With these words the Universal House of Justice on 9 February 1984 announced to the Bahá’i world the passing of one who lived her life of dedicated service as though no alternative existed and who would have been amazed to be accorded such accolades.
The Revells were a devout Christian family living in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania. U.S.A. The father, Edward, was a weaver, who passed away, after years of illness, in 1900, leaving his forty-one-year-old wife Mary with six young children, though Ethel herself mentions there being eight children in the family. Mary Revell, though tiny in size, was a pillar of strength, possessed of phenomenal courage. Before her husband died, foreseeing the difficulties of her situation, he told her she would never be able to keep all the children with her, but she assured him he need not worry, she would do so; she got employment in a factory and with the assistance of the older children, who valiantly got jobs at an early age, she preserved her home and kept her family together. Ethel’s own employment certificate shows she was fourteen when she went to work; most of her working life she was listed as 'stenographer'. Like her mother, she was small and delicate in build.
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| Mary Revell and daughters, 1914 |
We are fortunate to have the first letter Ethel herself wrote to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, dated 22 September 1909: ‘To my dear Master, I rejoice in the thought that I am a Baha’i. I am the eight [sic] child, and am twelve years of age. Since mamma has come into this faith I haven’t gone to Sunday School. I would rather learn the primary lessons of today. I hope I may be a great helper in this great cause and show by my life what I am. Help me to by deeds of kindness be a great service to mankind. I am your humble servant. Ethel Cowan Revell.’ Whether this was ever answered directly to her we have no record; however, a copy of a Tablet to her from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá dated 8 October 1921, evidently replying to matters she had raised concerning others so typical of her self-effacing nature!—begins: “O Thou maidservant of God!” and ends, “Upon thee be the glory of the Most Glorious.” The orientation to ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, the Centre of the Covenant, from 1906 till His ascension in 1921 was never interrupted.
During ‘Abdu'l-Bahá's travels in the United States and Canada in 1912, Ethel lost no opportunity to see Him whenever this was possible, meeting Him on more than one occasion, in more than one place, and recording these wonderful occasions in terse and vivid language, including His visit to her own home on 10 June. After He left, she recalls, ‘I went to the room where He had been—and wept.' In November, with her sister Mary, she travelled to New York to see Him; on that memorable day He received them alone in His room and called them His ‘good daughters'. ‘I sat opposite Him', Ethel writes, ‘and tried to get every opportunity I could to fix the picture of Him in my mind— for eternity—although He was always looking straight at me and I knew He knew all I had done and would do.’ He gave her sister a box of candy and told her to share it with the friends, but He gave Ethel a jar of preserves and said, ‘Keep this yourself.’ Then Ethel adds: ‘My sister wept—I did not exactly feel like weeping—I felt more like telling everyone what we had—but I looked at her and wept, too.’ Through His interpreter ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s last words to them as they left His presence were: ‘Tell them I will always be with them.’ I think Ethel accepted this as a simple reality—as did so many early believers—which went with her all through her life.
Ethel was never a person to pester anyone for attention; a few times in her life she wrote to the Guardian. Her first letter from him seems to have been in February 1928; she had sent him the gift of a calendar with her letter of 19 December 1927, for which his secretary thanks her and Shoghi Effendi appends warmly in his own hand: “My dear Bahá’i Sister: Your constancy in service, your unshaken loyalty and unsparing efforts greatly hearten me in my work and sustain me in my arduous task. I will continue to pray for you from the bottom of my heart that you may receive the Master’s richest blessings and guidance in all that you do. Your true brother, Shoghi.” Again, in another letter, in his own hand, he wrote: “May the Beloved bless, sustain and protect you and cause you to establish firmly the foundations of His Faith in the hearts of the newcomers, and assist you to fulfil your heart’s cherished desire. Your true brother, Shoghi.”
In 1936, when Shoghi Effendi had recently strongly appealed to the North American Bahá’i community to arise and teach the Cause of God, his secretary wrote: “The Guardian’s advice is that you, as well as your dear mother and sister, should labour in those towns and cities in Pennsylvania where there are no residing believers ... your immediate objective ... should be the formation of a nucleus of believers who, in their turn, will endeavour to further enlarge their community and extend the sphere of their local Bahá’i activities.” Shoghi Effendi appended: “Dearest Co-worker: My heart is deeply touched by your noble resolution. The Revell family is winning fresh laurels in their service to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. Perseverance and persistence will crown your efforts with success. My prayers will ever accompany you. Rest assured. Gratefully, Shoghi.”
