Horace Holley

Who was Horace Holley?

Horace Holley was a prominent follower of the Bahá'í Faith, having been elected to several Spiritual Assemblies, appointed by Shoghi Effendi in 1951 to be a Hand of the Cause, and later elected to be one of the nine Custodians who stewarded the religion from 1957-1963.

Holley was born in Torrington, Connecticut in 1887. He was introduced to the Bahá'í 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 to be 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 to become 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.