Nellie French

Nellie French
Born	October 19, 1868 Peoria, Illinois, U.S.A.
Died	January 3, 1954 Monaco-Ville, Monaco
NSA member	US & Canada 1929 - 1938
Spouse(s)	Stuart Whitney French (February 12, 1867 - July 31, 1946)
Media

Helen 'Nellie' Stevison French (October 19, 1868 - January 3, 1954) was an American Bahá'í who assisted in introducing the Faith to Arizona, and served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada. She later pioneered to Monaco, for which she was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh.

Biography

Nellie was born in Peoria, Illinois, to Josiah Hill Stevison and Sarah Swain Stevison. Her father was an Episcopalian and her mother was a Quaker. By 1882 the Stevison's lived in Chicago, and Nellie's brother, Dudley, was born there that year. In 1888 Nellie went to Naples, Italy, to study operatic singing, and also learnt French and Italian. In 1892 she returned to America after suffering from typhoid fever. In December 1894 Nellie married Stuart Whitney French, a childhood friend.

In 1896 she was introduced to the Faith when she attended Ibrahim George Kheiralla's class on the religion in Chicago with her mother. She moved to Arizona in 1900, living in Bisbee from 1904 until 1917 when she moved to Douglas. In 1912 she was elected as State President of the Federation of Women's Clubs and served in the positions for two years. She maintained contact with the Chicago and New York Bahá'í communities during this time, but her connection to the Faith was sporadic until Isabella D. Brittingham moved to Arizona in 1917, and Nellie began teaching the Faith in Arizona. She and her husband moved to Pasadena, California, in 1918 and helped hold study classes on the Faith there.

In 1921 she and her husband went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land where they met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In 1927 she taught at the first Geyserville Bahá'í Summer School. She served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Pasadena from 1928 to 1938. In 1929 she was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, and served on the body also until 1938. In 1930 Nellie began serving as Chair of the Bahá'í World Editorial Committee, and she served on the body until 1946. In 1931 she produced Braille plates for the Kitáb-i-Íqán and Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era. As of 1933 she was writing a weekly Bahá'í column in a local newspaper titled The Loom of Reality. In the mid-1930's Nellie made a teaching trip to South America, visiting Lima, Valparaiso, Magallanwes, Sao Paulo, Bahia, and Rio de Janiero.

In 1940 Nellie began serving on the Inter-America Committee, and served on it until 1944. She later served on the European Teaching Committee, and she and her husband visited Europe every summer to teach the Faith, and they also taught the Faith further abroad, such as in South America, Iceland, and Australia. In 1943 Nellie was appointed to the Centenary Committee, responsible for organizing the 1944 Bahá'í Centenary. She was assigned to the Sub-Committee for music.

In 1952 Nellie went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land a second time and met Shoghi Effendi. When the Ten Year Crusade began the following year Nellie pioneered to the goal country of Monaco, despite being over eighty years old, and she was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for doing so. She passed at her pioneer post two months after arriving in January 1954, and Shoghi Effendi cabled the following after hearing of her passing:

"Deeply regret passing valiant pioneer. Long record (of her) services, highly meritorious. Praying (for) progress (of) soul (in) Kingdom."

References

Bahai.media has a related page: Category:Nellie French

• Obituary published in Bahá'í World, Vol. 12, p 699-701