The tone of this postscript is unusually warm. I believe it must have been in connection with this letter that the Revell family’s epic motoring exploits took place. Ethel told me that they realized they could not carry out these teaching activities in neighbouring towns unless they had a car—so they (it must have been out of Jessie and Ethel’s skimpy wages) bought one, prob- ably second hand. Who was to be chauffeur? Ethel. Ethel sat in the front seat and drove, Mrs. Revell and Jessie sat in the back, and Jessie directed operations from there. On one of these excursions, Ethel told me, she drove up a hill on a street that had no outlet and was completely paralysed by the prospect of turning the car around and going back down the hill, so she stopped. She said a man had been watching her from the window of his house and finally called out, ‘Lady, do you want me to turn your car around for you?’ ‘Yes, please,’ said Ethel. The three Revell ladies were so prostrated by this whole terrible ordeal they could not face the drive back to Philadelphia and spent the night in a hotel! Nothing, however, stopped their teaching efforts.
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| Mary Revell |
Very historic circumstances brought the Revell sisters, Jessie and Ethel, to Haifa: In a cable to the Bahá’i world, 9 January 1951, the Guardian stated, “PROCLAIM NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES EAST WEST WEIGHTY EPOCH MAKING DECISION FORMATION FIRST INTERNATIONAL BAHAI COUNCIL, FORERUNNER SUPREME ADMINISTRATIVE INSTITUTION DESTINED EMERGE FULNESS TIME ..Shoghi Effendi went on to explain, ‘PRESENT ADEQUATE MATURITY NINE VIGOROUSLY FUNCTIONING NATIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE INSTITUTIONS THROUGHOUT BAHAI WORLD COMBINE INDUCE ME ARRIVE THIS HISTORIC DECISION .. No names appeared in this message but Shoghi Effendi had already begun, about two months previously, to summon its members to the World Centre, the first was Dr. Lotfullah Hakim (Lutfu’lláh Hakim), then in Britain, through a cable on 14 November 1950, addressed to the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles, which simply stated: “KINDLY ARRANGE DEPARTURE LOTFULLAH HAKIM HAIFA FOR NECESSARY SERVICES”; the second cable, of the same date as I recall, was addressed to the American National Spiritual Assembly and with equal brevity and simplicity stated: “APPRECIATE EXTEND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE REVELL SISTERS COME HAIFA REQUIRE THEIR SERVICES.” On 22 November they themselves received a confirming cable: “REVELL SISTERS, WELCOME YOUR PRESENCE HAIFA. SHOGHI.” Early in December, Mason Remey and Amelia Collins were likewise summoned by the Guardian to the Holy Land; both planned to arrive later that month. By 2 March 1951 Shoghi Effendi was able to cable the Bahá’í world: “GREATLY WELCOME ASSISTANCE NEWLY FORMED INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL PARTICULARLY ITS PRESIDENT MASON REMEY AND VICEPRESIDENT AMELIA COLLINS THROUGH CONTACT AUTHORITIES DESIGNED SPREAD FAME CONSOLIDATE FOUNDATIONS WIDEN SCOPE INFLUENCE EMANATING TWIN SPIRITUAL ADMINISTRATIVE WORLD CENTRES PERMANENTLY FIXED HOLY LAND CONSTITUTING MIDMOST HEART ENTIRE PLANET.’ A year later the Guardian, in his Naw-Rúz 1952 message to the Bahá’í world, cabled: “… ANNOUNCEMENT ENLARGEMENT INTERNATIONAL BAHAI COUNCIL. PRESENT MEMBERSHIP NOW COMPRISES AMATULBAHA RUHIYYIH KHANUM CHOSEN LIAISON BETWEEN ME AND COUNCIL. HANDS CAUSE MASON REMEY, AMELIA COLLINS, UGO GIACHERY, LEROY IOAS, PRESIDENT, VICEPRESIDENT, MEMBER AT LARGE, SECRETARY GENERAL, RESPECTIVELY. JESSIE REVELL, ETHEL REVELL, LOTFULLAH HAKIM, TREASURER, WESTERN EASTERN ASSISTANT SECRETARIES.” Three years later, on 4 May 1955, the Guardian announced to all National Assem- blies, “... NUMBER MEMBERS INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL RAISED NINE THROUGH APPOINTMENT SYLVIA IOAS.” When one contemplates the above shaping of Bahá’i history and realizes that two of the nine ultimate members of the Council were the modest, humbly employed, relatively uneducated Revell sisters, it gives one pause to think and causes one to rejoice.
