- 1939-00-01 — Lulu Barr was the first Bahá'í in Hamilton, ON. [OBCC196]
- 1940-04-21 — Canada's sixth spiritual assembly formed in Hamilton. It did not re-form in 1944. [OBCC177-178, UC16]
- 1941-05-00 — Lulu Barr pioneered to Saskatoon from Hamilton where she had learned of the Faith from Mabel Rice-Wray Ives two years earlier in May 1939. She stayed for two years with no apparent results. [OBCC186]
- 1941-06-20 —
The passing of Howard Colby Ives (b. 11 Oct 1867, Brooklyn, New York, d. Pulaski County, Arkansas, USA). He was buried in Pinecrest Memorial Park and Garden Mausoleum, Alexander, Saline County, Arkansas. [BW9p608-613; Find a grave]
- He and his wife Mabel spent nearly the last twenty years of his life as itinerant teachers. (Often teamed up with the Obers and the McKays) For example they came to Toronto in November of 1938 and stayed for about 10 months. During that time Mabel gave more than 150 lectures in Toronto and about 70 in Hamilton, Toronto's expansion goal. Howard, who was had had heart problems and who was rapidly losing for sight and hearing at the time, complemented her abilities by doing personal deepening with receptive souls. [TMLF62-67, SEBW139-154]
Some of his works were:
- The Ocean of His Utterances Unpublished study course in the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh using the books of Bahá'u'lláh, Abdu'l‑Baha, and Shoghi Effendi, compiled and with commentary by Ives. Not yet formatted.
- Portals to Freedom (1937) A collection of anecdotes and history of Abdu'l-Baha's travels to the United States, as told by one observer. [BEL7.1313 to 7.1320]
- The Song Celestial (1938) A mystical book about Mr. Ives' search for God, in which a seeker asks God various questions, and God responds. [BEL7.1321-1322]
- Also see Mother's Stories:
Recollections of Abdu'l-Baha by Muriel Ives Barrow Newhall (Daughter of Howard and Mabel Ives)
- 1942-04-21 — Canada's sixth and seventh spiritual assemblies formed in Halifax, NS, Hamilton, ON. [OBCC177]
- 1943-06-18 —
The passing of Mabel Rice-Wray Ives (Rizwanea) (b. in St. Louis, MI in 1878) in Oklahoma, OK. She was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery. [BW9p616]
She first heard of the Faith at the age of 21 in 1899 under miraculous circumstances. [Mabel Ives & The Mysterious Trolley Car Ride]
In 1903 she married Theron Canfield Rice-Wray and they lived in California from 1909 to 1914 where her marriage ended and she returned to the East. In 1919 she met Howard Colby Ives and they married in 1920. They teamed with another couple, Grace and Harlan Ober as well as Doris and Willard McKay in both business and the teaching work, moving from one virgin territory to another.
See the story of how Mabel resolved the situation when she could no longer tolerate the itinerate lifestyle in the story When Mable Ives Could Endure No More, She Prayed .
In 1937, the suggestion was made that Moncton, New Brunswick would be a fertile ground for the Cause. The Ives went. During the first six weeks of her stay, Mrs. Ives gave public lectures, radio addresses and formed a study class. She introduced the Faith to St. John, N.B., Halifax, N.S. and Charlottetown, P. E. I. Her untiring efforts, led to Moncton, NB forming the first Spiritual Assembly in the Canadian Maritimes, April 21st, 1937.
In spite of Howard's failing health, they travelled to Toronto in November of 1938 for ten months to assist in the formation of Toronto's first Spiritual Assembly. Rizwanea served on that new Spiritual Assembly until she left Canada. She gave more than 150 lectures in Toronto and 70 in Hamilton, Ontario, Toronto's expansion goal. Howard, although experiencing heart problems and rapidly losing both his sight and hearing complemented her abilities by doing personal deepening with receptive souls downstairs, while she would be presenting the Teachings upstairs.
