Valeria Nichols
Valeria Nichols | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | June 8, 1908 |
| Died | November 15, 1985 Yucatan, Mexico |
| NSA member | Central America 1958 - 1959 Mexico 1961 - ???? |
Valeria Lamb Nichols (June 8, 1903 - November 15, 1985) was an American Bahá’í who pioneered in Europe and Central America where she helped establish and develop Bahá’í communities.
Biography[edit]
Nichols was born Valeria Lamb in Clinton, Iowa, in 1908. She grew up in Clinton and spent winters in Pasadena, California, with her family. She was intially educated by a private tutor then attended the Intercollegiate School in Los Angeles, and Knox School in Tarrytown, New York. In 1923 she began studying ballet and acrobatic dancing in New York City, met and married her first husband John W. Thornton, and in 1927 they moved to Southern California.[1]
In California Nichols was introduced to the Bahá’í Faith by a former classmate and she began attending study classes facilitated by Beulah Storrs Lewis who she became friends with. She declared in Los Angeles in 1937 and her brother, Artemus Lamb, also became a Bahá’í in 1939.[2] She was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Los Angeles shortly after declaring and also appointed to the Regional Teaching Committee for Nevada and California and the Inter-America Committee.[1]
In 1942 Nichols moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, then pioneered to Laramie, Wyoming, where she helped establish a Local Spiritual Assembly.[1] In September 1947 she pioneered to Holland and in December she pioneered to Portugal where she helped establish the Local Spiritual Assembly of Lisbon remaining in Portugal until 1951.[3]
At some point Nichols married Hayden Nichols, who was not a Bahá’í, and in 1953 they moved to Costa Rica for a brief period then to Mexico City, Mexico, and she was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Central America in 1958,[4] and the inaugural National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico in 1961 going on to serve for several years.[5] They lived in Mexico City until moving to Merida in the Mexican state of Yucatan in 1964 and Nichols was appointed to the Regional Teaching Committee of Yucatan serving for many years in addition to supporting her husband in his career, with her husband becoming a Bahá’í shortly before his passing.[3]
In 1985 Nichols passed in Yucatan, Mexico. The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after her passing:
SHARE YOUR GRIEF PASSING COURAGEOUS MAIDSERVANT BAHAULLAH VALERIA NICHOLS. HER LONGTIME SERVICE YOUR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND ADVANCEMENT CAUSE YUCATAN PENINSULA ADD LUSTRE BAHAI HISTORY MEXICO CROWNING SELFLESS PIONEER ENDEAVOURS HOMEFRONT UNITED STATES. KINDLY CONVEY HER BROTHER COUNSELLOR LAMB ASSURANCE PRAYERS PROGRESS HER PURE SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.[3]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 690. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1946). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 190, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 691. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 328, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 365, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
