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from the chronology

date event locations tags see also
1847. 22 Feb Birth of Thornton Chase, designated the first American Bahá'í, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield; Massachusetts; United States Thornton Chase; Births and deaths
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
    1852 20 Mar The publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible. It is credited with helping fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s. In recent years, the negative associations with Uncle Tom's Cabin have, to an extent, overshadowed the historical impact of the book as a "vital antislavery tool. [Wikipedia]
  • Harriet Beecher Stowe was an ancestor of Ellen "Mother" Beecher who was a grandmother of Hand of the Cause of God Dorothy Baker.
  • United States Uncle Toms Cabin: Life Among the Lowly; English literature; Literature (general); Race (general); Harriet Beecher Stowe; Ellen Beecher; Hands of the Cause; Dorothy Baker
    1855. 15 Oct 1855 or 1856 Birth of Robert Turner, first black American Bahá'í. United States Robert Turner; Births and deaths
    1863. 18 Apr Birth of William Henry (Harry) Randall, Disciple of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, in Boston. Boston; Massachusetts; United States William Harry Randall; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; Births and deaths
    1867. Apr The appeal by 53 Bahá'ís "in Baghdád" addressed to the United States Congress arrived at the American Consulate in Beirut. [BBR265, Petition from the Persian Reformers]
  • Also see An 1867 Petition from Bahá'ís in Shushtar, Iran, to the U.S. Congress translated by Manuchehr Derakhshani and Nesreen Akhtarkhavari.
  • Baghdad; Shushtar Petitions; United States government; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Other; Persecution 1867 Petition
    1870. 14 Jan Birth of May (or Mary) Ellis Bolles, prominent American Bahá'í teacher, in Englewood, New Jersey. [BFA1p141]
  • At the age of 11 she had a dream in which she experienced a flash of light so bright that blinded her for a day.[BFA1p141]
  • In 1896 she dreamed she saw the earth from space. One word was written on the surface and the only letters she could read were "B" and "H". [BFA1p141]
  • In another dream she saw a vision of a man clothed in Eastern garb who beckoned her from across the Mediterranean. [BFA1p141]
  • Englewood; New Jersey; United States May Maxwell (Bolles); Births and deaths; Dreams and visions
    1871. 1 Nov Birth of `Lua' Getsinger (Lucinda Louisa Aurora Moore), Banner of the Cause (Líva), Disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá, Herald of the Covenant and Mother Teacher of the West near Hume, New York. [AB67]
  • Lua is accredited with bringing such notables as May Ellis Bolles and Mrs Phoebe Hearst into the Faith. [AB67]
  • Hume NY; United States May Maxwell (Bolles); Phoebe Hearst; Lua Getsinger; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; Births and deaths
    1872 10 Aug Birth of Martha Root, Hand of the Cause and itinerant Bahá'í teacher, in Richmond, Ohio. Richmond; Ohio; United States Martha Root; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths
    1872. Early 1870's The Arabic and Persian text of Bahá'u'lláh's 'Tablet of Medicine' (Lawh-i-Tibb) is to be dated to the early 'Akká period of his ministry (early 1870s?). It was addressed to a Bahá'í named Mírzá Muhammad Ridá'-yi Tabib-i Yazdí, a physician of the traditional school.
  • The text was first published in Cairo in the early 1920s and is in two parts: [1] an Arabic part which largely revolves around the subject of medical treatment and [2] a Persian section which sets forth admonitions to Bahá'ís, designed to increase their level of wisdom, devotion and service.
  • The Tablet ends with the revelation of the celebrated Healing Prayer which was translated by Shoghi Effendi. [RoB3p358-360; GWB-CLXX]
  • See "Tablet of Medicine, a talk by Dr Vahid Rafai
  • See Tablet of Medicine for a partial translation.
  • See Lawh-i-Tibb (Tablet of Medicine) by Stephen Lambden.
  • "Some rules for health" was published in Star of the West Vol 13 No 9 December 1922 and another reference was made in the Star of the West Vol 21 No 5 August 1930 p160.
  • Akka; United States Bahaullah, Writings of, Tablet of Medicine; Lawh-i-Tibb
    1873. 7 Jun Birth of Amelia Engelder Collins, Hand of the Cause, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh; PA; United States Hands of the Cause; Amelia Collins; Births and deaths
    1874. 6 Jun Birth of Louis George Gregory, Hand of the Cause of God at Charleston, South Carolina. South Carolina; United States Louis Gregory; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; 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
    1876. 14 Feb Birth of Keith Ransom-Kehler, Hand of the Cause and the first American Bahá'í martyr, in Kentucky. Kentucky; United States Keith Ransom-Kehler; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths; Firsts, Other
    1879 Nov 30 Birth of Laura Clifford Barney (Laura Dreyfus-Barney) in Cincinnati, Ohio. She compiled Some Answered Questions from her interviews with `Abdu'l-Bahá during her visit to Acca between 1904 and 1906. (d. Paris 18 August 1974) Cincinnati; Ohio; United States Some Answered Questions; Laura Clifford Barney; Births and deaths
    1883. June 21 The name Thornton Chase appeared in newspaper coverage of a poem printed in The Grand Army Magazine, June 1883, "Lo! the Ranks are Thinned and Thinning" United States Thornton Chase; Newspaper articles Thornton Chase in the newspapers
    1892 19 Jun Anton Haddad departed Cairo en route to the United States. [An Outline of the Bahá'í Movement in the United States: A sketch of its promulgator [Ibrahim Kheiralla] and why afterwards denied his Master, Abbas Effendi by Anton Haddad]
  • He was probably the first Bahá'í to reach American soil. [BFA1:26]
  • He produced some of the earliest Bahá'í material to be published in English, including translations of the Writings including the Kitáb-i-Aqdas which was unpublished. He reportedly did not remain a member of the Bahá'í community but returned to Lebanon and became a Protestant minister. He passed away in 'Ayn-Zhalta in 1924. [Bahaipedia]
  • Cairo; Egypt; United States; North America; Ayn-Zhalta; Lebanon Anton Haddad; Ibrahim George Kheiralla
    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
    1893 23 Sep First public reference in North America to the Bahá'í Faith. [SBBH1p76]
  • Reference was made to it in a paper entitled The Religious Mission of the English Speaking Nations by Rev. Henry H. Jessup, a retired missionary from north Syria, read by Rev George A. Ford at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. [AB63–4; BBD2412; BBR57; BFA1:323; BW2:230; GPB256; SBBH1:76, 88, 202]
  • See AB63–4, BW2:169 for text.
  • Historians have observed that, before this Parliament, "religion" was classified by many Americans into ethnic religion and universal religion. They considered there being only one universal religion: Christianity. In this view, all previous faiths were ethnic religions, and their purpose was to prepare the people for Christianity. Ethnic religions may have had portions of the truth, but only Christianity had all truth. This 1893 Parliament was a pivotal moment in the abolition of such classification, as representatives of "eastern" religions such as Swami Vivekananda and Anagarika Dharmapala promoted a new religious tolerance. [Paraphrased quote from Robert Stockman]
  • World Parliament of Religions 1893, a talk by Mr. Rothwell "Bud" Polk.
  • Chicago; United States World Parliament of Religions; Interfaith dialogue; Firsts, Other; Mentions; Henry Jessup; Christian missionaries; Bahai Faith, Early Western Accounts of
    1894 (In the year) Green Acre was founded by Sarah J. Farmer in the aftermath of the World Parliament of Religions. [BBRSM:104; BFA2:142–7; BW5:29; GPB261; SBBH1:125] Eliot; Maine; United States Sarah Farmer; Green Acre; World Parliament of Religions Green Acre Bahá'í School (Wikipedia)
    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
    1894 5 Jun Thornton Chase became a Bahá'í in Chicago. [BBD53; BFA1:35–6]
  • For some time before he heard of the Bahá'í Faith, he had been a follower of the noble and mystical teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg. [SEBW3]
  • He was designated by `Abdu'l-Bahá as the first American believer. [BBD53; GPB257]
  • See BFA1:35 for his own account of how he became a Bahá'í.
  • See BFA1:33–7 for other Americans who became Bahá'ís around the same time.
  • He was given the name Thábit (Steadfast) by `Abdu'l-Bahá. [BBD53; GPB257]
  • He had been invited to join the Hearst pilgrimage in 1898 but was unable to go to the Holy Land until 1907. [AY61]
  • Chicago; United States Thornton Chase; First Bahais by country or area; Names and titles; Emanuel Swedenborg Thornton Chase in the newspapers (series of mentions especially 1893-7)
    1895 (In the year) Mrs Kate C. Ives of Orleans, Cape Cod, Massachusetts became a Bahá'í, making her the first Western woman to have accepted the Bahá'í Faith. [BFA1:37] Orleans; Cape Cod; Massachusetts; United States First Bahais by country or area
    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
    1897 or 1900 Tablets, Communes and Holy Utterances, a collection of writings by Bahá'u'lláh, was published in Chicago. 23p. [BFA2:26]
  • It was the first prayer book and first compilation of Bahá'í writings published in the West. Most of the selections are from Bahá'u'lláh except for pages 18 to 21 which are from 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [BFA2:26]
  • It was probably translated by Anton Haddad and published by the Behais Supply and Publishing Board. [BFA2:26]
  • Collins gives the date as 1897. [BEL4.277]
  • Chicago; United States Compilations; Prayer texts; Anton Haddad; Publications; Publishing Trusts; First publications
    1897. 21 May Lua Getsinger became a Bahá'í in Chicago. She had been called Khayru’lláh’s best pupil. [BFA1:XXVII, AY59] Chicago; United States Lua Getsinger; 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 Jul or Aug Phoebe Hearst became a Bahá'í in California through the efforts of Lua and Edward Getsinger. [BFA1:XXVIII 139; LDNW14-15]
  • SBBH1:93 says this was July, based on Kheiralla's autobiography; BFA1 is based on a letter from Phoebe Hearst.
  • California; United States Phoebe Hearst; Lua Getsinger; Edward Getsinger
    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 (In the year) The Serpent by Thornton Chase, an 18-page pamphlet on the image of the serpent in the Bible, was published in Chicago. This was probably the first published essay written by an American Bahá'í. [BFA2:26] Chicago; United States Thornton Chase; First publications; Publications
    1899 Feb The first Tablets of `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in America. [BFA1:143]
  • See BFA1:143 for the recipients.
  • United States Abdul-Baha, Writings and talks of; Abdul-Baha, Life of; Firsts, Other
    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
    1899 May A council board of seven officers, a forerunner of the Local Spiritual Assembly, was established in Kenosha. [BFA1:112; GPB260]
  • Those elected were not so much members of a council but rather "community officers" who carried out the decisions made at a community meeting. [BFA1p112] iiiii
  • Kenosha; Wisconsin; United States Board of Council; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA
    1899. c. 1 May (and period following) Kheiralla returned to the United States from `Akká. [BFA1:xxix, 158] (After his departure from Palestine he was abandoned by his British-American wife.) [SBBH1p239]
  • His ambitions to lead the Bahá'í Faith caused a crisis in the American Bahá'í community. [BFA1:158–84; CB247–9, GPB259–260; 319; SBBH194, 239; AY119; WOB82-83]
  • In the following months `Abdu'l-Bahá dispatched successive teachers to heal the rift:
    • Hájí `Abdu'l-Karím-i-Tihrání, who had taught Kheiralla the Faith, from c. 26 Apr to 5 Aug 1900. [BFA1:173–6; BFA2:17–29]
    • Hájí Hasan-i-Khurásání, from 29 Nov 1900 to Aug 1901. [BFA2:35, 389]
    • Mírzá Asadu'lláh-i-Isfahání, from 29 Nov 1900 to 12 May 1902. [BFA2:VI, 35–43ff]
    • Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl, accompanied by the young poet and diplomat, Ali-Kuli Khan, from Aug 1901 to Dec 1904. [BFA2:XV-XVI, 80–7; BW9:855–60]
  • "...four chosen messengers of 'Abdu'l-Bahá who, in rapid succession, were dispatched by Him to pacify and reinvigorate that troubled community. ...were commissioned to undertake, the beginnings of that vast Administration, the corner-stone of which these messengers were instructed to lay... [WOB83-84; AY119]
  • See BFA1:177–8 for lists of believers who sided with Kheiralla, left the Faith or remained loyal to `Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • See SBBH1:98–101 for Kheiralla's teachings.
    • Note: GPB259 says that Kheiralla had returned from the Holy Land in December of 1899 but in fact it was in the month of May. [BFA1pxxix] iiiii
  • United States; Akka Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Covenant-breakers; Haji Abdul-Karim-i-Tihrani; Haji Hasan-i-Khurasani; Mirza Asadullah-i-Isfahani; Mirza Abul-Fadl Gulpaygani; Ali Kuli Khan
    1899 Oct - Nov Stoyan Vatralsky, a Harvard educated, Bulgarian Christian, attacked the Bahá'ís, `Truth-knowers', in a series of talks in a church in Kenosha, Wisconsin. [BFA1:XXIX, 114–15; SBBH2:111 SBBH1p232; SBBH1p232-238]
  • By this time two per cent of the population of Kenosha were Bahá'ís. [BFA1:114]
  • See also WOB83 for others who wrote polemics against the Bahá'í Faith.
  • Kenosha; Wisconsin; United States Opposition; Opposition, Christian; Statistics
    1899 (Fall) Edward Getsinger appointed five men as a "Board of Counsel" for the Baha'is of northern New Jersey. Isabella Brittingham was made the honorary corresponding secretary, but was not a member of the body. [The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith] New Jersey; United States Edward Getsinger; Board of Counsel
    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 (In the year) The publication of Prayers, Tablets, Instructions and Miscellany, together with pilgrim's notes of the second party of American Bahá'ís to visit Akka, Palestine: Edward and Lua Getsinger, Arthur and Elizabeth Dodge and William and Anna Hoar.
  • This book "appeared at a time when Khayru'lláh's total alienation was no longer in doubt". [AB87]
  • Ali-Kuli Khan was with that group of pilgrims. When one looks at this small book or only 91 pages, one is amazed at how little these early Western Bahá'ís had of the Words and the Writings...and how deep their faith was that so little sufficed. [AB88]
  • Chicago; United States Publications; Translation; Prayer texts; Edward Getsinger; Arthur Dodge; William Hoar; Lua Getsinger; Elizabeth Dodge; Anna Hoar
    1900. c. 1900 The Kitáb-i-Aqdas was translated by Anton Haddad. It was not published but circulated in typescript form. [BFA2:27; SA251]
  • He had made his second pilgrimage in 1988. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p3]
  • United States Kitab-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book); Translation; Anton Haddad
    1900 Jan The Behais Publishing and Supply Board was created in Chicago. It was the property of four Chicao Bah´'ís, Thornton Chase, Arthur Agnew, Charles Greenleaf and Frank Hoffman. This same entity is now called the Bahá'í Publishing Trust. [BFA1:XXIX; BFA2p24-25] Chicago; United States Publishing Trusts
    1900 8 Mar At a meeting in Kenosha, Kheiralla publicly announced his doubts about `Abdu'l-Bahá's leadership of the Bahá'í community. He also said that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was not the return of Christ has be had been teaching. [BFA1:XXIX; SBBH1:96; SBBH2:117; SBBH1p96]
  • He he had allied himself with Muhammad-`Alí. [SSBH1:96]
  • The Bahá'ís effectively divided into two camps. There had been two to three thousand believers in North America in 1900, by 1902, 1,700 had left the Faith leaving six or seven hundred of whom three hundred were "Behaists" and the rest "Abbasites" or "Behais" (followers of 'Abdu'l-Bahá). By 1906 the US Census of Religions reported that the number of Bahá'ís had risen to 1,280 and the "Behaists" numbered on forty. The Kenosha Behaists continued to exist until the early 1950s. [SSBH1:96-97; WOB82; SBBH14p7] To counter the effects of this, Abdu'l-Baha, in 1900 and 1901, sent teachers to America who were completely loyal to the Center of the Covenant and well-informed on the teachings of Baha'u'llah. They were Mirza Abu'l-Fad1 and Mirza Asad'u'llah. Mr. Chase wrote, with these teachers came the first opportunity for a correct and intimate knowledge of the true Bahá'í teachings...rather than psychic and occult experiments...Many persons who had conceived views imbued with imaginations and superstitions fell away from the Cause, but those who remained discovered such spiritual light,...and power in the teachings, that they were deeply confirmed in their belief, and clung to it.. ." [from a short paper entitled 'A Brief History of the American Development of the Bahá'í Movement,' printed in Star of the West, Volume V, number 17.]
  • For the changes to the Bahá'í community as a result of this schism see SSBH1:96–9 and SSBH2:117–20.
  • Kenosha; Wisconsin; United States Ibrahim George Kheiralla; Mirza Muhammad Ali; Covenant-breakers
    1900 c. 16 Mar The Chicago community re-organized by selecting a ten-member Board of Council. Neither Kheiralla nor any of his supporters were on the Board. [BFA1:XXIX, 170; The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith] Chicago; United States Board of Council; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA; Ibrahim George Kheiralla
    1900 (In the year) Sarah Farmer put Green Acre at the disposal of the Bahá'ís after her pilgrimage to `Akká in 1900. [BFA2:144–5; GPB261]
  • After 1900 Green Acre effectively became the site of the first Bahá'í summer school in the world, although it was not officially so until 1929. [BBRSM:104; BW5:29–30; SBBH1:125]
  • Eliot; Maine; United States Sarah Farmer; Green Acre; First summer and winter schools
    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 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 (In the year) Arthur Pillsbury Dodge published his book The Truth of It, the first introductory book on the Bahá'í Faith written by a Western believer. [BFA2:93; BEL7.820] United States Arthur Pillsbury Dodge; Introductory; First publications; Publications
    1901 (In the year) William Hoar, one of the first Bahá'ís in America, was asked by `Abdu'l-Bahá to meet with the Persian ambassador in Washington to request justice for the Bahá'ís of Iran, thus marking the beginning of the efforts of the American Bahá'í community to alleviate the persecution of their brethren. [BFA2:51] Washington DC; United States; Iran William Hoar; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Ambassadors; Human rights; Firsts, Other
    1901 15 May Mirza Assad'u'llah, received a Tablet from Abdul-Baha, in which He has positively declared to be necessary the establishment here of the House of Justice by election by the believers with order and just dealing. According to this blessed Announcement, our believers have elected those whom they deemed best fitted, and thus The House of Justice was established.The Chicago Bahá'ís elected a nine-man Board of Council for a term of five years. Those elected were: George Lesch, Charles H. Greenleaf, John A. Guilford, Dr. Rufus H. Bartlett, Thornton Chase, Charles Hessler, Arthur S. Agnew, Byron S. Lane and Henry L. Goodall. [BFA2:XXV, 44–7; The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith]

