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from the Chronology

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1848 19 - 20 Jul The Women's Rights Convention was held in the Wesleyan Chapel at Seneca Falls, NY. The principle organizer was Lucretia Mott, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as its driving intellect. A significant role was played by an African-American man, an abolitionist and a recently freed slave, Frederick Douglass. The convention adopted a Declaration of Rights and Sentiments that consisted of 11 resolutions including the right for women to vote. The signatories were the 68 women and 32 men in attendance. The right for women to vote became part of the United States Constitution in 1920. [The Calling: Tahirih of Persia and her American Contemporaries p114-160, "Seneca Falls First Woman's Rights Convention of 1848: The Sacred Rites of the Nation" by Bradford W. Miller (Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 8.3, 1998)]
  • This conference has been compared to the Conference of Badasht with respect to the emancipation of women and entrenched prejudices.
  • Tahirih and Women's Suffrage written by / on behalf of Universal House of Justice in which they deal with the question of the relationship between Táhirih and women's sufferage as well as the station of Táhirih herself.
  • Seneca Falls; New York; United States; Badasht; Iran Womens rights; Human rights; African Americans; Women; Gender; Equality; Conference of Badasht; Tahirih
    1852. 21 Feb Birth of Isabella Brittingham, prominent American Bahá'í teacher, in New York City. New York; United States Isabella Brittingham; Births and deaths
    1875 (In the year) Theosophy was established as a religious philosophical movement in New York City by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891). It contained elements of Hinduism and Buddhism and held that the purpose of all the religions was to assist humanity toward perfection and that all religions had a portion of the "truth". It has since split into a number of conflicting ideologies. [ABF9note54, Wikipedia (Blavatskian)]
  • The cordial relations between the Theosophical Society and the Bahá'í Faith helped in the spreading of the Faith in the United States, Europe and in South America.
  • New York; United States Theosophy; Theosophical Society; Helena Blavatsky; Esoterism; Occultism
    1892. (Summer) Anton Haddad arrived in New York from Cairo via Alexandria. He, with Ibrahim Kheiralla, had planned to market Kheiralla's patented invention, a ticket with space for advertising, in time for the World's Columbian Exposition. Kheiralla would following him after an unsuccessful attempt to sell another invention in Russia and then in Germany.

    Anton Haddad was the first Bahá'í to arrive in the New World. [BFA1p26]

    New York, NY Anton Haddad
    1892. 20 Dec Ibrahim Kheiralla arrived in New York. [AB65; BBD129; BFA1:26; SSBH1:88; AY111]
  • See BFA1p13-84 for Kheiralla's life, work for the Bahá'í Faith and defection.
  • New York; United States Ibrahim George Kheiralla
    1894. Feb Ibrahim George Kheiralla settled in Chicago. [BFA1:XXVII, AB65]
  • Owing to his work, the first Bahá'í community in North America was soon formed in Chicago with other groups soon forming in Philadelphia, New York City, Kenosha, Wisconsin and Ithaca, New York. [BBRSM:100; BW10:179; LDNW12]
  • See AY59-60 for a description of the teaching method used by Haddad and Kheiralla.
  • See Materials for the Study of the Babi Religion by E.G. Browne, Chapter 2, Ibrahim George Khayru'lláh and the Bahá'í Propaganda in America for an appreciation of what Kheiralla believed and taught.
  • Chicago; New York; Philadelphia; Kenosha; Ithaca; United States Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Anton Haddad; Teaching; Firsts, Other
    1895 23 Jun Birth of Leonora Stirling Holsapple (later Armstrong) in Hudson, New York. She was the first pioneer to Brazil and is regarded as the Mother of South America. [Wikipedia] Hudson; New York; United States Leonora Holsapple Armstrong; Names and titles; Births and deaths
    1898. Feb Kheiralla arrived in New York and began classes on the Bahá'í Faith. [BFA1:XXVIII, 116] New York Ibrahim George Kheiralla
    1898. Jun In New York City, 141 people became Bahá'ís in the five months since Kheiralla's arrival. [BFA1:XXVIII, 125] New York; United States Ibrahim George Kheiralla
    1898. 22 Sep The first Western pilgrims departed for `Akká, travelling via New York and Paris. [BFA1:XXVIII, 140–1, 230]
  • It was arranged by Phoebe Hearst, who had already planned a journey to Egypt for the autumn. [BFA1:140, AY60]
  • There were 15 pilgrims in all. Among them was Ibáhím Kheiralla and his family. [AB68; AY111]
  • New York; United States Pilgrimage; First pilgrims; Pilgrims; Phoebe Hearst; Lua Getsinger; Edward Getsinger; Robert Turner; Ibrahim George Kheiralla
    1899 (In the year) Miss Olive Jackson of Manhattan became the first black American woman Bahá'í. [BFA1:126–7] Manhattan; New York; United States Race (general); Firsts, Other; Olive Jackson
    1899. 23 Mar Edward and Lua Getsinger departed Akká and arrived in New York City on the 20th of May. [LGHC30]
  • Prior to her leaving 'Abdu'l-Bahá took a piece of bread, put some honey on it and told her to eat it, saying as He did so, "let all of your words be as sweetly flavoured by kindness to al people as this bread is flavoured by honey". She wrote that at that moment she felt as she swallowed that bread as if she had received a great spiritual blessing. LGHC25]
  • For His parting address to them see [LGHC27-28]
  • They brought with them a photograph of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as young man, a copy of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas in Arabic, a calligraphic rendering of the Greatest Name and a phonographic recording of the Master's voice. They left the record player in Akká for the Holy Family. [LGHC30]
  • Akka; New York; United States Edward Getsinger; Lua Getsinger; Pilgrimage; First pilgrims; Pilgrims; Greatest Name; Abdul-Baha, Voice recordings of; Abdul-Baha, Life of; Gifts
    1900 (In the year) The publication of Tablets Revealed by the Blessed Perfection and Abdul-Beha Abbas. 13p. It consisted of miscellaneous tablets "brought to this country by Haji Mirza Hassan, Mirza Assad' Ullah, and Mirza Hussien." Published in New York by the Board of Counsel.
  • The first two selections, including the Short Healing Prayer and the last one are from Bahá’u’lláh; the others are by 'Abdu’l-Bahá.
  • Includes a "prayer for the confirmation of the American government." The most recent translation of this prayer can be found at bahai.org. [BEL4.278]
  • New York; United States Bahaullah, Writings of; Abdul-Baha, Writings and talks of
    1900 (In the year) A Tablet from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the American believers was presented through ‘Abdu’l-Karim Effendi, who had been the teacher of Dr. Ibrahim Kheiralla.
  • Mr. Arthur Pillsbury Dodge received the first Tablet ever to an American believer, written in Arabic by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in his own handwriting and translated by Mr. Anton Haddad.
  • A Tablet to the Hoboken Assembly was received through Mr. J.F. Brittingham. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p4]
  • New York; United States Abdel Karim Effendi Teherani; Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Arthur Pillsbury Dodge; Anton Haddad; James F. Brittingham
    1900 26 Apr On the instructions of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Egyptian businessman Hájí `Abdu'l-Karím-i-Tihrání arrived in New York, the first Persian Bahá'í to visit North America. He had taught the Faith to Kheiralla in Egypt. His purpose was to try to bring Kheiralla back into the Faith and to explain the basic teachings of the Faith to the American believers. He was accompanied by Mirza Sinore Raffie, his translator. [BFA173–6; BFA2:17–29]
  • Muhammad-'Ali, having obtained Kheiralla's support, sent his son Shu'a'u'lláh to Kenosha to try to spread opposition to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [SBBH1p240]
  • `Abdu'l-Karím and Shu'a'u'lláh apparently met in Kenosha. The point that they disagreed on was Kheiralla's insistence that his teachings be regarded as authoritative. [SBBH!p240]
  • New York; United States Haji Abdul-Karim-i-Tihrani; Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Mirza Sinore Raffie; Covenant-breakers; Shuaullah
    1900 5 Aug Hájí `Abdu'l-Karím-i-Tihrání left the United States, his efforts to win Kheiralla back to the Faith having failed. [BFA176]
  • Reports of his meetings in which he confronted Ibrahim Kheiralla over Kheiralla's renunciation of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and defection to Muhammad-Alí were published under the title Reports of Proceedings of Meetings in New York City and Chicago, Illinois. [BEL 7.2278]
  • New York Haji Abdul-Karim-i-Tihrani; Ibrahim George Kheiralla
    1900 4 Nov The Persian teachers Mírzá Asadu'lláh-i-Isfahání (1826-1930) and Hájí Hasan-i-Khurásání, a merchant from Cairo, arrived in America. Their task was to consolidate the American community and to address the effects of Kheiralla's disaffection. [BFA2p35–43]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá provided them with two translators, Mírzá Husayn Rúhí, a young Persian Bahá'í who had learned English in Egypt, and Mírzá Burzurg.
  • They spent three weeks in New York then spent two days in Johnstown, NY then relocated to Chicago where he stayed for eighteen months.
  • Mírzá Asadu'lláh did not accompany 'Abdu'l-Bahá to America, however, shortly after His return, Mírzá Asadu'lláh and his son insisted on going to the West and did so against 'Abdu'l-Bahá's wishes. Both he and his son were expelled from the Faith. [APD143; AY119; SoW Vol 5 # 17 19 Jan 1915 pg 263; 265]
  • The four stayed in New York and then left for Chicago arriving on the 29th of November. Asadu'lláh stayed in Chicago until 12 May 1902, Khurásání, and Rúhí returned to Egypt in mid-July, 1901. [BFA2p38]
  • Johnstown; NY; New York; Chicago; United States Haji Hasan-i-Khurasani; Mirza Asadullah-i-Isfahani; Mirza Husayn Ruhi; Mirza Burzurg; Covenant-breakers
    1900 7 Dec In New York, nine men were selected to govern the affairs of the Faith. Those serving were Arthur Dodge, Hooper Harris, William Hoar, Andrew Hutchinson, Howard MacNutt, Frank Osborne, Edwin Putnam, Charles Sprague and Orosco Woolson. Among the problems that they had to face was the effect of the disaffection of Kheiralla. [BFA2p36; Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p5]

    One of the men, William Hoar, had been present at the reading of the paper by Henry Jessop at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1892. Shortly after he began study of the Faith with Ibrahim Khayru'llah. Later Hoar moved to New York where he continued study with Anton Haddad. Haddad had learned of the Faith in Egypt from Haji 'Abu'l-Karim-i-Tihrani. [WMSH59]

    New York; United States Board of Council; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA; Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Arthur Dodge; Hooper Harris; William Hoar; Andrew Hutchinson; Howard MacNutt; Frank Osborne; Edwin Putnam; Charles Sprague; Orosco Woolson; Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Anton Haddad; Haji Abul-Karim-i-Tihrani.
    1901 Mid-Jul Hájí Hasan-i-Khurásání and his translator, Husayn Rúhí left the United States to return to Egypt. [BFA2:38] New York Haji Hasan-i-Khurasani
    1901 Aug Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl-i-Gulpáygání arrived in North America. [BFA2:XV]
  • Laura Barney financed the visit of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl to the United States in 1901-04 in order to propagate the Faith and to help publish the translation of his Ḥojaj al-bahīya (Cairo, 1342/1925; tr. Ali-Kuli Khan as The Bahá'í Proofs, New York, 1902; 2nd ed., ed. J. R. I. Cole, Wilmette, Ill., 1983) [Wikipedia, Laura Clifford Barney.]
  • See BFA2:80–7 and BW9:855–860 for accounts of his visit.
  • See Wikipedia, Green Acre and Wikipedia, Mary Hanford Ford for accounts of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl at Green Acre.
  • Mirza Ahmad Sohrab was sent to assist him. Sohrab remained and worked at the Iranian Consulate until 1912 and during this time he translated much of the correspondence between 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Western believers. At the conclusion of the American tour he returned to the Holy Land. After the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá he rejected the authority of Shoghi Effendi and was expelled. [APD155]
  • [LDNW17] says he was accompanied by Ali-Kuli Kahn.
  • New York; United States Mirza Abul-Fadl Gulpaygani; Proofs; Publications; Laura Clifford Barney; Ahmad Sohrab; Covenant-breakers; Green Acre
    1902 (In the year) An extract from a Tablet to Mr. Howard MacNutt from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá refers to New York as the “City of the Covenant”. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p8] New York; United States Howard MacNutt; City of the Covenant (New York)
    1904 (In the year) A compilation of Bahá'í writings in English was published by the Board of Counsel of New York. [BW10:179]
  • The Book of Assurance (The Book of Ighan) translated by Ali Kuli Khan, assisted by Howard MacNutt was published in New York for the Bahá'í Publishing Committee. [BEL1.10]
  • New York; United States Compilations; Publications
    1904. 15 Apr - Jun “Due to conflicting interpretations of the Teachings” a commission was appointed to “formulate a plan for the development of unanimity in work and effort for spreading the Bahá’í teachings.” The report gave the “Outlines of the Bahá’í Teachings” and “Basic Concepts of the Bahá’í Revelation.” [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p9] New York Teaching
    1905. 23 May or 2 Jun A Nineteen Day Feast was celebrated in New York City, the first known to have been held in North America. [BFA2:XVI, 245]
  • It consisted of a devotional portion and a social part. The administrative aspect of the Feast was developed in the 1930s. [BFA2:245; SA208]
  • Howard and Mary MacNutt, along with Julia Grundy, had been on pilgrimage early in the year and had been encouraged to hold Feasts by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • In a meeting of NY Board of Council at the home of Mr. Arthur Pillsbury Dodge on the 19th of May, Mr. Howard MacNutt described a Nineteen Day Feast he had attended in Acca. The Board then planned the First Nineteen Day Feast to be held the following Tuesday, June 2nd at the home of Mr. Fleming. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p10]
  • New York; United States Nineteen Day Feast; Howard MacNutt; Mary MacNutt; Julia Grundy; Abdul-Baha, Life of; Pilgrims
    1908 25 Apr Charles Mason Remey and Sydney Sprague sailed from New York for Iran and Russia. [BFA2:289]
  • For details of their journey see BFA2:289–95.
  • In Tihrán Táhirih Khánum, a Bahá'í woman with advanced ideas, hosted them at a meeting at which the women removed their veils. [BFA2:292–4]
  • They gave Táhirih Khánum the address of Isabella Brittingham and the two women began a correspondence. [BFA2:294]
  • New York; United States; Tihran; Iran Charles Mason Remey; Sydney Sprague; Tahirih Khanum; Isabella Brittingham
    1908. 30 Aug A "Feast of Rejoicing" was held at the home of Howard MacNutt at 935 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn to celebrate the "freedom of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. It had been forty years since the exiles had been sent to Akka. [Bahá'í Bulletin Vol 1 No 1 p6; WMSH58-59] New York; United States Abdul-baha, Life of; Howard MacNutt
    1908 Sep
    (New York) Bahá'í Bulletin Published September, 1908 to May 1909 (5 issues)
    Link (Will open in this window)
                  Dates             
                  URL   (For cut 'n' paste)      
    Volume 1, Issues 1
    September 1908
    https://bahai.works/Bahai_Bulletin/Issue_1
    Volume 1, Issues 2 and 3
    October 1908
    https://bahai.works/Bahai_Bulletin/Issue_2-3
    Volume 1, Issue 4
    December 1908
    https://bahai.works/Bahai_Bulletin/Issue_4
    Volume 1, Issue 5
    January-February-March 1909
    https://bahai.works/Bahai_Bulletin/Issue_5
    Volume 1, Issue 6
    April-May 1909
    https://bahai.works/Bahai_Bulletin/Issue_6

    The Bahá'í Bulletin was succeeded a year later by the Bahá'í News which subsequently became Star of the West a year after that. [BWNS1289] See 1910 21 March
    New York; United States Bahai Bulletin; Bahai News; - Periodicals; First publications; Publications; BWNS
    1910 (In the year) The publication of The Oriental Rose, or, The teachings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá which trace the chart of "The Shining Pathway" by Mary Hanford Finney Ford. [BEL7.983]
  • See page 158-159 for her pen portrait of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • See SoW Vol 2 No 15 November 23, 1911 p3 for her description of 'Abdu'-Bahá's time in Paris during the two weeks she was there.
  • New York; United States Mary Hanford Ford; Abdul-Baha, Life of; Introductory; Abdul-Baha, Pen portraits; Pen portraits; Portraits; Publications
    1910 (In the year) The publication of The Splendor of God Being Extracts from the Sacred Writings of the Bahais with introduction by Eric Hammond. Published by E P Dutton and Company in New York. New York; NY Splendor of God (book); Eric Hammond; Publications
    1910 8 Aug Birth of Mary Sutherland Maxwell, Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, Hand of the Cause of God, in the borough of Qeens, New York City. New York; United States Mary Maxwell; Amatul-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths
    1911 22 Aug - 3 Sep `Abdu'l-Bahá took up residence at Thonon-les-Bains on Lake Leman (Lake Geneva). [AB140; GPB280; SBR219]
  • While there He encountered Zillu's-Sultán, the eldest son of the Sháh of the time, Násirid-Dín Sháh. It was he who had ratified the execution of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs and at least 100 others. The whole family was in exile in Geneva at this time. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was very courteous to this man who had been such an inveterate enemy of the Cause. [DJT172, AY19, GPB201] .
  • The Master sent for Juliet Thompson who had been waiting in London for His permission to join Him.
  • During His stay he had a visit from Annie Boylan, a member of the New York community that was experiencing disharmony. Unaware of Bahá'í election procedures, a group that was unhappy with the disunity and ineffectiveness of the Council had organized a vote to be rid of several of its Council members. 'Abdu'l-Bahá had written to the community a short time before recommending that the Council be expanded from 9 to 27 members so that all factions could be represented. He also recommended that women be included on the Council and that the name be changed to "the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of New York". This apparently addressed the problem of disunity because the New York community went on to contribute significantly to the progress of the Faith on a national level. [DJT181, BFA2p338]
  • Horace Holley, who lived at Quattro Torri, Siena, Italy at the time, along with his wife Bertha Herbert and baby daughter Hertha, visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the 29th and 30th of August. Please see his Religion for Mankind p 232-237 for a pen portrait of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • He met with Elizabeth Stewart and Lillian Kappes who were on their way to Tehran. [find reference]
  • It would appear that He returned to Marseilles and travelled to London by sea. [SCU22-23]
  • Thonon-les-Bains; Lake Leman; Marseilles; France; Switzerland; Italy; London; United Kingdom; New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, First Western tour; Board of Council; Spiritual Assemblies; Unity; Zillus-Sultan; Persecution; Mirza Muhammad-Hasan (King of Martyrs); Mirza Muhammad-Husayn (Beloved of Martyrs); King of Martyrs and Beloved of Martyrs; Juliet Thompson; Horace Holley; Elizabeth Stewart; Lillian Kappes; Ships
    1912 25 Mar-17 Jun 1913 `Abdu'l-Bahá's second Western tour

