Anita Chapman

Anita Ioas Chapman
BornApril 28, 1921
USA
DiedFebruary 28, 2018
Washington D.C., USA
NSA memberFrance
???? - ????
Spouse(s)Christian Addison Chapman (1921 - 2016) m. 1960
Children3
Parent(s)Leroy Ioas
Sylvia Ioas

Anita Ioas Chapman (April 28, 1921 - February 28, 2018) was an American Bahá’í who served on the National Youth Committee of the United States & Canada in the 1940's. She also served as a pioneer in Canada, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, and Laos.

Biography

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Chapman was born into a Bahá’í family in 1921 to parents Leroy and Sylvia Ioas.[1] She was an active Bahá’í in her youth speaking at the Geyserville Summer School in 1936,[2] and as of 1941 she was serving on the Geyserville Summer School Committee and National Youth Committee.[3] She served on both Committees until pioneering to Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada to assist in maintaining the Local Spiritual Assembly in November 1943.[4]

By 1947 Chapman had returned to the United States and was again serving on the Geyserville School Committee,[5] but in March that year she pioneered to Luxembourg with Sally Sanor to assist Honor Kempton in establishing a Bahá’í community in the country.[6] By 1950 she had pioneered again to Belgium,[7] and she facilitated a session at the First European Bahá’í Summer School in Copenhagen in July that year.[8] In 1951 she pioneered to France settling in Paris,[9] and in 1952 she delivered a keynote speech at the annual Bahá’í European Teaching Conference in Luxembourg.[10]

Chapman later returned to the United States settling in Washington, D.C., by 1957,[11] and in 1960 she married Christian Addison Chapman, a diplomat, in Washington,[12] and they went on to have three children.[13] She pioneered to France again in the 1960's and served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Paris and National Spiritual Assembly of France for a time before returning to America.[14]

In 1971 Chapman read the Riḍván Message of the Universal House of Justice at the United States Bahá’í National Convention,[15] and the same year she was interviewed about the Bahá’í Faith on an internationally broadcast Voice of America programme.[16] In the 1980's she served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Washington D.C.,[17] and also as the U.S. National Spiritual Assemblies public information representative in Washington D.C. and in 1985 she participated in a reception held in Washington to raise awareness about the persecution of the Bahá’ís of Iran.[18]

In 1998 Chapman published a biography of her father which contained a large amount of historical information about the development of the Bahá’í Administrative Order over a fifty year period,[19] and incorporated and included material from the US National Bahá’í Archives.[20]

Chapman's husband passed away in 2016 and she passed in Washington, D.C., in 2018.[1]

Publication

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Anita Ioas Chapman at FindaGrave.com
  2. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 7 (1936-1938), Pg(s) 63. View as PDF.
  3. ↑ Baha'i News (1941). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 147, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  4. ↑ Baha'i News (1943). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 166, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  5. ↑ Baha'i News (1946). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 189, Pg(s) 16. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ Baha'i News (1947). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 194, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 230, Pg(s) 17. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 236, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Baha'i News (1952). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 252, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1952). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 261, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Mona Khademi (2022). The Life of Laura Barney. United Kingdom: George Ronald. p. 348. ISBN 9780853986522.
  12. ↑ U.S. Supplement, 31, p 4
  13. ↑ Anita Chapman at BahaiBook.com.au
  14. ↑ Jack McLean, Confessions of a Child of the Half-Light, Self-published, 2022, p 56
  15. ↑ Baha'i News (1971). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 484, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ Baha'i News (1971). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 482, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ The American Bahá’í (1984). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 15, Issue 10, pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ Baha'i News (1986). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 658, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ The American Bahá’í (1998). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 29, Issue 10, pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ The American Bahá’í (2000). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 31, Issue 5, pg(s) 40. View as PDF.

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