- 1866-12-01 —
Birth of Marion Jack, prominent Bahá'í travel teacher, pioneer and artist, known affectionately as 'General jack' for her services to the Bahá'í community, in Saint John, New Brunswick.
- LDG1:217 for information on her pioneer work.
- 1908-00-00 — Marion Jack was in 'Akká and taught 'Abdu'l-Bahá's children. [FMH45]
- 1911-09-22 —
'Abdu'l-Bahá visited the home of Misses Marion Jack and Elizabeth Herrick, at 10 Cheniston Gardens, Wright's Lane (sometimes given as
137a High Street, Kensington. About 80 people were present.
[ABL48-49, In the Footsteps of 'Abdu'l-Bahá p14; SoW Vol 2 No 12 October 16, 1911 p5]
- The talk was stenographically recorded and published as Discourse by 'Abdu'l-Bahá at the Unity Meeting of Misses Jack and Herrick. September 22nd, 1911.
For full text see NBAD233-234.
- 1911-10-03 —
`Abdu'l-Bahá gave a talk that has been entitled, "Eleven essentials: the Bahai principles as taught by Abdu'l-Baha in London". ['Abdu'l-Bahá Speaks]
He left London for Paris. [AB154; SBR25, In the Footsteps of 'Abdu'l-Bahá p22]
- See ABL113 for details of His last day in London. He left from Victoria Station.
- He was accompanied by many Bahá'ís from England who attended many of the public meeting at which He spoke in Paris. This group included Marion Jack, Ethel Rosenberg, Lady Bloomfield and her two daughters. [NBAD47, SYH42]
- He remained in Paris for nine weeks. [AB159; GPB280]
- For details of His visit see AB159–68.
- For `Abdu'l-Bahá's talks given in Paris see PT.
- 1930-11-00 —
Louise Gregory sailed on the SS Sinaia from Providence, Rhode Island with a destination of Constanta in Romania. The ship carried her via the Azores, Algiers and Istanbul. In all possibility she visited Bucharest and Poland before arriving at her destination of Sofia some time in January. [SYH169]
- Marion Jack had been on pilgrimage and Shoghi Effendi suggested she might go to Sofia to help Louise. She left Haifa near the end of March, stopped over briefly in Cyprus then on to Trieste and then to Sofia. Meanwhile Louise had been informed by the American Legation that the police had become suspicious of her "non-Christian" work and she had to vacate the country before the expiration of her visa. [SYH172, NBAD122, 143-144]
- Louise left Sofia on the 8th of April. She stopped in Geneva, Switzerland to visit her friends at the International Bahá'í Bureau. After making her way to England she departed from Liverpool on the SS Britannic on the 24th of April arriving in Boston on the 2nd of May. [SYH241]
- Marion had arrived in Sofia on the 9th of April 1931. [SYH172]
- 1931-03-00 — Marion Jack painted a view from the Mansion at Bahjí. The painting was eventually hung in the Mansion. [CT174]
- 1931-04-04 — Marion Jack arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, to begin her pioneering service.
- 1931-10-00 — Notwithstanding the fact that her visa had not been renewed the previous year, Louise Gregory returned to Bulgaria, this time to Varna, a resort on the Black Sea. Marion Jack was able to join her from Sofia and their teaching efforts met with some success. Marion had not only continued Louise's work in Sofia but started a group in Turnova. Much credit is due to George Adam Benke for his part in her success. [SYH173; NBAD137]
- 1935-11-24 —
The passing of Dr. Howard Luxmoore Carpenter (b. 1906, d. 24 November 1935). He was buried at the Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito, California. [Find a grave]
- A graduate of the Stanford Medical School in 1932.
- He married Mardiyyih Nabil (later Marzieh Gail) in 1929, and in 1932 he and his wife left San Francisco for Vienna, where he took a medical course, and afterward at the Guardian's direction traveled through Central Europe and the Balkans. With Martha Root in Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade, he then spent five weeks in Sofia, Bulgaria, assisting Miss Marion Jack, after which he stopped briefly in Saloniki and went on to Tirana, Albania, to visit Refo Chapary. He then left for Haifa, where he stayed three weeks on his way to Tihran.
- In Iran, notwithstanding the efforts of the Assembly, he was prevented for more than one year from obtaining a medical license. His health failed, and he was bedridden for many months. At last his physical condition improved, he resumed activities as a member of the Unity of the East and West Committee, and the authorities granted him a license to practise medicine. At this time he was stricken with paralysis. He lay seven months in a hospital, after which Mr. and Mrs. Rahmat 'Alá'í invited him to their home, surrounding him with the same loving care which they had given Keith Ransom-Kehler the year before. His doctors advised a return to the United States as his only hope for recovery; he braved the long journey across the desert by motor, the presence of the 'Ala'is, who escorted him to Haifa, helping him to survive it.
- After nine days in Haifa, during which the Guardian visited him daily, he took a ship for New York where he was greeted by the National Spiritual Assembly, and then left by way of the Panama Canal for San Francisco. Here he had recourse to the best medical authorities, but was pronounced incurable. He passed away November 24, 1935 . He is buried at Sunset Memorial Park in Berkeley. The Bahá'í service held for him was conducted by Leroy Ioas of San Francisco; Bahá'ís of Berkeley, Oakland, Geyserville, San Francisco and Santa Paula were present, and the words of Bahá'u'lláh on immortality radiated such power as to efface all thought of death. [BW6 p491-493]
- See Shoghi Effendi's tribute to him where he said:
Next to the late Mrs. Ransom-Kehler he may, indeed, be well considered as the foremost American believer who has, in the last few years, been assisted in rendering invaluable help to the Persian believers in their efforts for the establishment of the Administration in their country… .
["Uncompiled Published Letters"]
- 1954-03-25 —
The passing of Marion Jack (General Jack) (b. St. John, New Brunswick) at her pioneer post in Sofia, Bulgaria at the age of 87. She had been at her post since 1931. [BWNS385; Never be Afraid to Dare p. 227]
- Shoghi Effendi called her 'a shining example to pioneers of present and future generations of East and West'. [CF163]
- For her obituary see BW12:674–7.
- See also BFA2155; MC359.
- For a photo of her gravestone see CBNOct1972p.10.
- See Bahá'í Chronicles for a biography.
- For a photo by the Bahá'ís of Sofia see BW5p464.
- See also Marion Jack: Immortal Heroine by Jan Jasion
- See CBN October1979 for tributes as well as a photo of her gravesite.
- See The Early Years of the British Bahá'í Community (1898-1911) p128-129.
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