    'Abdul'-Bahá and His party embarked from Alexandria on the White Star Line Liner RMS Cedric for New York via Naples. They departed Naples on the 30th of March and made a call at Gibraltar. Three of His party were forced to leave the ship for supposed "medical' reasons. Among them was His grandson, Shoghi Effendi. [AB171; GPB281; ABF274; ABTM50-52; SYH50-51]

  • Boarding in Naples to join Him on the Atlantic crossing were Louisa Mathew and the Woodcock family, Percy, Aloysia and their daughter, May as well as Mr and Mrs Austin from Denver, Colorado. [SYH49, 52; ABPp18n.96]
  • Alexandria; Egypt; Naples; Italy; Gibraltar; New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha in Egypt; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Life of; Abdul-Baha, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Condensed; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Louise Gregory; Percy Woodcock
    1912 11 Apr `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in New York. [AB172; GPB281; APD3-5; SoW Vol 3 No 3 p3; Mahmúd's Diary p38-39]

    As the ship that finally brought "‘Abdu'l-Bahá to the shores of the American continent passed by the Statue of Liberty, He threw His arms wide open in greeting, saying ”There is the new world’s symbol of liberty and freedom. After being 40 years a prisoner I can tell you that freedom is not a matter of place. It is a condition. Unless one accept dire vicissitudes he will not attain. When one is released from the prison of self, that is indeed a release.” [‘Abdu'l-Bahá in Their Midst p.56; SYH54]

  • He remained on board doing interviews with a number of newspapermen. Edward Kinny was called to come on the ship and the rest of those awaiting were told to leave the pier, proceed to the Kinney residence and wait for Him. [Mahmúd's Diary p38-39; DJT233-234]
    • See World Order Summer 1973 p45 for the story of disobedient Juliet Thompson and her friend Marjory Morton who remained behind on the quay to get a glimpse of Him.
  • One of the newspapermen to interview Him was Wendell Phillips Dodge who boarded the SS Cedric at quarantine and interviewed 'Abdul-Bahá coming up the bay. The article he wrote was given to all of the New York newspapers, and, through the Associated Press, was sent, though boiled down considerably, to newspapers throughout the world. See SoW Vol 3 No 3 April 28, 1912 p3 for the article.
  • When asked why He had come to America He said that He had come at the invitation of the peace congresses. [SYH53; MD8]
  • He stayed at the Ansonia Hotel at 2109 Broadway. [Luminous Journey 14:37, SYH55]
  • Talk at the home of Mr. Edward B. (Saffa, or Serenity) Kinney and his wife, Carrie (Vaffa, or Certitude), 780 West End Avenue, New York to some 200 people. This was the first private home in which 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave a talk on His American tour. [PUP3]
  • One of the Persians in the Master’s suite had cabled Alice Ives Breed in New York City, about the Master’s arrival date. Thus alerted, Ali-Kuli Khan directed the Persian Consul, Topakian (an Armenian businessman), to officially greet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with full courtesies. Mr Topakian carried this out, and the Master was much pleased with his services. [AY85]
  • During His tour `Abdu'l-Bahá visited 49 cities and made approximately 400 addresses of which 185 were recorded. The combined audience for His talks is estimated to be 90,000 people. [SBBH1:110; Luminous Journey 1:37; 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America 1912-2012]
  • For a chronological list of talks given by `Abdu'l-Bahá while in North America see PUP473–8 or Index.
  • For details of His journey see AB171–339.
  • Ward, 239 Days; Balyuzi, `Abdu'l-Bahá; The Diary of Juliet Thompson; many editions of Star of the West and numerous biographies of Bahá'ís of the time as well as other books carry information about `Abdu'l-Bahá travels and talks.
    He was accompanied by:
    • Sayyid Asadu'lláh Qumí
    • Dr Fareed Amin Ullah, He was a nephew of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and served as his translator during His tour of the West. Because of his disobedience, both he and his father were expelled from the Faith. See AY102-103 and AB230.
    • Mírza Mahmúd-i Zarqání. He was a member of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's entourage for both the Western and European tours. He wrote an account of the travels in a book entitled Kitáb-i Badáyi'u'l-Áthár and called "Mahmúd's Diary" in the English translation. [APD151]
    • Mirza Ahmad Sohrab. He had originally come to the West to assist Mírzá Abú'l-Fadl Gulpaygání in 1901. He remained and worked at the Iranian Consulate until 1912 and during this time he translated much of the correspondence between 'Abdu'l-Bahâ and the Western believers. After the American tour, he returned to the Holy Land. After the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá he rejected the authority of Shoghi Effendi and was expelled. [APD155]
  • See video entitled 'Abdu'l-Bahá and New York City.
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks other; Ali Kuli Khan; Edward Kinney; Topakian, Mr; Consuls; Mahmuds Diary; Abdul-Baha, Life of; Abdul-Baha, Writings and talks of; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Abdul-Baha, Basic timeline
    1912. 11 Apr Hippolyte and Laura Dreyfus Barney sailed on the SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria from Cherbourg for New York to be with 'Abdu'l-Bahá for a few months. [ABF285]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá had invited Louisa Mathew to come to America and accompany Him. [Documentary: 'Abdu'l-Baha's Initiative on Race from 1921: Race Amity Conferences 34:00]
  • Cherbourg; France; New York; United States Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney
    1912 12 Apr Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Howard MacNutt, 935 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York, [PUP4]
  • Talk at Studio of Miss Phillips, 39 West Sixty-seventh Street, New York. [PUP7; DJT239; Mahmúd's Diary p39-41]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks other; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Howard MacNutt
    1912 13 Apr Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Morten, 141 East Twenty-first Street, New York [PUP9; Mahmúd's Diary p41-42] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912 14 Apr `Abdu'l-Bahá spoke from the pulpit of the Church of the Ascension, Fifth Avenue and Tenth Street, New York at the invitation of Percy Stickney Grant who was later reprimanded by his bishop, Bishop Burch, for inviting 'Abdu'l-Bahá, unbaptized, to sit in the red plush Bishop's Chair behind the alter rail. This was in violation of church protocol and created a great controversy. [ABF22, 239D:21–3, PUP11, 239 Days in America Day52; Mahmúd's Diary p43-44; SoW Vol 3 No 3 April 28, 1912 p6]
  • Talk at Union Meeting of Advanced Thought Centers, Carnegie Lyceum, West Fifty-seventh Street, New York. [PUP14]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches; Abdul-Baha, Talks other; Percy Grant
    1912 15 Apr Talk at the home of Mountfort Mills, 327 West End Avenue, New York. [PUP16; Mahmúd's Diary p44-45] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Mountfort Mills
    1912 16 Apr Talk at Hotel Ansonia to Bahá'í Friends of New Jersey, Broadway and Seventy-third Street, New York. [PUP18; Mahmúd's Diary p45] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places
    1912 17 Apr Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney, 780 West End Avenue, New York, [PUP23; Mahmúd's Diary p46]
  • Talk at Hotel Ansonia, Broadway and Seventy-third Street, New York. [PUP20]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places
    1912 18 Apr Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall L. Emery, 273 West Ninetieth Street, New York. [PUP25; Mahmúd's Diary p46-47] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912 19 Apr Talk at Earl Hall, Columbia University, New York. [PUP29; Mahmúd's Diary p47-48]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá visited The Bowery Mission accompanied by Edward Getsinger and Juliet Thompson as noted in her unpublished Diary. They arrived with two heavy bags of quarters to distribute to the poor and spoke with hundreds of impoverished men. [OPOP165-168, PUP32]
  • He invited Mary William, a rare female journalist who wrote under the name of "Kate Carew". Her signature style was one of scepticism.
  • Bowery; New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Columbia University; Abdul-Baha, Talks at universities; Charity and relief work; Social and economic development; Wealth and poverty; Edward Getsinger; Juliet Thompson; Bowery Mission; John Good
    1912. 11 - 19 Apr During His time in New York 'Abdu'l-Bahá saw a play by Charles Rann Kennedy called The Terrible Meek about the crucifiction of Christ. He later came to His hotel room to see Him. [Luminous Journey 21:42]
  • At some point Juliet Thompson introduced him to Lebanese poet and artist Khalil Gibran who created a portrait of HIm. [Luminous Journey 22:07]
  • Howard Colby Ives met with Him at His hotel. His description of the account ends with "But life has never been quite the same since." [Portal to Freedom Chapter 2]
  • New York The Terrible Meek (play); Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Kahlil Gibran
    1912 20 Apr During `Abdu'l-Bahá's eleven days in New York He gave 15 formal talks and countless informal one in homes and private studios. He left New York and arrived in Washington DC after a five hour train. He was accompanied by Dr Getsinger, Dr Fareed, Mírzá Valiyu'lláh Nakhjavání and Mahmúd-i-Zarqání. [239D:37–8; AB178; SBR78, APD9; Luminous Journey 18:48]
  • See AY85 for the welcome He received from the Kahn family and others including Mrs Agnes Parson, Mason Remy and Joseph Hannen.
  • John Bosch had travelled from California specifically to see Him. He was given a Persian name by the Master, Núrání (The Luminous). John and Edward Getsinger travelled with the party on the train from New York to Washington. [Mahmúd's Diary p48-49. SYH57]
  • He stayed at the Parsons' home, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, for eight days and gave a talk every afternoon at 5PM. Agnes Parsons had had this home built to accommodate 'Abdu'l-Bahá complete with a room that could hold 150 people. It was unusual for Him and His interpreter to stay in private homes. ['Abdu'l-Bahá in America: 1912-2012; FMH47-48]
  • He gave a talk at Orient-Occident-Unity Conference at the Carnegie Library on Massachusetts Avenue before an audience of 3,000. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá encouraged commercial ties between the United States and Persia. ‘For the Persians there is no government better fitted to contribute to the development of their natural resources and the helping of their national needs in a reciprocal alliance than the United States of America; and for the Americans there could be no better industrial outlet and market than the virgin … soil of Persia. The mineral wealth of Persia is still latent and untouched. It is my hope that the great American democracy may be instrumental in developing these hidden resources and that a bond of perfect amity and unity may be established between the American republic and the government of Persia. May this bond—whether material or spiritual—be well cemented.’ [AY48; PUP35; Luminous Journey 31:06; SoW Vol 3 No 3 April 28, 1912 p7, SYH82]
  • Washington DC; New York; United States; Iran Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places; Trains; Business; Agnes Parsons
    1912 11 May `Abdu'l-Bahá left Washington for New York City, arriving the same day. [239D:64–5, AB190, APD66-67]
  • Talk at the Hudson Apartment House at 227 Riverside Drive, New York. [PUP111, DJT282]
  • Washington DC; New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at other places
    1912 12 May `Abdu'l-Bahá took a ferry to New Jersey then a train to Montclair where He addressed the congregation of the Montclair Unity Church before returning to New York to speak to the International Peace Forum at the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church on West 104th Street, New York where He spoke to 2,000 people. [239D:66; AB191, PUP113, PUP116] Montclair; New Jersey; New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches; International peace conferences; Peace; Trains
    1912 13 May `Abdu'l-Bahá, very unwell, attended a reception and gave a talk to the New York Peace Society at the Hotel Astor where He was the guest of honour. [239D:67; AB192, PUP123, APD67]
  • Various personages paid tribute to Him. The Consul General of Persian, General Topakyan referred to `Abdu'l-Bahá as the Beauty of God and the Glory of the East [Luminous Journey 56:06]
  • In the evening there was a meeting at `Abdu'l-Bahá's residence with people from India and Japan. He spoke to them in detail, saying: "India had a great civilization in former times. That civilization spread from that part of Asia to Syria and Egypt; from Syria it was extended to Greece from whence it found its way to Arabia and Spain. Again, from Spain it spread over most of Europe. The world of man, however, has not yet reached its maturity. The time will come when this material civilization will be infused with divine civilization. Universal peace will be realized and people will become angelic. That will be the time of the world's maturity." [MD]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks other; Peace; Topakyan; India
    1912 14–16 May `Abdu'l-Bahá attended the eighteenth annual Conference on International Peace and Arbitration at Lake Mohonk, presenting the first address during the second session of the conference. [239D:67–9; AB193; ABF15; MD101]
    "His early public references in North America to the purpose of His visit there placed particular emphasis on the invitation of the organizing committee of the Lake Mohonk Peace Conference for Him to address this international gathering." [BWNS1297]
  • The Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration was founded in 1895 and was held annually until 1917 for the purpose of creating and directing public sentiment in favour of international arbitration, arbitration treaties, and an international court. For archives see Swarthmore College Peace Collection.
  • These meetings at Lake Mohonk were instrumental in the creation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands. [Wikipedia]
  • Picture.
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent Zia Baghdadi back to the city to obtain a carpet to be used as a gift for the president of the International Peace Society and His host, Mr Smiley. Baghdadi rode a freight train to New York, awoke the sleeping residents at 2 a.m., boarded the first train for Lake Mohonk, begged to ride on the mail run and arrived just as 'Abdu'l-Bahá was shaking Smiley's hand at 10 a.m. [Luminous Journey 58:00] iiiii
  • See Who Will Bell the Cat: 'Abdu'l-Bahá at Lake Mohonk by Janet Ruhe-Schoen.
  • See “The Cause of Universal Peace: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Enduring Impact” by Kathryn Jewett Hogenson. This article looks at the circumstances around ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s participation in the 1912 Lake Mohonk Arbitration Conference and the urgency and timeliness of His message over the subsequent decades. The article also reviews efforts of the Bahá’í community to promote world peace in the decades that followed.
  • See a photo of Lake Mohonk in the article The Cause of Universal Peace; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Enduring Impact by Kathryn Jewett Hogenson.
  • Lake Mohonk; New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; International peace conferences; Conferences, International; Peace; Abdul-Baha, Talks other; Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration; Peace
    1912 19 May In the morning He spoke at the Church of the Divine Paternity, Central Park West, New York. [PUP126; DJT287]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá traveled to Jersey City to speak in the Unitarian Church, the Brotherhood Church, Bergen and Fairview Avenues, of which Howard Colby Ives is the pastor. [SEBW143; 239D:70–1; AB194, PUP129]
  • Jersey City; New Jersey; New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Howard Colby Ives; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches
    1912 20 May Talk at Woman’s Suffrage Meeting, Metropolitan Temple, Seventh Avenue and Fourteenth Street, New York. [PUP133] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 22 May `Abdu'l-Bahá traveled to Boston, arriving the same day. [239D:71; AB198]
  • He stayed at the Hotel Charlesgate (or Hotel Charles). [Luminous Journey 59:32; MD]
  • That evening the first meeting in Boston was held for the American Unitarian Association Conference at the Tremont Temple Baptist Church, the largest of all of the churches in the region and purported to be the first Integrated church in America. The President of the Republic, Mr Taft, was also a member of this important association. Present at the conference were some 800 Unitarian ministers representing the Unitarian churches in America and Canada. In addition, there were nearly two thousand others assembled. The presiding officer of the meeting was the Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts [Robert Luce], who introduced the Master to the audience. [MD]
  • New York; Boston; Massachusetts; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 26 May `Abdu'l-Bahá left Boston and returned to New York, arriving in the evening. [239D:73; AB201]
  • Talk at Mount Morris Baptist Church, Fifth Avenue and 126th Street, New York. [PUP147]
  • Boston; New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches
    1912 28 May `Abdu'l-Bahá and His party were evicted from their hotel because of the `coming and going of diverse people' and the `additional labours and troubles' caused to the staff. [239D:74]

    Talk at Reception at Metropolitan Temple, Seventh Avenue and Fourteenth Street, New York. [PUP150]

    New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches
    1912 25 May Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney, 780 West End Avenue, New York. [PUP154] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Edward Kinney
    1912 30 May Talk at Theosophical Lodge, Broadway and Seventy-ninth Street, New York. [PUP156] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Theosophical Society; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 1 Jun `Abdu'l-Bahá returned to New York. [AB206]
  • He had His first sitting for the portrait painted by Juliet Thompson. [DJT299]
  • He sat for her a total of six times but she could paint in only three of the sessions. The last session was on June 19, 1912.
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Juliet Thompson; Abdul-Baha, Pictures and portraits; Portraits
    1912 2 Jun Talk at Church of the Ascension, Fifth Avenue and Tenth Street, New York at the invitation of Percy Grant. [PUP163, ABF22; SoW Vol 3 No 10 September 24, 1912 p24] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches; Percy Grant
    1912 4 Jun `Abdu'l-Bahá returned to New York. [AB208] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 8 Jun Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York, [PUP171]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in Philadelphia. [239D:88; AB209]
  • New York; Philadelphia; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912 10 Jun `Abdu'l-Bahá left Philadelphia and returned to New York, arriving the same day. [239D:88; AB211] Philadelphia; New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 11 Jun Talk at Open Committee Meeting, Home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney, 780 West End Avenue, New York. [PUP183]
  • Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP183]
  • Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP186]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Edward Kinney
    1912 12 Jun Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP187] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912 15 Jun Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP189] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912 16 Jun Talk at Fourth Unitarian Church, Beverly Road, Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York. [PUP190]
  • Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Howard MacNutt, 935 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York. [PUP194]
  • Talk at Central Congregational Church, Hancock Street, Brooklyn, New York. [PUP197]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Churches; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Howard MacNutt
    1912 17 Jun Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP204] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912 18 Jun Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP205]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá made a recording of His voice on an "Edison Talking Machine" (a cylinder phonograph). [‘Abdu’l-Bahá's Journey West: The Course of Human Solidarity Fig5.1, AY320]

    An authorized translation of the text of the recording has been made available. See here for more background information.