    Only days after the election of the Chicago House of Justice, a Ladies' Auxilliary Board was organized at the suggestion of Mrs. Ella Nash and Mrs. Corinne True. This Board was later to be known as the Women's Assembly of Teaching. It appears that the Ladies' Auxilliary was able to maintain control of the funds of the Chicago Bahá'í community despite the election of the House of Justice.[The Service of Women on the Institutions of the Baha'i Faith]

    Chicago; United States Board of Council; Spiritual Assemblies; Local Spiritual Assembly, formation of; Ladies Auxiliary Board; Ella Nash; Corinne True
    1901 20 May The number of members on the Board of Council was raised to 12. [BFA2:47] Chicago; United States Board of Council; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA
    1901 24 May The name of the Chicago Board of Council was changed to the House of Justice. [BFA2:48]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá requested that this name be changed a year later. [BFA2:49]
  • Chicago; United States Board of Council; House of Justice; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA
    1901 29 May The Bahá'í women of Chicago elected their own Board and held the first business meeting of the `Women's Auxiliary Board' or "Women's Teaching Assembly". [BFA2:XV, 49–50; SYH64-65] Chicago; United States Women
    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
    1901. 12 Sep The publication of tablets revealed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá "To the House of Justice at Chicago, To the Ladies' Assembly of Teaching, To Mirza Assad'ullah and to other individuals, also one to the Believers in Persia." translated by Ali-Kuli Khan. [BEL3.159; Tablets Revealed by the Master Abdul Beha Abbas.] Chicago; United States Abdul-Baha, writings and talks of
    1901 26 Nov The Day of the Covenant

    The Day of the Covenant is a Bahá'í holy day honouring the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, in particular, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the “Centre of the Covenant" and as such, the successor, the interpreter and the exemplar of the Bahá'í Faith. Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant also provided for the extension of this covenant to the Guardian and to the Universal House of Justice.
    The first celebration of the Day of the Covenant in North America was marked on this day in Chicago. It was sponsored by "The Chicago House of Justice" and the "Women's Assembly of Teaching". It was attended by both Mírzá Assad'ullah and Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl. It can be presumed that they had educated the community in the commemoration of this Holy Day. [BFA2p56-57]

