Katherine McLaughlin
Katherine McLaughlin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1910 |
| Died | 1993 |
| ABM | Americas 1954 - 1981 |
| Spouse(s) | Robert McLaughlin |
Katherine McLaughlin (1910 - 1993) was an American Bahá’í who served as an Auxiliary Board member for the Americas.
Background[edit]
McLaughlin was born Katherine Lockwood. She married Robert McLaughlin in 1931 and they lived in Bedford Village, New York, and they had two children, Meredith and Robert. They became disillusioned in Christianity and began investigating different religions in 1944 and were introduced to the Bahá’í Faith by Peter and Rene Walsh. She declared in the summer of 1945.[1]
In 1948 the McLaughlin's pioneered to Greenwich, Connecticut, when Shoghi Effendi sent an emergency appeal for the Local Spiritual Assembly of Greenwich to be formed.[2] As of 1948 McLaughlin had been appointed to the National Teaching Committee for the Northeastern States as secretary,[3] and as of 1949 she was also secretary of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Greenwich.[4] In 1952 the McLaughlin's moved to Princeton when Robert was appointed Director of Princeton Universities School of Architecture.[5]
McLaughlin began travel teaching in the 1950's. In 1950 she visited Europe to attend the European Teaching Conference in Copenhagen with her daughter,[6] and in early 1952 she spent a month in Jamaica assisting the Bahá’í communities of Kingston, Spanish Town, and Port Antonio.[7] She also continued to develop experience serving on Bahá’í Institutions throughout the 1950's being appointed to the editorial committee for The Bahá’í World in 1952,[8] and she was serving as secretary of the Western Hemisphere Teaching Committee as of 1953.[9] In 1954 McLaughlin was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member for the Americas when the Institution was established and she was assigned to the United States.[10]
From January to February of 1955 McLaughlin toured South America primarily visiting Venezuela and Colombia,[11] but also stopping in Peru and Ecuador and the virgin territories of Margarita Island and the Dutch West Indies.[12] In 1957 the Auxiliary Board for Protection was established with the original Board being designated as the Board for Teaching and McLaughlin was assigned to the Board for Teaching.[13] She represented the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States at several Regional Teaching Conferences across the country that year.[14]
In 1961 a profile of McLaughlin was published in the second edition of the secular book Who's Who of American Women with the profile primarily covering her Bahá’í service.[15] That year she also was a delegate of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in New York.[16]
In 1972 McLaughlin was reassigned to the Auxiliary Board for Protection and her area of jurisdiction was Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and Bermuda.[17] In 1977 Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington D.C. were added to her area of jurisdiction.[18] As of 1982 McLaughlin had retired from the Auxiliary Board.[19]
McLaughlin passed in 1993 and the Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after her passing:
WE SHARE DEEP SENSE LOSS TO AMERICAN BAHA’I COMMUNITY IN PASSING DEARLY LOVED, WIDELY ADMIRED KATHERINE MCLAUGHLIN. HER DEVOTED, UNFLAGGING, DISTINGUISHED SERVICES OVER PERIOD SEVERAL DECADES IN TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATIVE FIELDS WESTERN HEMISPHERE, PARTICULARLY AS MEMBER AUXILIARY BOARD, UNFORGETTABLE. ARDENTLY PRAYING IN HOLY SHRINES FOR PROGRESS HER RADIANT SOUL THROUGHOUT DIVINE WORLDS. KINDLY CONVEY OUR LOVING SYMPATHY MEMBERS HER BEREAVED FAMILY.[20]
References[edit]
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 950. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1948). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 209, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1948). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 210, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1949). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 215, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1952). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 251, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 234, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1952). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 254, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 264, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 274, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 280, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1955). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 288, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1955). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 290, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 324, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 321, Pg(s) 1. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 367, Pg(s) 15. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 365, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
- ↑ National Baha'i Review, No. 54, p 4
- ↑ National Baha'i Review, No. 103, p 8
- ↑ The American Bahá’í (1982). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 13, Issue 11, pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
- ↑ https://bahai.works/In_Memoriam_1992-1997/Katherine_McLaughlin
