Clara Holder Davis Hyde Dunn (12 May 1869 – 18 November 1960) was a Canadian nurse born in England, who became a Baháʼí in 1907 in Walla Walla,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. In 1920, she moved to Australia with her husband

John Henry Hyde Dunn John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

, where they played a key role in establishing the Baháʼí communities of Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Early life

Clara Holder was born in London, one of the eight children of Thomas Holder and Maria McHugh Holder. Her parents were married in Dublin; her father was a farmer, a policeman, a railroad worker, and a veteran of the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. She was raised in Ireland and Canada.

Career

As a young widow, she moved alone to Washington state in 1902, where she worked as a nurse and became a Bahá'í in 1907. She met 'Abdu'l-Bahá in California in 1912. She and her second husband Hyde Dunn moved to Australia in 1920, where they became leaders and teachers in the Bahá'í communities of Australia and New Zealand. She traveled to

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

on a pilgrimage in 1932. She met

Shoghi Effendi Shoghí Effendi (; ;1896 or 1897 – 4 November 1957) was Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1922 until his death in 1957. As the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, he was charged with guiding the development of the Baháʼí Faith, in ...

in 1934, and he instructed her to organise a national assembly of the Bahá'í faith in Australia and New Zealand, to support the local communities. She and her husband organized the first annual Australia and New Zealand Convention of Bahá'ís in 1934. As she grew older, she became known as "Mother" Dunn. She continued visiting Bahá'í gatherings and schools across Australia after her second husband died in 1941. She opened the Bahá'í headquarters in Sydney in 1944. She was named a

Hand of the Cause of God Hand of the Cause was a title given to prominent early members of the Baháʼí Faith, appointed for life by the religion's founders. Of the fifty individuals given the title, the last living was ʻAlí-Muhammad Varqá, who died in 2007. Hands o ...

by Shoghi Effendi in 1952. She attended the Bahá'í international gathering in New Delhi in 1953, and in 1954 she became Trustee for the Continental Fund for Australasia. She traveled to New Zealand to represent Effendi at the first national convention of Bahá'í there in 1947. She addressed the 1958 international conference of Bahá'ís held in Sydney in 1958.

Personal life and legacy

Clara Holder married her first husband, William Allen Davis, in 1885; they moved to Canada. Her first husband died in an accident in 1887, when she was just seventeen, and pregnant with their son Allen; her son was raised by relatives. She became the second wife of English-born salesman John Henry Hyde Dunn in 1917. Her husband died in 1941, her son died in 1957, and she died in 1960, in Sydney, at the age of 91. In 2020, the 100th anniversary of the Dunns' arrival in Australia was celebrated as a centenary by the Australian Bahá'í community.

Notes

External links

* * 1869 births 1960 deaths Hands of the Cause 20th-century Bahá'ís Burials at Woronora Memorial Park Australian Bahá'ís {{authority control