  • Prior to this time some of the believers celebrated the birth of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the 22nd of May. Others marked the 29th of May, the anniversary of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh and thusly, the day on which He acceded to the leadership of the Bahá'í community. 'Abdu'l-Bahá chose the day November 26th, as reckoned by the Gregorian calendar, as approximately half a year away from the day of Bahá'u'lláh's ascension, to commemorate His appointment of the Centre of the Covenant. This Holy Day is now celebrated on the 25th or 26th of November depending on the date of Naw-Rúz.
  • The day was know as Jashn-i-A'zam (The Greatest Festival) in the East because He was Ghusn-i-A'zam, the Greatest Branch or the "Most Might Branch" [GPB238, BFA2:XV, 56; SA247, Day of the Covenant by Christopher Buck, AB523]
  • Chicago; United States Day of the Covenant; Firsts, Other; Covenant (general); Holy Days; Abdul-Baha, Birth of; Bahaullah, Ascension of
    1902 (In the year) Joseph Hannen, future Disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá, and Pauline Hannen became Bahá'ís in Washington DC. Washington DC; United States Joseph Hannen; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; Pauline Hannen
    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)
    1902 (In the year) The publication of the fourth edition of The Revelation of Baha-ullah in a Sequence of Four Lessons by Isabella D. Brittingham. Bahai Publishing Society printed made a large number of printings of this book with small variations. [BEL7,587] Chicago, IL; Illinois; United States Isabella Brittingham; Publications
    1902 10 May The Chicago House of Justice (or the Board of Council) changed its name to the House of Spirituality. Membership was restricted to men. [BFA2:XV; SYH64] Chicago; United States House of Justice; House of Spirituality; Spiritual Assemblies; LSA
    1902 12 May Mírzá Asadu'lláh-i-Isfahání left the United States. [BFA2:VI]
  • His contribution was to make the American believers aware of consultative assemblies and their functioning. See BFA2p25-53 for details.
  • United States Mirza Asadullah-i-Isfahani
    1902 10 Oct The Behais Supply and Publishing Board incorporates as the `Bahai Publishing Society', a non-profit company. It is the first Bahá'í institution to be legally incorporated. [BFA2:XVI, 74] United States Publishing Trusts; Firsts, Other
    1903 7 Mar Inspired by the news of the `Ishqábád Temple project, the Chicago House of Spirituality asked `Abdu'l-Bahá for permission to construct a Mashriqu'l-Adhkár. Two days later Mirza Asadu'lláh drafted a petition to be sent to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. His reply was received in late May and three other letters were received over the next several weeks containing statements about the Temple. [BFA2:XVI, 118; BW10:179; GPB348; DH4-5] Ishqabad; Turkmenistan; Wilmette; Chicago; United States House of Spirituality; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; petition
    1903 30 May A letter from `Abdu'l-Bahá was received by the Chicago House of Spirituality giving His approval for the building of a Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in North America. [BFA2:119] Wilmette; Chicago; United States House of Spirituality; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); petition
    1903 7 Jun Eight days after `Abdu'l-Bahá's first Tablet arrived, a second Tablet arrived from Him approving the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár project. [BW10:179; CT41; GPB262, 349; MBW142] Wilmette; Chicago; United States House of Spirituality; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); petition
    1904 (In the year) The publication of The Book of Ighan (Kitáb-i-Íqán) by George V. Blackburne Co in New York. It had been translated by Ali Kuli Khan with assistance by Howard McNutt. This was the earliest translation into English of this book and was superseded by the publication of the translation by Shoghi Effendi. [BEL1.12]
  • A second edition was published in 1907 in Chicago by the Bahá'í Publishing Society and a third in 1915. [BEL1.13, 1.14]
  • The Book of Ighan.
  • Chicago; United States Kitab-i-Iqan (Book of Certitude); Ali Kuli Khan; Howard MacNutt
    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 28 Oct Ali Kuli Khan married Florence Breed, the first marriage between a Persian and a Western Bahá'í. [BFA2:147]
  • For details of this marriage see SUR223–20.
  • When 'Abdu'l-Bahá heard the new of the marriage He said, ‘This is the first sign of union between East and West.’ Then He sent for candies to be brought and said, ‘The event is so joyous that it must be celebrated!’ And He distributed the candy to those present, as is the custom for the parents of the bridegroom to do at a Persian wedding banquet. [AY26]
  • See AY51-53 for the history of the Breed name.
  • See AY53-> for the relationship between Khan and the Hearst family.
  • United States Ali Kuli Khan; Florence Breed; Firsts, Other; Interracial marriage; Weddings; Hearst family; Phoebe Hearst
    1904 Dec Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl departed from the United States. [BFA2:XVI] United States Mirza Abul-Fadl Gulpaygani
    1905 (In the year) Agnes Alexander arrived in Alaska, the first Bahá'í travelling teacher to visit the territory. [BBRSM:107] Alaska; United States Agnes Alexander
    1905 (In the year) The first publication of The Seven Valleys in the West. It was translated from Persian into French by Hippolyte Dreyfus and Chirazi and was bound with The Hidden Words (Les Paroles cachées). This French translation was further translated into English by Julie Chanler in 1933 (or 1936), accounts differ. [About the Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys; BEL1.112] France; United States Haft Vadi (Seven Valleys); Bahaullah, Writings of; Translation; Publications; Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney
    1905 (In the year) The publication of The New Revelation: Its Marvelous Message by Nathan Ward Fitz-Gerald.288p
  • BEL 7.974 describes the book as "A pot-pourri of introductory materials on the Bahá'í Faith, which includes much misinformation. Includes an early translation of The Hidden Words. Typography includes considerable bold typeface."
  • Tacoma; Wash; United States Nathan Ward Fitz-Gerald; Publications
    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
    1905. 5 Sep The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the 1904–05 Russo-Japanese War. It was signed on September 5, 1905,[1] after negotiations from August 6 to August 30, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, United States.[2] U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was instrumental in the negotiations and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Were it not for US diplomacy and the military restraint displayed by the other European nations, the Russo-Japanese war might have become the first world war. [Wikipedia]
  • According to some historians, the 1905 Russo-Japanese War was the first truly modern war, involving as it did both the telegraph and the telephone, along with machine guns, barbed wire, illuminating star shells, mine fields, advanced torpedoes, and armored battleships. The war's resolution might also be called the world's first modern “peace,” inasmuch as its end came about through perhaps the first use of so-called multi-track diplomacy, involving not only the belligerents but also the United States and, significantly, input from civil society. [One Country]
  • Portsmouth; New Hampshire; United States; Russia; Japan Portsmouth Peace Treaty; Theodore Roosevelt; Peace; War (general); History (general); Peace treaties
    1906 (In the year) The first Bahá'í of Hungarian origin, Countess Aurelia Bethien, declares her faith in the USA. [http://www.bahai.hu] Hungary; United States First Bahais by country or area
    1906 (In the year) The first translation of The Seven Valleys into English was done Ali Kuli Khan and reprinted frequently by the Bahá'í Publishing Committee. A revised translation done by him and his daughter, Marzieh Gail, in 1945. An introduction was added in 1952. [BEL1.114; About the Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys; RG48]
  • The original, The Seven Valleys Revealed by Baha'u'llah at Baghdad, in answer to Questions Asked by Sheik Abdur Rahman, a Great Mohammedan, Mystic Sufi Leader.
  • The pdf.
  • United States Bahaullah, Writings of; Haft Vadi (Seven Valleys); Ali Kuli Khan; Marzieh Gail
    1907 (In the year) It was estimated that there were from 1,000 to 1,100 believers in North America by this date, with about 12 believers in Montreal and six Bahá'ís in other localities in Canada. [BFA2:230] United States; Montreal; Canada Statistics
    1907 (In the year) The publication of Tablets Containing Instructions 19p. It was translated by Ahmad Sohrab and Ali-Kuli Khan and was published in Washington by the Bahai Assembly. Described by 'Abdu'l-Bahá as a few Tablets revealed for believers in Persia; if they are translated and spread in the West it will not be without effect ... Print them and circulate them amongst the believers in all those parts. (paraphrased from intro) [BEL3.147] Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Writings and talks of
    1907 Feb Corinne True travelled to `Akká to present `Abdu'l-Bahá with a scroll with the signatures of 800 (or 1,000) names of Bahá'ís calling for construction to start on the American House of Worship. [CT51–3]
  • BW13:847 says the petition contained over a thousand signatures.
  • Corrine True would later server as financial secretary of the Executive Board of the Mother Temple of the West.
  • See PG108-109 for the story of the sacrifices on the part of poor villagers in rural Iran so that they could make contributions to the Temple Fund.
  • See Petition by the American Baha’is.
  • Akka; United States Corinne True; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); Petition
    1907 spring A census of religions in the United States counted 1280 Bahá'ís. [BFA2:XVI] United States Statistics
    1907 31 Mar The Bahá'í calendar was used in North America for the first time. BFA2:247–8] North America; United States Badi calendar; Firsts, Other
    1907 19 Jul The Chicago `Bahai Assembly' filed an affidavit of incorporation, the first Bahá'í community to acquire legal status. [BFA2:278]
  • The incorporation is in the name of the community rather than the governing body. [BFA2:278–9]
  • Chicago; United States Spiritual Assemblies; Local Spiritual Assembly; Incorporation; Recognition; Firsts, Other
    1907 26 Nov The first national Bahá'í conference was held in America. [BFA2:XVI; BW10:179]
  • At the invitation of the House of Spirituality of Chicago, nine Bahá'ís from various communities joined some ten from the Chicago area at a one-day conference to foster national cooperation on the Temple project and to choose a suitable site for the Temple. [BFA2:280; CT78; GPB262, 349]
  • M. Momen posits that this was probably the first Bahá'í convention. [BAHAISM xi. Bahai Conventions]
  • Chicago; United States Conferences; Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, National; House of Spirituality; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); First conferences
    1908 Mar The book Some Answered Questions; Collected and Translated from the Persian of Abdu'l-Baha was published simultaneously in Great Britain in English (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co in London) and was translated into French by Hippolyte Dreyfus under the title Les Leçons de Saint Jean-d'Acre (Ernest Leroux in Paris) and the Persian edition (Al-Núru’l-Abhá fi Mufavi∂áti-‘Abdu’l-Bahá)(The Light of Bahá Shining in Discourse with 'Abdu'l-Bahá and had the sub-title Talks During Luncheon ( E.J. Brill in Holland). [AB82; BBD212–13; BFA2:238; ABF8; M9YA 314-219, 340-345; LB108-117]
  • See Some Answered Questions" and Its Compiler by Baharieh Rouhani Ma'ani published in Lights of Irfan, 18, pages 425-452. Some details:
    • Laura Barney's first pilgrimage to met 'Abdu'l-Bahá was in 1900. As with other Western pilgrims the practice was to travel to Cairo and from there, after resting from the long travel and permission had been granted, to make the final leg of the journey to the Holy Land. Mírzá Abu’l-Fadl help prepare the visitors for the experience. He became her beloved teacher and friend.
    • Initially she made notes herself for her personal study but decided to make His answers available to others. During her third visit in 1904, when Western visitors were limited because 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been re-incarcerated, she asked permission to bring Ethel Rosenberg as stenographer. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s answers were also recorded in Persian. Mírzá Munír, the son of Mírzá Muhammad-Qulí, the faithful half-brother of Bahá’u’lláh, was given this task. These Persian transcripts were corrected by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, revised and then verified again by HIm and became the basis for the publications that were to follow. Due to this diligence the book can be considered as Bahá'í scripture. [M9YA 340-345; BFA2p238]
    • During this extended visit (winter 1904-1905) the visitors stayed with the Family in the house of ‘Abdu’lláh Páshá. Youness Khán Afroukhteh served as interpreter as well as His daughters Rouha Khánum and Munavar Khánum when no men could be present and after Afroukhteh's departure for Europe.
  • United States; United Kingdom Some Answered Questions; Pilgrims notes; Publications; Translation; Authenticity; House of Abdullah Pasha; Youness Khan Afroukhteh; Laura Clifford Barney; Mirza Abul-Fadl; Ethel Rosenberg; Mirza Munir
    1908 9 Apr Two building plots for the future House of Worship were purchased in Wilmette for the sum of $2000. By 1909 they had purchase 12 more building plots. [BFA2:XVI; BW10:179, GPB262; SYH66] Wilmette; United States Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Purchases and exchanges; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship)
    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
    1908 Sep The Bahá'í Publishing Society was founded in Chicago. [BW10:179] Chicago; United States Bahai Publishing Society; Publishing Trusts
    1909 (In the year) The passing of Robert Turner (b. 15 October, 1855 or 1856, Virginia d. 1909 California)
  • the first African-American Bahá'í and a member of the first Western Pilgrimage to Haifa in 1898, led by his employer Mrs. Phoebe Hearst. He was a butler in her household for more than 35 years. He was taught the Bahá'í Faith by Lua Getsinger in the process of serving tea and remained a devoted believer his entire life. "Such was the tenacity of his faith that even the subsequent estrangement of his beloved mistress from the Cause she had spontaneously embraced failed to becloud its radiance, or to lessen the intensity of the emotions which the loving-kindness showered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá upon him had excited in his breast." (GPB259) [A Vision of Race Unity, Ving p101, AZBF475, An Early Pilgrimage by May Maxwell]
  • He received a Tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá while on his deathbed and a tribute after his passing. [AY60, 61, 339, AB72]
  • He was one of the nineteen Western Bahá'ís designated as a Disciple of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • A Tablet to him from 'Abdu'l-Bahá can be found in SWABpg114 #78 and 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America (website).
  • See also Bahaipedia, Bahá'í Chronicles.
  • Find a Grave.
  • Ask a Bahá'í.
  • Virginia; California; United States Robert Turner; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; Firsts, Other; Phoebe Hearst; In Memoriam; Births and deaths
    1909 Jan c. Isabella Brittingham organized 12 Bahá'í women into a `Unity Band' to write monthly to the 12 Bahá'í women's clubs formed in Iran. [BFA2:294] New Jersey; United States; Iran Isabella Brittingham; Women; Writing
    1909 21 Mar `Abdu'l-Bahá laid the sacred remains of the Báb in their final resting place at the Shrine in Haifa. [AB126; BBD210; DH138; GBF103; GPB276]
  • See AB126–30, CT84 and GPB273–8 for details of the occasion and its history.
  • The Shrine was a simple rectangular structure of six rooms. [DH71, ZK284]
  • The marble sarcophagus used for the remains of the Báb was a gift from the Bahá'ís of Rangoon. [AB129; MC155]
  • For details of the sarcophagus see RB3:431.
  • BWC; Mount Carmel; Rangoon; Myanmar (Burma); Chicago; United States Bab, Shrine of; Bab, Sarcophagus for; Abdul-Baha, Life of; Marble; Gifts; - Bahai World Centre buildings, monuments and gardens; World Centre; - Basic timeline, Expanded
    1909 21 Mar The first printing of Volume 1 of Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by the Bahá’í Publishing Society in Chicago.
  • Laura Dreyfus-Barney was credited as being one of the translators. [ABF9not53]
  • Chicago; United States Tablets of Abdul-Baha (book); Publications; Laura Clifford Barney
    1909 21 Mar On the same day as the interment of the sacred remains of the Báb on Mount Carmel the first American Bahá'í Convention opened in Chicago. [BFA2:XVII, 309; BW13:849; MBW142–3; SBBH1:146]
  • It was held in the home of Corinne True. [CT82–3]
  • It was attended by 39 delegates from 36 cities. [GPB262; SBBH1:146]
  • The Convention established the 'Bahá'í Temple Unity', incorporated to hold title to the Temple property and to provide for its construction. A constitution was framed and an Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity elected. This body became the future National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada. [BBD39; BBRSM:106; BW10:179; GPB349; PP397; SBBH1:146] iiiii
  • Chicago; United States; Canada Conventions, National; Corinne True; Bahai Temple Unity; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; First conventions; National Spiritual Assembly; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship)
    1909. July 23 Louis George Gregory accepted the Bahá'í Faith after investigating since 1907 when he attended a lecture given by Lua Getsinger. Joseph and Pauline Hannen were his teachers and became friends for life. At the time of his acceptance of the Faith the Washington community was not fully integrated. [Wikipedia] Washington DC; United States Louis Gregory; Hands of the Cause
    1909 20 Aug Birth of Paul Haney, Hand of the Cause of God, in Chicago.
  • His given name was `Abdu'l-Bahá, bestowed upon him by `Abdu'l-Bahá Himself at his birth.
  • His mother was born Mary Ida Parkhurst. 'Abdul-Bahá gave her the name Mariam. [BW14p343-346]
  • Chicago; United States Paul Haney; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths; Mariam Haney
    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 Fifty-Three Years in Syria by Reverend H. H. Jessup. (Apologies: this link does not have the same text as found on SBBR1p78) [BEL10.818]
  • This same Reverend Jessup who delivered the address to the World Parliament of Religions in 1894 in Chicago seemed to have revised his opinion about the Faith. Perhaps this was due to the dis-information being spread by the Covenant-breakers after the passing of Bahá'u'lláh.
  • He also published Babism and the Babites in "The Missionary Review of the World", Princeton, NJ Oct 1902 p771-775 and The Babites in "The Outlook", London, 22 June 1901 p451-456. [BEL 11.574, 11.575]
  • See also WOB83 for other missionaries who wrote polemics against the Bahá'í Faith.
  • United States; Syria Criticism and apologetics; Henry Jessup; Christian missionaries
    1910 8 Jan The Persian-American Educational Society was inaugurated in Washington DC. [BFA2:XVII; 355–8]
  • Its primary purpose was to assist the Tarbíyat School in Iran. Mr. Sidney Sprague was in charge. Many Americans contributed toward scholarships for children. [BFA2:357]
  • Washington DC; United States; Iran Bahai associations; Tarbiyat School; Bahai schools; Education
    1910 21 Mar The first issue of the Bahá'í News was published in Chicago. [BFA2:XVII; BW10:179; BWNS1289]
  • See BFA2:320–2, BW8:927 and SBBH1:116–17 for the magazine's development.
  • It was the first Bahá'í magazine published in the West. [BBD2 14]
  • Star of the West was published as Bahá'í News (Volume 1, Issues 1-19 from 21 March, 1910 until 2 March, 1911) and later under Star of the West /The Bahá'í Magazine (Volume 2 to Volume 25, 21 March, 1911 until 25 March,1935).
  • Its editors were Albert Windust and Gertrude Buikema. Others involved with its publication over its history were Albert and Emily Vail, Dr. Zia Baghdadi, Ahmad Sohrab, Edna M. True; with Horace Holley and Stanwood Cobb being singled out as early contributors. [Duane Troxel]
    Star of the West Published March 1910 to April 1935
              URL   (For cut 'n' paste)  
             Volume # / Dates (links)   
    Vol 1 (Mar 1910) - Vol 10 (Mar 1920)
    Vol 11 (Mar 1920) - Vol 20 (Mar 1930)
    Vol 21 (Apr 1930) - Vol 25 (Apr 1935)

    For an access to the Star of the West archives see http://www.starofthewest.info. This site is not searchable.

