Ruth Berkeley White

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'''Ruth White''', author and Baha'i (b 27 Jun 1888, Winstead, [[Connecticut]])
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'''Ruth White''', author and Baha'i (b 27 Jun 1880, Winstead, [[Connecticut]])
  
This article was writen and is copyright by Will Johnson, [mailto:wjhonson@aol.com wjhonson@aol.com], Professional Genealogist.  My thanks to Fred Glaysher for help on compiling the information here.
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This article was writen and is copyright 2007 by Will Johnson, [mailto:wjhonson@aol.com wjhonson@aol.com], Professional Genealogist.  My thanks to [[Frederick Glaysher|Fred Glaysher]] who spent his own funds to get copies of material Ruth deposited in the Library of Congress, and for his help on compiling the information here.  My thanks as well to the webmasters and editors at [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/ h-net.org/bahai] for hosting Ruth's works, from which some of this material is sourced.
  
Ruth White is most well-known as a Baha'i who challenged the authenticity of the will of Abdul Baha, the recently deceased former leader of the faith.  Most mentions of her life are quite abrupt, giving little to no background from which to form a biography.  This article serves to correct that imbalance.
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Ruth White is most well-known as a Baha'i who challenged the authenticity of the will of Abdul Baha, former leader of that faith, a little while after he had died.  Most mentions of her life are quite abrupt, giving little to no background from which to form a biography.  This article serves to correct that imbalance.
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==Name==
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The name of this article is sort of a mish-mash.  As an author she always called herself "Ruth White", in correspondence sometimes "Mrs Lawrence White".  Her stage name was "Ruth Berkeley", but possibly this name was entirely created.  One source claims her birthname was Emma Decker.  These findings are not yet conclusive.
  
 
==Early life==
 
==Early life==
 
In her book Baha'i Leads out of the Labyrinth, she gives some biographical details of her life. She states that her "stage name" was Ruth Berkeley, but [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL009.gif on page 9] in 1912, in Boston, she refers to herself as "Miss Berkeley", and a few pages later [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL012.gif on page 12] states that she was writing articles for newspapers, and that both her parents were Roman Catholic.  While a little later on, [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL023.gif on page 23] she relates that she had been on the stage, but had given it up.  She went to Boston to write for the newspaper, but then about 1912, returned to New York City and was doing art drawings for a fashion magazine. [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL027.gif On page 27] on 24 Aug 1912, Abdul Baha calls her "Miss Ruth Berkeley".  [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL110.gif Here on page 110 she states] : "When last I visited London it was as a member of the Sir Johnstone Forbes-Robertson company.  Although I had been greatly interested in my stage career...." This statement would seemingly correspond to when she played the part of "The Red-Haired Girl" in ''The Light That Failed'' in or about 1903 (see primary documents below).
 
In her book Baha'i Leads out of the Labyrinth, she gives some biographical details of her life. She states that her "stage name" was Ruth Berkeley, but [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL009.gif on page 9] in 1912, in Boston, she refers to herself as "Miss Berkeley", and a few pages later [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL012.gif on page 12] states that she was writing articles for newspapers, and that both her parents were Roman Catholic.  While a little later on, [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL023.gif on page 23] she relates that she had been on the stage, but had given it up.  She went to Boston to write for the newspaper, but then about 1912, returned to New York City and was doing art drawings for a fashion magazine. [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL027.gif On page 27] on 24 Aug 1912, Abdul Baha calls her "Miss Ruth Berkeley".  [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL110.gif Here on page 110 she states] : "When last I visited London it was as a member of the Sir Johnstone Forbes-Robertson company.  Although I had been greatly interested in my stage career...." This statement would seemingly correspond to when she played the part of "The Red-Haired Girl" in ''The Light That Failed'' in or about 1903 (see primary documents below).
  
