Gayle Woolson

Gayle Woolson
Born	June 2, 1913 Crookston, Minnesota, USA
Died	May 31, 2011 Wilmette, Illinois, USA
NSA member	South America 1951 - 1957 B.P.C.E.V. 1957 - 1961 Ecuador 1961 - 1964 El Salvador 1968 - 1970
ABM	Americas 1954 - 1968
Works •  Media

Gayle Alice Woolson (June 2, 1913 - May 31, 2011) was an American Bahá’í who pioneered to South America, opening the Galapagos Islands to the Faith for which she was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh, and served as a National Spiritual Assembly and Auxiliary Board member.

Biography

Woolson was born Gayle Alice Abas in Crookston, Minnesota, in 1913 into an Arabic speaking Muslim family and her parents were of Syrian descent. She was introduced to the Bahá’í Faith by Clement Woolson and declared in 1932 and she married him in 1935 however he passed away a few months after their wedding. She remained an active Bahá’í after his passing serving the communities of North Dakota, Wyoming, and Arkansas. In 1938 she helped establish the Faith in Iowa conducting a teaching tour which included giving talks at various organizations in five towns and at a Waltonian meeting in Cedar Rapids. In November 1939 she returned to Cedar Rapids with Marvin Newport living in the city for an extended period before pioneering to Central America.

In 1940 Woolson became the first pioneer to Costa Rica, moving to support the work of the Seven Year Plan. The first Local Spiritual Assembly of Costa Rica was established through her efforts in 1941 and she remained in the country until pioneering again within Central America in 1945. In 1946 the Inter-America Committee gave her the assignment of resolving the issue of a pioneer to Colombia who had broken the Covenant and their hostility to the Faith resulted in police protection of the Bahá’ís being required. She was ultimately required to represent the Bahá’í community in court when legal action was taken against the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bogota.

Woolson was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of South America when it was formed in 1951 and in 1953 she pioneered to Ecuador to strengthen the countries Bahá’í community. In April 1954 she pioneered to the virgin territory of the Galapagos Islands for which she was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh and she was able to teach her neighbors about the Faith. She only remained in the Galapagos for a short time as in June 1954 she was summoned back to Ecuador when she was appointed as an inaugural Auxiliary Board member for the Americas. In 1961 she was elected to serve on the first independent National Spiritual Assembly of Ecuador.

In 1968 Woolson pioneered to El Salvador and she stepped down from the Auxiliary Board and was instead elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of El Salvador. She served until 1970 when she moved to the Holy Land to serve at the World Centre as a translator. In 1975 she completed her service in the Holy Land and returned to the United States which remained her home for the rest of her life. She made several travel teaching trips across the United States and also internationally.

In 2011 Woolson passed away in Wilmette, Illinois, survived by eleven nieces, five nephews, and two sisters-in-law.