  • Chicago; United States Star of the West; Bahai News; - Periodicals; First publications; Publications; BWNS
    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 10 Mar 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent Lua Getsinger and Dr Ameen Farid to California where they spoke to some 5,000 people delivering lectures on "Bahá'í Reformation" or referring to it in the course of lectures on other subjects. She spent two weeks visiting friends in Chicago and then departed for California on the 10th of March. [LGHC123]
  • Among the groups contacted were the Scottish Rite Masons, the Knights Templar, the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, some literary clubs, a Unitarian congregation in Almeda, a large group of Japanese, the "World's Spiritual Congress", the Church of the Golden Rule, the Auxiliary of the Juvenile Court, with Persian, Turkish, Egyptian and Jewish ladies, the Federation of Women's club, the faculty members of the University of California and of Stanford University, the crew of the battleship S.S. California, and prisoners in San Quentin. They also went to Tijuana, Mexico, where a civil war was in progress, and where she served as a volunteer nurse for the Red Cross while Dr Fareed served as surgeon to the wounded. [LDNW25; SBBH1p126; SoW Vol 2 No 13 p6-7; SoW Vol 2 No 14 p13-14; SoW Vol 2 No 16 p12-13]
  • Dr Fareed met President Taft at a luncheon of the Union League Club, and also at the dedication of the ground for the 1915 Panama Exposition. He had an opportunity for a few minutes to speak privately to the President when, as a Bahá'í, he congratulated him upon his efforts for Arbitration Treaties and promotion of Peace between nations. Thus the President was informed of the goal of the Bahá'í Movement, and its sympathy with all efforts far the Unity and Peace of the world. [SoW Vol 2 No 14 p13]
  • Some time before the end of 1911 Dr. Fareed returned to Egypt. See the same reference for a report from Ella Goodall Cooper on the progress of the teaching work in California. [SoW Vol 2 No 16 p12-13]
  • Some of Lua's talks were:
    • December 17th, 1911 at the California Club Hall in San Francisco. [LGHC358]
    • January 6th, 1912 at the Bellevue Hotel in San Francisco. [LGHC373]
    • January 16th, 1912 at the Bellevue Hotel in San Francisco. [LGHC375]
  • Lua Getsinger travelled to Chicago to meet Him and to attend the dedication of the land for the Temple. 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked her to participate in the ground-breaking ceremony by turning over a shovelful of earth. [LDNW26-27] iiiii
  • California; United States; Tijuana; Mexico; San Quentin Lua Getsinger; Travel teaching; Ameen Fareed (Amin Farid); Abdul-Baha in Egypt
    1911 11 May W. Morgan Shuster was an American chosen by the Persian Chargé d’Affaires at Washington, Mirza Ali Kuli Khan, to serve as Treasurer-General of Persia for a period of three years. His mandate was to organize and conduct the collection and disbursements of the revenues. Four American assistants were likewise engaged to serve under the Treasurer-General. Since the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907 the country was under the influence of the Russians in the north and the British in the south. The purpose in engaging Shuster was to put the country's financial affairs in order so that they might attract investment from other nations.
  • After an encounter with the Russian Consul-General he was forced to leave on the 14th of January, 1912. [AY79-82]
  • He subsequently wrote a book called The Strangling of Persia.
  • Iran; Washington DC; United States Ali Kuli Khan; Iran, General history; History (general)
    1911. 3 Jun Ghodsea Khanoum Ashraf (Qudsíyyih Ashraf) (b. 22 November 1889 in Majidābād, d. 16 April 1976 in Tehran) arrived in the United States together with Dr. Lutfullah Hakim and four others. On the final leg of her journey from Southhampton to New York City aboard the RMS Mauretania, she was accompanied by Louis Gregory. She was the first Persian woman to travel to the country and as such, received considerable press coverage. [BFA2:358]
  • She remained in the United States until 1919. Her return to Iran was delayed due to travel restrictions during the war. During this time she obtained a high school certificate, a bachelor's degree and then a master's degree. She was asked by ʿAbdu'l-Bahá to represent the women of the East at the cornerstone-laying ceremony of the Temple in Wilmette on the 1st of May in 1912 and met Him again in Washington during November of the same year.
  • Upon her return to Iran she produced her academic credentials to the Education Minister and declared her readiness to serve her country. Despite her many outstanding qualifications he refused to hire her because she was a Bahá'í. Despite being denied the opportunity to serve as a teacher she found ways to render service in the field of education. With the passing of Lillian Kappes, the principal at the time of the Tarbiyat Girls’ School of Tehran (Tarbiyat al-Banat), she took over as principal. In that capacity she took significant initiatives, notably offering monthly conferences and adult literacy classes.
  • She became further qualified by obtaining a diploma in nursing and then another in midwifery and subsequently opened clinics that offered services to the poor and the disadvantaged.
  • In 1956 Ms. Ashraf initially joined her nephew Mr. Abdollah Sahihi, a pioneer in Brazil. She then served in three more countries; Brazil, Ecuador and Columbia. In 1963 she attended the World Congress in London and then returned to Iran to continue her service to her native country.
  • See Ahmad Sohrab's letter to her in SW6, 10:77–9.
  • For short biographies see SCF55-85; Encyclopedia Iranica and Iran Press Watch.
  • Majidabad; Tihran; Iran; United States Ghodsieh Ashraf (Qudsiyyih Ashraf); Firsts, Other; Tarbiyat School
    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 (In the year) The publication of Universal Principles of the Bahai Movement, Social, Economic, Governmental by The Persian-American Bulletin.
  • The original.
  • The pdf.
  • Washington DC; United States Introductory; Persian-American Bulletin
    1912 (In the year) The publication of The Brilliant Proof by Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl Gulpáygání in Chicago by the Bahai News Service, 1912. The first edition notes state that it was written December 28, 1911, in Syria, "by the pen of Mirza Abul Fazl Gulpaygan."
  • 239D93 says this book was written by Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl in answer to a London minister's criticism of the Cause.
  • The publication of this book marked the end of an early era of Bahá'í teaching in the West. As 'Abdu'l-Bahá continued his journeys in the United States and Canada, He delivered hundreds of public talks and private addresses which were tailored to Western audiences. The fresh outpouring of teachings which resulted from these encounters produced a new Bahá'í literature of the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the West. Examples include the following: 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, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1922-25); Paris Talks: Addresses Given by `Abdu'l-Bahá in Paris in 1911-1912 (London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1912); 'Abdu'l-Bahá in London.
  • Chicago; United States Mirza Abul-Fadl Gulpaygani; Criticism and apologetics; Proofs; Publications; Abdul-Baha, Travels of
    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 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 21 Apr Talk at Studio Hall, 1219 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, D.C. [PUP37, APD14; SoW Vol 3 No 3 April 28, 1912 p9]
  • Talk at Universalist Church, Thirteenth and L Streets, Washington, D.C. [PUP39; APD16; Mahmúd's Diary p50-54; SoW Vol 3 No 3 April 28, 1912 p10]
  • Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Studio Hall; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches; Abdul-Baha, Talks at other places
    1912 22 Apr Talk at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. [PUP43, APD22-24, AY86; Mahmúd's Diary p54-55] Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Arthur Parsons; Agnes Parsons
    1912 23 Apr Harriet Gibbs Marshall (1868-1941) became a Bahá’í while ‘Abdu’l Bahá was visiting the US. It is possible that she heard Him speak on this day as He spoke at both Howard University and in a Black church later that same evening. This was the first occasion since His arrival in America that 'Abdul-Bahá addressed the race issue.
    She was an extremely educated woman for the time, she studied piano, pipe organ, and voice culture at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and in 1889. Marshall was the first African American to complete the program and earn a Mus.B. degree (Bachelor of Music degree). In 1903 she founded the Washington Conservatory of Music. According to blackpast.org “Marshall’s conservatory was a landmark in the history of black education. The Centre sponsored regular concerts for the black community, trained many prominent musical professionals and attracted the nation’s most talented musicians as teachers. It remained in operation until 1960.” [blackpast.org; Bahá'í Chronicles]
    Washington DC; United States Harriet Gibbs Marshall; Washington Conservatory of Music; Schools; Admiral Peary
    1912 23 Apr Talk at Howard University, Washington, D.C. Howard University had been founded in 1867 to educate the newly freed slaves and by 1912 it was one of the foremost black universities in the country. It is reported that well over a thousand students, faculty members, administrators and guests jammed into the Rankin Chapel as 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke with Louis Gregory standing beside Him. The Howard University Journal, 26 April 1912, published His entire address. [PUP44, APD29, 239Dp40; Mahmúd's Diary p50-54; SoW Vol 3 No 3 April 28, 1912 p14]
    • To recapitulate His talk, `Abdu’l-Bahá emphasized the personal sacrifice of Northern whites for southern blacks in the course of the Civil War, and that African Americans (as the descendants of emancipated slaves) should therefore be grateful to whites in kind. In so saying, `Abdu’l-Bahá invoked history (or a certain view of it) in order to make history—by completing the unfinished work of the Emancipation Proclamation. ['Abdu’l-Bahá’s 1912 Howard University Speech: A Civil War Myth for Interracial Emancipation by Dr Christopher Buck p134]
    • See as well TMTW51.
  • Coralie and George Cook arranged for 'Abdu'l-Bahá to speak at Howard University. Both were professors at Howard,, she the Chair of Oratory and he was professor of Commercial and International Law and later the Dean of the School of Commerce and Finance. [AWD70, 165]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá attended a reception at the Khan residence in the Persian embassy where He met Admiral Robert Peary. In the words of Juliet Thompson `Abdu'l-Bahá had told the Admiral, "That `for a very long time the world had been much concerned about the North Pole, where it was and what was to found there. Now he, Admiral Peary, had discovered it and that nothing was to [be] found there; and so, in forever relieving the public mind, he had rendered a great service." [DJT272-273]
  • It was on this occasion, at a dinner for the elite of Washington, that 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked, "Where is Mr Gregory? Bring me Mr Gregory!" when He saw that a place had not been set for him at the dinner table. Khan fetched Mr Gregory and 'Abdu'l-Bahá made a place for him on His right. 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave a talk on the oneness of humankind and Agnes Parsons, who was seated on His left, asked a question about spiritual healing. [SYH59]
  • Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. about the Titanic disaster. [PUP46; SoW Vol 3 No 3 April 28, 1912 p12; YouTube 'Abdu'l-Bahá - Life After Death]
  • Talk to Bethel Literary Society, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, M Street, NW, Washington, D.C. [PUP49; SoW Vol 3 No 3 pg5]
  • Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at universities; Howard University; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches; Admiral Peary; Ali Kuli Khan; Agnes Parsons
    1912 Apr At some point during his stay in Washington, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was invited to tea by nine year-old Rene Hooper, her widowed mother Marie and their cook, Eurirhra. (In 1908 Herbert Hooper, an architect who had studied at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris and who had accompanied Thomas Breakwell when he returned from his pilgrimage to Paris, died of tuberculosis.) 'Abdu'l-Bahá accepted the invitation on the condition that they invite Black friends as well. They were not from Washington and so the only such person they knew was Louis Gregory so they invited him. As it happened, Eurirhra's family was able to attend and so they had the bounty of serving them as well. [BW20p916; SYH61 Washington DC; United States Herbert Hooper; Rene Hooper; Rene Welsh; Marie Hooper; Eurirhra
    1912 24 Apr Talk at Children’s Reception, Studio Hall, 1219 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, D.C. [PUP54; Sow Vol 3 No3 pg7; Mahmúd's Diary p56-59]
  • Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. [PUP56, APD37-45] iiiiii
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá visited the home of Alexander Graham Bell. The day before he had visited the Master and invited Him to attend the meeting of the Scientific Society. He then spoke of the importance and the results of science, the greatness of this age and the interdependence of society. The meeting was also attended by Ali Kuli Khan who was asked to relate the history of the Faith by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. At about midnight the table was spread with bread, meat, candies, cookies, fruit and beverages. Although the Master had not yet had dinner, He spoke through Mr Bell to his wife and daughter. [239Days Day 12]
  • Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places; Alexander Graham Bell; Ali Kuli Khan
    1912 25 Apr Talk to Theosophical Society, Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. [PUP58; SoW Vol 3 No3 pg22-23, ]
  • Message to Esperantists, Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. [PUP60; APD47; SoW Vol 3 No5 Pg7-8]
  • The Turkish Ambassador Díyá Páshá hosted a "royal feast" for 'Abdu'l-Bahá and a number of dignitaries. He gave a short talk afterward. [Mahmúd's Diary p60-61]
  • He gave a talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons. [PUP62, APD46-49; SoW Vol 3 No 5 P7-8, Mahmúd's Diary p59-62]
  • Theodore Roosevelt visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá at the Parsons' home on this date. He was not the President at this time. [MD464n59]
  • Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Theosophical Society; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Abdul-Baha, Talks other; Arthur Parsons; Esperanto; Theodore Roosevelt
    1912 26 Apr 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at President Taft's All Saints Unitarian Church to the Women's Alliance on the subject of the varieties of light, the effulgence of the Sun of Reality in its original essence, and of the waiting souls with pure hearts who are like unto clear spotless mirrors, whose eyes and ears become enlightened by the appearance of the Sun of Reality. [APD50; 239D45; MD62-64]
  • Before lunch He spoke in the home of John J. White at the invitation of Mrs White. Lunch was taken at the Parsons home with the Turkish Ambassador as a guest.
  • On this day He spoke with the US Treasurer, Lee McClung. [Luminous Journey 30:24]
  • In the early evening He addressed a gathering in the Parsons' home. The subject of the talk was the interpretation of the Old Testament statement concerning the creation of man in the image of God. After the meeting, `Abdu'l-Bahá went for a stroll in a park to recuperate. [APD51]
  • In the evening 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke ing the Memorial Continental Hall in the new national headquarters of the Daughters of the American Revolution on 17th Street, NW, between C and D Streets. He shared the podium with Samuel Gompers, the President of the American Federation of Labor. Gompers made a plea for the women of the working classes and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá drew a parallel between the advancement of women in the West and in the East citing the new building as an example of the power of women.
  • None of His talks for this day has been recorded in The Promulgation of Universal Peace.
  • Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; John J. White; Agnes Parsons; Lee McClung; Orient-Occident Unity
    1912 27 Apr During lunch at the Parsons' home 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke about the proper method of taxation. [APD53-57]
  • For His discourse on taxation see FWU38-43.
  • In the evening there was a grand reception for some 300 people in honour of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on behalf of the Orient-Occident Unity Society. Among the guests and dignitaries are General Adolphus Greely, Admiral Wainwright, a Washington judge, Admiral Peary, a bishop, the chargé d'affaires of Switzerland, a member of Congress, the head of the United States Patent Office, the General Consul, the President of the Peace Congress and others. [MD64-65]
  • Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places; General Adolphus Greely; Wainwright, Admiral; Peary, Admiral; Agnes Parsons; Taxation
    1912 28 Apr `Abdu'l-Bahá gave private interviews in the morning then called on the Turkish Ambassador, Diya Pasha. [APD56-59] . He spent considerable time with the Turkish ambassador, Zia Pasha while in Washington. [AY86-87; Luminous Journey 36:45]
  • For a list of some of the well-known individuals whom the Khans brought into ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s presence see AY88.
  • During His time in Washington He toured the Library of Congress with the Parsons. He went to the Arlington National Cemetery to pay tribute to the graves of the parents of Agnes Parsons. [Luminous Journey 31:56]
  • At some point during His stay in Washington former president Theodore Roosevelt came to visit 'Abdu'l-Bahá at the Parsons' residence. Mahmud reports that this took place on April 25, after the reception at the Turkish Embassy. [Luminous Journey 34:26; MD]
  • Alice Pike Barney, the influential artist and thespian and an important member of the Washington arts scene, hosted a luncheon and two evening receptions at her studio for 'Abdu'l-Bahá. She had met Him earlier when she accompanied her daughter Laura to Akka in 1905. [Luminous Journey 34:59]
  • Ali Kuli Khan, one of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's former secretaries in Akka and who, by this time was the chargé d'affairs at the Persian Legation, tried to arrange a meeting for 'Abdu'l-Bahá at the White House and for Him to speak to the Congress but scheduling did not work out. He hosted receptions for 'Abdu'l-Bahá and arranged for prominent diplomats to met Him. [Luminous Journey 36:00]
  • At a meeting at the Persian Legation where a meal was being served, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and arranged for the place of honour on His right for African-American lawyer Louis George Gregory. At this time he was a thirty-seven-year-old, Fisk- and Howard-educated African American lawyer from Charleston, South Carolina. He was president of the Bethel Literary and Historical Association, the oldest African American organization in Washington and he was one of the most prominent members of the capital’s African American community. Even so, at this time in Washington where one third of the population was Black, it was expected that he would not eat with Whites. [Luminous Journey 38:36; 239Days Day 12]
  • At this time there were only about 15 Black Bahá'ís in the Washington Community and events were not fully integrated following the example in the segregated city. Pauline and Joseph Hannen held integrated gatherings and became proponents of racial integration. [Luminous Journey 42:00]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá left Washington for Chicago. [239D:46; AB184; SBR81]
    • Accompanying Him were Louise Mathew and Mrs Moss, a stenographer. [SYH62]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in Chicago some 12 hours late due to mechanical failure. [239D:47]
  • Washington DC; Chicago; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Ambassadors; Arlington National Cemetery
    1912 30 Apr Talk at Hull House, Chicago, Illinois where He spoke about racial unity. Hull House was a immigrant community centre, one of the earliest in Chicago, founded by Jane Addams of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. [PUP67, MD70; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Historic Meeting with Jane Addams by Ruth Moffet]
  • Talk at Fourth Annual Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Handel Hall, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP69, MD71]
    • The NAACP’s co-founder, writer and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois, was in correspondence with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and published His talk as well as His photo in the organization’s magazine, The Crisis Vol. 4, No. 1 (May, 1912) pp14-16. [BWNS1310; Luminous Journey 45:04] iiiii
    • The website for the current day on-line magazine and a collection can be found in the Smithsonian Museum.
    • His talks in Chicago attracted such prominent Black people as Alain LeRoy Locke, Ida B. Wells and Robert Sengstacke Abbott, the founder of The Chicago Defender, the most influential Black newspaper. [Luminous Journey 45:26]
    • See FMH152 for the story of Grace Ober inviting Dr. Du Bois and 60 others from an NAACP Convention in Pittsburg 6-10 July, 1931, to their tenement flat for tea.
  • In the evening He greeted the closing session of the public meeting of the Bahá’í Temple Unity where more than a thousand people had gathered. After His address he donated 2,000 francs to the Temple Fund. The meeting was held in the Drill Hall, Masonic Temple, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP65, SYH67]
  • Chicago; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Conventions, National; Bahai Temple Unity; Abdul-Baha, Talks at other places; W.E.B. Du Bois; National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); BWNS
    1912 1 May `Abdu'l-Bahá laid the cornerstone of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Wilmette. [SYH67-68, CT102; 239D:51; AB186; GPB288, 349; MBW143; Luminous Journey 47:00]
  • Talk at Dedication of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár Grounds. [PUP71]
  • The cornerstone had been offered by Mrs Nettie Tobin, a member of the Women's Teaching Assembly. [AB186]
  • See SYH65-66 for the story of how the Foundation Stone made it to the building site.
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá asked delegates from the various Bahá'í communities and Bahá'ís from different backgrounds each to dig the earth to lay the stone. Corrine True, Lua Getsinger and several other women turned the sod. After the stone had been laid 'Abdu'l-Bahá declared that "The temple is already built." [AB186–7; Luminous Journey 47:00]
  • Wilmette; Chicago; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Nettie Tobin; Foundation stones and groundbreaking; Abdul-Baha, Life of; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Abdul-Baha, Basic timeline
    1912 3 May Talk at Hotel Plaza. [PUP83]
  • Talk at Hotel Plaza, Chicago, Illinois. Afterward He gave each child an envelope with a rose petal and invited all of them to Lincoln Park for a photograph. He asked for time alone and walked over to a statue of Abraham Lincoln at which He gazed for a while. [PUP84; Luminous Journey 51:25]
  • Chicago; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places
    1912 4 May Talk to Theosophical Society, Northwestern University Hall, Evanston, Illinois. [PUP87; Luminous Journey 50:00] Evanston; Illinois; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Theosophical Society; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 5 May Talk at Children’s Meeting, Hotel Plaza, Chicago, Illinois. [PSBW134–5, PUP91]
  • Talk at Plymouth Congregational Church, 935 East Fiftieth Street, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP93; Luminous Journey 50:15]
  • Talk at All-Souls Church, Lincoln Center, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP97]
  • While in Chicago He revealed a special prayer for America, "O Thou kind Lord! This gathering is turning to Thee..... [Luminous Journey 50:25]
  • Chicago; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places
    1912 6 May `Abdu'l-Bahá left Chicago, arriving in Cleveland the same day. [239D:57; AB189]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave interviews to reporters at the Euclid Hotel. [Luminous Journey 54:00]
  • Talk at the home of Dr. C. M. Swingle to an audience of forty. [PUP104; SoW Vol. 3, No. 6, pp. 5-6]
  • Talk at Euclid Hall to an audience of some 500 people. [PUP101; SoW Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 29-32.]
  • "The American continent gives signs and evidences of very great advancement; its future is even more promising, for its influence and illumination are far-reaching, and it will lead all nations spiritually." – Abdu’l-Baha, PUP104.
  • Both the Cleveland News and the Cleveland Plain Dealer carried articles on 'Abdu'l-Bahá's approval of marriage between the races. [SYH60]
  • Chicago; Cleveland; Ohio; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 7 May `Abdu'l-Bahá left Cleveland for Pittsburgh, arriving the same day. [239D:63; AB189]
  • Martha Root arranged for Him to talk at the Hotel Schenley to 400 people followed by private meetings with leaders of thought. The hotel is now the University of Pittsburgh's Student Union building, known as the William Pitt Union. [PUP105; Luminous Journey 55:00; Schenley Hotel]
  • Cleveland; Pittsburgh; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places
    1912 8 May `Abdu'l-Bahá took a morning train from Pittsburgh, arriving in Washington DC that night for His second visit to that city. [239D:64; AB189; SBR81]
  • He and His entourage moved into the apartment of William P. Ripley who had vacated it for this purpose. [APD59-60]
  • Pittsburgh; Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Trains
    1912 9 May `Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to a capacity gathering at the Parsons' home. He noted that religious ministers in Washington were denouncing Him and the Cause. [APD61-63] Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Agnes Parsons; Opposition
    1912 10 May At the instigation of Agnes Parsons, `Abdu'l-Bahá's sat for sketches by prominent English sculptor Theodore Spicer-Simson who made a portrait medallion of the Master. See Medallions for pictures of his work. A second medallion was later designed by another well-known artist, Louis Potter. [Luminous Journey 33:21]
  • In the morning Agnes Parsons took 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the Capitol then to the Washington Monument where they took the elevator to the top.
  • He spoke to a small group in the Parsons' home in the afternoon and at the Studio Hall in the evening. [APD63-66]
  • In The Diary of Juliet Thompson p285 it is reported that 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been horrified by the prejudice He observed against Black people in Washington.
  • Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Abdul-Baha, Talks at other places; Capitol; Washington Monument; Studio Hall; Agnes Parsons; Abdul-Baha, Pictures and portraits; Portraits; Racism
    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 23 May The Bahá'ís of Cambridge, Massachusetts, celebrated `Abdu'l-Bahá's birthday at the Breed home with a cake bearing 68 candles. (Significantly, He did not stay for the festivities. He forgave this time, but had forbidden the celebration of His birthday. Six years before He had told Khan and other pilgrims that besides Naw-Rúz, the Holy Days were only for the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, that His birth on the twenty-second/twenty-third of May was ‘only a coincidence’.) `Abdu'l-Bahá addressed the group on the importance of the Báb at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Francis W. Breed, 367 Harvard Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts. [239D:72; AB199, PUP138; AY89]
  • Before arriving in the early evening, He had proceeded to Worcester and addressed Clark University there. [AY95; Luminous Journey 1:00]
  • Worcester; Cambridge MA; Massachusetts; United States Abdul-Baha, Birth of; Day of the Covenant; Holy Days; Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Abdul-Baha, Talks at universities; Bab, Life of; Clark University; Universities
    1912 24 May Talk at Free Religious Association, or Unitarian Conference, Boston, Massachusetts. [PUP140] Boston; Massachusetts; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 25 May Talk at Huntington Chambers, 30 Huntington Ave, Boston, Massachusetts. [PUP143] Boston; Massachusetts; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at other places
    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 3 Jun `Abdu'l-Bahá traveled to Milford, Pennsylvania. [AB208] Milford; Pennsylvania; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    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 9 Jun Talk at Unitarian Church, Fifteenth Street and Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [PUP172]
  • Talk at Baptist Temple, Broad and Berks Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [PUP176]

