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Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 1954-01, sorted by date, descending

date event tags firsts
1954 25 Jan
195-		 Stanley P. Bolton, Jr. arrived in Nuku'alofa, on Tongatapu Island, from Australia and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for Tonga Islands. [BW13:456, BWNS286] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; - Islands; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Tonga
1954 18 Jan
195-		 Mrs Dulcie Burns Dive arrived in the Cook Islands from Australia and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:450, 925] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; - Islands; Cook Islands
1954 15 Jan
195-		 'Abdu'l-Rahmán Zarqání, from India, arrived in the Seychelles and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:455] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Seychelles; - Africa; India
1954 14 Jan
195-		 Lilian E. Wyss arrived in Apia from Australia and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for the Samoa Islands. [BW13:455] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; - Islands; Apia, Samoa; Samoa
1954 Jan
195-		 John and Audrey Robarts with their two younger children, Patrick and Tina, left Toronto for their pioneer post in Mafeking (later Mafikeng), Buchuanaland (later Botswana and formerly Bophuthatswana). Older children Aldham and Gerald pioneered to Nigeria and a homefront post respectively. [LOF485-6; CBN No48 January 1954 p11]
  • Later the same year he was appointed to the newly established Auxiliary Board by Hand of the Cause of God Músá Banání. They returned to Canada some 13 years later. [LOF486, 491]
    		•  John Robarts; Auxiliary board members; Canada; Botswana; Nigeria; - Africa
    1954 10 Jan
    195-    		 Dorothy Baker, (b. Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey, USA 21 December, 1898) Hand of the Cause of God, was killed in a plane crash in the Mediterranean Sea, near the island of Elba. BOAC Flight 781 departed Rome, Italy on a flight to London, England. While climbing through 27,000 feet, the plane experienced a sudden in-flight break-up and crashed into the Mediterranean Sea near the Island of Elba. All 35 passengers and crew on board were killed. Following this accident, the Comet fleet was taken from service and subjected to numerous modifications in areas believed to have been the origin of the yet-unknown failure. The fleet was returned to service in late March 1954. [BW12:670; FAA Website]
  • In 1921 she married Frank Baker who had two motherless children. They had a girl and a boy of their own. [FMH73]
  • She was the granddaughter of Ellen "Mother" Beecher who took her to see 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York in 1912. An early teacher (unnamed), after seeing the young girl, had a vision and asked Jináb-i-Fazil for an explanation. He replied that "someday she will become on of the great teachers of the Cause" and Mother Beecher began to pray that this would be fulfilled. [FMH73]
  • See FMH76-77 for the story of how Doris McKay was able to help Dorothy deal with her depression in 1929.
  • For the Guardian's cable see BW12:670, CF161.
  • Shoghi Effendi had appointed her among the first contingent on the 24th of December, 1951. [MoCxxiii]
  • For her obituary see BW12:670–4.
  • See also Freeman, From Copper To Gold.
  • See TG229 for a short story about her and a comment from her on the Long Obligatory Prayer.
  • See Remembering Dorthy Baker at Bahá'í Blog.
  • See Bahá'í Chronicles.
  • See article in the Canadian Bahá'í News No 46 February 1954 p1.
  • Find a grave.
    		•  Dorothy Baker; - Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; - Births and deaths; - In Memoriam; Hands of the Cause, First Contingent; Mediterranean Sea; Elba, Italy; Italy
    1954 Jan
    195-    		 Andrew and Mina Matthisen arrived in the Bahamas and were named Knights of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:449] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; - Islands; Bahamas; Caribbean
    1954 Jan
    195-    		 Kenneth and Roberta Christian arrived in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and were named Knights of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:456] Kenneth Christian; Roberta Christian; - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Southern Rhodesia; Zimbabwe
    1954 Jan
    195-    		 Virginia Breaks arrived on the island of Truk and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for the Caroline Islands. [BW13:450; MBW57] Virginia Breaks; - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; - Islands; Truk, Caroline Islands; Caroline Islands
    1954 Jan
    195-    		 Elizabeth Bevan (later Mrs Golmohammed) arrived in Rhodes and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:455] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; - Islands; Rhodes, Greece
    1954 Jan
    195-    		 Munír Vakíl, a former general in the Iraqi army, settled on one of the Kuria-Muria Islands in the Arabian Sea and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:453]
  • For the story of the hardships of his pioneering post see ZK99–101.
    		•  - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; - Islands; Khuriya Muriya Islands, Oman; Oman
    1954 Jan
    195-    		 The arrival of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh Abdu'l Rahman Zarqani, in the Seychelles. [BWNS272] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; - Islands; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Seychelles; - Africa
    1954 3 Jan
    195-    		 The passing of Helen "Nellie" Stevison French (b.19 Oct 1868 Peoria, Illinois) in Monaco. She was buried in the Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Chicago.