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| First Elected International Baha'i Council Ridvan1961 |
It is very easy to recapitulate salient historic events but what passes in the hearts of those concerned is another matter! The Revell sisters were stunned by this succinct summons to Haifa; they wrote to the National Assembly on 21 November-—in reply to their letter of 15 November transmitting the Guardian’s message: ‘We feel every once in a while that we must be dreaming about all this. At the Feast Wednesday, we plan to read your letter to us. We have told no one yet about it, hoping we would have further word about our plans. So you can know how pent up we feel with this information inside of us.’ On 15 January 1951 they sailed direct, on the S.S. LaGuardia, from New York to Haifa, via Gibraltar, Palermo, and Naples; typical of these indomitable women, they persuaded the purser to let them hold a World Religion Day meeting for passengers of all classes, and to himself preside as chairman; they also arranged to meet the captain and inform him of the Faith!
Shortly after their arrival in Haifa Shoghi Effendi told them he believed it was because of their mother that they were here. Mary Revell had indeed attracted rich rewards on the heads of those two beloved daughters, who never married and whose entire lives were consecrated to serving the Faith. Ethel told me, when in a hurry her mother often would, instead of calling ‘Ethel! Jessie!", call ‘Jethel!’ Of the many marks of personal kindness and trust shown them by the Guardian perhaps the most touching was the gift of a small pair of silver vases from the innermost Tomb of Bahá’u’lláh, which had stood for a long time over the place where He is laid to rest; Shoghi Effendi gave one to each of them.
Going back over my diaries I see how little Lotfullah, Jessie and Ethel figure in them, the reason being that usually turbulent and distressing crises were recorded and these three, Lotfullah, Jessie and Ethel—who served day after day, night after night, seven days a week, year after year—were no source of distress to our beloved Guardian! For us, as for him, there was no weekend; except for the nine Holy Days we worked right through, our example being Shoghi Effendi himself; we were truly consecrated to his service.
I could name the ‘angels’ I have known in my life on the fingers of one hand; Ethel is certainly one of them. She was totally dedicated to the Cause of God; pious, unselfish, self-effacing. The Revell family were richly endowed with the native American humour; this characteristic made it very easy to work with both sisters. They were good sports, full of fun and told jokes, one of Ethel’s favourites being: ‘Generally speaking women—are generally speaking!’
Jessie six years older—was lively, friendly, and assertive; Ethel was also friendly but quiet, unassuming, and retiring. Both sisters, however, were extremely capable, sensible women, Ethel being the more domestic and a better cook! From the time she came to Haifa until Shoghi Effendi passed away, Ethel acted as my secretary and I was his private secretary. She continued always to help me with my letters and typed my manuscripts until she was too old and frail to do so. During the six years when the Hands of the Cause were responsible for running the affairs of the Faith until the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963, she acted as our English secretary. Every confidential thing was safe with Ethel. Her deep faith enabled her to surmount the bitter deprivation and upheaval of the Guardian’s passing and to give the loyalty of her heart first to the Hands and then to the Universal House of Justice.
In June 1961, when the International Bahá’i Council, of which she was a member appointed by Shoghi Effendi, was, according to his own plan, to be superseded by an elected Council, Ethel wrote to the Hands in the Holy Land: ‘For my part, I am deeply grateful for the gift the beloved Guardian gave to the Bahá’í world the body of the Hands of the Cause of God, and, closer to home, the Hands in the Holy Land. Often I pray in the holy Shrines that Bahá’u’lláh may continue to guide, strengthen and sustain you in solving the difficult problems with which you are constantly faced as you direct the steps of the believers in carrying forward our World Spiritual Crusade.’
