A new version of the Bahá’í Reference Library is now available. This ‘old version’ of the Bahá’í Reference Library will be replaced at a later date.
The new version of the Bahá’i Reference Library can be accessed here »
Note 2. (Letter No. 1) |
Born in London in 1855, Hyde Dunn was engaged in
business in Britain and continental Europe before emigrating to the United
States. In 1905, whilst at a tinsmith’s shop in Seattle, he observed the
shopkeeper in excited conversation with a man who had just returned from
the Prison of ‘Akká and the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; he overheard the
quotation “Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country, but let him
glory in this, that he loves his kind”. Hyde Dunn later recalled that “The
words reached me with dynamic force, its truth and power crystallised in
my heart—a new consciousness awakened… That one glorious utterance
magnetised my whole being, appealed as a new note, sent forth from
God to His wandering creatures—a Message from the Supreme to the sons
of men”.
1
Recognising the Truth, Hyde Dunn interrupted the conversation,
and accepted immediately the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. The year
was 1905.
|
In 1912, he was present at a meeting with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in San
Francisco and declared it was the Master’s “penetrating glance, his life
giving words, he felt gave him the power that enabled him later to become
the spiritual conqueror of a continent”. Accompanied by his English born
wife, Clara, he answered the call of the “Tablets of the Divine Plan” and
on April 18th, 1920 reached Australia whence they travelled to New Zealand
in 1922–3, not knowing there was already a believer there (Margaret
Stevenson). With their arrival in Auckland, the Cause grew in that country
and when Hyde Dunn left to return to Australia, Clara remained for a time
to organise a study group in New Zealand.
|
Known affectionately among Bahá’ís as “Mother” and “Father”
Dunn, they carried the Message of Bahá’u’lláh from New South Wales to
Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, across the desert to Perth and to
tropical Queensland and became the spiritual parents of Australia. After
“Mother” Dunn returned from a lone pilgrimage to the Holy Land,
“Father” was elected a member of the first National Spiritual Assembly of
95
the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand in 1934. After his passing on
February 17th, 1941, “Mother” Dunn’s dedication to the Bahá’í Faith
continued unabated and in 1952 she was elevated to the station of Hand of
the Cause of God by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith:
“Father” Dunn was subsequently elevated to the same station posthumously.
|
Despite her advanced years, “Mother” Dunn returned to New Zealand
in 1957 as representative of the Guardian at the formation of the first
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of New Zealand. In March,
1958, at the request of the Guardian, she placed plaster from the Castle of
Máh-Kú in the foundations of the Australasian Bahá’í House of Worship in
Sydney during the Australian Inter-Continental Conference. Until her passing
to the Abhá Kingdom in 1960 at the age of 91 years, “Mother” Dunn
retained her memory of many Bahá’í prayers and was reciting these at the
time of her death.
|
1. | “The Bahá’í World, Vol. IX, 1940–1944”, pp. 593–596. Bahá’í Publishing Committee, Wilmette, Illinois, 1945 [ Back To Reference] |