  • Philadelphia; United States Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches; Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    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 21 Jun `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in Montclair, New Jersey for a 9 day stay. [239D:97; AB221] Montclair; New Jersey; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 23 Jun Talk at Montclair, New Jersey. [PUP210]
  • Lua Getsinger, Juliet Thompson and Georgie Ralston, in defiance of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's wishes, joined Him at Montclair. He had asked Lua to go to California again to prepare the ground for His arrival. To delay her departure she removed her shoes and stockings and walked through poison ivy. 'Abdu'l-Bahá prescribed an apple and a pomegranate for her recovery and two days later her feet and legs had returned to normal. Their next ploy was to tell 'Abdu'l-Bahá that she couldn't go because He had asked Juliet to paint her portrait and she had to stay for the sitting. This brought only laughter from 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [DJT211-312; LGHC159-161]
  • Montclair; New Jersey; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 29 Jun `Abdu'l-Bahá hosted a Unity Feast in the Evergreen Cabin at the Wilhelm properties in West Englewood, New Jersey. [239D:102; AB223, PUP213]
  • For pictures of this event see 239D:100–1.
  • Some years later, in 1953, Curtis Kelsey helped to rebuild and enlarge Evergreen Cabin, built on the spot where 'Abdu'l-Baha was host at the first Unity Feast in America. [BW15p470]
  • See Shoghi Effendi's comments to Roy Wilhelm about West Englewood, 14 November 1932. [BN No 80 January 1934 p5]
  • A Brief History of Roy Wilhelm and the Annual Souvenir Unity Feast of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by Joel Nizin.
  • West Englewood; New Jersey; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Unity Feast; Roy Wilhelm; Evergreen cabin
    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 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 24 Jul Talk to Theosophical Society, The Kensington, Exeter and Boylston Streets, Boston, Massachusetts. [PUP239] Boston; Massachusetts; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Theosophical Society; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 25 Jul Talk at Hotel Victoria, Boston, Massachusetts. [PUP244]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá left Boston and arrived in Dublin, New Hampshire, the same evening. [239D:117; AB233; SBR82, APD72-73]
  • In 2012 the Dublin Inn was purchased and donated to the national Bahá'í community by Gisu Mohadjer Cook, a World Bank executive and daughter of Hand of the Cause of God and Knight of Bahá'u'lláh Rahmatu'lláh Muhájir.
  • Dublin; New Hampshire; Boston; Massachusetts; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places; Gisu Mohadjer Cook; Rahmatullah Muhajir
    1912 26 Jul `Abdu'l-Bahá's and His companions took up residence at one of the two Parsons home in Dublin, NH, a resort area. The house in question is named "Day-Spring". [APD7376]
  • See FMH49.
  • Dublin; New Hampshire; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Agnes Parsons
    1912 28 Jul `Abdu'l-Bahá's spoke at the Parsons home. [APD79-80]
  • See 239 Days.
  • Dublin; New Hampshire; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912. 4 Aug 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to a group of 28 black people on the importance of unity and friendship between the races and announced that Louise Mathew and Louis Gregory were to be married. [SYH71]
  • Mahmúd, page 189-190 stated that this event took place on the 2nd of August.
  • Dublin; New Hampshire; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Life of; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Abdul-Baha, Basic timeline; Louise Mathew; Louis Gregory
    1912 5 Aug Talk at Dublin Inn, Dublin, New Hampshire. [PUP245] Dublin; New Hampshire; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places
    1912 6 Aug Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, Dublin, New Hampshire. [PUP247] Dublin; New Hampshire; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Arthur Parsons
    1912 16 Aug `Abdu'l-Bahá journeyed to Green Acre by car, arriving the same day. [239D:123; AB240]
  • Talk at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine. [PUP253]
  • For `Abdu'l-Bahá's activities while in Green Acre see AB240–51.
  • For the story of Fred Mortensen see 239D:126–9 and AB247–51.
  • See also Green Acre on the Piscataqua.
  • Eliot; Maine; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Cars; Fred Mortensen; Abdul-Baha, Talks other; Green Acre
    1912 17 Aug Talk at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine. [PUP261]
  • Talk at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine. [PUP263]
  • Talk at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine. [PUP264]
  • Talk at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine. [PUP270]
  • Eliot; Maine; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Green Acre; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 23 Aug `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in Malden, Massachusetts, for a week-long stay, making trips to Boston and Cambridge. He stayed in the home of Miss Marie P. Wilson [239D:131; AB251–2; BW5p84; Abdu'l-Bahá in America 1912-2012]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá spent a total of 10 days in the house of Miss Wilson. Upon her passing in 1930 she willed the house to Shoghi Effendi and he asked the National Assembly to manage the property on his behalf. On the 27th of September, 1935 he executed a deed of trust transferring the property to the Trustees for the benefit of the NSA. [BW7p84]
  • At some point during the visit He attended the wedding of Ruby Breed, the younger sister of Florence Breed. The wedding was held in the Breed home and was presided over by an Episcopalian minister. [AY96]
  • Malden; Massachusetts; Boston; Cambridge; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Weddings
    1912 25 Aug Talk at the New Thought Forum, Metaphysical Club, Boston, Massachusetts about women's rights. [PUP276, 239Dp131] Boston; Massachusetts; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 26 Aug Talk at Franklin Square House, Boston, Massachusetts. [PUP280] Boston; Massachusetts; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 27 Aug Talk at Metaphysical Club, Boston, Massachusetts. [PUP284] Boston; Massachusetts; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 29 Aug Talk at Home of Madame Beale Morey, 34 Hillside Avenue, Malden, Massachusetts. He spoke on "Religions of the World". [239Dp132, PUP289] Boston; Massachusetts; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912 12 Sep `Abdu'l-Bahá left Buffalo for Chicago, passing by Niagara Falls and arriving at about 8PM at the LaSalle Station where He was received by the awaiting friends. Among them was Saichiro Fujita. [239D:142; MD257-259]
  • He went to the home of Corinne True by automobile. [239D:142; AB266]
  • Buffalo; Chicago; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Corinne True
    1912 15 Sep In the morning`Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to Dr. William Frederick Nutt, a friend of Kheiralla. (Nutt later broke the Covenant) Observers say that both Dr. Nutt and the interpreter were left trembling after He made his remarks.
  • Shu'á'lláh, son of Mírzá Muhammad-'Ali was in America at the same time. The previous May he had written to the Kenosha Evening News decouncing 'Abdu'l-Bahá and proposing a meeting between himself and 'Abdu'l-Bahá to settle their differences. In July Kheiralla had written to the same newspaper in support of Shu'á'lláh. [MD264n277]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá, his party of six plus Fujita departed to Kenosha but they missed their train. He told His fellow travellers not to be concerned over this, as there would be a good reason for it; travelling on the next train they come across the wreckage of the first, which has been in a collision. [239D:145; AB267]
  • Upon arrival they were taken to the hall of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár where they were served lunch. After lunch they went to the home of Mrs Henry Goodale.
  • In the evening He spoke at the Congregational Church on the unity of the Manifestations. [MD226] Now called First Congregational Church of Kenosha, 5934 8th Avenue. ['Abdu'l-Bahá in America 1912- 2012]
  • Chicago; Kenosha; Wisconsin; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Trains
    1912 16 Sep In the morning 'Abdu'l-Bahá departed for Chicago
  • He gave a talk at Home of Mrs. Corinne True, 5338 Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. The subject of this talk was The Covenant. [PUP320]
  • In the evening He told His party to pack and move to the hotel. [MD268]
  • Kenosha; Chicago; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Corinne True
    1912 20 Sep Talk at Home of Mr. Albert L. Hall, 2030 Queen Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota. [PUP325]
  • Talk at Home of Dr. and Mrs. Clement Woolson, 870 Laurel Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota. [PUP329]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá left Minneapolis for Omaha, Nebraska, arriving the same night. [239D:20]
  • AB279 says this was 21 September.
  • Omaha; Nebraska; Minneapolis; Minnesota; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    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 23 Sep `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in Denver in the afternoon. [239D:152; SoG221-222; MD282-283] Denver; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 24 Sep Talk at Home of Mrs. Roberts Denver, Colorado. [PUP334] Denver; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes
    1912 25 Sep Talk at Second Divine Science Church, 3929 West Thirty-eighth Avenue, Denver, Colorado . [PUP337] Denver; Colorado; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches
    1912 26 Sep `Abdu'l-Bahá left Denver and arrived in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. [239D:158] Denver; Glenwood Springs; Colorado; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 27 Sep `Abdu'l-Bahá left Glenwood Springs for Salt Lake City. [239D:159] Denver; Glenwood Springs; Salt Lake City; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 28 Sep `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in Salt Lake City. [239D:159] Salt Lake City; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 30 Sep Thornton Chase, the first American Bahá'í, Disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá, passed away in California before 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í and His retinue arrive. He was buried at Inglewood. He had been named Thábit (Steadfast) by the Master. [BBD71; BFA2:XVII]
  • See SoW Vol 3 No 12 16 October, 1912 p1-7 for a tribute to him upon his passing.
  • For a brief biography see Bahá'í Chronicles.
  • See as well Bahá’í Encyclopedia.
  • See "Disciples of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá" . [BW3p84–85; BW4p118–119]
  • See the article Chase, Thornton: The First Bahá'í from the Western Hemisphere by Richard Francis.
  • For a biography see Thornton Chase: First American Bahá'í by Robert H Stockman, Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, 2002.
  • During the early years of the Faith in North America the Bahá'ís were unclear about the station of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. There were those who thought Him an ordinary man who had applied the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh flawlessly through His effort. Others believed Him to be the return of Christ. See ABF244-246 for his letter to Wellesly Tudor-Pole on the station of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • And a draft of a portion of the Stockman book, Love's Odyssey: The Life of Thornton Chase.
  • Upon hearing of his passing 'Abdu'l-Bahá is reported to have said, "This revered personage was the first Bahá'í in America. He served the Cause faithfully and his services will ever be remembered throughout ages and cycles." [SoW Vol 4 No 11 p.189]
  • Photos of the grave of Thornton Chase in Inglewood Park Cemetery.
  • Directions to his grave. Find a grave.
  • His publications:
    • A number of pamphlets, See Bibliography of English-Language Works on the Bábí and Bahá’í Faiths, 1844–1985 by William Collins, George Ronald, Oxford, 1990 page 66-67.
    • In Galilee and In Spirit and In Truth, first published in 1908. This was a record of his pilgrimage. [BEL7.634]
    • The Bahai Revelation, first published in 1909. This book was an introduction to the Faith intended for a Christian audience. [BEL7.629]
  • See the trailer for a film entitled Steadfast-The Thornton Chase Story by Mithaq Kazimi and produced by Sam Baldoni.
  • See the Thornton Chase Website created by the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Inglewood, California and The Thornton Chase Committee to honour the legacy of Thornton Chase.
  • Los Angeles; California; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Thornton Chase; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; Births and deaths; In Memoriam; Cemeteries and graves
    1912 1 Oct `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in San Francisco about midnight. [239D:165; AB286] San Francisco; California; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912. 3 Oct After the visitation of many friends in the morning, in the afternoon, at the invitation of Mrs Goodall, the Master and friends went to the Golden Gate Park outside of the city where again He met with visitors and answered questions of reporters.. [MD303-304; SoW Vol 4 No 12 October 16, 1913 p206-207] San Francisco; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 7 Oct Talk to Japanese Young Men’s Christian Association, Japanese Independent Church, 576 Sycamore Street, Oakland, California. [PUP343] Oakland; California; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 8 Oct `Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at Leland Stanford Junior University in Palo Alto. [239D:166 AB288, PUP348; ]
  • There were two thousand in the audience. [AB288]
  • "He spoke to fifteen hundred students". .. [LGHC176]
  • Palo Alto; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at universities; Universities
    1912 10 Oct Talk at Open Forum, San Francisco, California [PUP355] San Francisco; California; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places
    1912 12 Oct Talk at Temple Emmanu-El, 450 Sutter Street, San Francisco, California. [PUP361, ABF408] San Francisco; California; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches
    1912 13 or 14 Oct `Abdu'l-Bahá visited Phoebe Hearst at her estate, at her invitation. [239D:168; AB307]
  • She was estranged from the Faith because one or two individuals had tried to extort money from her but her invitation was sincere. AB307–8]
  • California; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Phoebe Hearst; Hearst estate
    1912 16 Oct `Abdu'l-Bahá returned to San Francisco. [AB308; 239 Days] San Francisco; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 17 Oct 'Abdu'l-Bahá discovered His signet ring was missing and for the rest of His trip He signed, rather than seal, every Tablet He wrote or dictated. [Historical Dictionary of the Bahá'í Faith pg. xxxvii, AY101-102] Oakland; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Rings; Seals
    1912 18 Oct `Abdu'l-Bahá left San Francisco for Los Angeles, arriving the same day. [239D:169; AB309]

