D. C. .
Mr. Andrew Bowhill, Portland, Ore.
Mr. John Sherman, Milwaukee, Wis.
Mrs. Ada Lammersen, Chicago, 111.
Mr. Henry R. Hagermann, Miami Beach, Fla.
Mr. John W. Shirk, Denver, Colo.
Miss Gertrude E. Parvene Bohanan, Kenosha, Wis.
Mrs. Bertha West, Clearlake Highlands, Calif.
Miss Selma Paulson, Chicago, 111.
Dr. John F. King, Chicago, Ill.
Mr. Howard Colby Ives, Little Rock, Ark.
Mrs. Sylvia Bishop, San Francisco, Calif.
Mrs. Jeanette Hiatt Nash, Portlagd, Ore.
Mrs. Hasnn Abas, St. Paul, Minn.
Mrs. Lida S. Marryott, Jacksonville, Fla.
Mrs. J. M. Eaves, Indianapolis, Ind.
Mrs. Elizabeth Greenleaf, Eliot, Maine.
Mrs. Ida Mae Gillis, Chicago, 111.
Mrs. Millie Moorman, Muskegon, Mich.
Mrs. Charles Redeem, Millbrae, Calif.
Mrs. Martha Macbean, Montreal, Canada.
Mr. M. L. Mereness, Helena, Mont.
Mr. Henry Jersey, Lansing, Mich.
Mr. Will Graham, Circleville, Ohio.
Mr. Rowland M. Knight, Santa Rosa, Calif. (1940)
Mr. Harry Raver, Los Angeles, Calif.
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Mrs. Mary D. O’Shea, Pebble Beach, Calif. Mr. George L. Tarot, San Francisco, Calif. Mr. Amos Hostetler, Lima, Ohio. Mr. Ali Mazloom, Chicago, 111. Mrs. William F. Slater, Chicago, Ill. Mr. Edward H. Luberger, Milwaukee, Wis. Mrs. Anna Peterson, Kenosha, Wis. Mr. Elmer E. Miller, Atascadero, Calif. Mr. Frank Osborne, New York, N. Y. Miss Emma Claus, Springfield, Ill. Mrs. Louise Talbott, Freeport, N. Y. Mrs. Bessie McCauley, Danvillc, 111. Mrs. Elizabeth K. Peters, Los Angeles, Calif. Mrs. Clark Gable, Los Angeles, Calif. Mrs. George Ostburg, West Quincy, Mass. Mrs. Ida Watson, Chicago, Ill. Mr. Benjamin Taylor, Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Robert L. Gulick, Greenville, S. C. Dr. Nathan W. Collier, St. Augustine, Fla. Mr. Albert C. Engelder, Cleveland, Ohio. Miss Alice N. Parker, Pittsburgh, Pa. Mr. James F. Morton, Paterson, N. J. Mrs. Dorothy Engelder Graf, Philadelphia, Pa. Mrs. Louise Biggar Talbot, Freeport, L. I. Miss Hilda Gilbert, of Australia. Mrs. Elizabeth K. Peters, Los Angeles, Calif. Mr. Thurston Vaughn, New York, N. Y. Miss Charlotte E. Bingham, New York, N. Y. Mr. A. W. Randall, Vista, Calif. Mr. Will Stewart, Topeka, Kans. Mrs. S. D. Montgomery, Santa Maria, Calif. Mrs. Revella Ackerman, Riverside, Calif. Miss Ethel Byler, San Antonio, Texas. Mrs. Alma Russell, Evanston, 111. Mr. Johannes Anderson, Chicago, 111. Mr. Herman Huber, Chicago, 111. Mrs. Louis Keller, Lake Harbor, Mich. Mr. William J. Burnett, Glendale, Ariz. Mr. Richard Marshall, San Francisco, Calif. Mr. George Drum, Washington, D. C. Mrs. Idella Shirkey, Vista, Calif. Mrs. Frieda Kalfus, Los Angeles, Calif. Mrs. Samuel Rodman, Batavia, N. Y. Miss Gertrude Buikema, Chicago, Ill. Mrs. Alvina Ayres, Celena, Ohio. Mr. Emil De Litz, Racine, Wis. Mr. Ferdinand Peterson, Racine, Wis. Mr. Howard Russell Hurlbut, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Mrs. Lillian Viehstadt, East Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Harry Mory, Manitowoc, Wis.