See the tribute paid to her in the Canadian Bahá'í News No 202 November 1966 p4.
- 1951-07-00 — Ontario's first all-Bahá'í funerals were held for Mrs E J Gill of Toronto and Arthur Lehman of Hamilton. [CBN No 22 October 1951 p4]
- 1952-01-05 —
Fred and Jean Graham were registered as Bahá'ís. They had been closely aligned and were sympathetic to the Faith since 1948. [UC33]
- In the months and years that followed their relatives enrolled in the Faith. It can be said that the Graham family established the first dynasty in Canada.
- 1952 November 2: Fred's mother Florence as well as Fred's sister Jeanie and her husband Orv Seddon enrolled. [UC35]
- 1954-02-00 — Florence Mayberry made a tour of Eastern Canada with stops in Bellville, Kingston, Montreal, St Lambert, Westmount, Quebec City, Charlottetown, Ingersoll, Hamilton, and Peterborough.
The following reports were received on her teaching trip:
In Belleville she was interviewed on the radio, spoke to 250 Upper School Students in the collegiate Institute and at a public meeting in the YMCA.
In Kingston she spoke at a public meeting in the La Salle Hotel. gave a 15-minute talk on the radio and made contacts with members of the Professional Women's Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Junior Chamber of Commerce.
In spite of sub-zero weather in the Montreal area, good attendance was reported at public meetings in the Maxwell Home, the new Public Library in St. Lamber and in Westmount. Her meetings with Bahá'ís brought new enthusiasm and vigour to the believers in the Greater Montreal area. Tape recordings were made at stations CFCF and CJAD and an interview with the Montreal Gazette was arranged.
In Quebec City, Kay Samuels, Quebec City's only Bahá'í, arranged a public meeting for Mrs Mayberry in the Chateau Frontenac and an interview with a reporter from the Quebec Chronicle.
The Rotary Club in Charlottetown heard a talk from her and asked for a return visit. She also spoke over the radio and at a public meeting in Charlottetown.
Ingersoll friends were able to arrange a television interview for Mrs Mayberry. when she appeared on the Paul Soles program, gave a 15-minute presentation of the Faith and answered questions asked by Mr Solels.
In Hamilton, Mrs Mayberry spoke to an audience of over fifty at a public meeting and met with the friends at a potluck supper at the Graham home.
Molly and Ted Oliver, the only Bahá'ís in Peterborough, are holding regular firesides and public meetings. Five non-Bahá;ís were present for Mrs Mayberry's welcome visit there [CBN No 51 April, 1954 p5]
It would appear that she made a stop in Toronto as well. This report from Wikipedia recounts an incident when an audience member challenged her on the topic of the Anti-Christ. Her reply was that "…anyone, even a Christian declaring fealty to Jesus Christ, who denies that [returned] Holy Spirit is Anti-Christ. Baháʼís believe Baháʼu'lláh is that Return." Her autobiography, The Great Adventure p127-130 confirms this. - 1955-12-00 — It was reported in the Canadian Bahá'í News that the Hamilton Spiritual Assembly received its official
incorporation papers "some little time ago". One of the goal of the Ten-Year Crusade was to have nineteen incorporated assemblies in Canada. [CBN No 71 Dec 1955 p4]
- 1956-09-00 — The Bahá'í Faith was put on the curriculum in a course on comparative Religions at McMaster University. [UC61]
- 1957-07-00 — Hand of the Cause Dhikru'llah Khádem met with the National Spiritual Assembly. He had come from Central America and was visiting in the United States and Canada before returning to Haifa. He, his wife, and their daughter spent ten days in Canada and visited the friends in Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and London. [UC68-69]
- 1957-07-00 — Hand of the Cause Dhikru'llah Khádem met with the National Spiritual Assembly. He had come from Central America and was visiting in the United States and Canada before returning to Haifa. He, his wife, and their daughter spent ten days in Canada and visited the friends in Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and London. [UC68-69, 70; MtC269]