Ethel was a consistent contributor to the Bahá’i International Fund. In a letter acknowledging a contribution, the Hands in the Holy Land wrote to her: ‘The Hands of the Cause wish you to know how much they appreciate your ceaseless efforts to assist with the work at the World Centre of the Faith. Surely the Beloved Guardian is pleased with you and will richly reward you spiritually for all you are doing.’
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| 1973: Ruhiyyih Kanum, Ethel, and Ali Nakhjavani |
From her childhood the whole philosophy of Ethel Revell was to give rather than take; to serve, to contribute in every way she could to the Cause of God. Not only did she always support the Fund, but when her sister Jessie died she insisted on erecting her tombstone out of her own very limited resources, and contributions a few friends had sent towards Jessie’s grave she requested the Universal House of Justice to place in the International Fund.
In the thirty-three years of my close friendship and association with Ethel I cannot remember ever finding her out of sorts, disagreeable, or impolite. Part of her nature was not only her sweet character, but, like a lot of mild, quiet, good-tempered people, she could be very obstinate in small personal matters; she went her own way and lived her own way while being totally self-effacing. One example of this comes to mind: at the back of the Western Pilgrim House, across the street from the home of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, in which Ethel and Jessie each had a room from the time they arrived in Haifa and became members of the International Council, there was a large yard with a place for drying laundry. However, Ethel had strung a clothes line diagonally across her bedroom which, like all those in the Pilgrim House, was not very big. Of course no one intruded on her privacy, but I was so close to her that I often went in to speak to her and I used to remonstrate with her and say that this was neither necessary nor good for her health because it increased the humidity; but for some reason I never could fathom, she refused to hang her clothes outside!
When she came to Haifa Ethel’s hair was short; one day, after she had been to the barber it was really difficult to see what benefit she had derived from his ministrations. So I told her that as long as that was the way her hair was going to look every time she went to the barber, I would henceforth cut her hair free of charge as I could certainly do as good a job! For a long time I did cut her hair; later she let it grow long and when we went to Europe together in 1958 to order the monument for the beloved Guardian’s grave and buy certain things in Paris for the Archives, I often dressed her hair in the morning before we went out, amidst considerable repartee on her part! We were also, I remember, uneasy bed-fellows in a double bed in a respectable but very modest hotel in Montmartre.
In 1952 when the beloved Guardian sent me to America to dedicate on his behalf the Mother Temple of the West in Wilmette for public worship, I was very concerned about who was going to personally wait on him, because no one but me had access to him directly in his private apartments; he would always send his messages through me, who then transmitted them to various people. My absence, therefore, for some weeks in North America was going to be very inconvenient for him. I asked him what he would do? Without the slightest hesitation he said, ‘Ethel will wait on me.’ There was not any question in his mind who in Haifa he intended to answer his bell when he rang it! And so Ethel, the quiet one, intelligent and devoted, submissive and obedient, was the one who answered the Guardian’s bell. As she lived across the street in the Western Pilgrim House, someone had to go call her whenever the Guardian rang his bell; she told me that one day early in the morning he did so and she hurried over and upstairs; the Guardian called her into our sitting room at the front of the house and told her that in the night he could not sleep and had gotten up and looked out of the window and seen a white horse tied to a tree on the empty plot of ground which belongs to us across the street, and that she should go and find out what was going on and why this person had brought a horse there, and he added, “…you can see the evidence” and pointed to some droppings as proof that there actually had been a horse there! Of course, the owner of the horse was found and informed hecould not graze his horse on our property.
For many years all the members of the International Bahá’i Council guided at the Shrine - including the Hands—and Lotfullah, Ethel, Jessic, and Sylvia. Of course everybody had many stories of things that happened. I remember one of Ethel’s: In those days there were relatively few visitors; a man went into the Shrine and when he came out said to Ethel, who had been standing by the door, ‘Do you feel God closer in there?’ Ethel said, ‘Yes, I do.’ He said, ‘So do I,’ and walked off.
