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Beverly LaHaye

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Beverly LaHaye
Born
Beverly Jean Davenport

(1929-04-30)April 30, 1929
Oakland County, Michigan, U.S.
DiedApril 14, 2024(2024-04-14) (aged 94)
El Cajon, California, U.S.
Alma materHighland Park Community High School, Bob Jones University
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1947; died 2016)​
Children4
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Beverly Jean Davenport LaHaye (née Ratcliffe; April 30, 1929 – April 14, 2024) was an American Christian conservative activist and author who founded Concerned Women for America (CWA) in San Diego, California in 1979. She was the wife of Tim LaHaye, an evangelical Christian minister and author of the Left Behind series, until his death in 2016.

Personal life

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Beverly Jean Davenport was born in Oakland County, Michigan, on April 30, 1929, to Lowell Ardo and Nellie Elizabeth (née Pitts) Davenport.[1] Her father was a factory worker in Southfield, Michigan and died of a ruptured appendix when Beverly was almost two years old.[2] Within two years, Nellie Elizabeth married Daniel Ratcliffe, a tool maker in the auto industry in Oakland County, Michigan.[3] From then on, Beverly Jean and her older sister Blanche Aileen used their stepfather's surname as their own.[4]

She graduated from Highland Park Community High School in 1946.[5] She attended Bob Jones University (then named Bob Jones College) and married Air Force veteran and aspiring pastor Tim LaHaye in 1947.[6] After attending college for one year, she dropped out and joined the workforce to support the family finances, as her husband Tim made little money as a pastor.[7][8] In 1956, the LaHayes moved to San Diego, California, where Tim became the pastor of Scott Memorial Baptist Church. Beverly became the church secretary and helped direct junior Sunday School. Despite having a shy personality and struggling with the monotony of homemaking, LaHaye believed that homemaking would help her learn submission.[8] In 69 years of marriage, the LaHayes had four children,[9] Linda, Larry, Lee, and Lori,[10] and nine grandchildren.[11]

LaHaye died at a hospice facility in El Cajon, California, on April 14, 2024, at the age of 94.[8][6][12]

Concerned Women for America

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LaHaye formed Concerned Women for America (CWA) in 1979.[13] Initially, CWA was a reaction to the National Organization for Women and a 1978 Barbara Walters interview with feminist Betty Friedan.[14] LaHaye stated that she believed Friedan's goal was "to dismantle the bedrock of American culture: the family",[15] and that Christian women were not included in discussions of women's rights. LaHaye held a rally in a local San Diego auditorium which marked the beginning of CWA.[15]

While CWA was originally intended to be a local group, the organization was established nationwide within two years.[16] The organization calls itself "the nation's largest public policy women's organization devoted to biblical principles."[17] When CWA's headquarters moved to Washington, D.C., LaHaye "announced at a press conference: 'This is our message: the feminists do not speak for all women in America, and CWA is here in Washington to end the monopoly of feminists who claim to speak for all women.'"[18]

The CWA strongly supported Ronald Reagan during his presidency, and Reagan credited LaHaye with "changing the face of American politics".[6][8]

CWA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization[19] that is "supported by hundreds of local chapters across the country."[18] In 2014, Salon stated that "CWA [had] become a powerful political force, claiming over half a million members."[13] LaHaye led the organization until 2006.[6]

Published works

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LaHaye and her husband co-authored the self-help sex manual The Act of Marriage: The Beauty of Sexual Love in 1976.[20]

LaHaye wrote The Spirit-Controlled Woman in 1976,[21] a companion to her husband's book The Spirit-Controlled Temperament. A revised and expanded edition of the book, The New Spirit-Controlled Woman, was released in 2005.[22] The Desires of a Woman's Heart was released in 1993.[23]

Bibliography

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  • The Act of Marriage: The Beauty of Sexual Love (1976) OCLC 1859880 (co-authored with Timothy LaHaye)
  • The Spirit-Controlled Woman (1976) OCLC 3033275
  • How to Develop Your Child's Temperament (1977) OCLC 3312367
  • I Am a Woman by God's Design (1980) OCLC 6813275
  • The Restless Woman (1984) OCLC 10912698
  • The Desires of a Woman's Heart (1993) OCLC 855192530

References

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  1. ^ Year: 1930; Census Place: Southfield, Oakland, Michigan; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0125; FHL microfilm: 2340754
  2. ^ "Lowell Ardo Davenport, Death Certificate" (PDF).
  3. ^ Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867–1952; Film: 174; Film Title: 63 Oakland 06850-10109; Film Description: Oakland (1930–1933)
  4. ^ Year: 1940; Census Place: Southfield, Oakland, Michigan; Roll: m-t0627-01803; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 63-166C
  5. ^ "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880–2012"; School Name: Highland Park Community High School; Year: 1946
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Gabriel, Trip (April 19, 2024). "Beverly LaHaye, Soldier of the Christian Right, Dies at 94". The New York Times. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  7. ^ Peterson, Karla (July 26, 2016). "Author Tim LaHaye dies at age 90".
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Silliman, Daniel (April 15, 2024). "Died: Beverly LaHaye, Pastor's Wife Who Led Religious Right". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on April 15, 2024.
  9. ^ Bates, Stephen (July 28, 2016). "Tim LaHaye obituary". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  10. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (July 25, 2016). "Tim LaHaye Dies at 90; Fundamentalist Leader's Grisly Novels Sold Millions". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  11. ^ "Boss Lady". Chicago Tribune. May 26, 1992.
  12. ^ Smith, Harrison (April 15, 2024). "Beverly LaHaye, influential evangelical activist, dies at 94". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Smith, Leslie (July 29, 2014). "How conservative Christian women came to claim "true" feminism". Salon.com. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  14. ^ Gardiner, S., "Concerned Women for America: A Case Study Archived 2013-09-26 at the Wayback Machine", Feminism and Women's Studies, August 28, 2006. Online as of April 19, 2007.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b Beverly LaHaye marks three decades of promoting traditional values through CWA Archived September 19, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Christian Examiner.com, 20 December 09. Retrieved: September 14, 2013.
  16. ^ Henry, Tamara (September 2, 1992). "Group says school censorship increasing". Associated Press. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
  17. ^ Stanley, Paul (January 25, 2013). "4 Most Powerful Pro-Life Female Voices". Christian Post. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b Johnson, Emily (September 16, 2014). "Us v. Them: The Pitfalls of Righteous Rhetoric". ReligionAndPolitics.org. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  19. ^ Concerned Women for America Fact Check.Org, October 2010. Retrieved: September 14, 2013.
  20. ^ LaHaye, Tim, and Beverly LaHaye. The Act of Marriage: The Beauty of Sexual Love, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1998.
  21. ^ Mason, Carol (January 24, 2018). "Right-Wing Literature in the United States since the 1960s". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.34. ISBN 9780190201098 – via oxfordre.com.
  22. ^ Lahaye, Beverly (July 2005). The New Spirit-Controlled Woman. Harvest House Publishers. ISBN 9780736915953 – via www.christianbook.com.
  23. ^ Snyder-Hall, R. Claire (2008). "The Ideology of Wifely Submission: A Challenge for Feminism?". Politics & Gender. 4 (04): 563–586. doi:10.1017/S1743923X08000482. S2CID 145173940.
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