May Maxwell
Encyclopedia
Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 27,147.Englewood was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
— 1 March 1940, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
), an early American member of the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
.
Early life
Mary Ellis Bolles was born to John Bolles and Mary Martin Bolles, in EnglewoodEnglewood
Englewood is a corruption of Dutch Engelse buurt, or "English neighborhood", which originally referred to Englewood, New Jersey's status as one of the few English-speaking settlements in Dutch-speaking New Netherland...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. She was nicknamed 'May' to distinguish her from her mother. May was of English ancestry. The Bolles family were distinguished in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, owning a successful bank in the city. When she was fourteen May was sent to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to live with her English cousins. For one year May lived in Kensington. May became very spiritually minded; she was given a gift of a Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
in 1885, which she studied and read daily.
As May approached her late teens her family saw it was the time for her to be married. Phoebe Hearst
Phoebe Hearst
Phoebe Apperson Hearst was an American philanthropist, feminist and suffragist. She was also the mother of William Randolph Hearst.-Biography:...
, who was a close friend of her mother, funded May’s extravagant debutante ball. She was 'brought out' in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. May was considered a great beauty with a petite figure, blue eyes and long fair hair attracting several suitors who courted her. The rejection of several marriage proposals frustrated her family. She was bought out again into Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
society in the hopes of finding a husband. May fell in love during this period and became engaged, but it was broken off. May plunged into depression, and it was around this time that her health seriously deteriorated.
In late 1894 May moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with her mother and brother; who was attending the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
. May’s mother still hoped for her to marry, but May resented the Parisian high society. She went through periods of deep depression and insomnia
Insomnia
Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
and even considered entering a convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
. In 1897 May lost both her grandmother and cousin whom she was very close to. At 27 May became obsessed with mortality and became bedridden leading to many of her family members believing she was going to die.
Pilgrimage to Acre
In November of 1898 Phoebe Hearst, accompanied by her nieces and other Bahá’ís like Lua GetsingerLua Getsinger
Louise Aurora Getsinger known as Lua Getsinger was one of the first Western converts to the Bahá'í faith, converting in 1897. She was also a prominent disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá....
, stopped off at Paris before concluding their journey to the East. Hearst was shocked to see 28-year-old May bedridden with the chronic malady which had inflicted her. She invited May to sojourn to the East with her believing the change of air to be conducive to her health. Getsinger also disclosed to May the purpose of the journey; a pilgrimage to visit the head of the Bahá’í religion `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
. May arrived in Acre in February of 1899. She wrote of the first time she met `Abdu’l-Bahá as "of that first meeting I can remember neither joy nor pain nor anything that I can name".
As a Bahá’í
May returned to Paris and began teaching her new faith. Her teaching acquired many new believers, including Englishman Thomas BreakwellThomas Breakwell
Thomas Breakwell was the first Englishmen to become a Bahá’í and the first to make the pilgrimage to ‘Akká. He was taught the Bahá’í Faith by May Bolles in the summer of 1901, and traveled to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in ‘Akká that same summer...
and Juliet Thompson
Juliet Thompson
Juliet Thompson was an American Bahá'í, painter, and disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá. She is perhaps best remembered for her book The Diary of Juliet Thompson though she also painted a life-sized portrait of `Abdu'l-Bahá.-Early life and education:...
. On her return five of the younger female pilgrims had a photograph commissioned and sent to `Abdu'l-Bahá. On receiving the photograph he wrote a tablet addressed to the five, whom he named the Five Holy Leaves. She met a close friend of her brother's, William Sutherland Maxwell
William Sutherland Maxwell
William Sutherland Maxwell was a well-known Canadian architect and a Hand of the Cause in the Bahá'í Faith. He was born in Montreal, Canada to parents Edward John Maxwell and Johan MacBean.-Education:...
, a Canadian of Scottish background, and the two married in 1902 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. William did not become a Bahá'í until 1909. The couple had one child, a daughter named Mary
Rúhíyyih Khanum
Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum , born Mary Sutherland Maxwell was the wife of Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921–1957. She was appointed by him as a Hand of the Cause, and served an important role in the transfer of authority from 1957–1963...
.
The couple moved to Montreal, and May set up a Bahá’í center in her home. Prior to 1912, she supported a Children’s Court for Montreal, and her efforts were chief in maintaining the Colborne Street Milk Station. In about 1914, she brought a Montessori teacher from New York to their home in Montreal to start the first school of this type in Canada. In Montreal May continued to convert people such as Arthur Armstrong, Rose Henderson and her husband’s cousin Martha MacBean. In 1912 `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
visited Canada and stayed with the Maxwells. She was an early participant at Green Acre
Green Acre
Green Acre is a conference facility in Eliot, Maine, in the United States. It was founded by Sarah Farmer in 1894. The name Green Acre came from poet John Greenleaf Whittier, a personal friend of the Farmer family....
, the first Bahá'í training facility in the United States. In 1927 she was a member of the US and Canada National Spiritual Assembly
Spiritual Assembly
Spiritual Assembly is a term given by `Abdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Bahá'í Faith. Because the Bahá'í Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community...
.
In 1937 her life changed dramatically after her daughter, Mary
Rúhíyyih Khanum
Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum , born Mary Sutherland Maxwell was the wife of Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921–1957. She was appointed by him as a Hand of the Cause, and served an important role in the transfer of authority from 1957–1963...
, was married to Shoghi Effendi
Shoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendí Rabbání , better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957...
, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith.
Death
Despite poor health, May chose to go to Buenos Aires to teach the Faith along with her niece. However whilst arriving, May fell ill and died of a heart attack. Shoghi EffendiShoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendí Rabbání , better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957...
gave her the status of martyr.