Robert Alan Kraft compiled a genealogy of the Pierrepont families, and uploaded it in 2000 [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Genealogical/Pierpont%20Family/pierpont.gen here].  It states that her birth name was Emma Decker, that her parents were Peter Decker and Anna Geiger and that she was born in Brooklyn.  However, based on her several entries in the Ships logs below I think she was more-then-likely born in Goshen, Litchfield County, [[Connecticut]].  She states variously Goshen or Winsted as her birthplace, and the two towns are about 10 miles apart.  Her birthday of 27 Jun is consistent, her birthyear being either 1886 or 1888.  It is possible that someone has merged two different women togetherSo we cannot be sure at this time what her maiden name was, or who her parents were.
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Robert Alan Kraft compiled a genealogy of the Pierrepont families, and uploaded it in 2000 [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Genealogical/Pierpont%20Family/pierpont.gen here].  It states that her birth name was Emma Decker, that her parents were Peter Decker and Anna Geiger and that she was born in Brooklyn.  However, based on her several entries in the Ships logs below I think she was more-then-likely born in Goshen, Litchfield County, [[Connecticut]].  She states variously Goshen or Winsted as her birthplace, and the two towns are about 10 miles apart.  Her birthday of 27 Jun is consistent, her birthyear being stated as either 1886 or 1888.  Noticing the dates on which she was on-stage, I have to conclude that she lied about her age later onI'm now going with the idea that she was born in 1880.
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Since she definitely was living in or near New York City when on stage there, it's entirely possible she, at that time, lived in Brooklyn, which would explain the confusion over where she was born.
  
 
==Marriages==
 
==Marriages==
She states that her first married name was Mrs George Rowell, and by this marriage she had a daughter, but I know nothing more of the daughter or the husband.  Her second husband Herbert Lawrence White (1869-1953), graduated in law from Cornell University, but was set-up as a businessman in his family's company the Utica Drop Forge Company.  Herbert [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Genealogical/Pierpont%20Family/pierpont.gen in Robert Alan Kraft's Pierrepont genealogy], is shown with a wife Emma (Ruth) Decker born 27 June 1880, but note that there, they state, that this couple were married on 28 Oct 1912 in Chicago.  Ruth relates how she and Lawrence met [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL034.gif on page 34].
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She states that her first married name was Mrs George Rowell, and by this marriage she had a daughter. (Could [http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=2853263&firstvisit=true&src=search&currentResult=13 this] be her?) Her second husband Herbert Lawrence White (1869-1953), graduated in law from Cornell University, but was set-up as a businessman in his family's company the Utica Drop Forge Company.  Herbert [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Genealogical/Pierpont%20Family/pierpont.gen in Robert Alan Kraft's Pierrepont genealogy], is shown with a wife Emma (Ruth) Decker born 27 June 1880, but note that there, they state, that this couple were married on 28 Oct 1912 in Chicago, which is a bit odd.  Ruth relates how she and Lawrence met [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL034.gif on page 34] apparently in New York City at a Bahai gathering.
  
[http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL035.gif On page 35] she states : "Five months after my first meeting with Lawrence White we were married....It was his first marriage and my second.  Ruth Berkeley was the stage named of Mrs. George Rowell; the result of my first marriage had been a daughter."  She then talks about how Abdul Baha left New York, so evidently they must have been married by the end of 1912.
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[http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL035.gif On page 35] she states : "Five months after my first meeting with Lawrence White we were married....It was his first marriage and my second.  Ruth Berkeley was the stage named of Mrs. George Rowell; the result of my first marriage had been a daughter."  She then talks about how Abdul Baha left New York, so evidently Ruth and Herbert Lawrence White must have been married by the end of 1912.
  
Herbert is the one of that name who was son of William Mansfield White (1833-96) by his wife Anna Maria Pierrepont (1841-84).  This is proven by comparing the California Death Index entry below (which gives his birthdate and names his mother as a Pierrepont), to the ship's logs below, which give the same birthdate.
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Herbert is the one of that name who was son of William Mansfield White (1833-96 AFN:1Z38-JS5) by his wife Anna Maria Pierrepont (1841-84).  This is proven by comparing the California Death Index entry below (which gives his birthdate and names his mother as a Pierrepont), to the ship's logs below, which give the same birthdate.
  
