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SARAH MARTIN PEREIRA
1909—1995
arah Martin Peteira, a member of the
Continental Board of Counsellors for the Bahá’ís of North America (1973 to 1985), died on April 5, 1995, in Matthews, North Carolina, after an illness of more than a year.
She was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States in 1960 and served until her appointment as a Counsellor. In her highly distinguished service to the Faith, she was among the first Auxiliary Board members of the Western Hemisphere, serving from 1954 to 1964.
Further she served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Washington DC (1962—1971); on the Spiritual Assembly of Silver Spring, Maryland, (1971—1973); and on the Spiritual Assembly of Charlotte, North Carolina, (1985—1994), on the latter as its corresponding secretary into her eighties.
Sarah was a member of numerous local and national Bahá’í committees, among them the Interracial Service Committee, a predecessor of the national Race Unity Committee. She was also elected several times as a delegate to the Bahá’í National Convention.
She will be remembered in North, Central, and South America and the West Indies as an outstanding conference speaker, comfortable in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Her professional and academic careers were also distinguished. A professor of romance languages, Sarah held teaching and administrative positions at several universities including West Virginia State University, Tennessee Agriculture and Industry University, District of Columbia Teachers College, the University of the District of Columbia, and after her
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retirement the Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina. She began her teaching career at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, the city of her mother’s birth.
Additionally she served as acting head of the humanities department at West Virginia State College, as chairman of the division of foreign languages and later as acting associate academic dean at the District of Columbia Teachers College, and as acting academic dean and chief executive officer at the Georgia and Harvard Campus of the University of the District of Columbia. At Johnson C. Smith she was both a professor and the creator and director of the university honors program. A scholar, Sarah authored a number of articles in professional journals.
From one of the earliest Bahá’í families of African—American background, Sarah was born December 12, 1909, the daughter of Alexander H. Martin Sn, a lawyer in Cleveland, Ohio, and Mary Brown Martin, who served on the Board of Education—the first African—American to hold this position in Cleveland.
Following in the tradition of her father, who was one of five Negroes elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society in the nineteenth century, Sarah also received this academic distinction. She received a BA degree from the Ohio State University, a MA degree from Case Western Reserve University, Where five members of her family received degrees, and a PhD from the Ohio State University.
Sarah’s parents became Bahá’ís in 1913, having attended a lecture by Louis Gregory in 1912, following ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to Cleveland. The four children of the family —Lydia, Sarah, Stuart, and Alexander—all became Bahá’ís. A photograph of this distinguished African—American family was hung by the Guardian in the Mansion
THE BAHA’I’ WORLD
Samly Martin Pereim
at Bahjí as an indication of a significant milestone in the growth of the Faith.
Sarah was a consummate teacher of the Faith, sharing the Message with many leaders of thought through her professional associations and Bahá’í travels. Among those to whom she introduced the Faith was Dr. Magdalene Carney, who would become a member of the National Spiritual Assembly and later a Counsellor member of the International Teaching Centre.
For those who remember Sarah as a dear friend, she was more than a scholar, professor, and administrator; she was an extraordinarily feminine lady with a penchant for beautiful hats, a bright—eyed adventurer who found delight in everyday pursuits, a gentle mentor who shaped the lives of many through her wise guidance and assistance, and a remarkably dedicated and articulate teacher of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
On April 6, 1995, the Universal House of Justice transmitted the following message in her memory:
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IN MEMORIAM I 992—1 997 209
DEPLORE IRREPARABLE LOSS STALWART PROMOTER, VIBRANT TEACHER CAUSE (30D SARAH _MARTIN PEREIRA. RADIANT FAITH, [NDOMITABLE SPIRIT, CHEERFUL DISPOSITION CHARACTERIZED HER MANIFOLD, OUTSTANDING BAHA‘I’ SERVICES FOR OVER SIX DECADES INCLUDING HOMEFRONT PIONEERING AND MEMBERSHIP FIRST AUXILIARY BOARD WESTERN HEMISPHERE, NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY UNITED STATES. CONTINENTAL BOARD COUNSELLORS AMERICAS. HER ACHIEVEMENTS HAVE LEFT TRACES FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. CONFIDENT HER JOYFUL REUNION COMPANY HER DISTINGUISI—[ED FOREBEARS AND SIBLINGS ABHA KINGDOM. PRAYING HOLY THRESHOLD PROGRESS HER SOUL DIVINE WORLDS.
ADVISE HOLD MEMORIAL SERVICES HER HONOR MOTHER TEMPLE AND THROUGHOUT COUNTRY.
jam Norris Scale:
