Maye Harvey Gift

Maye Harvey Gift
Born	1885
Died	September 2, 1961
Works •  Media

Maye Harvey Gift, (1885 - 1961) was born white and raised in Illinois. She graduated High School in Urbana, attended the University of Illinois in Champaign, and gained an advanced professional degree in philanthropic work before serving communities in that work several years. Along the way she was active in society and Methodist conferences to which she as a delegate. She met John Wilson Gift, the first Bahá'í of Peoria, and joined the religion herself. It was a May-December marriage - he was 77 and she was 32 when they married. Maye was his second wife. They lived together as a couple several years and the year he died in 1927 the community elected its first Spiritual Assembly. After his death Maye became visible in race issues in the early 1930s: first giving several courses on the teachings of the religion on the oneness of humanity specifically on the issue of race at Louhelen Bahá'í School in its first organized year, and then on co-producing the first widely published compilation on the issue of race in the American Bahá'í community with Alice Simmons Cox. After writing on other themes including biblical prophecy and the Faith, Gift and Cox returned to the compilation under initiatives of the national Race Unity Committee and the National Spiritual Assembly in the early 1940s by expanding it. It was republished a number of times and the last reprinting made it into Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s personal library by 1963. Maye herself died in 1961. Her last known public service to the religion was in the 1950s in a national review committee.

Born and raised

Bessie Maye Harvey, usually known as Maye, was white and born in 1885 in Tolono, Illinois, child of William Towner Harvey (1859-1946) and Lida Mullen Harvey (1861-1940). In 1900 the US Census had the family in Champaign and father William was a butcher. By her high school years they were living in Urbana where she was visible in society events in town, and was a delegate of, and presented talks for, Methodist conferences. She attended the University of Illinois in town. During her stay she performed in some plays and began to be visibly active the campus Methodist/Methodist-Episcopal Church. Maye (not infrequently “Mae") was visible in society events, played a minor role in an Urbana University play "Opportunity” by the Alethanai and Philomathean societies, and the Alethenai literary society of campus including Maye reading some some essays. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Arts from the University in 1907. Then she was free to also visit her mother’s family, friends and relatives, and continued to serve in the Methodists meetings again. Such activity continued into 1910. The US 1910 census has them still living in Champaign, on W. Springfield Ave. Maye's father was a real estate agent and her mother a dressmaker working out of the home and a brother working in the railroad.

College and service

She moved to Chicago around 1911 seeking an advanced degree in philanthropic service but would return to Urbana or go to Peoria for social events and vacations. There was also contact with regional leaders for the Methodists. Then she attended a year’s study at the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy, and social and religious meetings in the area, visited home, and returned back to Urbana. Her parents witnessed her graduation ceremony of School of Civics and Philanthropy. For Maye it served as the beginning of a career in charitable organizations when she moved back to Urbana.

During this period in Chicago, 'Abdu’l-Bahá was in Chicago for a few days here and there in the period but there’s no evidence she attended any talk.

Upon returning home, Maye took up work in philanthropic work and society. She was visible socially, was District superintendent of Illinois Children's Home and Aid Society, and in Methodist meetings. She took a job working with the Pekin Social Service League in 1915.