 
==To Haifa==
 
==To Haifa==
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==Later life==
 
==Later life==
In her first book or phamplet, printed in 1927 with an appendix dated 1929, she gives her address as merely a PO Box at Grand Central Station, New York City.  In this work, she goes into very intricate detail about her concerns regarding the purported will of Abdul Baha.  In her work ''Questioned Will and Testament'', she picks up and continues the narrative.  Her and her husband, sailed to England on 25 Apr 1928, returning to New York on 29 May 1928. ([http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/QWT051.gif page 51])  She obtained photostatic copies of the purported will and had a handwriting expert examine it.  His findings she reports [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/QWT068.gif here on page 68].
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In her first book or phamplet, printed in 1927 with an appendix dated 1929, she gives her address as merely a PO Box at Grand Central Station, New York City.  In this work, she goes into very intricate detail about her concerns regarding the purported will of Abdul Baha.  In her work ''Questioned Will and Testament'', she picks up and continues the narrative.  She and her husband, sailed to England on 25 Apr 1928, returning to New York on 29 May 1928. ([http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/QWT051.gif page 51])  She obtained photostatic copies of the purported will and had a handwriting expert examine it.  His findings she reports [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/QWT068.gif here on page 68].
  
Frederick Glaysher paid to have copies made of the documents Ruth deposited in the Library of Congress relating to her correspondence with Palestine about the will.  On one of these documents, dated 1931 [http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/RWhiteLibC.htm here] they, at that time, lived on Morningside Drive in New York City.  They possibly as well had a home in Utica, New York.
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[[Frederick Glaysher]] paid to have copies made of the documents Ruth deposited in the Library of Congress relating to her correspondence with Palestine about the will.  On one of these documents, dated 1931 [http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/RWhiteLibC.htm here] they, at that time, lived on Morningside Drive in New York City.  They possibly as well had a home in Utica, New York.
  
She mentions [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/QWT091.gif here on page 91] the lawsuit brought by the National Spiritual Assembly against Mr and [[Julia Lynch Olin|Mrs Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler]] and [[Ahmad Sohrab|Mirza Ahmad Sohrab]] in 1941.  She perhaps moved in the mid 40s to Beverly Hills, California where one of her books is published in 1946.  Her husband died in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California in 1953.  She was evidently yet living as late as 1962, in South Carolina, per the Pierrepont genealogy cited above.
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She mentions [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/QWT091.gif here on page 91] the lawsuit brought by the National Spiritual Assembly against Mr and [[Julia Lynch Olin|Mrs Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler]] and [[Ahmad Sohrab|Mirza Ahmad Sohrab]] in 1941. In fact, her book in 1944 was published by the publishing arm of the Chanler/Sohrab organization, called the "Universal Publishing Company", but note the address which is Julia's townhouse.  She perhaps moved in the mid 40s to Beverly Hills, California where one of her books is published in 1946.  Her husband died in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California in 1953.  She was evidently yet living as late as 1962, in South Carolina, per the Pierrepont genealogy cited above.
  
 
== Works ==       
 
== Works ==       
*''`Abdu'l-Bahá and the Promised Age'', 1927, Appendix, 1929  entitled [http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/archives/WhiteOEBR.pdf ''Is the Bahá'í Organization the Enemy of the Bahá'í Religion?'']. New York: J.J. Little and Ives Co., January 1929. (Copyright was renewed 2 Dec 1954 by Ruth White, see [http://www.ibiblio.org/ccer/1927a1.htm here]) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3894952&referer=brief_results OCLC 3894952]
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*''Abdul Baha and the Promised Age'', 1927, New York: J.J. Little and Ives Co., January 1929. (Copyright was renewed 2 Dec 1954 by Ruth White, see [http://www.ibiblio.org/ccer/1927a1.htm here]) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3894952&referer=brief_results OCLC 3894952]
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*[http://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/archives/WhiteOEBR.pdf ''Is the Bahai Organization the Enemy of the Bahai Religion?]. An appendix to Abdul Baha and the promised age.'' New York City 1929 [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40732459&referer=brief_results OCLC 40732459]
  