    Having heard that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was in Los Angeles, Mabel Rice-Wray took children Edris and Colston to the hotel where the Master was staying. They spent over an hour with 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His room. Both Edris and Colston sat on 'Abdu'l-Bahá's knee and were given cookies. Some years later, in response to a letter from their mother, 'Abdu'l-Bahá bestowed the name Rawshan ("brilliance") on Edris, and Ruqi on Colston, and revealed in their honour the well-known prayer for children that begins: "O my Lord! O my Lord! I am a child of tender years. Nourish me from the breast of Thy mercy ... " [Find a grave Edris Rawshan Wray]

    Los Angeles; San Francisco; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, prayers of; Mabel Rice-Wray Ives
    1912 19 Oct `Abdu'l-Bahá visited the grave of Thornton Chase in Inglewood. [239D:169; AB309; MD337-339]
  • The purpose of His journey to Los Angeles is to visit the grave of Thornton Chase. [AB309]
  • Upon visiting his grave 'Abdu'l-Bahá is reported to have said "This personage is worthy of having the friends visit his grave. The traces of this personage will ever shine. This is a personage who will not be forgotten. For the present his worth is not known but in the future it will be inestimably dear. His sun will ever be shining, his stars will forever bestow the light. The people will honor this grave. Therefore, the friends of God must visit this grave and on my behalf bring flowers and seek the sublimity of the spiritual station for him and have the utmost consideration for the members of his family. This personage will not be forgotten." [SoW Vol 3 No 13 4 November, 1912 p14]
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá is reported to have said:
    "As many times as possible-at least once a year-you should make it a point to visit his tomb, for his spirit will be exhilarated through the loyalty of the friends, and in the world of God will it be happy. The friends of God must be kind to one another, whether it be in life or after death." [SoW Vol 4 No 13 p225]
  • Inglewood; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Thornton Chase; Cemeteries and graves
    1912 21 Oct `Abdu'l-Bahá left Los Angeles for San Francisco. [AB310] Los Angeles; San Francisco; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 25 Oct `Abdu'l-Bahá left San Francisco for Sacramento and arrived at noon the same day. [239D:171]
  • Talk at Hotel Sacramento, Sacramento, California. [PUP370]
  • San Francisco; Sacramento; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places
    1912 26 Oct Talk at Assembly Hall, Hotel Sacramento, Sacramento, California. [PUP376]
  • In His talk 'Abdu'l-Bahá said that, "the greatest need in the world today is international peace,” and after discussing why California was well-suited to lead the efforts for the promotion of peace, He exhorted attendees: “May the first flag of international peace be upraised in this state.” [The Cause of Universal Peace: 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Enduring Impact by Kathryn Jewett Hogenson]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá left Sacramento for Denver. [239D:172; AB316]
  • Sacramento; California; Denver; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places
    1912 28 Oct `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in Denver at midnight. [239D:175; AB316] Denver; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 30 Oct `Abdu'l-Bahá left Denver for Chicago. [239D:175] Denver; Chicago; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 31 Oct `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in Chicago and gave a talk at the Plaza Hotel. The subject of this talk was The Covenant. [239D:176; PUP381].
  • It is likely that 'Abdu'l-Bahá encountered Rabindranath Tagore who was to become a well-known Bengali poet and musician who would reshape Bengali literature and music and be the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. [Rabindranath Tagore: Some Encounters with Bahá'ís by Peter Terry; Wikipedia]
  • Chicago; United States; India Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places; Rabindranath Tagore
    1912 1 Nov Talk at Home of Mrs. Corinne True, 5338 Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. The subject of this talk was The Covenant. [PUP383] Chicago; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Corinne True
    1912 4 Nov `Abdu'l-Bahá left Chicago and arrived in Cincinnati the same day. [239D:179] Chicago; Cincinnati; Ohio; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour
    1912 5 Nov Talk at Grand Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio. [PUP388]
  • `Abdu'l-Bahá left Cincinnati for Washington DC. [239D:179]
  • Cincinnati; Ohio; Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at public places
    1912 6 Nov `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in Washington DC. [239D:179]
  • Talk at Universalist Church, Thirteenth and L Streets, NW, Washington, D.C. [PUP390]
  • Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches
    1912 7 Nov Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D. C. [PUP397]
  • Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D. C. [PUP400]
  • Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Arthur Parsons
    1912 8 Nov Talk at Eighth Street Temple, Synagogue, Washington, D. C. [PUP411]
  • See PG100 where 'Abdu'l-Bahá referred to this talk to illustrate the extraordinary reception He was given during is travels to the West.
  • Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at synagogues
    1912 9 Nov Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D. C .[PUP411]
  • Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D. C .[PUP415]
  • Talk at Bahá’í Banquet, Rauscher’s Hall, Washington, D. C. [PUP418]
  • Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Arthur Parsons; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Abdul-Baha, Talks other
    1912 10 Nov Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D. C .[PUP421]
  • Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hannen, 1252 Eighth Street, NW, Washington, D. C. 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke of Bahá'u'lláh's faithful Ethiopian servant, Isfandiyar, and his service to the family of Bahá'u'lláh's family while He was in prison in the Síyáh-Chál. [PUP425, 239D181-182]
  • Talk at 1901 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D. C. [PUP428]
  • Washington DC; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at homes; Abdul-Baha, Talks other; Arthur Parsons; Joseph Hannen; Isfandiyar
    1912 11 Nov `Abdu'l-Bahá traveled to Baltimore by train and arrived at Camden Station at 11AM. He was accompanied by Dr. Ameen Fareed and Mirza Ahmad Sohrab (interpreters), Mirza Mahmud, Mirza 'Ali Akah, Mirza Valiollah Khan, Dr. Zia Bagdadi, and Saya Assadollah [239D:183; AB329]
  • At noon He spoke at the chapel of the Unitarian Church on the unity of religions and the oneness of God. The chapel was packed with Johns Hopkins University faculty members and many local professional men.
  • After the address he shared lunch at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Struven with more than 50 people.
  • He left Baltimore about 3PM and on his return to New York He passed through Philadelphia, where He met the Bahá'ís on the train platform. ['Abdu'l-Bahá in Baltimore by Allison Vaccaro and Edward E. Bartlett]
  • Baltimore; Philadelphia; United States Abdul-Baha, Travels of; Abdul-Baha, Second Western tour; Abdul-Baha, Talks at churches; Trains
    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 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
    1914 (Early to middle of the year) The defection of Dr Amín Faríd, (b. 1882, d. 1953)`Abdu'l-Bahá's translator while in America, became known publicly. His mother was a sister of Munirih Khanum, wife of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [AB407]
  • For his activities against `Abdu'l-Bahá see AB230, 402, 407–9.
  • Dr. Aminu'lláh Faríd travelled to Europe in defiance of the wishes of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. In the absence of Lady Blomfield in London, a meeting at the Kingsway Hall had been arranged for him. Dr Lutfu'lláh prevented Dr Farid from speaking. Mason Remey and George Latimer were in London at the time. 'Abdu'l-Bahá also sent Dr Habibu'lláh Khudákhsh (later called Dr Mu'ayyad) and 'Azíz'lláh Bahádur to go to Europe to counter his activities. They were in Stuttgart when the war broke out. He recalled all four to the Holy Land (Sep-Oct). [AB407-409; Concerning Covenant-breakers: Excerpt by 'Abdu'l-Bahá translated by Ahang Rabbani] iiiii
  • Laura and Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney were dispatched to the United States where Mrs Chevalier had been acting as Dr Farid's emissary. [AB408]
  • See the message from Shoghi Effendi in MBW53-54.
  • For a description of his activities as a young man in 'Akká see M9YA108.
  • United States; London; United Kingdom; Stuttgart; Germany Ameen Fareed (Amin Farid); Covenant-breakers; Lutfullah Hakim; Charles Mason Remey; George Latimer; Habibullah Khudakhsh; Habib Muayyad; Azizllah Bahadur; Laura Clifford Barney; Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney; Chevalier, Mrs
    1915 (In the year) A plan to fund part-time travelling Bahá’í teachers in the USA and Canada was approved. There had been a great deal of reluctance to take this measure for fear of creating a "clergy" class but the vastness of the country and the fewness of believers of independent means as well as the impetus to teaching sparked by 'Abdu'l-Bahá's visit helped to take the decision. [BBRSM:105, 219] United States; Canada Subsidies; Funds; Travel teaching
    1915 19-25 Apr The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held in San Francisco and the 24th of April was declared International Bahá'í Congress Day. [BW8:797-808]
  • See PG97-99 for a Tablet by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to James Barr, the director of the Congresses at the Pacific International Exposition, regarding his assistance to the First International Bahá'í Congress.
  • San Francisco; United States Conferences, Other; International Bahai Congress
    1915 16 Jun Miss Margaret Green of Washington DC arrived in Alaska, the first known resident Bahá'í. She settled in Juneau from 1915 to 1918 and worked as a public librarian. [NSA site] Washington DC; Alaska; United States Margaret Green find ref
    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
    1916 (in the year) The United States census showed 2,884 Bahá'ís. [BBRSM:105; SBBH1:117] United States Statistics
    1916 Apr or May The first Chinese Bahá'í in China, Chen Hai An (Harold A. Chen), became a Bahá'í while studying at the University of Chicago through the efforts of Dr Zia Baghdádí. He returned to Shanghai that same year. [PH29-30; Video Early history of the Bahá'í Faith in China 6min40sec]
  • PH30 says this was 1919 but this is clearly a typographical error.
  • He returned to China in December 1916.
  • China; Chicago; United States First Bahais by country or area; Zia Bagdadi
    1916 8 Sep The first five Tablets of the Tablets of the Divine Plan were published in Star of the West. [BBD219; SoW Vol 8 No 10 8 September 1916p87-91]
  • For editorial comment see SoW Vol 8 No 10 8 September 1916p86
  • After this, communication was cut off with the Holy Land. [BBD219]
  • Chicago; United States Tablets of the Divine Plan; Star of the West; Publications
    1917 6 Apr The United States entered World War I.
  • See CF36 for Shoghi Effendi's opinion of its participation in the war.
  • Europe; United States World War I; War (general); History (general); Shoghi Effendi, Life of
    1917 (in the year) A Bahá'í Reading Room was established in Chicago by Luella Kirchner in 1917 or perhaps earlier and became the scene of an incident that exemplified a stage of evolution in the North American Bahá'í community. Because communications with 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been severed due to the war, the community was free to develop as it might. The Reading Room had become host to the "Harmonite Bahá'ís" - those who subscribed to the metaphysical interpretations of the Bahá'í Writings by W. W. Harmon.
          The situation came to a head when both the House of Spirituality and the Reading Room sent delegates to the Boston convention in April 1917. In November, during an event to commemorate the Centenary of the birth of Bahá'u'lláh in Chicago, the national community took up the affair and appointed an investigative committee consisting of Mason Remey (chair) as well as Emogene Hoagg, George Latimer and Louis Gregory. Their report tabled on the 9th of December found that the Reading Room (now calling themselves the Chicago Bahá'í Assembly), had been in violation for "mingling human ideas with the Word of God".
          The victory over the "dissenters" was not complete however. In addition to those who were attracted by Harmon's interpretations there were those leading Bahá'ís like Agnes Parsons and Joseph Hannen who objected to the way the committee had conducted it's investigation. However, at the April 1918 convention the report was unanimously approved by the delegates albeit with several absent delegates. Thus the balance between liberalism and authoritarianism was shifted to the latter with firm ideas about what constituted the Bahá'í belief. As a result in 1918 there was a proposal to establish a review procedure for Bahá'í publications, both old and new as well as measures to ensure doctrinal control at Green Acre. [SBBH1p189-194]
    Chicago; United States Review
    1918 8 Jan President Woodrow Wilson in a speech on war aims and peace terms to the United States Congress outlined his Fourteen Points. It was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I.
  • Wilson was influenced by the Bahá’í Teachings in formulating his Fourteen Points, at least three Bahá’í volumes were known to be in the White House. The Hidden Words appears on a 1921 listing of Wilson’s private library. Also, a compilation on peace given the President by a delegation of Washington Bahá’ís ‘turned up in general reference at the Library of Congress marked “transfer from the White House”‘. In addition, Abdul-Baha on Divine Philosophy (Boston, 1918) was said to have much influenced his thinking. [AY155]
  • Commenting on the Fourteen Points laid down by the President for the world community, the Master says that twelve of them derive from principles advocated by Bahá’u’lláh fifty years before, and that these Teachings had been spread worldwide through various publications, thus becoming known to leaders in Europe and America (Persian Tablets, vol. III, p. 312). [AY156-157]
  • US Office of the Historian.
  • United States; Washington DC Woodrow Wilson; Fourteen Points; History (general); Principles; Abdul-Baha, Writings and talks of; Abdul-Baha on Divine Philosophy; Peace; World peace (general); World War I; War (general); United States, Presidents
    1918. (After the National Convention) The publication of the second edition of Compilation of the Holy Utterances of Bahaʼollah and Abdul Baha, Concerning the Most Great Peace, War and the Duty of the Bahais toward their Government, authorized the the Tenth Annual Convention of the Bahais of America held in Chicago.
  • The original.
  • The pdf.
  • Chicago; United States Compilation of the Holy Utterances of Bahaʼollah and Abdul Baha
    1919 (in the year) Amelia Collins, Hand of the Cause, became a Bahá'í in Pasadena, California. [PSBW74] Pasadena; California; United States Amelia Collins; Hands of the Cause
    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 (In the year) The publication of The New Day; The Bahai Revelation by Charles Mason Remey. The book was a brief statement of the history and the teachings of the Faith. East Lansing, MI; Michigan; United States Charles Mason Remey; Publications
    1919. (Late Winter until Early Autumn and beyond) "Red Summer" is the period from late winter through early autumn of 1919 during which white supremacist terrorism and racial riots took place in more than three dozen cities across the United States, as well as in one rural county in Arkansas.

    Some historians claim that the racial terror connected with “Red Summer” began as early as 1917 during the bloody massacre that occurred in East St. Louis, Illinois, a barbaric pogrom that would eventually set the stage for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst episodes of post-Civil War racial violence ever committed against Black Americans. The Tulsa Massacre left as many as 300 Black people dead and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of Greenwood, an all-Black community so wealthy, the philosopher Booker T. Washington called it “Negro Wall Street.” [Red Summer: When Racists Mobs Ruled]

  • See Wikipedia for a partial list of locations where such events took place in 1919 alone.

    It was against this backdrop of racial tension and hatred that the Baha'i community promoted racial amity. [SYH125-126]

  • United States Red Summer; Race; Race (general): Race amity; Race inequality; Race unity; Racism
    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 13 Apr The passing of Phoebe Apperson Hearst (b. 3 December, 1842) in her home in Pleasanton, California during the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918-1919. She was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma, California. [AY49, Find a grave, Bahá'í Chronicles]
  • See AY55-> for a brief history of her life and her contribution to the progress of the Faith. She had learned of the Faith through Lua Getsinger and members of her group in the early days of the Faith in California.
  • ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called her ‘the servant of Bahá, the “Mother of the Faithful”’. He writes that she had ‘sincerely turned unto her Master... completely faced toward the Kingdom of God ... [she] shall surely have a firm and steady footing in the Cause of God, her face shall shine forth from the Horizon of Loftiness, her fame shall be spread in the Kingdom of God, and [she] shall have a ringing voice ... and the light of her glorious deeds shall beam forth during cycles and ages.’ [AY54-55; 106-107]
  • Pleasanton; California; Colma; United States Phoebe Hearst; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Cemeteries and graves; Lua Getsinger; Names and titles
    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. 18 Nov The periodical entitled "The Magazine of the Children of the Kingdom" was published and distributed by Miss Ella Roberts from 1919 to 1924. [Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America: Native American creation stories, edited by Rosemary Skinner Keller, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Marie Cantlon p.782-783]
  • The story of the naming of the magazine...
      Margaret Randall told of the establishment of a Bahá'í Junior Magazine and asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá for a name for it. The Master was told who had charge of it, and His face lighted up with a beautiful smile as He said: "The name is The Magazine of the Children of the Kingdom. Who writes it? This (name) is suitable for it. [WHR128-129]
  • See A Compilation on Bahá’í Education #96 for a tablet by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the children of the Bahá’í school, Urbana, Illinois found here.
  • See A Compilation on Bahá’í Education #102 for a tribute to the magazine by Shoghi Effendi found here. He called it "first and only organ of the Bahá’í youth throughout the world".
  • At the American National Convention in 1925 (July 4 - 9) it was reported that "The Magazine of the Children of the Kingdom", edited by Ella Roberts and "Bahá’í World Fellowship" edited by Mrs. Victoria Bedikian had merged. ["Bahá’í News Letter" #6 Jul-Aug 1925 p.6]
  • Haifa; United States Magazine of the Children of the Kingdom; Children; Youth; - Periodicals; Publications; First publications
    1920. 27 Jan The passing of Joseph H. Hannen, (b. January 27, 1920, Allegheny, Pennsylvania) Disciple of 'Abdu'l-Bahá a week after he was knocked down by a truck in Washington, DC. [Washington Evening Star 29 Jan 1920]

    It was Joseph Hannen who served as a note-taker for many of the talks of 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His tour in the United States. A number of the entries in Promulgation of Universal Peace have been accredited to him. [The Washington Times 28 January, 1928]

    ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent the first Tablet of the Divine Plan to the southern states in care of Joseph. He and his wife Pauline taught the Faith to African Americans; among those they taught were Louis Gregory and Mrs. Pocahontas Pope. [Bahá'í Chronicles, Alain Locke: Faith and Philosophy pp 38-39 by Christopher Buck, Kalimat Press]

    He was buried with his wife, Pauline Amalie Knobloch Hannen (b. 29 August, 1874 d. 4 October, 1939) in Prospect Hill Cemetery, in Washington, DC. iiiii