  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Abdul-Baha, Voice recordings of
    1912 19 Jun `Abdu'l-Bahá clarified His station as the Centre of the Covenant. It is widely believed that He named New York the `City of the Covenant' on this occasion but no substantiation can be found, however, Shoghi Effendi noted that He did call New York City the "City of the Covenant" (CoF158; GPB288 refer). [239D:93; AB220; BBD55, ABNY51; DJT315-316]
  • This proclamation was made to about 125 people gathered in HIs house at West 78th Street.
  • The text of HIs talk can be found at SoW Vol 5 No 15 December 12, 1914 p227-228. The translation of this talk was done by Dr Ameen Fareed. Notes were taken by "E. C. M." and revised by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Fareed at Montclair on the 25th of June, 1912. [LGHC410n82] Also see [LGHC165-166].
  • This same day 'Abdu'l-Bahá named Lua Getsinger "Herald of the Covenant" while in Juliet Thompson's studio for the sixth sitting for His portrait. [LGHC157]
    • See 239D:92–93 for a description of this event.
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Covenant, City of; Covenant (general); Lua Getsinger; Juliet Thompson; portrait; Herald of the Covenant
    1912 20 Jun Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP206]
  • ‘Abdu’l-Bahá agreed to a photographic session at the renowned Gertrude Kasebier’s Studio. He approved and chose the proofs He liked. [ABNY51; LGHC159]
  • In a talk He stated His intentions to hold a Unity Feast. [SoW Vol 3 No 10 September 8, 1912 p23-24]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912 30 Jun `Abdu'l-Bahá returned to New York after visiting Mr Topakyan, the Persian Consul General, in Morristown. [239D:103; AB225–6] New York; Morristown; New Jersey; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Topakian, Mr; Consuls
    1912 1 Jul Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP216]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke on the subject of poverty and the alleviation of the discrepancy between the rich and the poor.
  • Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP218]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Wealth and poverty
    1912 5 Jul Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York, the home of Howard MacNutt. [PUP218]
  • Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP220]
  • On this occasion 'Abdu'l-Bahá assigned Howard the task of deepening a group of Chicago Bahá’ís on the importance of the Covenant and instructing them not to associate with Covenant-breakers. Howard failed to complete this task and continued correspondence with associates of Kheiralla. For more information see this date.
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Howard MacNutt; Covenant-breakers
    1912 6 Jul Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP225] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912. 6 Jul In obedience to 'Abdu'l-Bahá Lua Getsinger departed New York for California to prepare for His coming or as "just a bugler in the army of the Lord" as she stated her mission. [LGHC161-162] California; New York; United States Lua Getsinger; Travel teaching
    1912 14 Jul Talk at All Souls Unitarian Church, Fourth Avenue and Twentieth Street, New York. [PUP228] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches
    1912 15 Jul Talk at Home of Dr. and Mrs. Florian Krug, 830 Park Avenue, New York. [PUP236]

    Mahmud has dated this visit to the Krug home at 14 July. [MD169-170]

  • Dr Krug was opposed to the visit of 'Abdu'l-Bahá however Grace was determined to have 'Abdu'l-Bahá visit their home. Immediately upon meeting 'Abdu'l-Bahá all opposition melted. [WMSH64; AY113]
  • After speaking in the Krug home ‘Abdu’l-Bahá summoned their son Carl Krug (probably Charles) to ride home with Him. Seated in the taxicab, He instructed Carl to write what He was about to say. Then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: “You must be very grateful to your mother—you must appreciate her greatly—you do not realize her station now or what a great honour she has bestowed on your household. She will be one of the famous women of America. You must appreciate and love her very much. All will know of her servitude.” [BW8p676] Note: This reference has dated this event as the 2nd of June. It is likely that it took place on the 15th of July.
  • See AY112-113 for the story of Dr. Florian Krug and his second wife, Grace.
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Florian Krug
    1912. 21 Jul 'Abdu'l-Bahá received an invitation from the Consul General of Turkey. He took the ferry then a tram to travel to the Consul General's house. The meeting was attended by a number of prominent men and statesmen. The Consul's brother-in-law requested permission to take His photograph.
  • In the evening he was invited by the Armenian Memorial Society to attend a gathering at which He spoke. The talk was not recorded because Mahmud arrived late to the meeting. [MD175]
  • New York; NY Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks to ethnic groups; Armenians
    1912 23 Jul `Abdu'l-Bahá left New York, arriving in Boston the same day for His second visit. [239D:117; AB233]
  • Talk at Hotel Victoria, corner of Newbury and Dartmouth Sts, Boston, Massachusetts. [PUP238]
  • For an interesting story about Nancy Douglas Bowditch see Wikipedia.
  • Also see The Artist's Daughter: Memoirs, 1890 - 1979 the autobiography of Nancy Douglas Bowditch.
  • New York; Boston; Massachusetts; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places; Nancy Douglas Bowditch
    1912. 22 or 27 Sep The marriage of Louis G. Gregory and Louisa (“Louise”) A. M. Mathew, the first interracial Bahá’í couple, who met while on pilgrimage and whom 'Abdul-Bahá had encouraged to marry. They exchanged Bahá’í vows after the rites performed by Rev. Everard W. Daniel, curate of St. Philip’s Protestant Episcopal Church, perhaps the most prestigious African American church in the country, in a private ceremony in his residence. In a “Tablet” (translated March 14, 1914). She was 46 and he was 8 years younger. [SYH73-75, 91]
  • `Abdu’l-Bahá lauded the Gregorys’ marriage as “an introduction to the accomplishment” of harmony between the races. [`ABDU’L-BAHÁ’ S 1912 HOWARD UNIVERSITY SPEECH: A CIVIL WAR MYTH FOR INTERRACIAL EMANCIPATION p117 by Dr Christopher Buck]
  • See The Journey West.
  • The prayer, "Verily, they are married in obedience to thy command. Cause them to become the signs of unity and harmony until the end of time..." was revealed for their wedding by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [FMH97]
  • ”Intermarriage is a good way to efface racial differences. It produces strong, beautiful offspring, clever and resourceful.” [sYH7]
  • [239D:169] reported this marriage took place on the 27th of September.
  • At this time interracial marriage was legal in Washington but not socially acceptable. It was outlawed in 25 states. It wasn't until 1967 that legislation forbidding interracial marriages was henceforth illegal. In the Washington community at this time there were white Bahá'ís who did not yet understand the principle of racial unity. [SYH80, 85-86]
  • "I made that marriage." 'Abdu'l-Bahá is reported having said to Mrs Parsons. "I wish the white and coloured races to marry"
  • New York; United States Marriage; Louis Gregory; Louisa Mathew Gregory; Firsts, Other; Race (general); Unity; Interracial marriage; Weddings; Louise Gregory
    1912 12 Nov `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in New York at 1:00 a.m. He and His party stayed at the "Champney House" located on Riverside Drive near the Hudson River at 309 West 78th Street. [AB329]
  • Shoghi Effendi later urged the National Spiritual Assembly acquiring this property as a national executive centre. [MM2p24-25]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Champney House
    1912 15 Nov Talk at Home of Miss Juliet Thompson, 48 West Tenth Street, New York. [PUP431; PtF147] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Juliet Thompson
    1912 16 Nov Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP437] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912 17 Nov Talk at Genealogical Hall, 252 West Fifty-eighth Street, New York. [PUP437] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 18 Nov `Abdu'l-Bahá visited the library of J. Pierpont Morgan and inscribed his album with a blessing for his philanthropy. [239D:186–7]
  • Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank K. Moxey, 575 Riverside Drive, New York. [PUP422]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; J. P. Morgan Library; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912 18 Nov `Abdu'l-Bahá had instructed MacNutt to meet with a group of potential Covenant-breakers in Chicago and warn them of the danger. He also ordered MacNutt to break all communication with Ibrahim Kheiralla and other Covenant-breakers. He had failed to do as directed. They met in the Kenny's home for the first time since his trip, where `Abdu'l-Bahá advised him that he had violated the Covenant himself and commanded him to repent before a group of New York Bahá'ís gathered there, which he did, reluctantly. [DJT371; AY121] New York; United States Covenant-breakers; Howard MacNutt; Ibrahim George Kheiralla
    1912 23 Nov A farewell banquet was held for `Abdu'l-Bahá at the Great Northern Hotel, 118 West Fifty-seventh Street, in New York. [239D:187; AB331, PUP447]
  • The hotel did not allow the black Bahá'ís to attend. [239D:187]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 24 Nov `Abdu'l-Bahá and the white Bahá'ís served the Black Bahá'ís at a dinner at the Kinney's. [239D:187] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Kinney
    1912. 26 Nov 'Abdu'l-Bahá had no time to meet with visitors individually in the morning as He was attending to correspondence.
  • In the afternoon at a meeting with some of the friends He spoke about the Covenant and the need for divine Manifestations.
  • In the evening He spoke about man's ability to understand reality using his intelligence. [MD410-411]
  • New York Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 29 Nov Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney, 780 West End Avenue, New York. [PUP449] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Edward Kinney
    1912 2 Dec Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney, 780 West End Avenue, New York. [PUP452]
  • Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney, 780 West End Avenue, New York. The subject of this talk was The Covenant. [PUP453]
  • Star of the West reported that 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke of India on this date although there is no mention of such a talk in Mahmúd's Diary. [SoW Vol 5 No 2 April 9, 1914 p20-21]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Edward Kinney
    1912 3 Dec Talk at Home of Dr. and Mrs. Florian Krug, 830 Park Avenue, New York. [PUP457; MD420-422]
  • Talk to Mr. Kinney’s Bible Class, 780 West End Avenue, New York. [PUP458]
  • Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney, 780 West End Avenue, New York. [PUP460]
  • New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912 4 Dec `Abdu'l-Bahá addressed His last meeting in North America with a talk to Theosophical Society, 2228 Broadway, New York. [239D:193, PUP462] New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Theosophical Society; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 5 Dec `Abdu'l-Bahá sailed on the S. S. Celtic from New York to Liverpool. [239D:193–4; AB337; GPB281]
  • For `Abdu'l-Bahá's final words to the Bahá'ís, spoken while on board ship, see PUP468.
  • For Ahmad Sohrab's account of the sea crossing see SW3, 16:2.
  • New York; United States; Liverpool; United Kingdom Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Ships; S. S. Celtic; Abdul-Baha, Life of
    1915. 30 Jan Martha Root sailed from New York on her first around the world trip. [MR58] New York Martha Root
    1915 11 Oct Arthur Pillsbury Dodge, Disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá, passed away in Freeport, New York. [SBR15]
  • He had become a Bahá'í in 1895 just before moving to New York City. He visited Haifa in 1900 and Dr. Edward Granville Brown in Cambridge. He was a lawyer, publisher and self-made man. In 1898 he held the first Bahá’í classes in his home and the first public meetings on the Faith with talks given by Dr. Ibrahim Kheiralla. The first person to become a Bahá’í in NYC was Mr. James F. Brittingham, then of Weehawken, NJ who first heard the message from his sister, Mrs. Dixon of Chicago. Mrs. Mary H. Tousey organized the classes at Dodge’s home. Later that year, Mr. Howard MacNutt received the message. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p3]
  • For biographies see Bahá'í Chronicles; BFA1:116-17, SBR1-16 and SW6, 13:100-1.
  • For his obituary see SW6, 19:161-7.
  • Dodge's books include The Truth of It (1901) [SW6, 13:101] and Whence? Why? Wither? (1907). [SW6, 13:101; BEL7.821]
  • Freeport; New York; United States Arthur Pillsbury Dodge; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; James F. Brittingham; Howard MacNutt
    1917. 28 Jul The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) organized a Silent Protest Parade, also known as the Silent March, on 5th Avenue in New York City. This protest was a response to violence against African Americans, including the race riots, lynching, and outrages in Texas, Tennessee, Illinois, and other states. [Black Past]

    One incident in particular, the East St. Louis Race Riot, also called the East St. Louis Massacre, was a major catalyst of the silent parade. This horrific event drove close to six thousand blacks from their own burning homes and left several hundred dead.