One of the functions of Ethel and Jessie, particularly in the years after the beloved Guardian passed away, was to serve the pilgrims in the Western Pilgrim House. Later, when the Universal House of Justice increased the number of pilgrims, Ethel guided the English-speaking ones when they visited the Holy Places. This was one of her functions for a number of years and won her the hearts of many people. She was so unassuming that I think few people realized how efficient and shrewd she was. I remember when I was buying in Germany a large supply of dishes for use in Bahjí; some plates were greatly reduced in price because the patterns were different, so I bought these rather than a set. This bothered me and I asked Ethel, who was with me, if she thought it would create a bad impression on the pilgrims? ‘Rúhíyyih Khánum,’ she said, ‘if they notice the difference in the pattern they should not be on the pilgrimage!’ I have never forgotten this profound, perceptive observation!
Ethel was a most lovable and delightful companion as well I know, and my father had every reason to know this too and was very attached to her; during his convalescence from a very serious illness she came nearly every day across the street to our house and took him for a walk; as he was wobbly on his legs and very frail she would hold his arm to help him through the front door, whereupon, invariably, as she reported, there would be quite an incident because she did not want to let go and he refused to precede her, a lady, through the door!
After the election of the Universal House of Justice (who for twenty years used the Western Pilgrim House as its headquarters), Ethel and Jessie, at its request, went to live next to the Oriental Pilgrim House, where both Western and Eastern pilgrims were now being received, and acted as hostesses. They served in this capacity for some time, Ethel continuing also to act as secretary to the Hands of the Cause. Later on, the Universal House of Justice decided the work at the Pilgrim House was too much of a burden for these devoted sisters, now getting on in years and Jessie not in very good health, so an apartment was rented for them.
Jessie was particularly anxious to visit the Holy Places in Persia, Shoghi Effendi having assured her in writing that he hoped some day she would, so the two sisters took their vacation in 1965 and visited many historic Bahá’i sites in Bahá’u’lláh’s native land where they were warmly and lovingly welcomed by a community which appreciated and treasured the services they had rendered in the Holy Land for so many years.
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| Jessie Revell |
In the end there was nothing left of the frail little Ethel but a wisp—but it was the same old wisp! Her mind and her sense of humour never failed till the last day of her life. As I sat with her the day before she died I remarked that as her teeth were very bad it was lucky she did not have toothache; out came the old flash of humour: ‘You’re telling me,’ she said! Towards the end of her illness there was a great longing to be released from the misery and incapacity of her body, prone to falling and difficult to control, which now needed day and night care. She endured her pains, misery, and dependence on others with the same fortitude and sweetness she had shown in the face of a long life full of work, cares and sorrows. Her end was made easier by the constant care of her devoted Bahá’i nurse, and the help of many other friends who served her. I remember when one night I called in our nice, wise doctor who had been attending her and said: ‘Doctor, I want you to know I do not want Miss Revell to go to a hospital, I want her to stay right here and be nursed in her own home’; he said, ‘I do not want her to go to a hospital either; I want her to stay here, too’; like us all he developed a deep respect and esteem for his patient. We were recalling, the day before she died, how she had been chosen above all others to serve Shoghi Effendi during my absence. She said, ‘Well, I tried to obey and to do what he wanted me to.’
The day she died we had coffee together—though she had been eating nothing and chatted; in the evening, she passed away; like a little breath going out of the window her heavenly spirit departed. It was here she passed away; here in the home of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that she had the great honour of a beautiful funeral in the main hall; from here that she was carried forth by loving hands to be laid at rest in the Bahá’í cemetery under the shadow of all the places she had served for over thirty years, the Shrines, the Archives, the home of the Master, the two Pilgrim Houses. She rests in company with four other members of the International Bahá’í Council—precursor of the Universal House of Justice—Amelia Collins, Leroy Ioas, Lotfullah Hakim, and her dear sister Jessie Revell.
I had the feeling at Ethel’s funeral that when she died she had just gone straight up like a rocket! As far as I am concerned, she went to the highest heaven, to the right hand of the Throne of God—because I think that is where Ethel deserved to be, and personally, I think that is where she is.
(‘The Baha’i World’, vol. 19, 1983-1986)