THE Bahá’í
\VORLD
Mr. Hildorc Jellsctt, Seattle, Wash.
Mrs. Harriet Cline, Verdugo City, Calif.
Mr. Albert E. Lewis, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mrs. George L. Loeding, Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Mary A. Hoyt, Denver, Colo.
Mr. Rudolph Steinmetz, Minneapolis, Minn.
Mr. Oscar 0. Winter, Minneapolis, Minn.
Mrs. Faith Amberg, Baltimore, Md.
Mrs. Coralie Franklin Cook, Washington, D. C.
Mr. Richard Barnitz, Washington, D. C.
Mrs. Stella C. Dewart, St. Albans, Vt.
Dr. Florence McShane, Altadena, Calif.
Mrs. Elizabeth F. King, Indianapolis, Ind.
Mr. Oscar Charles Garrett, Chicago, 111.
Mrs. Flora F. Lybrand, Washington, D. C.
Mrs. J. Mackctt, Milwaukee, Wis.
Mrs. Anna Australia Jones, West Chester, Pa.
Mr. Oscar M. Clark, Clearlake Highlands, Calif. .
Mrs. Alice Alexahder, Upton, Mass.
Mrs. Ides Johnson, Mariposa, Calif.
Mrs. Ida Finch, Seattle, Wash.
Mrs. Irena Stevens, Topeka, Kans.
Mrs. Blanche A. Ledyard, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mrs. Edgar Meyer, Arvada, Colo.
Miss Marie Du Bedat, New York, N. Y.
Mr. Carl Rasmussen, Racine, Wis.
Mrs. Alice W. Alexander, Upton, Mass.
Mrs. Eliza Lewis, Boston, Mass.
Mr. Mathew Kaszab, Brownsville, Texas.
Miss Esther Foster, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Kate Morris, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Mary Munson, Portland, Ore.
Mrs. Catherine Tweed, Portland, Ore.
Mrs. Elizabeth Sutherland, River Forest, 111.
Mrs. Joseph Clevenger, New York, N. Y.
Mr. Hector Stevens, Topeka, Kans.
Mrs. Nicholas Marangella, Haworth, N. J.
Dr. B. C. Smith, Atascadero, Calif.
Miss Gwendolyn McReynolds, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Mrs. Carrie McGriff, Lima, Ohio.
Mrs. Muriel McComb, Glenwood Landing, N. Y.
Mrs. Lillian McClellan, Cleveland, Ohio.
Mrs. Emma L. Hinman, New Haven, Conn.
Mrs. Lela D. Kos, Chicago, Ill.
Mr. Louis Farrell, Sherbrooke, Quebec.
Miss Jean Anthony, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Lucy B. Price, Circleville, Ohio.
Mrs. Lillian James Price, Newark, N. J.
[Page 647]
IN MEMORIAM
Mrs. Clark R. Thompson, South Gate, Calif.
Mrs. Agnes Kahlke, Benton Harbor, Mich.
Mrs. Rebecca Dixon, Hillsboro, New Brunswick, Canada.
Mrs. Gertrude Walker Crowley, Salem, Mich.
Miss Florence A. Riedle, Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Lily Bow, Houston, Texas.
Mrs. Lucille Bates, Minneapolis, Minn.
Mrs. Annie K. Lewis, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Emma Idella Ralph, Portland, Ore.
Mrs. Hattie Vaupel, Louisville, Ky.
Mrs. Margaret Elizabeth Schneider, Richmond Highlands, Wash.
