Montana Baha'i History

by Betty Bennett

Background:

• Permission to scan and post this book given to D. Calkins, who provides this background: "Betty Bennett was an active Baha’i from her enrollment in 1937 and maintained a personal collection of materials. In 1994, she was asked by Dr. Lawrence Small of the Rocky Mountain College in Billings for a brief history of the Faith in Montana for his book Religion In Montana - Pathways to the Present Vol. Two, published in 1995. She continued collecting materials resulting in this volume which was made available at the Montana Summer Schools for several years beginning in 1998." [D.C. 2021]

• Further information found online:

  When Betty Bennett was young she lived in Helena. She did not have a very "religious" upbringing, but at the age of 15 she was seeking out the church looking for answers. Her mother had said, "I'm looking for something too but I don't think you'll find it in the church." Betty heard the minister of her church say that Christ would come back, and it would be in their lifetime. Later she was talking with a member of the Bahá'í Faith and asked about Bahá'u'lláh. She was told that He was the 2nd coming of Christ. She then became Bahá'í. Betty's mother became one of the original members of the Helena Assembly which formed in 1938.

  In 1944 an assembly formed in Butte. In 1949 Betty's mother moved from Helena to Greatfalls to help form an assembly. After being actively involved with the Bahá'í assembly in Helena since its formation, and in other Bahá'í communities around the state, Betty Bennett moved to Butte in 1953. She has been an active member of the Butte-Silver Bow Bahá'í Assembly and has recently written a book on the history of the Bahá'í Faith in Montana, which will soon be available. [from hwpi.harvard.edu/pluralismarchive/butte-silver-bow-bahai-assembly, 2003]