  • In response to the rioting, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sent W.E.B. DuBois and Martha Gruening to investigate the incident. They compiled a report entitled Massacre at East St. Louis, which was published in the NAACP’s magazine, The Crisis (Vol 14 # 5 p219-238). A year after the riot, a Special Committee formed by the United States House of Representatives launched an investigation into police actions during the East St. Louis Riot. Investigators found that the National Guard and also the East St. Louis police force had not acted adequately during the riots, revealing that the police often fled from the scenes of murder and arson. Some even fled from stationhouses and refused to answer calls for help. The investigation resulted in the indictment of several members of the East St. Louis police force.
  • New York; NY; St. Louis; MI National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); W.E.B. Du Bois; Martha Gruening; Race (general); Race inequality
    1919 (In the year) After joining the Bahá’í Faith, Dorothy Champ (b. Loudoun County, Virginia, 23 February, 1893, d. East Providence, RI 28 November, 1979), went on to be a lifelong lecturer and teacher of the Faith. She was also the first African American elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of New York City. [LoSp61-62; Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p20] New York; United States Dorothy Champ
    1919 c. Apr Initiated by Eugene and Wandeyne Deuth, Reality magazine provided a forum for accounts of Bahá'í activities (mostly those in New York) and a wide range of articles by Bahá'ís and others.
  • Reality for 1921.
  • After 1922, under the editor Harrison Gray Dyar, the magazine changed in character, serving as a vehicle for a series of attacks on Bahá'í orthodoxy and organization (1923-1926) then practically ceasing to carry any Bahá'í content (1926-1929).
  • It went out of production in the Spring of 1929. [SBBH2p135-155]
  • New York; United States Reality magazine; Reality; Eugene Deuth; Wandeyne Deuth; Harrison Gray Dyar
    1919 (In the year) Ms. Dorothy Champ (b. 23 February, 1893, Loudoun County, Virginia. d. 28 November, 1979, East Providence, RI) became a Bahá’í and went on to become a great teacher of the Faith. She had been a designer, singer, model and dancer. She was so inspired by the Faith that she had given up her career to teach. Ms. Champ was the first black person elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of New York City. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p20; LoS61-62] New York Dorothy Champ
    1919 26 Apr-1 May The 14 Tablets of the Divine Plan were unveiled in a dramatic ceremony at the Hotel McAlpin in New York, during the `Convention of the Covenant'. The Tablets had been brought to America by Ahmad Sohrab at the request of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [ABNYP172Note24, BBD219; PP437; SBBH1:134; SBBH2:135; SBR86; AB434; TDPXI]
  • For details of the convention programme, Tablets and talks given see SW10, 4:54-72; SW10, 5:83-94; SW10, 6:99-103, 111-12 SW10, 7:122-7, 138; SW10, 10:197-203; and SW10, 12:2279.
  • Mary Maxwell (Rúhíyyih Khánum) was among the young people who unveil the Tablets. [PP437]
  • Hyde and Clara Dunn and Martha Root responded immediately to the appeal, the Dunns went to Australia where they open 700 towns to the Faith, and Martha Root embarked on the first of her journeys which are to extend over 20 years. [GPB308; MR88]
  • See also CT138-9.
  • Agnes Parsons arrived from her pilgrimage just before the close of the convention and was able to convey the instructions from `Abdu'l-Bahá to arrange a Convention for `the unity of the coloured and white races'. [BW5:413; SBR87]
  • The book Unveiling of the Divine Plan includes nine talks given by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab to the National Convention.
  • Shoghi Effendi calls the Tablets of the Divine Plan a charter for the propagation and the establishment of the Administrative Order. It has also been called a charter for the teaching of the Faith. [MBW84; LOG1628]
  • For the significance of the Tablets of the Divine Plan see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Champion of Universal Peace by Hoda Mahmoudi and Janet Khan.
  • New York; United States Tablets of the Divine Plan; Abdul-Baha, Writings and talks of; Charters of the Bahai Faith; Conventions, National; Amatul-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum; Agnes Parsons; Hyde Dunn; Clara Dunn; Martha Root; Race (general); Race amity; Race unity; Ahmad Sohrab
    1919 22 Jul Martha Root left New York on the first of her teaching journeys for the Bahá'í Faith in spite of a strike that threatened to cancel her trip. [MR90; PG104] New York Martha Root
    1920 27 Apr The design for the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar at Wilmette, Illinois, was finally chosen by the forty-nine delegates present at the Twelfth Annual Convention of Bahá'í Temple Unity, being held at the Hotel McAlpin, New York. Excavation at the site began on the 24th of September and construction commenced on the 20th of December. New York; United States; Wilmette Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Design; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); Architecture find reference
    1921 (In the year) The publication of Bahai: The Spirit of the Age by Horace Holley. It was published in New York by Brentano's Publishers. New York; United States Bahai: The Spirit of the Age; Horace Holley; Publications
    1922 (In the year) The publication of The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Compiled by Howard MacNutt. Volume 2 was published in 1922 followed by Volume 2 in 1925. Volume 1 was published by the Bahá'í Publishing Committee in Chicago and Volume 2 by the same committee operating out of New York. [BEL3.98]
  • From the preface to the 1922 edition..."This treasury of His words is a compilation of informal talks and extemporary discourses delivered in Persian and Arabic, interpreted by proficient linguists who accompanied Him, and taken stenographically in both Oriental and Occidental tongue."
  • From the same preface is a letter from 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Howard MacNutt dated 13 April, 1919 approving his idea to publish the compilation of His talks in America and urging him to be most careful to reproduce the exact text as well as promising an "effulgent face" in the Abhá Kingdom as well as the praise and gratitude of the friends.
  • And again from the same source is a letter from 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Albert Windust written on the 20th of July, 1919 asking him to name the book The Promulgation of Universal Peace and to direct that the Introduction must be written by Howard MacNutt. Prior to His coming to America the friends were unclear about His station and their differences in understanding was a major source of disunity. On one extreme were those who believed that 'Abdu'l-Baha was a man who, through the application and complete obedience to the Faith, had earned a high station, like Christ's disciple Peter, implying that others could do the same. In the other camp were those who insisted that He was the return of Christ. Little wonder that they were confused because never in religious history had there been someone like 'Abdu'l-Bahá, one Who held the station of "The Mystery of God". Howard's failure to understand 'Abdu'l-Bahá's station and disobedience to Him and taken him precariously close to the company of Covenant-breakers but through 'Abdu'l-Bahá's unfailing love and guidance he was able to come to a true understanding. The Introduction to the 1922 edition was his testament to the station of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [DJT369-372]
  • The Promulgation of Universal Peace, although not "scripture", could be compared to Some Answered Questions in that it is a carefully transcribed record of His talks. Unlike that publication where He answered questions, in The Promulgation of Universal Peace it was 'Abdu'l-Bahá who chose the subject. Upon arrival in New York He said, "It is my purpose to set forth in America the fundamental principles of the revelation and teachings of Bahá'u'lláh." [PUPxii]
  • Chicago; New York; United States Promulgation of Universal Peace (book); Howard MacNutt; Publications
    1922 25 Feb The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was written entirely in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s own hand and it was Shoghi Effendi's first translation for the believers in the West. It was sent to New York and addressed to "The beloved of God and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the United states of America and Canada". The "Will" delineated the Bahá’í World Order, already founded in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and of which 'Abdul'-Bahá was the architect. [AY304]iiiii Haifa; New York; United States Abdul-Baha, Will and Testament of; Abdul-Baha, Writings and talks of; Translation; Shoghi Effendi, Translations by; Shoghi Effendi, Life of; Shoghi Effendi, Basic timeline; Firsts, Other; Shoghi Effendi, Works of
    1923. 3 Feb Shoghi Effendi wrote to the editors and manager of the Star of the West Albert Vail Miss Edna True Dr. Zia M. Baghdádí Mírzá Aḥmad Sohrab. He reported that he had requested every Spiritual Assembly throughout Persia, Turkestan, Caucasus, India, Egypt, ‘Iráq, Turkey, Syria and Palestine to contribute periodically carefully written articles to the magazine, and submit regularly for publication a special report on their spiritual activities and the progress of the Cause in their own province. [Uncompiled Published Letters p30 by Shoghi Effendi]
  • He sent a similar note of encouragement to the editor of the Indian Bahá'í News and to the editors of The Dawn in Burma. [PP347-348; Uncompiled Published Letters p36 by Shoghi Effendi]
  • BWC; New York; India; Burma Star of the West; Indian Bahai News; Dawn, The (newsletter); Periodicals; Newsletters; First publications; Publications
    1923 12 Feb Bahai Scriptures, edited by Horace Holley, was published. [SBR231; BEL4.71-4.72]
  • It was the first comprehensive collection of Bahá'í writings made thus far in English. [SBR231]
  • New York; United States Horace Holley; Bahai Scriptures (book); Publications; First publications
    1924 (In the year) The publication of The Book of Assurance (The Book of Ighan) translated by Ali Kuli Khan with assistance from Howard MacNutt published by Brentano's Publishers for the Bahá'í Publishing Committee in New York. It was published a second time in 1929. [BEL1.10-11] New York; United States Kitab-i-Iqan (Book of Certitude); Ali Kuli Khan; Howard MacNutt
    1924. (In the year) The publication of The Divine Art of Living by Mary M Rabb. It had been serialized in Star of the West from Vol 7 No 16 (Dec 31, 1916) to Vol 8 No 13 (Nov 4, 1917) and later in World Order Vol 1 No 1 April 1940 to Vol 6 No 1 April, 1940. In 1924 was published in a leather bound volume and was reprinted in 1926 by Brentan's of New York. [BEL 3.39 - 3.40]
  • The full text of the book is available online.
  • New York, NY Divine Art of Living (book); Mary Rabb
    1924. 28 - 30 Mar A public conference devoted to Inter-racial Harmony and Peace, the third Race Amity Convention, was held at the public auditorium of the Community Church of NY on Park Avenue at 34th Street and at the Meeting House of the Society for Ethical Culture at 2 West 64th Street. Its organization was a collaborative effort with the NAACP, the National Urban League and the Bahá'í community participating. Presenters included Mr. Mountfort Mills, Mr. Franz Boas, Dr. Loro, Taracknath Das, Mr. Stephen S. Wise, Dr. Alain Locke, Mr. James Weldon Johnson, Ms. Ruth Morgan and Mr. John Finley. It was the third Racial Unity conference to be held. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p23; BW2:282-3; SBR93; TMW1467; SYH126] New York Race Amity; Race Unity; Conferences
    1924 24 Dec The first Bahá'í News Letter, forerunner of Bahá'í News, was published in New York by the National Assembly of the United States and Canada with Horace Holley as the editor. [BBRSM122; BW10:180; BW13:856; SBR232]
  • For links to the publications see entry at 1990-10-00.
  • New York; United States Newsletters; Bahai News; Horace Holley; Publications; First publications; - Periodicals
    1925 (In the year) The publication of A Series of Twelve Articles Introductory to the Study of the Bahá'í Teachings Treating briefly of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, History, Organization, Religious and Secular Doctrines and Institutions by Charles Mason Remey. It was published by the Bahá'í Publishing Committee of New York. 184p. New York; NY A Series of Twelve Articles Introductory to the Study of the Bahai Teachings; Charles Mason Remey
    1925. Mar In the Bahá'í News Letter the bulletin of the National Spiritual Assembly of the US and Canada, the secretary, Horace Holley, announced that the National Assembly had made a comprehensive series of excerpts from all the general letters of Shoghi Effendi written from 21 January 1922 to 27 November 1924 and had the Publishing Committee print it in booklet form entitled Letters from Shoghi Effendi. [Bahaipedia; Bahá'í News Letter No 3 March 1925 p1] New York, NY Letters from Shoghi Effendi
    1926. 1 Oct The office of the National Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada was moved from Green Acre to 48 West 10th Street in New York, in the house that was so richly blessed by the presence of 'Abdu'l-Bahá many times during His visit. [BN No 12 June - July 1926 p1] Green Acre; New York, NY National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada
    1927. 7 Jul Mr. Mountfort Mills received a cable from Shoghi Effendi through the Greatest Holy Leaf suggesting the American Assemblies send cables to His Excellency the High Commissioner in Baghdad, Iraq urging that the houses belonging to the Bahá’ís be restored to their rightful owners. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p26] New York; Baghdad House of Bahaullah (Baghdad)
    1927 Oct The first issue of the monthy called World Unity Magazine. Its editors were John Herman Randall, John Herman Randall Jr. and Horace Holley. The concluding volume of the magazine stated its unique character proceeded from the outlook of its founders, who "realized the inter-dependence of religion, science and sociology in the movements simultaneously destroying the past and forming a new era in human history." During its last years of publication, it was openly a Bahá’í journal. [The Cause of Universal Peace]
  • All subsequent issues are available at Baha'i Works.
  • In 1935 it was decided to merge World Unity with another publication, Star of the West (renamed The Bahá’í Magazine in its later volumes) to become a new entity, World Order. This magazine was published from 1935 to 1949, revived in 1966, and ran until 2007. Like World Unity, its erudite articles covered a wide range of topics aimed at the educated public, but it was unmistakably a Bahá’í organ under the auspices of the US National Spiritual Assembly and never acquired as broad a readership as World Unity. [BN No 90 Mar 1935 p8]
  • New York; United States World Unity magazine; Conferences, World unity; John Herman Randall Sr; John Herman Randall Jr; Horace Holley
    1928 Jan A charter was granted by the State of New York to World Unity Foundation, a body of trustees administering the Conferences, the Institute of World Unity, and also assisting in the promotion of World Unity Magazine. The purpose of the Foundation, as set forth in the Charter, is "to maintain facilities for promoting those ethical, humanitarian and spiritual ideals and principles which create harmony and understanding among religions, races, nations and classes; and for cooperating with established educational, scientific and religious bodies working ior these ends." The Charter was granted to the following as trustees: John Herman Randall (a Christian Minister), Mary Rumsey Movius, Melbert B, Cary, Florence Reed Morton, Alfred W. Martin, Horace Holley and Mountfort Mills. [BN No 20 Nov 1927 p8; BN No 22 Mar 1928 p8] New York; United States Conferences, World unity; World Unity Foundation; World Unity (magazine)
    1928 31 Dec Ruth White, who had met 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York in 1912 and who had been on pilgrimage in 1922, wrote to the High Commissioner of Palestine with a charge that the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá was a forgery. [SETPE1p157]
  • See AY103 for 'Abdu'l-Bahá's reaction to Ruth White in New York in 1912.
  • See FMH64-65 for the story of how her plans to convince Doris and Willard McKay of her theories were thwarted by the sudden arrival of their two dogs who had had a recent encounter with a skunk.
  • Palestine; New York; United States Covenant-breakers; Ruth White; Abdul-Baha, Will and Testament of
    1929. 18 Mar The International Bahá'í Bureau was recognized by the League of Nations. [BIC History Timeline] New York, NY League of Nations; Bahai International Community
    1929 Apr The New History Society was founded in New York by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s former secretary and interpreter Ahmad Sohrab along with Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler and his wife Julie as an indirect way of spreading the teachings of the Baha'i Faith. The New History Society gave rise in 1930 to the Caravan of East and West and the Chanler's New York house was henceforth called "Caravan House". This foundation was designed to prepare children and youth to join the New History Society. This group had a quarterly magazine called The Caravan. [BRRSM124, LDG2p134] iiiii New York; United States Covenant-breakers; New History Society; Ahmad Sohrab; Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler; Julie Chanler; Caravan of East and West; Caravan House; The Caravan
    1930. (In the year) The publication of The Garden of the Heart by Francis Esty published by Roycrafters in New York. [BEL4.135]

    A Bahá'í named Inez Greeven went on a prilgrimage. When she returned home she asked permission for two of her friends to go to Haifa and have the bounty of meeting the Master. The friends went and returned, apparently unaffected by the experience. In 1920, during her second pilgrimage, she asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá why her friends had not become Bahá'ís. This was His answer:

      “At the gate of the garden, some stand and look within, but do not care to enter. Others step inside, behold its beauty, but do not penetrate far. Still others encircle this garden, inhaling the fragrance of the flowers; and having enjoyed its full beauty, pass out again by the same gate. But there are always some who enter, and becoming intoxicated with the splendour of what they behold, remain for life to tend the garden." [Bahá'í Stories; The Garden of the Heart p14]
    New York; United States The Garden of the Heart; Frances Esty; Inez Greeven
    1930 30 May The New History Society came into conflict with the local Bahá’í Assembly. Sohrab refused to allow the New York Spiritual Assembly, to have oversight of the affairs of the New History Society. The Assembly saw the organization as a threat to the unity of the Bahá’í Faith. [BBRSM124]
  • Shoghi Effendi wrote to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada to make a definitive statement regarding that organization and the Cause.
  • BWC; New York; United States New History Society; Ahmad Sohrab; Covenant-breakers
    1930 Aug The National Spiritual Assembly published a statement in the Bahá'í News entitled The Case of Ahmad Sohrab and the New History Society. Summarized, the article stated that the “New History Society was begun in New York early in 1929 by Sohrab and "one of its avowed purposes being to spread the Bahá'í teachings. Neither the local nor the National Assembly was consulted in the matter, and the meetings and activities of the New History Society have been maintained apart from the principles of consultation which today, under the Will and Testament of 'Abdu’l-Bahá, form the basis of Bahá'í unity and the protection of the Cause."

    "Both the local and National Assembly on several occasions attempted, through oral and written communications, to bring about full and frank consultation with the leaders of the New History Society, but without success.

    "Under these conditions it becomes the obvious responsibility of the National Spiritual Assembly to inform the friends that activities conducted by Ahmad Sohrab through the New History Society are to be considered as entirely independent of the Cause, as outside the jurisdiction of the local and National Assembly, and hence in no wise entitled to the cooperation of Bahá'ís."

    This statement also quoted from a letter written on behalf of the Guardian by his Secretary to the National Spiritual Assembly on May 30, 1930: "To accept the Cause without the administration is like accepting the teachings without acknowledging the divine station of Bahá’u’lláh. To be a Bahá'í is to accept the Cause in its entirety...." "The administration is the social order of Bahá'u'lláh. Without it all the principles of the Cause will remain abortive. To take exception to this, therefore, is to take exception to the fabric that Bahá'u'lláh has prescribed, it is to disobey His law." [Ahmad Sohrab and the New History Society]

    New York; United States Covenant-breakers; Ahmad Sohrab; New History Society
    1930 Nov The National Assembly published a detailed supplementary statement in the Bahá’í News, quoting passages from the Aqdas, from the Master's Will and Testament, and from the Guardian's letters published in Bahá’í Administration followed by a reprint of the exchange of correspondence and cables with Mrs. Chanler, and with the Guardian, including the Guardian's cable to New York believers: "True unity can only be preserved by maintenance paramount position National Spiritual Assembly," and his cable approving the statement published in August, 1930, Bahá'í News.

    Further, in a letter from Haifa to the Yonkers Assembly, “The Guardian pointed out the difference between the freedom defined by Bahá'u'lláh ("To have liberty is to observe My commandments") and that advocated by Sohrab ("The other kind of freedom which is in defiance of law He (Bahá'u'lláh) considers to be animal, and far from being of any good to man"). [Ahmad Sohrab and the New History Society]

    New York; United States Covenant-breakers; Ahmad Sohrab; New History Society
    1931 Nov The New York Bahá’í community drafted the by-laws of a Bahá’í local assembly. [GPB335]
  • These by-laws became the pattern for all local Bahá’í constitutions throughout the world. [BBRSM122; GPB335; PP303]
  • New York; United States By-laws
    1940 (In the year) The publication of I, Mary Magdalen by Juliet Thompson. It was a novel with a semi-autobiographical account of her contact with 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [BEL7.2554] New York; United States Juliet Thompson; I, Mary Magdalen
    1941. 8 Apr The passing of Urbain Joseph Ledoux (b. August 13, 1874 in Ste Hélène de Bagot, Quebec). He was buried in Saint Joseph's Cemetery Biddeford, Maine.
  • He is believed to be the third French-Canadian to become a Bahá'í outside of Canada. [OCBB94]
  • He gave an address to the National Convention at the Hotel McAlpine on the 28th of April, 1919 entitled The Oneness of the World of Humanity. [SoW Vol 10 May 17, 1919 No 4 p58] "This talk 'sounded so French-Canadian' that later francophone believers could still be moved to tears in reading its text." [OCBB94]
  • He received widespread publicity for his opening of bread lines in New York (The Stepping Stone) in 1919, and for “auctions” of the jobless to employers in New York and Boston during the Depression of 1921. He was received by President Warren Harding shortly after arriving in Washington, D.C. in September 1921. Ledoux spent a little over three months in Washington, D.C. 1921-22 campaigning for a public works program funded by a tax on companies that made excessive war profits during World War I. His tactics included setting up a hotel housing the unemployed on Pennsylvania Avenue, an auction of the jobless, speaking before the unemployment conference, calling for the arrest of international arms conference delegates. He walked around the city carrying a white umbrella, a lighted lantern and a Bible or a copy of the Sermon on the Mount saying he was like Diogenes searching for an honest man.
  • Urbain Ledoux is shown in Boston in 1921 auctioning off an unemployed man. He conducted these auctions in New York and Boston in order to garner publicity for the plight of the unemployed and to find work for the jobless. He called himself “Mr. Zero” because he said he didn’t want any publicity for himself.
  • “Mr. Zero” returned to Washington in 1932 with the Bonus Expeditionary Force, leading an unauthorized march on the White House July 16, 1932 that resulted in his arrest along with two others. The march frightened President Herbert Hoover who set in motion the eviction of the bonus marchers from the city — a move that backfired on Hoover and helped to cement his reputation as someone uncaring about the plight of the nation’s unemployed. Photos. [Wikipedia]
  • Find a grave.
  • His obituary in the New York Times April 10th 1941.
  • He is reported to have "rescued" 85 year-old Sarah Farmer in Portsmouth where she was being held in a sanatorium against her will. [Boston Post 4 August 1916]
  • See a story from Ephemeral New York.
  • There is a short description of Urbain LeDoux in He Loved and Served: The Story of Curtis Kelsey p 33-34.
  • New York; United States Urbain Ledoux (Mr. Zero); In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Social and economic development; Bread lines; Charity and relief work
    1941 31 Nov Some members of the National Spiritual Assembly filed suit against Sohrab to try to stop him from using the name Bahá'í. He had opened a Bahá'í bookshop in New York in 1939. This suit was filed in the Supreme Court of New York County. The judge granted a motion to dismiss, stating that "the plaintiffs have no right to a monopoly of the name of a religion. The defendants, who purport to be members of the same religion, have an equal right to use the name of the religion..." The judge mentioned that the complaint could be further amended and the NSA appealed but the Appellate Court affirmed the decision of the lower court.
          The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada distributed a mimeographed statement concerning the New History Society entitled The Basis of the Bahá’í Community, which explained the purpose and outcome of the lawsuit entered against the founders of the New History Society to prevent their misuse of the name "Bahá’í” on which the National Spiritual Assembly had obtained a trademark patent. [The Basis of the Bahá'í Community: A Statement Concerning the New History Society]
  • Also see United States National Spiritual Assembly vs. Mirza Ahmad Sohrab.
  • During the second World War the New History Society put forth an alleged passage from 'Abdu'l-Bahá which would justify citizens in refusing to obey their governments when drafted into the military forces. The National Spiritual Assembly was obliged to explain the true Bahá'í position to the federal authorities as set forth by the Guardian.
  • New York; United States Covenant-breakers; New History Society; Ahmad Sohrab; The Basis of the Bahai Community
    1944 Apr The first Bahá’í shortwave radio broadcast was beamed from New York towards South America. [BW9:44–5]
  • VV76 says this was 1943.
  • New York; United States Bahai radio; Firsts, Other
    1946. 21 Jun The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. It was established as a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on this day in 1946. UN Document E/90] New York; NY United Nations; Commission on the Status of Women
    1947 1 Feb Reflecting the unity in diversity highly valued by the Bahá'í community, Amin Banani, Mildred Mottahedeh, Hilda Yen, and Matthew Bullock presented the statement "A Bahá'í Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights" to the UN, which ended by quoting a well-known passage by Baha'u'llah: "The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
  • In 1947 as was "The Bahá'í Statement of the Rights of Women". [PP304]
  • Amin Banani was an influential scholar; Mildred Mottahedeh was a member of the International Bahá'í Council from 1961-63 and later a representative of the BIC for many years (1948-1967); Hilda Yen was a leading figure in Chinese-American society who worked as a diplomat for many years; and Matthew Bullock was a Knight of Baha'u'llah for the Dutch West Indies, on this day was also a Knight for the Netherlands Antilles, and later a representative of the BIC. [BWNS1172]
  • For background information on the initiative to become involved with the United Nations see PP303-304.
  • New York; United States United Nations; Matthew Bullock; Bahai International Community; Firsts, Other; BWNS; Amin Banani; Mildred Mottahedeh; Hilda Yen
    1947. 18 May The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada was accredited by the United Nations as a non-governmental organization with observer status. [BW12:597; PP303; BIC site History 18 May 1947] New York; United States National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada; United Nations; NGO; BIC; Bahai International Community
    1947. 18 Jun The International Bahá'í Bureau contributed to the preparatory work of the Human Rights Commission for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. [BIC History 18 Jun 1947] New York, NY UN; Bahai International Community; BIC
    1948 18 Apr The name ‘Bahá’í International Community’ was first used to refer to the eight existing National Spiritual Assemblies recognized collectively as a non-governmental organization. Those Assemblies were those of North America; the British Isles; Germany and Austria; Egypt and Sfidan; ‘Iráq; Iran (Persia); India, Pakistan and Burma; and Australia and New Zealand. Subsequently to these eight bodies were added the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’ís of Canada, of Central America and of South America. Each National Spiritual Assembly in its application established the National Assembly of the United States as its representative in relation to the United Nations. [BBRSM149; BW11:43; BW12:597; BIC History 18 April 1948]
  • The Bahá’í International Community evolved to become an international non-governmental organization with affiliates in over 180 countries and territories, which together represent over 5-6 million members of the Bahá’í Faith. As an international NGO, the Office interacts and cooperates with the United Nations, its specialized agencies, with governments, as well as with inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations. The BIC seeks to promote and apply principles — derived from the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith — which contribute to the resolution of current day challenges facing humanity and the development of a united, peaceful, just, and sustainable civilization. The work of the BIC focuses on the promotion of a universal standard for human rights, the advancement of women, and the promotion of just and equitable means of global prosperity.
  • Mildred Mottahedeh was appointed to serve as the accredited Bahá’í International Observer, a post she held as a volunteer for almost 20 years. [BW12:601]
  • The following is a list of UN agencies with whom the BIC has representation: United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Health Organization (WHO).
  • New York; United States BIC; NGO; Bahai International Community (general); Mildred Mottahedeh; UNICEF; UNIFEM; UNEP; Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); World Health Organization (WHO); Firsts, Other; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Shoghi Effendi, Life of
    1949. 9 Nov The Bahá'í International Community, in a letter addressed to Mr Trygve Lie, the Secretary-General of the United Nation, informed the United Nations of the spiritual nature of the Bahá'í Faith. [BW12p598-600]
  • Also included was a prayer card.
  • See as well Bahá'í Relationship with United Nations.
  • New York, NY; United States Bahai International Community
    1952. 10 Jan The passing of Honoré Jaxon (b. 1861 as William Henry Jackson in the village of Wingham, ON). He died one month after his eviction from his basement apartment where he hoarded three tons of archival material which he hoped would become a library for the study of the Métis people of Saskatchewan.