Marriage and Faith

In January, 1918, Maye married John Wilson Gift. Gift was the first Baha’i of Peoria. Gift was born in Salona, Centre County, Pennsylvania - his mother was Catherine Lyle. His childhood was mostly in Williamsport. Two brothers and five sisters survived to adulthood - one the brother died in the Civil War serving near Vicksburg. He joined the Iowa Volunteers and was rose to the rank of captain in the 12th Regiment of Iowa Volunteers. Most of the 12th was captured during the Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7. The attack at which he was captured was probably during the April 6 assault by the Confederates that caught the Union by surprise and of thousands captured at what was called the Hornet’s Nest. Gift was a prisoner of war for 7 mths. He may have started the war as a lieutenant. Amidst this Gift's married his first wife was Sarah I. Miller November 1861 and had sons Frank and Charles. After the war he rented a mill in Hopkinson, Iowa, and then bought one in Marion County, then sold it to purchase one in Monticello. In 1870 he moved to Macon Missouri where he began operating a mill in 1873; about 1875 he moved over to Eureka and in 1880 to Peoria and purchased Globe Mills which came Globe Roller Mills. Gift and partners also established the Peoria Cattle Company in 1883. The family worshipped at the St. Paul German Reformed Church. Sarah died July 9, 1897. Circa 1901 Gift undertook to aid in the writing of biographies of several fellow soldiers. His father and perhaps mother lived with him circa 1881-2 but the father died in Prairieburg, Iowa, in 1883 and his mother died (probably living with a daughter) in Ruthann, Iowa, September, 1907. Gift served in the Regiment’s reunion organization across 1880-1903 and appeared several times in reunions. Veteran Luther Kaltenbach writes of getting some time to visit with Gift “frequently” before circa 1903, and he was a member of the Grand Army and Loyal Legions veteran groups. The Gift “mansion” (three story house with a castle turret) was built in 1890, had electricity, forced air central heat and tiled bathrooms - and was restored circa 2007-2013. His family had an estate with souvenirs from the 1893 Columbian Exposition as well as the 1904 St. Louis World Fair. Gift learned of the religion from Elizabeth Diggett in 1915 and soon he met Dr. Zia Bagdadi and Albert Vail who spoke often in 1916 in Peoria. At the marriage of Gift and Harvey in 1918 he was 77 and she 32. He reached out to her after learning she was a Baha’i in the area and may have heard of her through the mutual interest in philanthropy. According to a newspaper article, John did not tell his children about the wedding coming up. They thought he was going on a vacation.

Immediately after marrying, Maye was visible supporting soldiers for WWI through a University oriented subscription service. In 1919 both were visible in an appeal for 'Abdu’l-Bahá to return to America published in Star of the West. In 1922 Maye is listed as the contact secretary of the Peoria community. John’s two sons died in 1924. In 1926 Maye began to contribute articles and compilations for various publications local and national. The year John Gift died is the same year Peoria elected it’s first assembly - 1927. In 1929 Maye was visible serving on national committees, especially oriented around children or teaching, through reports published in Baha’i News.

Research and writing

In 1932, the first institutionally sponsored summer school at Louhelen Bahá'í School, Maye presented three times on race issues. It is not clear why she in particular presented - certainly the Faith had the practice of presenting Race Amity meetings but it is not clear how it was that Maye did this service. It is possible her departed husband’s Civil War service was a factor or her philanthripic work or just an impression made of the Bahá'í teaching. But the interest and service continued. In 1935 she joined with Alice Simmons Cox on publishing compilation of Baha’i mentions of the issue of race. She continued writing and serving on the Children's Teaching Committee 1933-35, and was the contact person for the Peoria assembly.

In 1940 Maye had a productive year with five articles - on prayer, Jesus, prophets in general, and a book review of a biologist, in World Order magazine. Maye’s mother died in 1941. Cox and Gift returned to the compilation on race and a list of references was published in 1942 in World Order while Maye also worked on other articles. For the anticipatory year of 1943, before the Centenary of the Declaration of the Báb, also a year of three race riots in America, plans were announced to expand the compilation and to include scientific views about race. The compilation was redone and published as Race and Man in November. It arrived following a campaign by Baha’is of three months of nearly five dozen local events held, as was the hope of the national assembly, on race unity. There was publicity of Race and Man in the fall to winter of 1943 in several newspapers. While the mechanisms of publishing went forward Maye again presented at Louhelen, this time about Bible studies.

Another run publishing Race and Man occurred in 1946 while Maye continued other articles and subjects of talks and poems published in World Order. Her subjects were prayer, Manifestations and diverse religious scriptures, and women in Iran.

Her father died in 1949.

In 1954 Maye was visible serving on the national publication review committee. In 1956 Race and Man was republished, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a copy of this last edition in his library by 1963. Maye died in 1961.

External links

• Publications by Maye Harvey Gift on Bahai.works