*''Is the Bahai organization the enemy of the Bahai religion? An appendix to Abdul Baha and the promised age.'' New York City 1929 [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40732459&referer=brief_results OCLC 40732459]
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*''The Bahai religion and its enemy, the Bahai organization,'', 1930. Rutland, VT. The Tuttle Company [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2815086&referer=brief_results OCLC 2815086]
  
*''`Abdu'l-Bahá's Alleged Will is Fraudulent'', 1930. Rutland, VT. The Tuttle Company [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40853993&referer=brief_results OCLC 40853993]
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*''Abdul Baha's alleged will is fraudulent; an appendix to The Bahai religion and its enemy, the Bahai organization,'', 1930. Rutland, VT. The Tuttle Company [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40853993&referer=brief_results OCLC 40853993]
  
*''Correspondence Between the High Commissioner of Palestine and Ruth White, Concerning the Alleged Will and Testament of Sir `Abdul-Bahá Abbas'' . 11. Los Angeles , Calif. : White, 1932. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/23790959&referer=brief_results OCLC 23790959]
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*''Correspondence Between the High Commissioner of Palestine and Ruth White, Concerning the Alleged Will and Testament of Sir Abdul Baha Abbas'' . 11. Los Angeles , Calif. : White, 1932. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/23790959&referer=brief_results OCLC 23790959]
  
*[http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL.htm ''Bahá'í Leads out of the Labyrinth'']. New York: Universal Publishing Company, 132 E 65th Street, New York, 1944. Digitally republished, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2004. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1527153&referer=brief_results OCLC 1527153]
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*[http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/BLOL.htm ''Bahaí Leads out of the Labyrinth'']. New York: Universal Publishing Company, 132 E 65th Street, New York, 1944. Digitally republished, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2004. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1527153&referer=brief_results OCLC 1527153]
  
*[http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/QWT.htm ''`Abdu'l-Bahá's Questioned Will and Testament'']. Beverly Hills: Ruth White, 1946. Digitally republished, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2004. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2488238&referer=brief_results OCLC 2488238]
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*[http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/books/U-Z/W/White_Ruth/QWT.htm ''Abdul Baha's Questioned Will and Testament'']. Beverly Hills: Ruth White, 1946. Digitally republished, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2004. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2488238&referer=brief_results OCLC 2488238]
  
 
==Primary documents==
 
==Primary documents==
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_White "Ruth White"] on Wikipedia
 
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_White "Ruth White"] on Wikipedia
 
*[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Genealogical/Pierpont%20Family/pierpont.gen Genealogy of the Pierrepont family], by Robert Alan Kraft, copyright 2000  
 
*[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Genealogical/Pierpont%20Family/pierpont.gen Genealogy of the Pierrepont family], by Robert Alan Kraft, copyright 2000  
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*[http://content.ancestry.com/Browse/bookview.aspx?dbid=12982&iid=dvm_LocHist003226-00676-1&desc=Mansfield+White&rc=1598,1932,1877,1982;468,2096,775,2147;786,2094,989,2145 "William Mansfield White"], (father of Lawrence) biography, in "History of Oneida County, New York", by Henry J Cookinham. S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912.
  
 
[[Category:Bahai individuals]]
 
[[Category:Bahai individuals]]
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[[Category:Biographies]]
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[[Category:California]]
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[[Category:New York]]
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[[Category:White family]]

Latest revision as of 20:28, 12 August 2008

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