    See Speechless 4 December 2009 for a chronological biography as well as a bibliography / webliography of other works on him.

    See NUVO for a photo of his eviction from the New York Daily News archive and a short biography.

    See as well BFA1p90-93; OBCC18-21, 25-26.

  • For his biography see Honoré Jaxon: Prairie Visionary by Donald B. Smith and Strange Empire: Louis Riel and the Métis People by Joseph Howard.
  • New York In Memoriam; Honore Jaxon; Metis
    1954 9 Jun The passing of Alain LeRoy Locke (b. September 13, 1885, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.) in New York. He was laid to rest in Congressional Cemetery in Washington DC.
  • Locke graduated from Harvard University and was the first African American to win a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. Despite his intellect and clear talent, Locke faced significant barriers as an African American. Though he was selected as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, Locke was denied admission to several colleges at the University of Oxford because of his race. He finally gained entry into Hertford College, where he studied from 1907 to 1910. Locke also studied philosophy at the University of Berlin during his years abroad. He subsequently received a doctorate in philosophy from Harvard and taught at Howard University. Locke publicized the Harlem Renaissance to a wide audience.
  • Locke declared his belief in the Bahá'í Faith in 1918. He is thus among a list of some 40 known African Americans to join the religion during the ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. His philosophical writings promoted pluralism, cultural relativism and self-expression. Locke, the compiler of literary works and principal interpreter of the watershed Harlem Renaissance, rarely proselytized his Bahá'í views, but he did integrate them into his copious writings and lectures [Uplifting Words; Wikipedia]
  • See his article "Impressions of Haifa". [BW3p527-528]
  • See also his article "The Orientation of Hope". [BW5p527-528]
  • See Alain Locke: Bahá'í Philosopher by Christopher Buck.
  • See Alain Locke: Faith & Philosophy by Christopher Buck
  • See Bahá'í Chronicles.
  • See Bahá'í Teachings.
  • See Uplifting Words.
  • The US Postal Service issued a series of stamps entitles Great Literary Movement: The voices of the Harlem Renaissance Forever on 21 May 2020.
  • Find a grave.
  • Philadelphia; New York Alain Locke; In Memoriam; Philosophy; Race amity; Race unity; Harlem Renaissance; African Americans
    1955 23 May The Bahá’í International Community submitted its Proposals for Charter Revision to the United Nations for the Conference for Revision of the UN Charter. [BW13:788, 795–802] New York; United States Bahai International Community; United Nations Charter; United Nations
    1955 Aug Appeals were made by National Spiritual Assemblies around the world through the Bahá’í International Community to the UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld to ask the Iranian government to halt the attacks on the Bahá’ís. [BW13:789–91; BW16:329; MBW88–9; PP304, 311; CBN No 81 October 1956 p1]
  • The intervention of the Secretary-General of the UN, along with the efforts of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, brought an end to the physical persecution of the Bahá’ís, although their human rights are still denied. [BW13:790; BW16:329]
  • This marked the first time the Faith was able to defend itself with its newly born administrative agencies. An “Aid the Persecuted Fund” was established.
  • Historian Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi noted that the 1955 anti-Bahá'í campaign was both the apogee and the point of separation of the state-clergy co-operation. The Shah succumbing to international pressure to provide human rights, withdrew support. The result was that the period from the late fifties until 1977-1978 was a period of relative safety. [Towards a History of Iran’s Bahá'í Community During the Reign of Mohammad Reza Shah, 1941-1979 by Mina Yazdani.]
  • New York; United States; Iran Bahai International Community; United Nations; NSA; Human rights; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Other; Persecution
    1956 9 Dec The passing of Juliet Thompson (b. Washington, DC 1873 - d. December 9th, 1956 New York). [BW13:862-864]
  • For her memorial service at the House of Worship see Bahá'í News p475, 493.
  • After learning of the Bahá'í Faith in Washington DC near 1898 she traveled to Paris at the invitation of Laura Dreyfus-Barney's mother. Later in 1901 in Paris she met Thomas Breakwell, who gave her Arthur de Gobineau's description in French of the Execution of the Báb which confirmed her faith. In Paris she took classes on the religion from Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl. [Wiki]
  • She published her book I, Mary Magdalene in 1940. It is available at bahai-library.com/. The Diary of Juliet Thompson was published by Kalimat Press in 1983 from her 1947 typescript.
  • The restoration of Juliet's grave took place on December 5, 2010. After a 54 year delay, the new gravestone, commissioned by the NSA, was unveiled in the Beechwood Cemetery in New Rochelle, New York, engraved with this moving tribute from Shoghi Effendi:

    "Deplore loss of much-loved, greatly admired Juliet Thompson, outstanding, exemplary handmaid of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Over half-century record of manifold, meritorious services, embracing the concluding years of Heroic and opening decades of Formative Ages of Bahá'í Dispensation, won her enviable position in the glorious company of triumphant disciples of the beloved Master in the Abha Kingdom. Advise hold memorial gathering in Mashriqu'l-Adhkar to pay befitting tribute to the imperishable memory of one so wholly consecrated to the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and fired with such consuming devotion to the Center of His Covenant."

    [December 6, 1956] (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 170)

  • New Rochelle; New York Juliet Thompson; In Memoriam
    1958 20 Apr Mírzá Ahmad (Esphahani) Sohrab, the Covenant-breaker who rebelled against Shoghi Effendi, died. [MC90; CBN No 102 July 1958 p1]
  • For the story of his defection from the Faith see CB343–7.
  • He was buried in the Saint Paul Episcopal Church Cemetery, Glen Cove, Nassau County, New York.iiiii
  • Glen Cove; Nassau County; New York; United States Ahmad Sohrab; Covenant-breakers; New History Society
    1959 10 Apr Representatives of the Bahá’í International Community presented to the President of the Human Rights Commission, Ambassador Gunewardene of Ceylon, a statement endorsing the Genocide Convention. [BW13:791–4] New York; United States Human Rights; United Nations; Genocide; Bahai International Community; BIC statements; Statements
    1965 (In the year) The great, great, granddaughter of Chief Sitting Bull, Ina McNeil, became a Baha’i. She was born on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota and is a member of the Hunkpapa Lakota tribe and the first Lakota to become a Bahá'í.

    She was convinced of the truth of the Bahá'í Revelation because of the similarities between it and her Lakota heritage; to cite two examples, the legend of the return of White Buffalo Calf Maiden and the prophecies of Black Elk and his vision of Bahá'u'lláh. [Article by Radiance Talley]

  • See a second article on her art.
  • Long Island; New York; Standing Rock Sioux Reservation; South Dakota Ina McNeil; Chief Sitting Bull; White Buffalo Calf Maiden; Black Elk
    1965 18 Mar The Bahá’í International Community established its own offices in the United Nations Plaza Building in New York. [BW14:90, BIC-History] New York Bahai International Community; United Nations
    1967 (In the year) Victor de Araujo was appointed by the Universal House of Justice as the full-time Accredited Representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations; Mildred Mottahedeh was appointed Alternate Representative. [BW14:88–9; BW15:364]
  • For picture see BW15:365.
  • New York; United States Victor de Araujo; Mildred Mottahedeh; Bahai International Community; United Nations
    1967 21 Feb The Universal House of Justice established the International Bahá’í Audio-Visual Centre in Victor, New York. William Richter was named the manager. [BW14:91–2]
  • The first assignment of the International Bahá’í Audio-Visual Centre was to arrange for audio-visual coverage of the six Intercontinental conferences that were held the following October.
  • A counterpart of the International Bahá’í Audio-Visual Centre was established at the World Centre throught the creation of an Audio-Visual Department responsible directly to the Universal House of Justice. The first secretary was Juan Cabán.
  • Victor; New York; United States; BWC Audio-Visual Centres; Universal House of Justice; William Richter; Juan Caban
    1967 - 1977 From 1967 until 1976 the Harlem Preparatory School was the only high school in central Harlem. The community school, which was set up by a group of black ministers, Catholic nuns, and Bahá'ís, provided a means of education to a primarily African American clientele who were not well-accommodated in the regular system. Under the direction of Headmaster Howard Carpenter, himself an African American New Yorker, the school operated on funding from foundations, businesses and individuals. Those that contributed make a long list that cut across habitual racial and ideological lines. The school employed non-credentialed teachers and the only requirement for graduation was acceptance into a college or university. [From Nayriz to New York: Hussein Ahdieh and the Story of Harlem Prep by Sean Nevins]

    Hussein Ahdieh and Hillary Chapman, two who served at the school in both a teaching and administrative capacity, have documented the decade of operation of the school with a website as well as a youtube video Harlem Prep Step by Step and a book A Way Out of No Way: Transforming Dropouts Into Scholars, 1967-1977.

