Frederick Laws
Frederick Laws | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 21, 1913 Pineridge, Alabama |
| Died | November 16, 1987 Washington |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Laws |
Frederick Laws (December 21, 1913 - November 16, 1987) was an American Bahá'í who became the Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for Basutoland.
Biography[edit]
Frederick became a Bahá'í in 1935 being introduced to the religion by Lorrol Jackson while attending an Esperanto class she taught. He began teaching the class himself when Lorrol pioneered to Hawaii in 1936 and met Elizabeth Stanley while teaching the class. Elizabeth became a Bahá'í in 1937 and married Frederick in 1939.
In 1940 the Laws decided to pioneer to Chile, planning on sailing to Santiago on the Rakuou Maru on March 21,[1] but they could not secure visas, and instead pioneered to San Diego, California, and Frederick was appointed to the Regional Teaching Committee for California, Nevada and Arizona.[2] In 1945 they returned to Washington, and in 1947 they pioneered to Corvallis, Oregon, at the request of a Regional Teaching Committee to assist in forming an Assembly.[3] Frederick completed a Bachelor of Science in education from 1948 to 1953 at Oregon State University while in Corvallis and in March 1953 he and Elizabeth pioneered to Africa arriving in Mombasa, Kenya, and settling in Nairobi in May that year where Frederick began teaching at Kabete Trade and Technical School.
In September 1953 they left Nairobi to open Basutoland to the Faith undertaking a 3,100 mile journey to Teyateyaneng where they stayed in a hotel. They moved to a cottage in Maseru arriving on October 13, 1953,[4] and were named Knights of Bahá’u’lláh. By August 1954 they were allowed to move to Chadwick's Halt, a Basuto village, to teach the Faith. They secured a permit allowing them to remain in Basutoland until 1956 in December 1954, but Frederick was unable to secure a permit to work. By April 1955 there were near seventy Bahá'ís and seven Assemblies in the region through their efforts. Frederick and Elizabeth were made honorary Basuto by being adopted into the Crocodyle Clan.
In May 1956 the Laws relocated to Johannesburg due to Fredericks inability to secure permission to work in Basutoland. They wrote to Shoghi Effendi to request guidance on where they could serve Africa and were advised to relocate to West Africa, and after consulting with Músá Banání and Paul Haney at a Convention in Johannesburg they moved to Bathhurst, Gambia. They were not able to secure permission to remain in the country and instead moved to Monrovia and then to ZarZar in Liberia and Frederick began working for a consulting engineering firm. The Laws returned to America in late 1957 settling in Seattle where they remained until pioneering to Omaha Indian Reservation in Nebraska in 1964. Frederick completed a teaching degree at Wayne State Teachers' College while in Nebraska, but employment prospects forced the Laws to return to Seattle where he began working for General Electric as an engineer. In 1969 he and Elizabeth spoke at the Northwest Bahá'í Summer School.[5]
After Frederick retired from his position with General Electric in April 1976 he and Elizabeth returned to Africa, visiting the Holy Land en route, and settled in Moshi, Tanzania with Frederick being appointed to the National Properties Committee. In October 1976 Frederick attended the Nairobi International Bahá'í Conference. As they were only able to secure permission to remain in Tanzania for three month periods at a time they returned to America in December 1976 where they lived in Washington State. In April 1977 they moved to Yakima Indian Reservation in Wapato. Elizabeth passed there in 1977. Frederick began travelling to visit Bahá'í communities following her passing. In 1979 he went on pilgrimage with his sister.
In 1982 Frederick began being treated for a brain tumor. He passed in 1987.
References[edit]
- "Frederick Laws, Knight of Bahá'u'lláh 1913-1987". The Bahá’í World, 1986-1992. Vol. 20. Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre. 1998. pp. 892–894.
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Mathews, Loulie A. (March 1940). "Inter-America News". Baha'i News. No. 134. United States: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ↑ "Bahá'í Directory, 1940-1941" (PDF). Baha'i News. No. 138. United States: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. September 1940.
- ↑ "Photo caption". Baha'i News. No. 201. United States: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. November 1947. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ↑ "Third Pioneering Report". Baha'i News. No. 273. United States: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. November 1953. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ↑ "The Northwest Bahá'í Summer School". Baha'i News. No. 464. United States: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. November 1969. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
