Dulcie Dive
Dulcie Dive | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1910 New Zealand |
| Died | September 19, 1962 New Zealand |
| NSA member | Australia & New Zealand 1943 - 1948 1951 - 1953 South Pacific Islands 1959 - 1962 |
| ABM | Australasia |
Dulcie Burns Dive (1910 - September 18, 1962)[1] was a New Zealand Bahá'í with Maori heritage who became the Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for the Cook Islands. She also served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand from 1944 to 1948 and 1951 to 1953.[2]
Life[edit]
Dulcie became a Bahá'í in April 1938. She was an active member of the Auckland Bahá'í community, and she also supported the Australian Bahá'ís by contributing to the curriculum of the Australian Bahá'í Summer School held in Yerrinbool, although travel costs prevented her from attending the school in person, with the exception of the 1939 Summer School.[3] She was appointed to the Bahá'í Quarterly Committee in 1943.[4] She was appointed to the Yerrinbool School Committee, and also the National Teaching Committee, in 1948.[5]
Dulcie visited Australia in 1944 with Hugh Blundell for the Bahá'í Centenary celebrations[6] and moved to Sydney, Australia when she was elected as the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand in 1944, succeeding Hilda Brooks. She also later served as Assembly Treasurer.[7] In 1945 she was interviewed by a journalist for an article published in Truth, a Sydney newspaper.[8]
Dulcie was appointed as Frank Khan's assistant when he was elected Treasurer of the Assembly in 1950.[9] She was also appointed as Australian and New Zealand Editor of Bahá'í World in 1950, and held the position until 1952.[10] She briefly returned to New Zealand to undertake a teaching tour in 1950.[11]
She retired from the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand in 1954 and pioneered to the Cook Islands, opening a book store on Rarotonga Island.[12] She found it difficult to teach the Faith due to sexism and was the victim of a brutal attack. She wrote the following shortly before her passing:
"... religion here has always been taught by men. It was a man who brought Christianity to the Cook Islands, not a woman. The people here will take religion from a man. Probably if I had had a husband the Faith may have been further advanced than just half hearted as it is at present"[13].
She was elected to the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the South Pacific as Treasurer when it was established in 1959 and served on the body for the rest of her life.[14] The first Cook Islands Summer School was held in her home in October 1961.[15]
She became ill in 1962, and travelled to Auckland to receive an operation, and she passed away in New Zealand in September, 1962.[16] The Custodians cabled the following after her passing:
REGRET PASSING KNIGHT OF BAHAULLAH DULCIE DIVE LONGSTANDING SERVICES AUSTRALASIAN FIELD UNFORGETTABLE CONVEY LOVING SYMPATHY RELATIVES.[17]
References[edit]
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 925. View as PDF.
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#fn79
- ↑ Yerrinbool Bahá'í School, 1938-1988: An Account of the First Fifty Years, Graham Hassall, CPN Publications Pty Ltd, Canberra ACT, Australia, Jan. 1988, p 9
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#fn79
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#fn79
- ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/49547694
- ↑ Hassall, G., The Bahá'í Faith in Australia 1947-1963, Journal of Religious History, Vol. 36, No. 4, December 2012
- ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/169363531
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 841. View as PDF.
- ↑ Bahá'í World, Vol. 12
- ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 230, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 278, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/hassall_bahai_pacific
- ↑ Bahá'í News, p 341, p 4
- ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 371, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 381, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#fn79