  • See Mr. Ahdieh's dissertation Harlem Preparatory School: An Alternative, written some three years before the schools closing.
  • See as well The Story Of Harlem Prep: Cultivating A Community School In New York City by Barry M. Goldenberg.
  • New York; United States Harlem Preparatory school (Harlem Prep); Alternative schools; Education; Hussein Ahdieh; Hillary Carpenter
    1970 27 May The Bahá’í International Community was granted consultative status, category II, by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations [BBRSM149; BW15:178, 366; BW16:333; BW19:30; VV54]
  • As a result, the Bahá’í International Community began to be represented at sessions of UN bodies addressing a wide range of issues of particular interest to Bahá’ís, including human rights, social development, status of women, environment, human settlements, agriculture, science and technology, new and renewable resources, population, law of the sea, crime prevention, narcotic drugs, children, youth, the family, disabled persons, the ageing, the United Nations University and disarmament.
  • At such sessions the Bahá’í International Community offers statements on the Bahá’í position on the subject under discussion.
  • Prior to this date individuals were accredited as "observer" representatives of the "Bahá'í International Community" which originally had been established in 1947 under the auspices of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States. Individuals who served as observer representatives on a part-time basis were Mildred Mottahedeh, Dr Ugo Giachery, John Ferraby, 'Azíz Navidi and Dr Amin Banáni among others. In 1963 the responsibility for the BIC was transferred to the Universal House of Justice and in 1965 permanent offices were established in New York with a full-time representative appointed. The first representative was Mildred Mottahedeh who soon asked to be replaced. Dr Victor de Arujo served for 23 years until his retirement in January, 1991. [BW15p358-367]
  • Bahá’í International Community Representative, Victor de Araujo, was elected to the Executive Board of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations. [BIC History 1970]
  • New York; United States Bahai International Community; United Nations; Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); Mildred Mottahedeh; Ugo Giachery; John Ferraby; Aziz Navidi; Amin Banani; Victor de Araujo
    1970. 27 May The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations approved the recommendation by the Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations of February 12th 1970, that the Bahá'í International Community be granted consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. New York; NY United Nations Economic and Social Council; Bahai International Community; United Nations find reference
    1975 24 Jun Iran became one of the first countries in the world to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The covenant spelled out clearly the concept of freedom of religion or belief.
    Article 18 states that “[e]veryone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his/her religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.” The ICCPR also spells out specific rights to due process “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” These include freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention, the right to be “promptly informed” of charges, and the right to legal counsel. Article 9 of the ICCPR states that “[n]o one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.” It also states that “[a]nyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him.” Article 14 spells out the right to legal counsel, stating everyone has the right “to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing. …”
    The Covenant was opened for signature at New York on 19 December 1966 and came into force on 23 March 1976. [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Fact Sheet]
    New York; United States; Iran International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); United Nations; Human rights; United Nations; Bahai International Community
    1976 8 Mar The Bahá’í International Community was granted consultative status with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). [BIC History Consultative Status; BW16:337–8; VV54] New York; United States United Nations; UNICEF; Bahai International Community
    1979. 12 Jun The UN Conference entitled "The Human Factor in Science and Technology for Development" was held in New York. Those attending on behalf of the Bahá'í International Community were: Dr. Will C. van den Hoonaard, Alternative Representative of the Baha'i International Community; Dr. K.H. Standke, Director, UN Office of Science and Technology for Development; Mr. Jurge Mahner, Special Fellow, UN Institute for Training and Research; Mr. John Edmonds, Engineer, Baha'i; and Ms. Susan Berge, Economist, Baha'i. [BIC History Science and Technology for Development] New York; United States Bahai International Community; United Nations conferences
    1981. 1 Dec The Bahá'í International Community made its first appeal to the Commission on Human Rights to address the situation of the Bahá'í community in Iran and released a publication called The Baha'i's in Iran: A Report on the Persecution of a Religious Minority found in the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre. New York; United States BIC; Bahai International Community; Persecution, Iran; BIC statements
    1984. 19 Oct The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) appointed Andrés Aguilar of Venezuela as its Special Representative to Iran on human rights. Iran refused to engage with him and he eventually resigned in 1986, unable to persuade Iranian officials to cooperate with him in any way. [Wikipedia; BIC site History] New York, NY UN; United Nations; UNHCR; Andres Aguilar; Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran; Bahai International Community
    1986 (In the year) Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, a prominent diplomat, and professor of law from El Salvador served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran from 1986 to 1995. He visited Iran three times between 1990 and 1992, but after his third visit, he was barred from visiting Iran. [Wikipedia]
  • His eight years as Special Representative were particularly significant, principally for a series of reports that authoritatively documented the intense, often brutal, violations committed by Iran against its own citizens. These were critical in calling the world's attention to the brutality of the regime at the time. Prof. Pohl's 1993 report to the Commission was notable for its disclosure of the so-called "Baha'i Question" memorandum, a previously secret 1991 letter issued by the Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council that established a national policy for dealing with Iran's Bahá'ís, setting limits on their educational, economic and cultural activities. [BWNS879; BBC 1993 Jan]
  • New York, NY UN; United Nations; Galindo Pohl; Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran; Bahai International Community
    1987 Sep The United Nations Secretary-General designated the Bahá’í International Community and the National Spiritual Assemblies of Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Kenya and Lesotho as Peace Messengers, an honour given to only 300 organizations worldwide for their support of the UN Year of Peace 1986. [BINS173:4] New York; United States; Australia; Belgium; Brazil; Kenya; Lesotho United Nations; Bahai International Community; International Year of Peace; Peace
    1988 30 Nov The Bahá’í International Community was elected Secretary of the Board of the ‘Conference on Non-Governmental Organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations’ (CONGO) for the period 1988–91. [BINS189:2] New York Bahai International Community; United Nations; Social and economic development
    1989 (In the year) The establishment of the Bahá'í International Community's Office of the Environment in New York. Ridván Message 1992 [AWH75; VV54 106] New York; United States Bahai International Community; Environment
    1989 Feb The inaugural publication of One Country, the newsletter of the Bahá'í International Community. It was a publication of the Office of Public Information of the Bahá'í International Community in New York. The periodical reported mainly on activities of the worldwide Bahá'í community in relation to issues of sustainable development, peace and world order, human rights, and the advancement of women. [BW'86-‘92 p.539] New York; United States One Country (magazine); Newsletters; Bahai International Community; First publications; Publications; - Periodicals Find date
    1989 Sep The Bahá’í Office of the Environment was established as part of the Bahá’í International Community in New York. [AWH75; VV54, 106] New York; United States Bahai Office of the Environment; Environment; Bahai International Community
    1990. 29 - 30 Sep The largest gathering of world leaders in history assembled at the United Nations to attend the World Summit for Children. Led by 71 heads of State and Government and 88 other senior officials, mostly at the ministerial level, the World Summit adopted a Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and a Plan of Action for implementing the Declaration in the 1990s.
  • The Bahá'í International Community played a key role among non-governmental organizations in promoting the concept of rights for children.
  • World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children.
  • Plan of Action for Implementing the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children in the 1990s.
  • Goals for Children and Development in the 1990s.
  • New York, NY United Nations; Bahai International Community; BIC statements
    1991 Jan Dr. Victor de Araujo, Bahá'í representative to the United Nations for 23 years and the first full-time representative, retired from his duties. He had represented the BIC at innumerable conferences and seminars throughout the world as well as at the UN headquarters in New York, often serving as chairman on the UN committees. [VV54]
  • Mr. Techeste Ahderom of Eritrea succeeded him. [VV54]
  • New York; United States Victor de Araujo; Bahai International Community; United States; Techeste Ahderom; Firsts, Other
    1992 23 – 26 Nov The Second World Congress was held in New York City to commemorate the centenary of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh and the completion of the Six Year Plan. It was attended by some 28,000 Bahá'ís from some 180 countries. [BBD240; VV136-141; BW92-93p95-102, 136]
  • Nine auxiliary conferences were held in Buenos Aires, Sydney, New Delhi, Nairobi, Panama City, Bucharest, Moscow, Apia and Singapore. [BINS283:3-4]
  • For pictures see [BINS283:9-10], [BW92-3p100] and [VV136-141]
  • "New York will become a blessed spot from which the call to steadfastness in the Covenant and Testament of God will go forth to every part of the world." - 'Abdu'l-Bahá [AWH77-8 90-1 105-6]
  • On the 25th of November a concert was held in Carnegie Hall as a birthday tribute to Dizzy Gillespie called "Celebrating the Bahá'í Vision of World Peace". [VV141]
  • On the 26th of November Bahá'ís around the world were linked together by a live satellite broadcast serving the second Bahá'í World Congress, the nine auxiliary conferences and the Bahá'í World Centre and it was received by those with access to satellite dish antennas. [BINS283:1–5, 8; BINS286:10; BINS287:4]
  • For the message of the Universal House of Justice read on the satellite link see BW92–3:37–4.
  • For accounts of personal experiences by some of the attendees see In the Eyes of His Beloved Servants: The Second Bahá'í World Congress and Holy Year by J. Michael Kafes.
  • The film, 'Abdu'l-Bahá: Mission to America, made by Elizabeth Martin, was prepared for the World Congress program and also used in the Theme Pavilion. [HNWE45]
  • New York; United States; Buenos Aires; Argentina; Sydney; Australia; New Delhi; India; Nairobi; Kenya; Panama; Bucharest; Romania; Moscow; Russia; Apia; Samoa; Singapore World Congresses; Carnegie Hall; Centenaries; Bahaullah, Ascension of; Dizzy Gillespie; - Basic timeline, Expanded; film; Abdul-Baha: Mission to America; Elizabeth Martin
    1992 Dec The Universal House of Justice announced its decision to establish an Office for the Advancement of Women at the headquarters of the Bahá'í International Community in New York. Support for UN efforts to improve the status of women, which had been carried out for twenty years by the United Nations Office, continued uninterrupted under the auspices of this new office. At annual sessions of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, statements addressed appropriate topics on the agenda, such as partnership between women and men, the status of girl children, the participation of women in decision making, partnership for development, and the human rights of women. [VV29; 54; BIC Document #: 95-0228; BW92–3:136]
  • The Office for the Advancement of Women officially opened its doors on the 26th of May, 1993. [BINS296:2; BW93–4:83–9; VV29] For pictures see BW93–4:83, 86.
  • New York; United States Bahai International Community; Women; Office for the Advancement of Women; Social and economic development; BIC statements;
    1994 Jan 30 The first worldwide fireside on the Internet, ‘Pioneering in Cyberspace the Bahá'í Faith and the Internet', was held, with a live audience in the Bahá'í Centre in New York City communicating electronically with people all over the United States and in two other countries. New York; United States Internet; Firesides Find ref
    1994 19 Oct The publication of In the Eyes of His Beloved Servants: The Second Bahá'í World Congress and Holy Year by J. Michael Kafes. This book captured the firsthand experiences of Bahá'ís from all around the world who participated in the Bahá'í World Congress at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in November 1992, as well as experiences Bahá'ís had during the Baha'i Holy Year. [from the book] New York; United States World congresses; Holy years
    1995 (In the year) Following the resignation of Galindo Pohl, the UNCHR appointed Maurice Copithorne, a Canadian lawyer, as the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran.
  • On 22 April 2002, the UNCHR voted not to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, a decision condemned by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
  • The BIC paid tribute to him upon his passing on 14 February, 2019.
  • New York, NY Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran; UN; United Nations; Maurice Copithorne; Bahai International Community
    1995 Oct The publication of Turning Point For All Nations by the Bahá'í International Community, United Nations Office, in New York in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. It was a call for world leaders to define a role for the UN. [Turning Point for all Nations, en français] New York; United States Turning Point For All Nations (statement); Bahai International Community; BIC statements; Statements; Publications; United Nations
    1996. 22 Jul The ECOSOC in resolution 1996/6 (see p. 20) expanded the mandate of the Commission of the Status of Women and decided that it should take a leading role in monitoring and reviewing progress and problems in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and in mainstreaming a gender perspective in UN activities. New York; United States United Nations; Commission on the Status of Women
    1996. 1 Aug The Bahá'í International Community launched its first website. The site contained exclusively Baha'i International Community statements. Previously these statements had been hosted on an Internet Gopher server. [BIC History Launch of Official Website] New York, NY Bahai International Community
    1998. 2 - 13 Mar During the 42nd Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March, the Bahá'í International Community presented its statement Empowering the Girl Child, which supported the girl child as a critical area of concern. [UN Women] New York, NY Bahai International Community; Women; United Nations; BIC statements
    1999 (in the year) The founding of the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity (ISGP) as a non-profit organization to work in collaboration with the Bahá’í International Community and dedicated to building capacity in individuals, groups and institutions to contribute to prevalent discourses concerned with the betterment of society. One of the purposes of the Institute was to explore, with others, the complementary roles that science and religion – as co-evolving systems of knowledge and practice – must play in the advancement of civilization. Principles, concepts and approaches that are relevant to the advancement of civilization are to be explored through a process of study, reflection and consultation. [ISPG Web site; Bahaipedia; BWNS1266] New York; United States Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity (ISGP); Bahai International Community; Science; Public discourse
    2000 17 Feb The passing of Mildred Mottahedeh in New York. She had been elected to the International Bahá’í Council, the first globally elected Bahá’í body and was the first Bahá'í International Community representative to the United Nations. She was born in Seabright, New Jersey, on 7 August 1908 and was 91. [One Country Jan-Mar 2000 Vol 11 Issue 4; TP705-706; BW99-00p307-308]
  • See Blogspot.
  • New York; Seabright; New Jersey; United States International Bahai Council; Bahai International Community; Mildred Mottahedeh; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Firsts, Other
    2000 22 - 26 May The United Nations Millennium Forum was held at United Nations Headquarters in New York. It attracted 1,350 participants from more than 106 countries and many others participated remotely via Internet. The purpose was to give organizations of civil society an opportunity to formulate views and recommendations on global issues to be taken up at the subsequent Millennium Summit in September to be attended by heads of state and government. Convened by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Forum's overarching theme - "The United Nations for the 21st Century" - encompassed six main sub-themes in its declaration: 1) Peace, security and disarmament; 2) Eradication of poverty, including debt cancellation and social development; 3) Human rights; 4) Sustainable development and environment; 5) Facing the challenges of globalization: achieving equity, justice and diversity; and, 6) Strengthening and democratizing the United Nations and international organizations. The document was divided into three main areas: recommendations for governmental action; proposals for the United Nations; and actions to be undertaken by civil society itself. The Bahá’í International Community as an NGO representing a cross-section of humankind acted as a unifying agent in major discussions. Our principal representative at the United Nations, Techeste Ahderrom, was appointed to cochair a committee of non-governmental organizations. Lawrence Arturo and Diane 'Alá'í represented the Bahá'í International Community. [BW00-01p87-89, Letter from the Universal House of Justice dated 24 September 2000] New York; United States United Nations Millennium Forum and Summit; United Nations; United Nations Summits; United Nations conferences; Conferences; Millennium; Bahai International Community; Peace; Security; Disarmament; Wealth and poverty; Social and economic development; Human rights; Sustainable development; environment; Globalization; Justice; Diversity; Prosperity; Equality; Solidarity; Tolerance; Nature; Cooperation; Interfaith dialogue; Techeste Ahderom; Lawrence Arturo; Diane Alai
    2000 28 - 31 Aug The Millennium Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders was held in New York and involved more than 1,000 attendees. The “very specific purpose” of this meeting was “to further the prospects for peace among peoples and nations, and within every individual.” The outcome of this Peace Summit was the adoption and signing of a declaration committing the participants to global peace. Noting that “the United Nations and the religions of the world have a common concern for human dignity, justice and peace,” accepting that “men and women are equal partners in all aspects of life and children are the hope of the future,” and acknowledging that “religions have contributed to the peace of the world but have also been used to create division and fuel hostilities,” the declaration resolved to “collaborate with the United Nations and all men and women of goodwill locally, regionally and globally in the pursuit of peace in all its dimensions.” The Baha'i' International Community was represented by its Secretary-General, Mr Albert Lincoln. Laurence Arturo and Bani Dugal-Gujral also attended as BIC representatives. [BW00-01p89, Letter from the Universal House of Justice dated 24 September 2000; One Country] New York; United States United Nations Millennium Forum and Summit; United Nations; United Nations Summits; United Nations conferences; International Peace Conferences; Conferences; Millennium; Bahai International Community; Peace; World peace (general); Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders; Interfaith dialogue; Albert Lincoln; Laurence Arturo; Bani Dugal Gujral
    2000 6 - 8 Sep The General Assembly Millennium Summit was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and was attended by leaders of more than 150 nations. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented a report entitled, "We The Peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century". In which was presented an overview of the challenges facing humankind and suggested practical solutions. Some of the key themes addressed include health, environment, human rights and other social issues, international law, peace and rejuvenating the United Nations. It is striking that called upon by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to address so historic a gathering was Mr. Techeste Ahderom, the principal representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations, addressed the gathering as the spokesman of civil society. He was accorded this honour because he had presided as cochair at the earlier United Nations Millennium Forum. After all the national leaders had spoken and before the Summit had adopted its declaration on 8 September, Mr. Ahderom made a speech in which he conveyed to that unprecedented assemblage a report of the Forum. The text of his speech is enclosed herewith. On the last day a declaration was unanimously adopted that began by asserting: “We, Heads of State and Government, have gathered at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 6 to 8 September 2000, at the dawn of a new Millennium, to reaffirm our faith in the Organization and its Charter as indispensable foundations of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.” [BW00-01p91-93, Letter from the Universal House of Justice dated 24 September 2000]
    • The text of Mr. Ahderom's speech can be found on the BIC's website and at BW00-01p243-247.
    • Millennium Declaration (in all UN working languages)
    • The Millennium Development Goals are to: (1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (2) achieve universal primary education; (3) promote gender equality and empower women; (4) reduce child mortality; (5) improve maternal health; (6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; (7) ensure environmental sustainability; and (8) develop a global partnership for development.
    • UN website.
    New York; United States United Nations Millennium Forum and Summit; United Nations; United Nations Summits; United Nations conferences; Conferences; Millennium; Bahai International Community; Peace; World peace (general); Security; Disarmament; Wealth and poverty; Social and economic development; Human rights; Sustainable development; Environment; Globalization; Justice; Diversity; Prosperity; Equality; Solidarity; Tolerance; Nature; Cooperation; Interfaith dialogue; Techeste Ahderom
    2000. 8 Sep Dr. Techeste Ahderom, then the BIC Principle Representative to the United Nations, addressed the assembled heads of state of more than 150 nations on behalf of the peoples of the world. In his talk, Ahderom reminded the assembled leaders that the very idea of the League of Nations and, later, the United Nations, arose through the participation of civil society in various forms. He closed with the words from the Millenium Forum Declaration: “’In our vision we are one human family, in all our diversity, living on one common homeland …’” [The Cause of Universal Peace] New York; NY United Nations; Bahai International Community; Dr Techeste Ahderom
    2000. 31 Oct The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. It was the first United Nations Security Council resolution to specifically mention the impact of conflict on women.

    The Resolution formally acknowledged the changing nature of warfare, in which civilians are increasingly targeted, and women continue to be excluded from participation in peace processes. It specifically addressed how women and girls are disproportionally impacted by violent conflict and war and recognized the critical role that women can and were playing in peacebuilding efforts. UNSCR 1325 affirmed that peace and security efforts are more sustainable when women are equal partners in the prevention of violent conflict, the delivery of relief and recovery efforts and in the forging of lasting peace.

  • The four pillars of the resolution were Participation, Prevention, Protection, Relief & Recovery.
  • It was the first formal and legal document from the Security Council that required parties in a conflict to prevent violations of women's rights, to support women's participation in peace negotiations and in post-conflict reconstruction, and to protect women and girls from wartime sexual violence. Specifically, the key provisions called for:
    • Increase of representation and participation of women in decision-making at all levels.
    • Specific attention to gender-based violence in conflict situations.
    • Gender perspective in post-conflict processes.
    • Gender perspective in UN programming, reporting and in Security Council missions.
    • Gender perspective & training in UN peace support operations. [Wikipedia]
  • See Background Paper by Françoise Nduwimana.
  • New York; United States United Nations; Women; Peace; Human rights
    2001 4 Jan The passing of Dr. Victor de Araujo of Vista, NY at the age of 78 years. He was born near London, England and spent his childhood and youth in Brazil. He came to the United Stated in 1946 as a vice consul to the Brazilian Consulate in Chicago. From 1967-1990, Dr. de Araujo served as a Representative of the Bahá'í International Community to the United Nations. In his years in this position he represented the Bahá'í International Community both at the United Nations headquarters and at numerous conferences around the world. He also participated in the preparation of Bahá'í statements on human rights, the environment, and the equality of men and women, which were presented to the United Nations. [Bahá'í Announce 5Jan2001; BW00-01p269-270] London; United Kingdom; Brazil; New York; United States Bahai International Community; United Nations; In Memoriam; Victor de Araujo
    2001 30 Apr – 2 May The Bahá'í International Community issued a statement, entitled Sustainable Development: the Spiritual Dimension, for the first session of the United Nations Preparatory Committee of the World Summit on Sustainable Development at the UN in New York. [BWNS93]
  • For the complete text with footnotes see: Statement.
  • New York Bahai International Community; Sustainable Development; United Nations; United Nations Summits; BWNS; BIC statements
    2001. 25 - 27 Jun During the special session of the General Assembly on the HIV./AIDS pandemic held at the UN headquarters, the Bahá'í International Community circulated a written statement entitled HIV/AIDS and Gender Equality: Transforming Attitudes and Behaviors that emphasized the need to transform the attitudes and behaviors that spread the disease and directed attention to the important roles played by men and faith communities in turning the tide of the pandemic. [BIC History] New York, NY Bahai International Community; United Nations; HIV/AIDS; Gender; Equality; BIC statements
    2001 23 Dec National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States published a full-page advertisement in The New York Times. The statement, entitled The Destiny of America and The Promise of World Peace," stated that Bahá'ís believe the American nation will evolve, through tests and trials to become a land of spiritual distinction and leadership, a champion of justice and unity among all peoples and nations, and a powerful servant of the cause of everlasting peace. The 645-word document identified six prerequisites for world peace: universal acceptance of the oneness of humanity; the eradication of racism; the full emancipation of women; the elimination of inordinate disparity between the rich and the poor; an end to unbridled nationalism; and harmony between religious leaders. [BWNS147, includes the text of the statement] New York; United States Promise of World Peace (statement); Statements; National Spiritual Assembly, statements; National Spiritual Assembly of the United States; Peace; BWNS; Publications; Newspapers; Press (media)
    2002 26 Jun – 2 Jul In commemoration of the Second Bahá'í World Congress 23-26 November in 1992 in New York, a Festival of the Arts was celebrated in that same city. The project was an independent initiative of Global Music, Inc., a Bahá'í-owned company, and associated individuals. It was not under the sponsorship of any Bahá'í institution. The centerpiece event was held at Carnegie Hall featuring a 550-voice choir under the direction of Mr. Tom Price and known as the "Voices of Baha". It was composed of Bahá'ís from some 24 countries. [BWNS162] New York; United States World Congresses; Arts; Music; Carnegie Hall; Tom Price; Choirs; BWNS
    2003 11 Mar Bani Dugal Gujral was appointed Principal Representative of the Bahá'í International Community to the United Nations.
  • Ms. Dugal Gujral had been serving as interim Principal Representative since the resignation of Techeste Ahderom in 2001.
  • Ms. Dugal Gujral came to the Bahá'í International Community in 1994 and served as Director of the Community's Office for the Advancement of Women. A native of India, where she practiced law before coming to the United States, Ms. Dugal Gujral holds a Master's degree in Environmental Law from Pace University School of Law in New York. [One Country Vol.14 Issue4]
  • New York; United States Bani Dugal Gujral; Bahai International Community; Women; Techeste Ahderom; United Nations
    2004 20 Dec United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution expressing "serious concern" over the human rights situation in Iran, making specific mention of the ongoing persecution of the Bahá'í community there.
  • It called on Iran to "eliminate all forms of discrimination based on religious grounds" and took note of the recent upsurge of human rights violations against the Bahá'í s of Iran.
  • Specifically, the resolution noted the "continuing discrimination against persons belonging to minorities, including Christians, Jews, and Sunnis, and the increased discrimination against the Bahá'ís, including cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, the denial of free worship or of publicly carrying out communal affairs, the disregard of property rights, the destruction of sites of religious importance, the suspension of social, educational, and community-related activities, and the denial of access to higher education, employment, pensions, and other benefits." [BWNS341]
  • Iran; New York; United States United Nations, General Assembly; United Nations; Human rights; BWNS
    2005. 28 Feb - 11 Mar As Chair of the NGO Commission on the Status of Women, Ms Bani Dugal facilitated and organized the participation of over 2,700 civil society representatives from nearly 600 NGOs. The Bahá'í International Community sponsored the 49th NGO consultation for the Commission on the Status of Women at Barnard College, New York. [UN Women 49th session] New York; United States Bahai International Community; United Nations; Commission on the Status of Women; Bani Dugal
    2005. 14 -16 Sep The 2005 World Summit was a follow-up summit meeting to the United Nations' 2000 Millennium Summit, which led to the Millennium Declaration of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Representatives (including many leaders) of the then 191 (later 193) member states met in New York City for what the United Nations described as "a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take bold decisions in the areas of development, security, human rights and reform of the United Nations." [THE 2005 WORLD SUMMIT: AN OVERVIEW]
  • 2005 World Summit Outcome
  • Millennium Development Goals
    1. To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
    2. To achieve universal primary education
    3. To promote gender equality and empower women
    4. To reduce child mortality
    5. To improve maternal health
    6. To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
    7. To ensure environmental sustainability
    8. To develop a global partnership for development
  • New York; United States United Nations Millennium Forum and Summit; United Nations; United Nations Summits; United Nations conferences; Conferences; Millennium; Bahai International Community; Peace; World peace (general); Security; Disarmament; Wealth and poverty; Social and economic development; Human rights; Sustainable development; environment; Globalization; Justice; Diversity; Prosperity; Equality; Solidarity; Tolerance; Nature; Cooperation; Interfaith dialogue
    2005. 01 Oct The Search for Values in the Age of Transition was written on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the UN and contained recommendations for UN reform in the areas of development, human rights and the rule of law, democracy, and collective security.
  • Freedom to Believe: Upholding the Standard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, written about the same time, called on the United Nations to affirm unequivocally the right of an individual's to change his or her religion under international law.
  • New York; United States United Nations; Bahai International Community; BIC statements
    2006. 27 Feb - 10 Mar The 50th session of the Commission on the Status of Women was held at the UN Headquarters in New York. [UN Women]
  • The Bahá'í International Community presented Beyond Legal Reforms: Culture and Capacity in the Eradication of Violence Against Women and Girls.
  • New York, NY United Nations; Bahai International Community; Women; Commission on the Status of Women; BIC statements
    2007 13 Sep The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the resolution entitled United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. [United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples]
  • The vote was passed by a majority of 144 states in favour, 4 votes against (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States) and 11 abstentions (Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Samoa and Ukraine). Since that time, the four countries voting against have reversed their position and now support the Declaration. [Division for Social Policy and Development Indigenous Peoples website]
  • In November 2010, Canada issued a Statement of Support endorsing the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
  • In November 2015, the Prime Minister of Canada asked the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs and other ministers, in the mandate letters, to implement the declaration.
  • In May 2016, the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs announced Canada was now a full supporter, without qualification, of the declaration.
  • For an Historical Overview of the resolution see Division for Social Policy and Development Indigenous Peoples website.
  • The text of the Resolution A/RES/61/295 has been published in a number of languages and is also available in an "Adolescent-Friendly Version of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples".
  • New York UN; United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; Indigenous people
    2008 14 Feb The publication of a new statement from the Bahá'í International Community entitled Eradicating Poverty: Moving Forward as One. The paper calls for a coherent, principle-based approach to the eradication of global poverty and was presented to the 46th Commission on Social Development. [One Country]
  • In English.
  • In Farsi
  • Also presented to the Commission was the statement Full Employment and Decent Work.
  • New York; United States Wealth and poverty; Bahai International Community; BIC statements; Statements; Publications
    2008. 25 Feb - 7 Mar The 52nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York. [UN Women]
  • The Bahá'í International Community presented Mobilizing Institutional, Legal and Cultural Resources to Achieve Gender Equality.
  • Baha'i International Community Representative, Ms. Bani Dugal was elected to serve as the President of the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief in New York. During the 52nd Commission on Status of Women. [BIC History 2008]
  • New York, NY United Nations; Bahai International Community; Women; Bani Dugal; Commission on the Status of Women; BIC statements
    2008. 01 Sep The publication of The Bahá'í Question: Cultural Cleansing in Iran by the Bahá'í International Community.
  • It was made available in English and in Spanish.
  • New York, NY Bahai International Community; BIC statements
    2009. 20 Feb The UN reviewed the Declaration of Copenhagen and Programme of Action for Social Development on November 26, 2007 and the United Nations General Assembly declared the 20th of February as the World Day of Social Justice. Its purpose was “to remember that social justice is necessary for peace, security, and development around the world” as an overall concept, and then more specifically to promote efforts to educate people about wide-ranging inequities such as poverty, gender equality, and social well-being. The intention was to not only raise individual awareness but to seek responses from institutions including governments. The concept was first proposed by the government of Kyrgyzstan. [Wikipedia] BIC Videos] New York; United States Justice (general); Bahai International Community; Tahirih Naylor
    2010 May The publication of Rethinking Prosperity: Forging Alternatives to a Culture of Consumerism," for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. The statement can be read at BIC10-0503. [BWNS770] New York; United States Sustainable Development; Prosperity; Consumerism; Materialism; Bahai International Community; BIC statements; Statements; Publications; United Nations; BWNS
    2010. 2 Jul The UN General Assembly voted unanimously to create UN Women, (General Assembly resolution 64/289) a new entity merging the four UN offices focusing on gender equality: the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women. Following the passage of the resolution, the Bahá'í International Community, as one of the core NGOs leading the campaign for the new gender entity, received congratulatory notes from NGOs and women around the world expressing their appreciation and support for its role in the four-year campaign. [BIC History; UN Women]
  • See as well A short history of the Commission on the Status of Women (PDF).
  • New York, NY; United States United Nations; Bahai International Community; UN Women; Commission on the Status of Women; BIC statements
    2011. 22 Feb - 4 Mar The 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York. [UN Women; One Country].
  • The Bahá'í International Community contributed the statement Education and training for the Betterment of Society ]
  • New York; United States Bahai International Community; United Nations; Commission on the Status of Women; BIC statements
    2011 Mar In March 2011, the UN Human Rights Council re-established the mandate of Special Rapporteur to Iran, which they had terminated in 2002, under the title "Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran". The Commission had stopped appointing investigators for Iran in an effort to encourage a dialogue with the country on human rights. Then, in 2005, the Commission was disbanded in favour of a new entity, the Human Rights Council, which, for a variety of reasons, was considerably more reluctant to criticize individual countries. Human rights activists believed the moral authority behind having such a UN-appointed special rapporteur was a critical step in bringing to light the severity of rights violations in Iran. [One Country]
  • Ahmed Shaheed was appointed and his mandate lasted from 2011 to 2016 when he went on to become the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
  • An Iranian parliamentarian referred to the United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed as a Zionist and CIA agent. [Islamic Republic News Agency 29 March 2014]
  • New York, NY Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran; Ahmed Shaheed; UN; United Nations; Bahai International Community
    2011. 11 Sep A follow-up conference dubbed "Durban III" took place in New York City. It was boycotted by Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, United States and the Czech Republic, along with Austria, Bulgaria, France, and the United Kingdom.
  • UN website
  • Wikimilli.
  • New York; NY United Nations; Racism; Discrimination; Bahai International Community; UNESCO
    2011. 21 Oct The release of the report entitled Inciting Hatred by the Bahá'í International Community which summarized each of the 400-plus documents or articles that were collected during the period of this survey, from 17 December 2009 to 16 May 2011 to prove that the Iranian regime has a systematic programme to demonize the Bahá'í community in the eyes of their compatriots.