    In September 1953 Nellie French, 85, became the first Bahá'í to arrive in Monaco, but she passed away a few months later. For her act of service in bringing the Faith to the country, she received the accolade Knight of Baha'u'llah from Shoghi Effendi.

    A celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the Bahá'í Faith in the Principality was held on 24-25 April 2004 at the Theatre des Varietes in Monte Carlo, and opened with the reading of a welcoming message from the National Council of the Principality. [Newspaper Archive on BLO]

  • Evincing a marked talent for singing, Nellie left in 1888 for Naples, Italy, to develop that interest. The four-year residence abroad gave her the opportunity to learn the French and Italian languages, to acquire an appreciation of the Latin fine arts, and to master a strenuous course in training for the operatic stage. She suffered a case of typhoid fever in 1892 and returned to the United States to recuperate; but her recovery was followed by scarlet fever which impaired her vocal chords irreparably. Her aspirations for a musical career were ended.
  • In 1894 she married Stuart Whitney French, a childhood companion. About 1896, accompanied by her mother, she attended a few meetings at the home of Dr. Khayru'lláh. The spiritual seeds were sown. Moving to Arizona in 1900, Nellie French lived in Bisbee until 1904 and in Douglas until 1917. Her visits to Chicago and New York furnished a few Bahá'í contacts with meager information; the Bahá'í messages. Mrs. Isabella Brittingham went to Arizona in 1917 to teach the spiritual significance of the Bahá'í Faith offered Nellie a rare privilege. That experience confirmed Nellie who became the first resident Bahá'í teacher in Arizona.
  • Mr. and Mrs. French moved to Pasadena in 1918. During Riḍván, in April, 1921, Mr. and Mrs. French visited Haifa and 'Akká; that pilgrimage became the fulfillment of all her hopes.
  • She contributed to the literature of the Faith by her work from 1930 to 1946 as Chairman of the Bahá'í World Editorial Committee, during which time she assembled material for volumes IV—X. She translated into French and Italian the "Blue Book" and the brochure "Number 9," and for several years she wrote "Loom of Reality," a column published in the Pasadena Star-News. In 1931 she made permanent Braille plates for Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era and for the Kitdb-i-iqan. She served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada 1929 - 1938.
  • As an administrator, she served as Chairman of the Pasadena Spiritual Assembly from 1928 to 1938. For four years, ending in 1944 she was Chairman of the InterAmerica Committee, and in this capacity she presided at a session of the Centenary Celebration in 1944. Later she was a member of the European Teaching Committee. She helped support the work of the International Bureau at Geneva and the All-Indian project at Macy, Nebraska, undertaken by her sister-in-law, Mary Farley Stevison.
  • In April, 1952, thirty-one years to the day, Nellie French returned Mt. Carmel to meet the beloved Guardian in person. During the Holy Year which was also the first year of the World Spiritual Crusade, Nellie French settled in the principality of Monaco to win the accolade, "Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW12p700]
  • Find a grave.
    		• Nellie French; - In Memoriam; Peoria, IL; United States (USA); Monaco; - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; Biography
    1954 3 Jan
    195-    		 Howard and Joanne Menking arrived in the Cape Verde Islands and were named Knights of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:450] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; - Islands; Cape Verde
    1954 Jan
    195-    		 Charles M. Ioas arrived in the Balearic Islands and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:449] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; - Islands; Balearic Islands, Spain
    1954 Jan
    195-    		 Jean Sevin arrived in Tuamotu Archipelago and was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW13:457] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; - Islands; Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia
    1954 Jan
    195-    		 The arrival of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh Dulcie Dive in the Cook Islands. [BWNS265] - Knights of Bahá'u'lláh; - Islands; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Cook Islands
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