Dorothy Baker
| Dorothy Baker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 21, 1898 Newark, New Jersey |
| Died | January 10, 1954 |
| NSA member | US & Canada 1937 - 1948 USA 1948 - 1953 |
| Hand of the Cause | Americas 1951 - 1954 |
Dorothy Beecher Baker (December 21, 1898 - January 10, 1954) was appointed a Hand of the Cause by Shoghi Effendi in 1951. She was a distant relative of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the famous anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. She was born on 21 December, 1898, in Newark, New Jersey. Her grandmother, Ellen Tuller Beecher was active in movements concerned with women's rights, prison reform, the YWCA and temperance. Became one of the first Bahá'ís in North America in 1890s. Known fondly as "Mother Beecher". Born July 26, 1840 into a strictly puritanical home. "In New York, while working in the slums, Ellen met a young newspaperman, Joseph A. Beecher. He was a grandnephew of Lyman Beecher, father of both Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher."[1]
Dorothy Baker died on 10 January, 1954, as a result of an infamous crash of a BOAC DeHavilland Comet, the first model of jet powered passenger airliner to be in service. The crash was due to stresses caused by the aircraft's large, square windows. A focus of numerous documentaries, including an episode of National Geographic's Sixty Seconds From Disaster (2008), the plane went down with a loss of all passengers and crew in the Mediterranean near the island of Elba.
Dorothy was an enthusiastic Bahá'í teacher, quite literally to the very end. A few days after the crash, fishermen found a purse belonging to one of her fellow passengers washed up on the shore. Inside the purse was a Bahá'í pamphlet.
Shoghi Effendi wrote the following obituary:
Hearts grieved at lamentable, untimely passing of Dorothy Baker,
distinguished Hand of the Cause, eloquent exponent of its teachings, indefatigable supporter of its institutions, valiant defender of its precepts. Her long record of outstanding service has enriched the annals of the concluding years of the Heroic and the opening epoch of the Formative Age of the Baha'i Dispensation. Fervently praying for the progress of her soul in the Abha Kingdom. Assure relatives of profound loving sympathy. Her noble spirit is reaping bountiful reward. Advise hold memorial gathering in the Temple befitting her rank
and imperishable services...[2]
In a letter to another Hand of the Cause, Hermann Grossmann, he wrote:
The sudden passing of dear Dorothy Baker is indeed a great loss to the Faith, and leaves a sad gap in the ranks of the Hands of the Cause. She was exemplary in so many ways, and her services can ill be spared at this important period in Baha'i history. No doubt there is a wisdom in such calamities; and through her death others may feel moved to become more consecrated to the service of the Faith. Surely such a soul's influence will continue to be felt in this world.[3]
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