      The report says in part "Despite this prolonged and systematic attack on its integrity and values, Iran’s Bahá’í community is not dispirited, demoralized or downtrodden. Nor have they risen up to counter-attack their oppressors with force or any trace of bitterness. Rather they have calmly stated their case and called for their fundamental human rights with dignity and courtesy, winning the admiration of their compatriots, observers and, in some cases, even those who are obligated to oppress them under government policy."

  • Inciting Hatred: Iran's media campaign to demonize Bahá'ís is available in English and Farsi.
  • New York, NY United Nations; Bahai International Community; BIC statements
    2011 1 Nov The film Education Under Fire by Jeffrey Kaufman and co-sponsored by Amnesty International, profiles the persecution on the Bahá'ís of Iran, with a special focus on growth, struggle, and inspiring spirit of the Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education. New York; United States; Iran film; Education Under Fire; Amnesty International; Jeffrey Kaufman
    2012. 15 Nov In contribution to the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women the Bahá'í International Community issued a statement entitled Towards the Eradication of Violence Against Women and Girls.
  • PDF..
  • New York; New York Bahai International Community; Equality; Women; statements
    2015 14 May A global campaign called "Seven Days in Remembrance of Seven Years in Prison for the Seven Bahá'í Leaders" to call attention to the long and unjust imprisonment of seven Iranian Bahá'í leaders was launched on the seventh anniversary of their arrest. Each day of the week-long campaign, starting 14 May 2015, was dedicated to one member of the seven: Mahvash Sabet, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli, and Vahid Tizfahm. [7 Days] Tihran; Iran; New York; United States; Worldwide Yaran; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Human rights; Bahai International Community
    2015 25 Sep The UN further defined its Sustainable Development goals at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
  • Subsequently, on the 15th of November, the Bahá'í International Community published the statement, Summoning Our Common Will: A Baha’i Contribution to the United Nations Global Development Agenda.
  • New York; United States Sustainable Development; Bahai International Community; BIC statements; Statements
    2016 (In the year) Asma Jilani Jahangir was selected as the Special Rapporteur in 2016. She was a human rights lawyer of Pakistani origin and a former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. She suffered from cardiac arrest in Lahore on 11 February 2018 and later died at the hospital. [Wikipedia] New York; United States UN; United Nations; Asma Jahangir; Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran; Bahai International Community
    2016. 6 Sep In a letter the BIC called on Iranian President Rouhani to end systematic economic oppression. The letter signed by Bani Dugal, Principal Representative of the Bahá'í International Community to the United Nations, drew attention to the stark contradiction between statements espoused by the Iranian government regarding economic justice, equality for all and reducing unemployment on one hand, and the unrelenting efforts to impoverish a section of its own citizens on the other. New York; United States Bani Dugal Gujral; Bahai International Community; Persecution, Iran; Persecution
    2016 26 Oct The report from the offices of the Bahá'í International Community entitled The Bahá'í Question Revisited: Persecution and Resilience in Iran was formally released.
  • The full report can be read on-line here.
  • A list of resolutions by the United Nations and United Nations bodies that referenced the situation of Bahá'ís in Iran since 1980 can be found at this location.
  • An annex to The Bahá'í Question Revisited is the report called "Inciting Hatred". It is an analysis of approximately 400 anti-Bahá'í articles, broadcasts, and webpages from late December 2009 through May 2011 and can be found here.
  • A list of the 222 Bahá'ís who have been killed in Iran since 1978 can be read here.
  • Iran; New York; United States Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Other; Persecution, Deaths; Persecution; Bahai International Community; Human rights; United Nations; BIC statements
    2017. 3 Mar The publication of Toward Prosperity The Role of Women and Men in Building a Flourishing World Civilization, the Bahá’í International Community’s contribution to the 61st United Nations Commission on the Status of Women which took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 13 to 24 March 2017 as a follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and to the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”. [BIC Statements] New York; NY Toward Prosperity
    2017 5 May The film Changing the World, One Wall at a Time was premiered in Harlem on the 5th of May and in Los Angeles on the 5th of June. The film evolved from shorter videos that were posted from the "Education is not a Crime" campaign and was made by Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Maziar Baharie. [BWNS1173]
  • The film Changing the World, One Wall at a Time.
  • Harlem; New York; Los Angeles; California; United States Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Education; Persecution; Documentaries; Education is not a Crime; BWNS; Changing the World, One Wall at a Time
    2017. 17 Nov A committee of the United Nations General Assembly condemned Iran by a vote of 83 to 30 with 68 abstentions for its continuing violations of human rights, the 30th such resolution since 1985.
  • The Third Committee of the General Assembly approved a five-page resolution expressing concern over illegal practices ranging from torture, poor prison conditions, arbitrary detention, and curbs on freedom of religion or belief, to state-endorsed discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities as well as women.
  • The resolution expressed specific concern over Iran’s treatment of members of the Bahá'í Faith and highlighted the economic and educational discrimination against them and called on Iran to release the more than 90 Bahá'ís who were unjustly held in Iranian prisons.
  • The resolution followed a strongly worded document from the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Asma Jahangir. Her 23-page report, released earlier this session, she catalogued a broad range of rights violations by Iran. [BWNS1221]
  • New York; United States United Nations; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Human rights; BWNS
    2018. 25 Jan Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Asma Jahangir, in her report, shared with that country on this date, listed the names of some 77 Bahá'ís imprisoned in that country.
  • Report.
  • New York, NY UN; United Nations; Asma Jahangir; Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran; Bahai International Community; BIC statements
    2018. 25 Jan By way of a contribution to the 7th Annual ECOSOC Youth Forum at the United Nations, the Bahá'í International Community presented a statement titled, Rising Generations: Weaving a New Tapestry of Community Life in which our current systems of governance, economics, health, and education, among others were discussed and thought given to what these systems would have to be like in the future. New York; United States Bahai International Community; BIC statements
    2018. 29 Jan - 7 Feb The 56th session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development focused on strategies for eradicating poverty. It explored many dimensions of this complex and vexing issue, including the necessity of realizing the equality of women and men, the promise and potential pitfalls of technology, issues of disability and inclusion, as well as the special role of families, communities, and youth.

    The BIC prepared a statement for the Commission calling for a profound shift in thinking. Referring to the Commission’s aim of “eradicating poverty to achieve sustainable development for all,” the statement explains that it “is not simply a matter of expanding access to material resources, challenging as that can be. Rather, it is an endeavor of structural and social transformation on scales never attempted before. And the magnitude of that work calls for new ways of understanding individual human beings and society as a whole.”

    The statement, Towards a Just Economic Order: Conceptual Foundations and Moral Prerequisites was made available on the BIC website.

    New York; NY United Nation; Bahai International Community; Statements
    2018 12 Mar The Bahá'í International Community in New York released the statement "Beyond Mere Economics: A Moral Inquiry into the Roots of Empowerment" to the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (12 to 23 March 2018). [BWNS1243] New York; United States Bahai International Community; BIC statements; Publications; Women; Empowerment; Economics; United Nations; BWNS
    2018. 6 Jul Mr. Javaid Rehman was appointed as the third Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran since re-establishment of the mandate. The former mandate holder, Ms. Asma Jahangir assumed the mandate from November 2016 until her sudden passing in February 2018.
    Mr. Rehman was a Professor of International Human Rights Law and Muslim Constitutionalism at Brunel University, London. Mr Rehman taught human rights law and Islamic law and continued to publish extensively in the subjects of international human rights law, Islamic law and constitutional practices of Muslim majority States. Several of his published works have been translated into various languages. Overview of the mandate The Human Rights Council Resolution 37/30 requested the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran to submit a report on the implementation of the mandate to the Human Rights Council at its fortieth session and to the General Assembly at its seventy-third session and calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur, to permit access to visit the country, and to provide all information necessary to allow the fulfillment of the mandate.
    In the discharge of his mandate, the Special Rapporteur will:
    a) Monitor and investigate human rights violations, transmits urgent appeals and letters to Iran on alleged violations of human rights; b) Seek to undertake country visits to Iran and to the region and engage with relevant stakeholders; c) Submit reports to the General Assembly and Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; and d) Engage publicly on issues of concern, including through press releases.
    New York, NY Javaid Rehman; UN; United Nations; Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran
    2019. 10 Sep In the 42nd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council, the International Bahá'í Community presented an Oral Statement addressing the High Commissioner report on Yemen.
  • See as well the BIC's statement to the 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council on the 20th of March, 2019.
  • New York, NY; Yemen Persecution, Yemen; BIC; Bahai International Community
    2020. 9 -20 Mar The Bahá'í International Community submitted a statement entitled Developing New Dynamics of Power to Transform the Structures of Society to the Commission on the Status of Women in the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and to the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly.

    The statement can be found on the UN website.

    New York; United States Bahai International Community; Statements; Equality
    2020. 23 Mar The passing of prominent jazz musician Mike Longo. He had a distinguished jazz career as a pianist, composer, and educator, notably as longtime musical director for fellow Bahá'í Dizzy Gillespie. He died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. The cause of death was COVID-19. [Live Stream WBGO 23 March 2020] New York; United States Mike Longo; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Jazz music; Famous Bahais
    2020. 21 Sep The Bahá'í International Community issued a statement entitled A Governance Befitting: Humanity and the Path Toward a Just Global Order on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. [BIC Publications]
  • The PDF was made available in English.
  • The statement was released following the UN75 Global Governance Forum that was held on the 16 and 17th of September with the theme “the future we want, the UN we need”. [UN2020]
  • New York; United States Bahai International Community; United Nations
    2020. 8 Oct Ehsan Yarshater, a Persian academic scholar and a historian and linguist by training, founded the Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University, New York in 1968. The center changed its name later to the Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies. He dedicated his life to creating the Encyclopedia that would cover anything Iranian studies related – a comprehensive reference for Iranology. He began to physically publish Encyclopaedia Iranica in 1973 with the first volume becoming available in 1981.

    Approximately 7,100 articles have been published in print or online in the Encyclopedia of Iranica after four decades. If one includes cross-reference, the total of entries would be over 9,000.

    In 1990, Professor Yarshater established the Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation to ensure the continuation of this comprehensive scholarly work. He was the Foundation’s President until his passing at the age of 98 in 2018.

    Columbia University and the Encyclopædia Iranica became involved in two lawsuits: In the first, Columbia University asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to rule that Columbia owned the copyright of Encyclopedia of Iranica. In the second the EIF accused Columbia university of infringing Iranica’s copyrights and misusing their trademarks. A year later, in July 2020, the court granted the EIF a temporary restraining order to prevent Columbia from using the “Encyclopaedia Iranica” name connected with its publications. As a result, Columbia University had to stop publishing facsimile 6 of Volume XVI of the encyclopedia. The restraining order was lifted in October 2020.

    The ruling by the New York court not only granted the Yarshater Center at Columbia University the right to publish Encyclopaedia Iranica but by implication viewed Columbia as the legitimate holder of Iranica’s copyright. The legal battle continues. [Radio Maneh]

    New York; NY Encyclopædia Iranica; Encyclopedias; Columbia University; Ehsan Yarshater
    2020. 21 Oct The Bahá'í International Community launched the statement entitled A Governance Befitting: Humanity and the Path Toward a Just Global Order on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. The launch event, which welcomed some 200 attendees across the world, was an invitation to further exploration and one of many contributions the BIC is making to discussions about the need for systems of global cooperation to be strengthened. [BWNS1461]

    The statement, which was released in September, highlights the need for systems of global cooperation to be strengthened if humanity is to address the serious challenges of our time and seize the immense opportunities of the coming years for progress.

