William Mitchell
William Mitchell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 16, 1907 Brighton, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica |
| Died | July 30, 1985 |
| Other names | W.A.W. Mitchell |
| NSA member | Greater Antilles 1957 - 1961 Jamaica 1961 - ???? |
| ABM | Americas 1956 - 1969 |
William Arthur Wellesley Mitchell (February 16, 1907 - July 30, 1985) was a Jamaican Bahá’í who served as a National Spiritual Assembly and Auxiliary Board member.
Biography[edit]
Mitchell was born in Brighton, Jamaica, in 1907. His parents were Wilfred and Clementine Mitchell. In his youth he studied at Clapham Elementary School and then Kingston Commercial College and he worked as an assistant instructor at his Elementary School from 1922 to 1925. He was talented at mathematics and became an accountant working for for the Universal Negro Improvement Association as an accountant from 1930 to 1932. He became secretary for the All-Jamaica Exhibition in 1932 and served as secretary until 1934. In his personal life he married Olive Lewis in 1938, had two daughters, and moved to Kingston at some point where he established an accounting business.[1]
In 1942 Mitchell discovered the Bahá’í Faith when he borrowed a Bahá’í book from a parson, J. C. Mitchell. The parson had borrowed the book himself from Bahá’í travel teacher Malcolm King so King visited Mitchell in Kingston to collect the book. King stayed in Jamaica for an extended period and visited Mitchell's business offices once a week teaching classes on the Bahá’í Faith which were attended by Mitchell and his employees and Mitchell and one of his employees declared. He was possibly the first person in Jamaica to sign a declaration card however he had to wait for two days to submit his card to Malcolm King, by which time Marian Lord Maxwell's declaration had been submitted.[1]
In April 1943 the Local Spiritual Assembly of Kingston was established and Mitchell was elected to the body as its inaugural chairman. In 1944 he represented Jamaica at the commemoration of the Bahá’í Centenary in the United States and he was pivotal to the early administrative development of the Jamaican Bahá’í community throughout the 1940's and also hosted children's classes in his business offices and often traveled across Jamaica to teach. He was appointed to the Auxiliary Board of the Americas and assigned the jurisdiction of Jamaica in 1956 and served as Board member until 1969.[2]
In 1957 the National Spiritual Assembly of the Greater Antilles was established and Mitchell was elected as an inaugural member of the body.[3] The body was disbanded in 1961 and succeeded by independent National Assemblies for the constituent countries and Mitchell was also elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of Jamaica. He also served on several committees of the National Assembly and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Kingston.[2]
In 1983 Mitchell visited the Holy Land and attended the Fifth International Convention at which his nephew, Glenford Mitchell, was re-elected to the Universal House of Justice having been elected in a by-election the previous year. In April 1985 he was honored by the Bahá’í community of Jamaica at a commemoration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the National Spiritual Assembly being established.[2]
Mitchell passed away in July 1985. The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after his passing:
SHARE YOUR DEEP SORROW PASSING WILLIAM MITCHELL STALWART SERVANT BAHAULLAH. HIS LONG YEARS UNSTINTING IMPERISHABLE SERVICES AS PILLAR FAITH INDELIBLY INSCRIBED BAHAI ANNALS CARIBBEAN AREA. KINDLY CONVEY OUR LOVING SYMPATHY FAMILY FRIENDS. FERVENTLY PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS RADIANT SOUL THROUGHOUT DIVINE WORLDS.[4]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 684. View as PDF.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 685. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 312, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 686. View as PDF.
