- 1965-11-00 — The Aidun family, Jamshid, Gol and their children moved from Winnipeg to Brandon in response to a request from the National Spiritual Assembly encouraging pioneers to move to that city. Previous to that, in 1965, Ray and Millie Anderson and family had relocated there from Shilo and Millie (Millicent Stonechild) was a resident. Dr. William Guy and his wife Margaret, were among the first members living in Brandon to join the Baha’i community. By 1970 there were 10 adults and over 100 youth. The first Brandonite to enrol in the Faith was Sandra Dudding. The first Local Spiritual Assembly was formed in 1970. [History of the Faith in Brandon]
- 1980-06-02 — Fifth Annual Conference of the Association of Bahá'í Studies was held in Ottawa.
A group of lectures were given on the life and work of Hand of the Cause Mr. Hasan Balyuzi. Dr. Abbas Afnan and Dr. Muhammed Afnan, both of whom are relations of Mr. Balyuzi and belong to the family of the Blessed Bab, talked about Mr. Balyuzi's illustrious lineage. Hand of the Cause of God, Mr. John Robarts provided an appreciation of Mr. Balyuzi's service as a member of the Institution of the Hands of the Cause. Mr. Douglas Martin gave the final talk of the lectureship session reviewing the immense work of Mr. Balyuzi as an historian. The Association has established a continuing lectureship in Bahá'í history, in Mr. Balyuzi's honour.
Another new feature of the annual conference was the presentation of awards for the three best essays and research on Bahá'í studies. Catherine Nelson-McDermott of British Columbia was the recipient of an award for the best essay in the high school category for her paper, "Tahirih". Alanna Robertson of Prince Edward Island was chosen in the univer- sity category for her essay entitled; "Music: Its Influence on the Spirit". Robert Stockman of Rhode Island received the award for the best research in the individual category for his work, "'A History of the Rhode Island Baha'i Community". Each winner was the guest of the Association, presented his/ her paper during the conference, and received a commemo- rative plaque.
The presentations on the theme of history were very well received. Dr. Alan Ward's talk, "'Abdu'1l-Bahá and the American Press", set the tone of the conference, with ease, humour and clarity. Gol Aidun recounted the relationship of Manakji Limji Hataria, an historical figure in the Zoroastrian community, with the Bahá'í Faith. Stephen Whitney's paper entitled "The Second Century", reviewed the condition of the major religions in their second century of existence and compared their history to the second century of the Bahá'í Faith. A major presentation by Dr. Jean-René Milot of the University of Montreal entitled "L'Origine de la foi baha'i sur l'arriére plan shi'ie", was given. This talk by an invited guest speaker enabled the friends to witness the accuracy and fairness with which truly informed non-Baha'i scholars could view the Bahá'í Faith.
The panel presentation on ''Baha'i Scholarship" was inaugurated this year and was very successful. A special addition was a presentation by Mr. Richard St. Barbe Baker en- titled ''The Founding of the Men of the Trees".
News of the decision to proceed at once with the planned purchase of a building to house the offices of the Association and gradually expand into a Centre for Baha'i Studies gave a final note of excitement and confirmation to the year's proceedings. [BCVol 2 No 12 September/October 1980 p29]
- 1981-05-29 — The 6th annual Conference of the Association for Bahá'í Studies was held in Ottawa and was attended by some 350 Bahá'ís.
This year, with the approval of the Universal House of Justice, the name of the Association was changed from the Canadian Association for Studies on the Bahá'í Faith to the Association for Bahá'í Studies in recognition of its increasingly international character. Also, the Association recently purchased a modest house on the campus of the University of Ottawa to serve as a Center for Bahá'í Studies and as an administrative headquarters for the organization.
The presentations included: "The Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Personal Growth," by Hossain Danesh, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada who is a practicing psychiatrist; a discussion of the use of computers in indexing the Bahá'í Writings, presented by Edward Fox, a doctoral candidate in computer science at Cornell University; "John the Baptist—The Forgotten Manifestation," by Jack McLean, a doctoral candidate in religious studies at the University of Ottawa; and a presentation on the life and works of Mishkín-Qalam, the famous Bahá'í calligrapher, by Gol Aidun of Brandon, Manitoba.
Also included in the conference was the second annual Ḥasan Balyúzi Lectureship—given this year by Douglas Martin, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, who spoke on the persecutions of the Bahá'ís in Iran under the Pahlavi regime, and by Glenford E. Mitchell, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, who discussed the reaction of people in the West to the current wave of persecutions in Iran.
The last presentation of the conference was that of Amatu'l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum who had recently arrived in North America after several months in Central America. Although not entirely recovered from an illness acquired during her travels, she spoke vigorously—although, uncharacteristically, while seated. Her principal theme was the corrosive effects of the prejudice of the educated toward the illiterate, though she stressed the importance of the contribution of the educated in the Faith and in society.
She also urged the Bahá'ís to redouble their efforts, citing a passage pointed out to her by the beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, in which Bahá'u'lláh, while still in Baghdád, had said that if the Bahá'ís had busied themselves with what He had commanded them to do, "now the entire world would be clothed in faith."
[BN Issue 607 October 1981 p7; BCVol 3 No 5 July/August 1981 p5] - 1987-01-23 — The death of Gol Aidun (b.12 March 1930 in Poona (now Pune) India)) in an accident involving a train near Pune, India. She was buried in the Bahá'í Cemetery in Pune, Maharashtra, India. [Find a grave].
She, with her husband Jamshid and their three children, Laila, Seema and Vahíd as well as their grandchildren, had recently attended the opening ceremonies of the Lotus Temple in New Delhi. They were visiting relatives in Pune. She had boarded the train to return to New Delhi to volunteer as a guide at the Temple.
The tribute from the Universal House of Justice read...:
DEEPLY GRIEVED UNTIMELY PASSING DEAR WIFE GOL WHILE TRAVELING IN INDIA. HER KINDLY SPIRIT, GREAT ZEAL IN TEACHING INCLUDING MANY JOURNEYS BEHALF BELOVED FAITH, HER HISTORICAL RESEARCH ON PERSONS AND TOPICS OF CAUSE MAKE HER LOSS IRREPARABLE. EXTEND HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES ALL MEMBERS FAMILY. ASSURE FERVENT PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HER ILLUMTNED SOUL WORLDS GOD.
Note: some examples of her historical research referred to above are: She recounted the relationship of Manakji Limji Hataria, an historical figure in the Zoroastrian community, with the Bahá'í Faith at the ABS conference in 1981 (Bahá'í Studies Notebook 1:1 (1980), 47-62) and at the ABS gathering in 1980 she made a presentation on the life and works of Mishkín-Qalam, the famous Bahá'í calligrapher. "Manekji Limji Hataria and the Bahá'í Faith," (Published in Bahá'í Studies Notebook, 1.1 (December 1980). This latter address is available on Spotify.
She also delivered an unpublished paper at the New England Regional Conference of the Association for Baha'i Studies, 1982 titled "Mishkin Qalam, The Great Calligrapher and Humorist.". [Bibliography of a paper titles Mishkí Qalam by Vahid Rafati.]
Note: Mention of her is also made in Ripples from the Rupununi, a biography of her husband Jamshid, by Brian H Cameron.
A short biography written by her daughter Laila Aidun Eiriksson can be found in Bahá'í World XX p860-863.
Gol and her family relocated from Winnipeg to Brandon in November of 1965 and by Ridván 1970 the inauguration local assembly was formed. [History of the Bahá'í Faith in Brandon]
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