  • YouTube
  • See a perspective piece on the statement by journalist and anthropologist Temily Tavangar.
  • New York; United States United Nations; Statements; BIC statements; Bahai International Community
    2020. 16 Dec The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution expressing “serious concern about ongoing severe limitations and increasing restrictions on … recognized and unrecognized religious minorities including … members of the Bahá'í faith.”
          The resolution, approved by U.N. member states by a vote of 82-30, with 64 abstentions, also called upon Iran to stop the “denial of and restrictions on access to education” for members of recognized and unrecognized religious minorities, “including for members of the Baha’i faith.”
          Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh responded to the U.N. vote by expressing “abhorrence of the deep-rooted hypocrisy” of the resolution’s 45 co-sponsors, which include the U.S., Israel, Canada, Australia and other U.S. allies in Europe and the Pacific. He also called on the resolution’s co-sponsors to “stop their interventionist and immoral behavior” toward Iran and unspecified other nations. [Iran Press Watch]
    New York; NY; Iran Persecution, Iran; United Nations
    2021. 3 Feb To mark the 25th anniversary of the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action that resulted from the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, the Bahá'í International Community released a film that reflected on the advances made toward the goals for gender equality articulated in the declaration.
    The feature-length film called Glimpses into the Spirit of Gender Equality premiered at a virtual screening before a gathering of UN officials, ambassadors of member states, non-governmental organizations, and other civil society actors.
      “The film examines advances in the area of equality of women and men at the level of the grassroots and their connection with the conversations that have been unfolding at the UN, drawing on examples inspired by Bahá’í community-building efforts in different countries around the world,” said Saphira Rameshfar, Representative of the BIC.
  • The film available on YouTube. [BWNS1485]
  • For the response to this film see BIC News.
  • New York Bahai International Community; film; Gender; Equality; Saphira Rameshfar; Glimpses into the Spirit of Gender Equality
    2021. 8 - 17 Feb The 59th session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD59) took place from 8 to 17 February 2021 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The Commission is the advisory body responsible for the social development pillar of global development. At the conclusion of the session four draft resolutions, all without a vote, were forwarded to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for consideration, including one that addressed this year’s priority theme for the 46-member subsidiary body — the role of digital technologies on social development and the well-being of all. [59th Session]
  • The Bahá'í International Community presented a statement and a video entitled Reflections of Our Values: Digital Technologies and a Just Transition.

    The Bahá'í International Community partnered with the United Arab Emirates and the NGO Committee on Social Development to host an online event entitled “Artificial Intelligence: Ethical Dimensions of the Virtual World”. Drawing more than 100 diplomats, policy makers, and civil society actors, the panel discussion was organized under the auspices of the United Nations’s 59th session of the Commission for Social Development. It responded to the Commission’s focus on the role of digital technologies in providing for the well-being of all. [BWNS1487]

  • New York; NY United Nations; Bahai International Community
    2021. 9 Mar Javaid Rehman, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, presented his report to UN’s Human Rights Council detailing the scale of human rights abuses perpetrated by the regime in Tehran against members of many groups in the country. (It should be noted that his requests to visit Iran were denied and so he compiled his report using data collected from government, non-governmental and media sources. He also interviewed victims of abuses, along with their families and lawyers.) In the report he revealed that women, girls, human rights advocates, ethnic minorities, writers, journalists and people with dual nationality are among those targeted by the regime. They faced abuse, torture, arbitrary detention, harassment, forced confessions, and even the death penalty. What follows are some of the details of his report:
  • Women: Females suffered as a result of deep-rooted discrimination in law and day-to-day life. Domestic violence, acid attacks, patriarchal values and misogynist behaviours, discriminatory legal provisions were among the issues women faced. Women’s rights advocates, both women and men, including those who campaign against compulsory veiling laws were targeted. The enforcement of veiling laws by the police, Basij militia and vigilante “morality police” has often resulted in violence against women, including acid attacks and murder.
              Rehman’s report also detailed how blatant gender discrimination permeated almost all aspects of the law and daily life in Iran, including marriage, divorce, employment and culture, with the result that women are treated as second-class citizens. He called on the Iranian government to repeal discriminatory laws and ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women. Iran is one of the few states not to have signed it.
  • Child marriages: In just six months during the previous year, 16,000 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 were married in Iran. Girls as young as 13 could marry in Iran with their father’s permission, and at an even younger age if authorized by a judge.
  • Protesters: There has been a brutal crackdown by security forces on protesters during the nationwide demonstrations on November 19th. Firearms were used “in a manner that amounted to a serious violation of international human rights law,” resulting in the deaths of more than 300 people, including women and children. In the days following the protests the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps raided homes, hospitals, schools and workplaces to arrest demonstrators, including children, and crush what Iranian officials described as “a very dangerous conspiracy.” More than 7,000 detainees were held in secret facilities without access to lawyers, many of them in solitary confinement where they were tortured, starved and forced to make false confessions. The targeting of relatives in an effort to force human rights activists to halt their campaigning has been widely documented.
  • Capital punishment: He also voiced concern about the high rate of death sentences in Iran, especially the execution of child offenders, and the recent cases in which protesters received the death penalty. There have also been reports of secret executions in connection with the protests “following unfair trials and after the systematic use of torture to extract forced confessions.”
  • The targeting of human rights activists, journalists, labour rights campaigners, dual and foreign nationals, and lawyers.
  • Violation of the right to freedom of expression: The “authorities” repeatedly disrupted telecommunications. Telegram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are “permanently blocked and inaccessible without circumvention tools, in an attempt to prevent protesters from revealing regime abuses to the world. Internet shutdowns and the blanket blocking of websites and applications represent a violation of the right to freedom of expression.
  • Minorities: There was ongoing discrimination against ethnic, religious and sexual minorities. The report included details of executions and enforced disappearances of political prisoners from ethnic minorities. Bahá’í have been arrested for membership in the Faith and many Gonabadi Dervishes also remain in prison.
  • Forced evictions: Many ethnic minorities have been evicted and their homes have been destroyed.
  • Since completing his report further “disturbing incidents” involving the targeting of minorities have come to light, including: more than 20 executions of Baloch prisoners; the “suspicious” death of a Dervish follower; excessive use of force against protesters in Sistan and Balochistan province; the detention of 100 Kurdish activists, and house raids and land confiscations targeting members of the Baha’i faith. Individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender also experience human rights violations and widespread discrimination.
  • COVID-19: The Iranian government has continued the targeting of journalists and writers who report on subjects such as corruption and the COVID-19 pandemic. Health experts who question the regime’s management of the health crisis also reportedly face prosecution or losing their jobs. Although international sanctions have hampered Iranian efforts to respond to the pandemic, it criticized the government’s “opaque and inadequate coronavirus response which has resulted in excess deaths, including the deaths of medical workers who were left to fend for themselves without sufficient protective equipment.” Detainees were also abandoned in “overcrowded and unhygienic” prisons. According to the World Health Organization, in June 2020 there were 211,000 prisoners in Iran’s state prisons, 2.5 times the official capacity.
  • The Report: English; French.
  • New York; New York; Iran Persecution, Iran; United Nations; Javaid Rehman
    2021. 16 Dec The United Nations (UN) General Assembly has called on the Iranian government to end its discrimination of minorities in Iran, including of the Bahá'í community. The vote confirms a Third Committee resolution passed in November. The resolution was endorsed by the General Assembly’s 76th session and introduced by Canada and 47 co-sponsors from all regions, passed by 78 votes in favour, with 31 against and 69 abstentions. [BIC News; BWNS1568; Iran Press Watch/a>]
  • The Resolution.
  • One of the latest incidents occurred in Kata where thirteen irrigated farmland plots belonging to Bahá'ís in the village in Iran’s southwest was targeted by authorities seeking to further expropriate the assets of Baha’is in the country. The organization “Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order” – a parastatal agency controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which holds and sells assets seized from proscribed groups and individuals and has done so since the 1979 Islamic Revolution – advertised the 13 land parcels on an auction website in mid-October. Each property has been listed for sale at a price estimated to be only 15% of its fair market value. [BIC News]
  • Farm lands in Semnan, Roshankouh, and Ivel have also been confiscated recently. [BWNS1568]
  • New York; United States; Kata; Semnan; Roshankouh; Ivel; Iran Persecution, Iran; United Nations; Bahai International Community; BWNS

    from the Chronology Canada

    date event locations tags see also
    1941. 8 Apr The passing of Urbain Joseph Ledoux (b. August 13, 1874 in Ste Hélène de Bagot, Quebec). He was buried in Saint Joseph's Cemetery Biddeford, Maine.
  • He is believed to be the third French-Canadian to become a Bahá'í outside of Canada. [OCBB94]
  • He gave an address to the National Convention at the Hotel McAlpine on the 28th of April, 1919 entitled The Oneness of the World of Humanity. [SoW Vol 10 May 17, 1919 No 4 p58] "This talk 'sounded so French-Canadian' that later francophone believers could still be moved to tears in reading its text." [OCBB94]
  • He received widespread publicity for his opening of bread lines in New York (The Stepping Stone) and for “auctions” of the jobless to employers in New York and Boston during the Depression of 1921. He was received by President Warren Harding shortly after arriving in Washington, D.C. in September 1921. Ledoux spent a little over three months in Washington, D.C. 1921-22 campaigning for a public works program funded by a tax on companies that made excessive war profits during World War I. His tactics included setting up a hotel housing the unemployed on Pennsylvania Avenue, an auction of the jobless, speaking before the unemployment conference, calling for the arrest of international arms conference delegates. He walked around the city carrying a white umbrella, a lighted lantern and a Bible or a copy of the Sermon on the Mount saying he was like Diogenes searching for an honest man.
  • Urbain Ledoux is shown in Boston in 1921 auctioning off an unemployed man. He conducted these auctions in New York and Boston in order to garner publicity for the plight of the unemployed and to find work for the jobless. He called himself “Mr. Zero” because he said he didn’t want any publicity for himself.
  • “Mr. Zero” returned to Washington in 1932 with the Bonus Expeditionary Force, leading an unauthorized march on the White House July 16, 1932 that resulted in his arrest along with two others. The march frightened President Herbert Hoover who set in motion the eviction of the bonus marchers from the city—a move that backfired on Hoover and helped to cement his reputation as someone uncaring about the plight of the nation’s unemployed. Photos.
  • Find a grave.
  • His obituary in the New York Times April 10th 1941.
  • He is reported to have "rescued" 85 year-old Sarah Farmer in Portsmouth where she was being held in a sanatorium against her will. [Boston Post 4 August 1916]
  • See a story from Ephemeral New York.
  • There is a short description of Urbain LeDoux in He Loved and Served: The Story of Curtis Kelsey p 33-34.
  • Ste Hélène de Bagot, QC; New York; Boston; Washington DC Urbain Ladoux; Mr Zero; Social Action
    1952. 10 Jan The passing of Honoré Jaxon (b. 1861 as William Henry Jackson in the village of Wingham, ON). He died one month after his eviction from his basement apartment where he hoarded three tons of archival material which he hoped would become a library for the study of the Métis people of Saskatchewan.

    See Speechless 4 December 2009 for a chronological biography as well as a bibliography / webliogrphy of other works on him.

    See NUVO for a photo of his eviction from the New York Daily News archive and a short biography.

    See as well BFA1p90-93; OBCC18-21, 25-26.

    New York, NY In Memoriam; Honore Jaxon; Metis
    1992. 23 - 26 Nov The film, 'Abdu'l-Bahá: Mission to America, made by Elizabeth Martin, was prepared for the World Congress program and also used in the Theme Pavilion. [HNWE45] New York, NY film; Abdul-Baha: Mission to America; Elizabeth Martin

    from the Main Catalogue

    1. `Abdu'l-Bahá in Manhattan, by Kurt Asplund (2013). Maps of all the places visited by `Abdu'l-Bahá in 1912, from Miniature Atlas of the Borough of Manhattan in One Volume, complete with detailed descriptions of each location, quotations from people present, and excerpts from newspaper articles. [about]
    2. Abdu'l-Baha in New York: The City of the Covenant, April-December 1912 (1931). A record of Abdu’l-Bahá’s talks in New York, with foreword by John Herman Randall. [about]
    3. 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York: The City of the Covenant, by Eliane Lacroix-Hopson and Abdu'l-Bahá (1999). Details of 'Abdu'l-Baha's visit to New York City in 1912; his discourses and conversations. [about]
    4. 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York, by Hussein Ahdieh and Hillary Chapman (2012). History of Abdu'l-Bahá's visit, concepts and principles he spoke about, the social context of New York at the time, and personal stories of the lives of early American Bahá'ís. Includes video interview with the author, and Spanish translation. [about]
    5. 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Encounter with Modernity during His Western Travels, by Wendi Momen, in Lights of Irfan, 13 (2012). Abdu'l-Bahá's responses to the West's technology and innovations on the one hand, vs. its archaic racist and sexual philosophies on the other. [about]
    6. Additional Tablets, Extracts and Talks, by Abdu'l-Bahá (2018). 57 selections, updated 2019. [about]
    7. At 48 West Tenth (memories of Juliet Thompson), by Marzieh Gail, in The Diary of Juliet Thompson (1983). Thompson (1873–1956) was an American painter, a prominent early American Bahá'í, disciple of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and also "friend and neighbour" of Kahlil Gibran. [about]
    8. Bahá'í Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights, A, by Bahá'í International Community (1947). The source of human rights is the endowment of qualities, virtues and powers which God has bestowed upon humankind without discrimination of sex, race, creed or nation; an ordered society can only be maintained by moral beings. [about]
    9. Bahá'í History and Videos, by Hussein Ahdieh (2013). Links to Zoom videos on a variety of topics: Kahlil Gibran, the life of Varqá, Bahá'í schools for girls and Tahirih's influence, martyrs in Nayriz, Abdu'l-Bahá in New York, and Harlem Prep School. [about]
    10. Bahá'u'lláh's Influence on the New York School of Painting: The "Unapprehended Inspiration" of Newman and Rothko, by Ross Woodman, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 4:1 (1991). The paintings of New Yorkers Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko may best be understood as a powerful first evidence of what Bahá’u’lláh called “the rising Orb of Divine Revelation, from behind the veil of concealment.” [about]
    11. Calling, The: Tahirih of Persia and Her American Contemporaries, by Hussein Ahdieh and Hillary Chapman (2017). Simultaneous, powerful spiritual movements swept across both Iran and the U.S in the mid-1800s. On the life and martyrdom of Tahirih; the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention and the conference of Badasht; spiritualism and suffrage. [about]
    12. Changing Needs in a Changing World, by Ruhiyyih (Mary Maxwell) Khanum (1960). Talk given in New York City in 1960, on bringing peace to the world. [about]
    13. Destiny of America and The Promise of World Peace, The, by National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, in The New York Times (2001). Statement published as a full-page ad in New York Times on prerequisites for world peace: acceptance of the oneness of humanity; eradication of racism; emancipation of women; elimination of wealth disparity; end to nationalism; religious harmony. [about]
    14. Foreigner: From an Iranian Village to New York City and the Lights That Led the Way, by Hussein Ahdieh and Hillary Chapman (2019). Biography of a young boy in Nayriz, Iran in the mid 20th-century, his reflection on the sad society; his experience as a immigrant in the United States, struggle to make the American dream, and helped the innovative Harlem Prep, a Bahá'í inspired School. [about]
    15. From Nayriz to New York: Hussein Ahdieh and the Story of Harlem Prep, by Sean Nevins, in IranWire (2016). Brief overview of the history of the Harlem Prep School and bio of its founder. [about]
    16. Harlem Preparatory School: An Alternative, by Hussein Ahdieh (1974). Harlem Prep was one of the leading alternative schools in the country. This study (written 3 years before the school's closing) recounts its founding, and its financial and educational development. [about]
    17. Harlem Renaissance, by Christopher Buck, in The American Mosaic: The African American Experience (2013). [about]
    18. Holley, Horace Hotchkiss, by R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram (1995). Biography of a Hand of the Cause of God. [about]
    19. Interracial "Bahá'í Movement" and the Black Intelligentsia, The: The Case of W. E. B. Du Bois, by Christopher Buck, in Journal of Religious History, 36:4 (2012). Du Bois’s encounters with the Baha’i religion from 1910 to 1953, his connection to the New York Baha’i community, and discussion of segregated Baha’i meetings in Tennessee in 1937. [about]
    20. Juliet Thompson: Champion of the Baha'i Faith in New York City, by Hussein Ahdieh (2021). Essay about the life of Juliet Thompson, a prominent early Bahá'í and friend of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [about]
    21. Making of a Survivor, The: A Foreigner's Story, by Hussein Ahdieh, in IranWire (2019). The author on his new book, growing up as a Baha’i in Iran, and how his faith and family nourished and taught him to be who he is today. [about]
    22. My Name is John Good, Servant of the Servant, by John Chesley (2013). John Good was a man who heard Abdu'l-Bahá speak at the Bowery Mission in New York in 1912. From his boyhood, he had spent most of his life in prison. The main material for this characterization is from the diary of Juliet Thompson et al. [about]
    23. Navjote of a Converted Zoroastrian Bahai, The: (Chapter 68), by Maneckji Nuserwanji Dhalla, in Dastur Dhalla, the Saga of a Soul: Autobiography of Shams-ul-ulama Dastur Dr. Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla (1975). Overview of the Faith, and the author's interactions with Bahá'ís in the early 1900s. (Navjote is the initiation ceremony where a child receives his/her ceremonial garments and first performs the Zoroastrian ritual.) [about]
    24. New Cycle of Human Power, A: Abdu'l-Bahá's Encounters with Modernist Writers and Artists, by Robert Weinberg, in Bahá'í World (2021). On the impact of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on a number of individuals who were at the cultural vanguard of a society undergoing rapid, radical change. [about]
    25. New York, History of the Bahá'í Faith In, by Robert Stockman (1995). [about]
    26. Precious Glimmers: The Bahá'í Faith in New York, 1892-1932, by Hussein Ahdieh (2020). Highlights of the first forty years of the Bahá'í Faith in the City of the Covenant, 1892-1932. Includes chronology of meetings, conferences, activities, and milestones, and photographs. [about]
    27. Seneca Falls First Woman's Rights Convention of 1848: The Sacred Rites of the Nation, by Bradford W. Miller, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 8:3 (1998). Explores parallels between the Seneca Fails First Woman’s Rights Convention in the USA and the Badasht Conference in Iran, both in July 1848, in terms of the emancipation of women. [about]
    28. The Cause of Universal Peace: 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Enduring Impact, by Kathryn Jewett-Hogenson, in Bahá'í World (2021). On Abdu'l-Bahá's interest in the Lake Mohonk Conferences on International Arbitration in New York, 1912, and the Quaker founders Albert and Alfred Smiley; Leroy Ioas and the World Unity Conferences; World Unity magazine (later World Order). [about]
    29. Way Out of No Way, A: Harlem Prep: Transforming Dropouts into Scholars, 1967-1977, by Hussein Ahdieh and Hillary Chapman (2016). History of Harlem preparatory school, one of the earliest alternative schools in the country, as told by its former assistant headmaster. [about]
    30. World Baha'i Institute in New York, by Nima Yadollahpour (2002). An architectural proposal for a Bahá'í complex in Manhattan, designed structurally and mathematically based on the Seven Valleys. [about]
     
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