Horace Holley (Baháʼí)

For the president of Transylvania University, see Horace Holley (1781-1827).

Horace Holley (April 7, 1887 in Torrington, Connecticut – July 12, 1960 in Haifa, Israel) was a prominent follower of the Baháʼí Faith, having been elected to several Spiritual Assemblies, appointed by Shoghi Effendi in 1951 as a Hand of the Cause, and later elected as one of the nine Custodians who stewarded the religion from 1957–1963.

Horace Holley
Horace Holley, detail from larger photograph
Born	April 7, 1887 Torrington, Connecticut, United States
Died	July 1960 Haifa, Israel
Nationality	American
Title	Hand of the Cause
Spouses	Bertha Herbert ​ (m. 1909⁠–⁠1919)​ Doris Pascal ​ (m. 1919)​
Children	Hertha (1910 or 1911, Italy) Marcia (1916, Greenwich Village, United States)

Holley was born in Torrington, Connecticut in 1887. He was introduced to the Baháʼí Faith in 1909, and later served as a member and secretary to the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada, first being elected in 1923. He also became editor of World Unity Magazine. He was elected by his fellow Hands of the Cause as a Custodian in 1959. This being announced on Christmas Day of 1959 in the New York Times:

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais announced today that Horace Holley had resigned as secretary as the chief steward of the faith at international headquarters in Haifa, Israel.

He and his wife Doris moved to Haifa, Israel, where he died July 12, 1960. He is buried at the foot of Mount Carmel in Haifa.

References

• Harper, Barron (1997). Lights of Fortitude (Paperback ed.). Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-413-1.

External links

• Works by Horace Holley at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Horace Holley at the Internet Archive
  • Read-Aloud Plays (1916). A collection of stories involving the Baháʼí Faith
• Biography by R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram
• Horace Holley Poems at Poetry Archive