- 1957-11-02 — Hand of the Cause Paul Haney visited the Toronto-Hamilton area and spoke at conferences in both cities and at a fireside in Hamilton. [CBN No 95 Dec 1957 p3]
- 1957-12-00 —
The National Spiritual Assembly appointed a National Promulgation Committee with a mandate to bring the Bahá'i Faith to the attention of Christian clergy and laymen throughout Canada. The committee members were: Fred and Jean Graham, Douglas and Elizabeth Martin, David and Carol Bowie. Hamilton was chosen as the site for a pilot project. Every minister and priest received the pamphlet, "The Promised Day of God" and a letter with the National Spiritual Assembly letterhead outlining Bahá'u'lláh's claim to be the return of Christ. Every Protestant minister received a copy of the article by Marcs Bach from the Christian Century entitled, "Bahá'í, a Second Look" and every Catholic priest received a pamphlet with excerpts from Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet to the Pope. Archdeacons and Bishops and prominent Presbyterian and United ministers receive a copy of Christ and Bahá'u'lláh. In addition a letter was sent to the local Council of Churches or Ministerial Association outlining Bahá'u'lláh's claim and including a pamphlet and the Christian Century article and offering a speaker if they desired.
- On the weekend following the mailout, notices were placed in the newspaper on the church page informing people that their clergy had received the material and notice was given about a public meeting on Sunday with the subject "Christ and Bahá'u'lláh".
- Questionnaires were sent to every group in Ontario requesting information that would facilitate further plans. [CBN No 104 September 1958 p3-4]
- 1958-02-06 —
Hand of the Cause John Robarts arrived in Canada to begin his extensive tour of Canada. He had been sent to Canada by the Hands in the Holy Land because the Guardian had been concerned about the slow progress in the objectives of the 10-year plan in Canada The first stop was in Moncton where a three-day conference was held with Mr. Robarts. [CBN No 98 March, 1958 p2]
- He had made a stop in Iceland en route to Gander where he met with Bruce Matthew and Bill Howell. [CBN No 99 April 1958 p7]
- He shared with the friends his pioneering experience in Africa, the meeting of the Hands in London and in the Holy Land after the passing of the Guardian as well of the dedication of the Temple in Kampala that he attended just prior to his departure for Canada.
- Mr. Robarts focused on the revitalization of the believers and constantly emphasized the power of prayer in beseeching assistance in winning the goals with special emphasis on the Prayer for Canada, the Tablet of Ahmad and the Long Obligatory Prayer. [CBN No 126 July 1960 p4]
- He spent several weeks visiting communities in Quebec and Ontario, Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Ottawa and others. [CBN No99 April, 1958 p7]
- In Saskatoon he performed the marriage of Ericka Janzen and Tom Gossen. [CBN No 100 May, 1958 p3]
- 1958-04-00 — The Canadian Bahá'í News reported that as of this date 10 Local Assemblies had been incorporated in Canada. They were: Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Scarborough, Toronto, North York Vancouver Vernon, and Winnipeg. [CBN No 99 April 1958 p3]
- 1959-00-00 — The largest year-round Inuit community in Canada was in Hamilton at the Mountain Sanatorium where 332 Inuit patients were being treated. There were 1,578 Inuit being treated in Canadian hospitals in 1953. One-third of the Inuit population of the 1950s was infected with TB and approximately one out of every seven Inuit was in a southern sanatorium.[Contributed by Leslie Cole]
- 1970-01-12 —
An animated presentation entitled "The Community of Baha'u'llah" made its initial presentation at the Art Centre in Ottawa. They had just come from their trial run in St. Lambert, Quebec and had a plan to visit Oshawa, Hamilton, Guelph, North Bay, Fort William (Thunder Bay), Winnipeg, Brandon, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Kelowna, Vancouver, Nanaimo and Victoria before doing their final presentation in Toronto just before the National Convention.
