Louise Caswell
Louise Caswell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 18, 1896 Portland, Oregon, USA |
| Died | February 2, 1987 Mexico |
| NSA member | Central America 1951 - 1953 Guatemala 1961 - ???? |
Louise Caswell (March 18, 1896 - February 2, 1987) was an American Bahá’í who pioneered to Central America to assist with the development of Bahá’í administration of communities in the region.
Biography[edit]
Caswell was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1896. Her parents had an openminded outlook on religion and were active in community activities in Portland. In the 1920's she was introduced to the Bahá’í Faith in Portland being taught about the religion by locals and travel teachers including Helen Pilkington, George Latimer and his wife, Ella Cooper, John and Louise Bosch, Keith Ransom-Kehler, Leroy Ioas, and Martha Root and she declared in 1927.[1]
In 1936 Caswell attended the National Convention of the United States and Canada at which Shoghi Effendi's call for pioneers to Central America was announced and she volunteered to pioneer to Mexico. She was unable to make arrangements to move overseas and instead pioneered to Knoxville, Tennessee, and assisted in the formation of the Local Spiritual Assembly in April 1939.[1]
Later in 1939 Caswell pioneered to Panama in South America with Cora Oliver and actively taught helping form the first Local Spiritual Assembly in the company in 1945. She also made travel teaching trips to neighboring countries and in 1949 she pioneered again to Nicaragua.[1]
Caswell spent a year in Nicaragua then pioneered to Costa Rica in 1951, then to Honduras in 1952, and then to Guatemala in 1953 where she settled long-term. She was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Central America in 1951 serving until 1953 and in 1961 she was elected to the independent National Spiritual Assembly of Guatemala when it was established.[2]
In 1975 Caswell pioneered to Mexico settling in Merida, Yucatan. She was infirm when she pioneered to Mexico and was often bedridden however she still actively taught the Faith. She lived with fellow Bahá’í Teresa MacGregor who cared for her until her passing in 1987.[2] The Universal Hose of Justice cabled the following after her passing:
SADDENED NEWS PASSING RADIANT WARMHEARTED SELF-EFFACING SERVANT CAUSE LOUISE CASWELL FOLLOWING LONG ILLNESS. RECALL WITH GRATEFUL HEARTS HER DEDICATED PIONEERING SERVICES SPANNING FIFTY YEARS. AMONG FIRST TO ARISE IN 1939 FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT GUARDIAN FIRST SEVEN YEAR PLAN INTRODUCE FAITH PANAMA. SHE CONTINUED HER DEVOTED ENDEAVOURS THROUGHOUT STAGES UNFOLDMENT CAUSE LATIN AMERICA DURING SUCCESSIVE TEACHING PLANS INCLUDED TEACHING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES GUATEMALA TEN YEAR CRUSADE AND CONCLUDED LIFELONG SERVICE TEACHING BELOVED CAUSE YUCATAN PENINSULA MEXICO. OFFERING PRAYERS SACRED THRESHOLD PROGRESS HER SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.[1]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 867. View as PDF.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 868. View as PDF.
