'The Story of Ella Bailey' narrated by Hand of the Cause of God William Sears

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Ella Bailey was born in Houston on Dec. 18, 1864. While she was an infant, the family moved to San Diego County, California, and settled on a ranch. She was stricken with infantile paralysis at the age of two and one of her limbs remained paralyzed. As a child, she developed a fondness for the outdoors and learned, despite her physical handicap, to ride horseback expertly. Her desire to serve mankind became apparent in her youth. She chose to enter the teaching profession not because of the rather meagre financial reward attached to it but by reason of the manifold opportunities it afforded for child guidance. After graduating, Miss Bailey moved to Berkeley and began her career as a teacher. She taught various elementary grades and was deeply loved by her pupils who continued to remember her as the decades passed. She deliberately decided to forego the pleasures and rewards of marriage in order to give greater service to a larger number of people than a family group comprises. The immortal Lua Getsinger instructed Miss Bailey in the Baha'i teachings and Ella embraced the Faith prior to the American visit of 'Abdu'l-Baha.
Ella recounted that once, during an interview with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, He had gazed a long time out of the window and then repeated her name several times, “Ella Bailey, Ella Bailey, Ella Bailey!” Then He turned to her and said, “He who loves Ella Bailey loves Me.” Miss Bailey remarked in an interview forty years later, “In those few words, He gave me all the emotions of a lifetime. He gave me suffering but with it, He gave me faith and strength. This made me feel His spiritual power and His truth.”

She was the first chairman of the Berkeley Baha'i Assembly and was elected annually to that body for more than twenty years. She was constantly teaching by word and even more, by deed, but she preferred always to remain in the background. During her long residence at the Berkeley Women’s City Club, she used her membership to sponsor many Bahá’í gatherings. Her room became a kind of clinic for the distressed and disconsolate.

Hundreds have partaken of her spiritual and material hospitality and generosity. Her presentation of the message of Bahá’u’lláh was indeed like that of a royal subject giving his most precious possession to his sovereign. Gentleness and sweetness were her abiding traits. She never tried to force her opinions on anyone but ever beckoned the thirsty to come to the fountain and drink the water of life that will bring healing to men and nations. Her saintly life provided the best means of promoting the prestige of the Faith she so ardently espoused. Sound in judgment, she never aroused hostility nor did she compromise on principle. Many were her secret sacrifices. She would give sumptuous dinners for friends who were oblivious to the fact that their hostess very often contented herself with tea, toast, and perhaps a little soup. Her whole day passed in cheering the broken hearted, in helping the needy, in visiting the sick, and in refreshing the spirits of the unending stream of guests that came to see her.

Late in life she pioneered to Tripoli, Libya. During the closing days of her earthly existence, she was sometimes not conscious of her condition which worsened as a result of additional falls. Then again she would become painfully aware of her infirmities and would apologize for the work her sickness entailed. Death came toward twilight, on August 26, 1953. Friends quickly gathered at the bedside of the departed believer and they recited and chanted appropriate prayers in Arabic and English. It was a touching demonstration of international Baha'i solidarity, of uncalculated affection in an age of calculated risks. Particularly memorable was the moving scene in which an Egyptian friend kissed her forehead and tearfully bade her farewell, "Goodbye, Miss Bailey." In the Mother Temple of the West, a few days later, members of the American National Spiritual Assembly prayed for the progress of her soul in the realms on high.

Note: Ella Bailey's remains, along with those of 54 Americans, were laid to rest in a solemn ceremony at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Millsboro Friday, August 21, 2007, after making a long journey from their initial resting place at a cemetery in Libya.

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