- The hosts for the presentation were: Al Houdek, Gerry Bourassa; Leslie Houdek, Sandra Kostaschuk, Garry Berteig; Larry Brown, and Valerie Berteig with Dick Stanton as the Tour Manager.
- Travelling exhibit was intended as a vehicle to introduce the Message of Baha'u'llah. They utilized film, sound and slides, as well as traditional art forms. The plan was to have the local communities integrate interested person into the community after the team had made the initial contact. The eight member team made the three month trip in two vehicles, an Econoline van and a station wagon. [CBN No 236 January-February 1970 BE 126 p1]
- The tour continued into the Maritimes for several more months with some changes in the team to include Gale Bundy, Fred Ward, and Bob Kingdon. The tour ended at Rochdale College in Toronto. [email exchange with Garry Berteig 4 January 2020] iiiii
- 1992-11-30 —
The passing of Doris McKay (b. Doris Henrietta Hill 29 September, 1894) in Charlottetown.
- She married Willard Judd McKay 30 June 1923. In 1925 she and Willard attended a fireside given by Howard and Mabel Ives. In 1929 she made her fist travel teaching trip to New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Boston, Portsmouth and to Montreal. She was a frequent lecturer at Green Acre. In 1939 she returned to Canada to staff the Bahá'í booth at the Canadian National Exhibition and to visit communities in Hamilton, Montreal and Moncton where she took up residence in 1942. In the fall of 1943 they moved to Prince Edward Island to help win a goal of the Seven Year Plan by establishing a local spiritual assembly in Charlottetown.
- In 1928 while still a resident in the US and a member of the Outline Bureau of the National Teaching Committee she developed "36 Lessons", some of the first deepening materials and study outlines for the American believers. She was a contributor to the Star of the West and later The Bahá'í World.
- Her autobiography Fire in Many Hearts, written with Paul Vreeland, was published in 1991 by Nine Pines Publishing and was republished by George Ronald under a new title Fires in Many Hearts - Memoirs of an early American believer. [BWIM30-32]
- 2018-09-28 — The passing of Aghdas Javid (b. 16 July 1924 in Hamadan, Iran) in Dundas. She was born a third generation Bahá'í; her grandfather became a Bahá'í in Hamadan in the 19th century when a large number of Jewish Persians became Bahá'ís. [Find a grave]
She and her husband, Dr Mirza Javid, had been residents in the Hamilton area since 1968 when he was employed by the public health department. Prior to that they had lived in Montreal where they had settled when they first arrived in Canada in 1966. Aghdas was famous in the Hamilton area for her Friday night firesides which she held faithfully, sometimes attracting as many as 80 attendees.
In 2001, she was chosen to be among a group of Canadian Baha'is — part of 4,500 from around the world — to travel to Israel to witness the opening of a kilometre-long series of garden terraces surrounding the Bahá'í temple on Mount Carmel. [Bahá'í Canada Vol 14 Issue 3]
Every year she would hold a tea to which she invited local dignitaries. [Bahá'í Canada Vol 16 Issue 1 May 2003 p31]
She had been predeceased by her husband in in 1999. She left children Sussan, Ladan and Jasmine, four granddaughters, one grandson, one great-grandson and family in Iran, England, Germany and Brazil. [Hamilton Spectator; Dignity Memorial] - 2021-11-18 —
The release of the film Exemplar commissioned by the Universal House of Justice to mark the centenary commemoration of the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The film follows the life of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the profound effect He had on people both past and present. A sense of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's unique function as a shelter, a shield, and a stronghold for all humanity is captured in vignettes of some of the people whose lives were transformed through their association with Him. It explores how, by championing the oneness of humanity through His words and deeds, He offered a challenge to the stale assumptions and prejudices of the age, and gave stimulus to a process of unification which continues to this day. [BWNS1551]
- The film was made by Hamilton, ON Bahá'í, Mary Darling. [The Hamilton Spectator 5 April 2022] iiiii
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