Miss Joanne Doris Svendsen, Madison, Wis.
Mrs. Marie Selectman, Indianapolis, Ind.
Mr. William Jackson, Dayton, Ohio.
Mr. W. J. Bean, San Francisco, Calif.
Mr. R. G. Jeffrey, Atascadero, Calif.
Mrs. Josephine Hall Clark, Denver, Colo.
Mrs. Mary Allen Smith, Newark, N. J.
Mrs. Ida Jellsett, Richmond Highlands, Wash.
Mrs. Effie Goldthrop, Helena, Mont.
Mr. Sidney Sprague, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mr. J. W. Latimer, Portland, Ore.
Mrs. Mary Revell, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mr. Frederick Arthur Clapp, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mr. Earl E. Carre, Mariposa, Calif.
Miss Katherine Bacchus, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Miss Mary Young, Syracuse, N. Y.
Mrs. Leonora Obendorfcr, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Miss Nancy Brown Van Riper, Circleville, Ohio.
Mr. Henry Benning, Kenosha, Wis.
Mr. Rudolph Heman, Cabin John, Md.
Mrs. Theresa Hill, Circleville, Ohio.
Mrs. Isadore Chamberlain, Hackensack, N. J.
Dr. Lillian K. Sielken, Indianapolis, Ind.
Mrs. Alice Ward, Richmond Highlands, Wash.
Mrs. Mary D. Haskell, Chicago, III.
647
Mr. Peter Coyne, Chicago, Ill.
Mr. Carlton Keeler, Ocean Grove, N. J.
Mrs. Helen Lillywhite, Laramie, Wyo.
Mr. Irving Rothstein, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Shelley N. Parker, Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Ila Shetterly, Wilmington, Calif.
Miss Alma Knobloch, Cabin John, Md.
Miss Henrietta C. Cosh, New Rochelle, N. Y.
Mr. Joseph Scanes, Toledo, Ohio.
Mrs. Gertrude E. Zollinger, Toledo, Ohio.
Mrs. Ella Federcell, Maui, T. H.
Miss Elizabeth Slappy, St. Augustine, Fla.
Mrs. Gertrude H. Weeks, Portland, Maine.
Mrs. Helen “Lielnors, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Jennie Russell, Chicago, Ill.
Mr. Henry J. Ackerman, Newark, N. J.
Mrs. Maye Worthington, Fort: Wayne, Ind.
Miss Sarah A. Blocker, St. Augustine, Fla.
Mrs. Clementina Goodrich, Milwaukee, Wis.
Miss Anna Krogius, Augusta, Ga.
Miss Helen Grand, Toronto, Can.
Mrs. Lillian Bauer, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Mrs. Mary Frazer, Nunica, Mich.
Mrs. Nettie Tobin, Chicago, Ill.
Mr. J. L. Gibson, Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Mr. Gustave Bagge, Cleveland, Ohio.
Mr. Raymond B. Gillespie, Chicago, 111.
Mrs. Nell B. Moister, San Antonio, Texas.
Mrs. Alice Broadhurst, Maui, T. H.
Miss Cora A. Watson, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mr. Albert Ammon, Haworth, N. J.
Mrs. Annie Linfoot, Piedmont, Calif.
Mr. William F. Kyle, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mr. Alexander Mapp, Avon, Mass.
Mrs. Robert Sully, Buffalo, N. Y.
Mrs. Gertrude Mufller, Serena, Ill.
Mr. B. M. Nance, San Bernardino, Calif.
Mrs. Belle Ware, Kirkland, Wash.
Mrs. Frank J. Phelps, Catonsville, Md.
Mrs. Anne B. Walker, Salem, Mass.
St. Elias Calderon, San Jose, Costa Rica.
Mrs. Agnes Blodgett Rowe, Spokane, Wash.
Mr. Frederick A. Clapp, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mrs. Lucy B. Swindler, R. D. Magnolia, Ill.