    Washington DC; Allegheny; United States Joseph Hannen; Pauline Hannen; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Cemeteries and graves; Tablets of the Divine Plan; Promulgation of Universal Peace (book)
    1920 Apr Mírzá Asadu'lláh Fádil-i-Mázandarání arrived in North America with Manúchihr Khán in time to speak at the National Convention. [AB443; SBR88; PG127]
  • His purpose was to assist and stimulate the Bahá'í communities (1920-1921). [AB443]
  • He stayed for one year. [AB443]
  • He visited North America again in 1923-1925 at the request of Shoghi Effendi and arrived in time to speak at the World Unity Conference in San Francisco in March of 1925. [Li47; Fádl Mázandarání, Mírzá Asadu'lláh by Moojan Momen]
  • See Jináb-i-Fádil Mazandarání in the United States by Fadl Mazandarani (published as Jinab-i-Fadil Mazandarani) compiled by Omeed Rameshni for transcripts of his talks.
  • See SoW Vol 14 for photo.
  • United States Mirza Asadullah Fadil-i-Mazandarani; Manuchihr Khan; Conventions, National crossreference URLs; title; title
    1920 Apr Louis Bourgeois was selected as the architect for the Chicago House of Worship. [DP94; GPB303; SBBH1:145]
  • For details of the designs and selection process see DP76-100.
  • See CT159 for the source of inspiration for the design.
  • See FMH75-76 for details of a visit by Willard and Doris McKay to his home. He reported that "the inspiration for the Temple was from another realm and that he had been conscious, from the beginning, that Bahá'ulláh was the creator of the building."
  • Wilmette; Chicago; United States Louis Bourgeois; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Architecture; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Design; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); Architects
    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
    1920 24 May Charles Greenleaf, (b. 6 May, 1857 in Wisconsin), Disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá, passed away at the home of William Harry Randall in Boston. He was interred in Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA Show Map Section K Lot 42. [SBR105; Find a grave]
  • For details of his life see SBR97-105.
  • For his obituary see SW11, 19:321-2.
  • Boston; Massachusetts; United States Charles Greenleaf; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; William Harry Randall; In Memoriam; Births and deaths
    1920 24 Sep Boring began at the site of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Wilmette to determine the depth of the bedrock. [DP104]
  • Soon afterwards construction began. [DP108]
  • Wilmette; United States Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship)
    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
    1921 21 Mar Construction began on the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Wilmette. DP108]
  • See DP107 for a picture of Bahá'ís inaugurating the construction of Foundation Hall.
  • Note: The Bahá'í Faith 1844-1952 Information Statistical & Comparative p.5 says construction commenced in December 1920.
  • Wilmette; United States Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship)
    1921 19-21 May The first Race Amity Conference was held in Washington DC at the old First Congregational Church, 10th & G Streets NW. This church had a reputation for opposition to racial prejudice and had close ties with Howard University. It had a capacity of 2,000. [BW2:281; CoO197; SYH126]
  • Martha Root handled the newspaper publicity for the conference and 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent a message to it via Mountfort Mills. [SYH126]
  • Mabry and Sadie Oglesby and their daughter Bertha from Boston as well as Agnes Parsons and Louis Gregory were involved. Agnes Parsons, during her pilgrimage in 1920, was instructed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "I want you to arrange in Washington a convention for unity between the white and colored people."[SETPE1p141-145, BW2p281]
  • For details of the conference see the article by Louis Gregory entitled "Inter-racial Amity". [BW2:281-2]
  • See article The Bahá'í 'Race Amity' Movement and the Black Intelligentsia in Jim Crow America:Alain Locke and Robert Abbot by Christopher Buck [Bahá'í Studies Review, 17, pages 3-46, 2011] (includes a chronology of 29 Race Amity conferences organized in the United States between 1921 and 1935).
  • The Washington Bee (which, as part of its masthead, billed itself “Washington’s Best and Leading Negro Newspaper”) published the text of the entire speech on May 25, 1912, in an article headlined, “Abdue [ sic] Baha: Revolution in Religious Worship.”
  • Documentary: 'Abdu'l-Baha's Initiative on Race from 1921: Race Amity Conferences.
  • See the film Root of the Race Amiy Movement.
  • See the trailer for the film An American Story: Race Amity and the Other Tradition.
  • See the website for the National Centre for Race Amity.
  • Washington DC; United States Race (general); Race Amity; Race unity; Conferences, Race Amity; First conferences; Mabry Oglesby; Sadie Oglesby; Agnes Parsons; Louis Gregory; Martha Root; Mountfort Mills
    1921 9 Jul Mírzá Asadu'lláh Fádil-i-Mázandarání left the United States for the Holy Land. [AB443footnote] United States; BWC Mirza Asadullah Fadil-i-Mazandarani
    1921. Fall 1921 - Spring 1922 Louis Gregory set out on his teaching trip that was described as "one of the most brilliant Baha'i Teaching Tours we have ever been privileged to have in they country". [TMW122]

    He visited the following cities: Oberlin, OH; Cleveland, OH; Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, MH; St Paul, MN; Duluth, MN; Lincoln, NE; Omaha, NE; Denver, CO; Pueblo, CO; Salt Lake City, UT; Butte, MT; Helena, MT; Spokane, WA; Seattle, WA; Vancouver, BC; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; Berkley, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City, OK; Tulsa, OK; Topeka, KS; Kansas City, MO; St Louis, MO; Springfield, IL; Urbana, IL

  • The following Spring Louis Gregory was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly which precluded such long tours although he did continue his shorter trips to the South. [TMW122]
  • United States Louis Gregory; Teaching
    1921 5-6 Dec The second Convention for Amity between the White and Coloured Races was held in Springfield, Massachusetts. [BW2:282; SBR92; SYH113-114, 126]
  • Over a thousand people attended. [SW13, 3:51]
  • For a report of the convention see SW13, 3:51-5, 601.
  • For a photograph see SW13, 3:50.
  • Springfield; Massachusetts; United States Race (general); Race amity; Race unity; Conferences, Race amity
    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 9 Jan William H. Hoar, Disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá, passed away in Fanwood, New Jersey. [SW12, 19:310]
  • For his obituary see SW12, 19:310-12.
  • Fanwood; New Jersey; United States William Hoar; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; In Memoriam; Births and deaths
    1922 16 Jan The Greatest Holy Leaf cabled the United States with the news that Shoghi Effendi had been appointed Guardian. [PP48] BWC; United States Bahiyyih Khanum (Greatest Holy Leaf); Guardianship; Shoghi Effendi, Life of; Shoghi Effendi, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, expanded
    1922 19 Feb Helen Goodall, Disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá, passed away in San Francisco. [SEBW33]
  • See SEBW21-33 for details of her life.
  • San Francisco; United States Helen Goodall; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; In Memoriam
    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
    1922 Apr Shoghi Effendi sent verbal messages through Consul Schwarz to Germany and Ethel Rosenberg to Britain to form local spiritual assemblies and to arrange for the election of a national spiritual assembly in each country. [CB293; ER209, 211-12; PP56] Germany; United Kingdom; United States; Canada Shoghi Effendi, Life of; Consuls; Albert Schwarz; Ethel Rosenberg; National Spiritual Assemblies; Local Spiritual Assemblies; Spiritual Assemblies; Executive Board
    1922 Apr To the United States and Canada Shoghi Effendi sent a message to transform the 'Executive Board' into a legislative institution. [CB293; CT160; ER211-12; PP56]
  • It had been functioning since 1909 concerned mostly with the construction of the Bahá'í House of Worship.
  • This year the elected members of the Executive Board Bahá'í Temple Unity were: Mountfort Mills. Annie L. Parmerton. Bernard M. Jacobsen. Arthur S. Agnew. Corinne True. William H. Hoar. Joseph H. Hannen. Roy C. Wilhelm.
  • He addressed his first letter to this body as the "National Spiritual Assembly of the United States" on December 23rd however in God Passes By pg333 he stated that the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States was not formed until 1925. [SETPE1p107, CT160, CoB293]
  • Chicago; United States Executive Board; Bahai Temple Unity; National Spiritual Assemblies; Spiritual Assemblies; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Shoghi Effendi, Life of
    1922 25 Apr A National Spiritual Assembly was elected in the United States to replace the Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity. [SBR94]
  • The difference between this body and its forerunner was little more than a change in name. [DP122]
  • The conversion of the Bahá'í Temple Unity into the National Spiritual Assembly took four years; it was not until 1925 that Shoghi Effendi recognized the American national body as a National Spiritual Assembly. [CT161; DP121-2; GPB333]
  • The election procedure followed that used in the United States and not the current Bahá'í procedure: there was electioneering and candidates were nominated, with a straw poll taken to trim the number of eligible candidates. [CT160; DP122]
  • Chicago; United States National Spiritual Assembly, formation; Spiritual Assemblies; Executive Board; Bahai Temple Unity; Elections; Shoghi Effendi, Life of
    1922 9 Jul Bahá'ís gathered in the Foundation Hall of the Chicago House of Worship for the first time, to commemorate the martyrdom of the Báb. [CT158-9; SW13, 6:132]
  • Regular meetings were not held here until 1927. [CT158-9]
  • Wilmette; United States Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship)
    1923 Feb Shoghi Effendi sent his early translation of The Hidden Words to America. [PP205] BWC; United States Shoghi Effendi, Life of; Shoghi Effendi, Translations by; Translation; Kalimat-i-Maknunih (Hidden Words); Shoghi Effendi, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Shoghi Effendi, Works of
    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 28 Jan Isabella Brittingham, Disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá, passed away at the Revell home in Philadelphia. [SEBW138]
  • For her life see SEBW131-8.
  • Philadelphia; United States Isabella Brittingham; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; In Memoriam
    1924 18 Jul American Vice-Consul Major Robert Imbrie was murdered in Tihrán for being a Bahá'í, which he was not, straining relations between the Persian and American governments. When Washington threatened to sever diplomatic relations, Persia arrested some two hundred mullás, formally apologized to the United States and accepted Washington’s terms for full reparations. [BBR462-5; BW18:388, [AY277-279]
  • For a picture of the floral tribute sent to his funeral by the Bahá'ís of Persia and America see BW1:100.
  • Tihran; Iran; United States Major Robert Imbrie; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Deaths; Persecution
    1924. 22 - 23 Oct The fourth Race Amity Convention was held in Philadelphia. Because there were few Bahá'ís in the city at that time it required assistance from other communities. Roy Williams played a key role as he had in Springfield. Louis Gregory spent one month writing articles for the newspapers, speaking and serving in other ways.

    The first session was attended by some 600 people, and, thanks to the excellent press coverage, 900 were present the second day.

    The following day, on the 24th of October, the Bahá'í supported a Conference on Inter-racial Justice organized by the Quakers. Followup meetings were held on the 25th and the 26th of October. [SYD147-149]

    Philadelphia; United States Race Amity; Roy Williams; Louis Gregory
    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) At the suggestion of Horace Holley a Bahá'í yearbook was published under the name Bahá'í Year Book and subsequent editions were called The Bahá'í World, A Biennial International Record. Although it was published by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, Shoghi Effendi was the editor-in-chief. Volume 13 (1954-1963) saw publication shift to the Bahá'í World Centre and in 1992 the format changed. The last year of publication was 2006. [PP209-212, SETPE1p107] United States; BWC Bahai World volumes; Publications; Shoghi Effendi, Writings of; Shoghi Effendi, Works of
    1925 Jan The American Bahá’ís published Shoghi Effendi’s revised Hidden Words. [ER255]
  • Another translation was made in 1926–7. [ER254; GT55–8]
  • United States Shoghi Effendi, Translations by; Translation; Kalimat-i-Maknunih (Hidden Words); Publications; Shoghi Effendi, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Shoghi Effendi, Works of
    1925. 20- 22 Mar The Palace Hotel, the city's first premier luxury hotel, was the site for the first World Unity Conference in San Francisco. The three day event was organized by Leroy Ioas, Ella Goodall Cooper and Kathryn Frankland in cooperation with Rabbi Rudolph Coffee. Dr. David Starr Jordan, founding president of Stanford University, served as the honorary chairman of the conference. Those who addressed the conference were Rabbi Coffee and Dr. Jordan but also the senior priest of the Catholic Cathedral, a professor of religion, a Protestant minister of a large African-American congregation, distinguished academics, and a foreign diplomat. The last one to address the conference was the Persian Bahá’í scholar, Mírzá Asadu’llah Fádil Mázandarání, the only Bahá’í on the program.
  • Ioas provided the National Spiritual Assembly with a report, and he suggested that similar World Unity Conferences be held in other communities. The National Assembly enthusiastically agreed and established a three-person committee, including two of its officers, to assist other localities in their efforts to hold conferences. The committee members were Horace Holley, Florence Reed Morton, and Mary Rumsey Movius. World Unity Conferences were organized for Green Acre-August, Philadelphia-September, Cleveland-October and Chicago in November.

    During 1926 and into 1927, eighteen communities held World Unity Conferences using the San Francisco model. These included Worcester, Massachusetts; New York, New York Oct 10-12; Montreal, Canada; Cleveland, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Hartford, Connecticut; New Haven, Connecticut; Chicago, Illinois; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Buffalo, New York. [BN No 12 Jun-Jul 1926 p6-7; The Cause of Universal Peace: 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Enduring Impact by Kathryn Jewett Hogenson; LI45-49; BN No 20 Nov 1927 p5]

  • See BA117 for Shoghi Effendi's comments and recommendations.
  • San Francisco; California; United States Conferences, Race amity; Conferences, World unity; Leroy Ioas; Ella Goodall Cooper; Kathryn Frankland
    1925 There were 43 local spiritual assemblies in North America by this date. [BBRSM121] North America; United States Local Spiritual Assembly; Statistics
    1925 10 Apr Shoghi Effendi wrote to the American National Spiritual Assembly indicating that the word ‘assembly’ was to apply only to the elected body of nine believers in each locality or to the national assembly, not to the believers as a whole. They had been using the term to mean the community of Bahá'ís. [BA83; SBBH258] United States Administration; National Spiritual Assemblies; Local Spiritual Assemblies; Spiritual Assemblies
    1925 Dec A Plan of Unified Action to Spread the Bahá'í Cause Throughout the United States and Canada January 1, 1926-December 31, 1928 was formulated by The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada in response to Shoghi Effendi's message to the annual National Convention. [BA86-89]
  • It can be found at [Plan] The goals were (1) to unify the American Bahá'í community's efforts, (2) to increase the number of Bahá'ís, (3) to "penetrate the consciousness of the public with the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh", and (4) to raise $400,000 so that the construction of the first unit of the Temple's superstructure could begin. [SBBR14p160, BFA1p110]
  • This was the first of two Plans developed by the North American National Assembly in the years from 1926 to 1934 the second being "A New Plan of Unified Action To complete the Bahá'í Temple and promote the Cause in America (1931-1934)". [SBBR14p155-197]
  • The above two plans were the first to have the expansion and development of the Bahá'í community as a primary goal and it is likely that they provided the model for other plans organized by Shoghi Effendi and other National Assemblies. [SBBR14p155]
  • The first Plan of Unified Action indicates the ascendancy of those Bahá'ís who supported a centralizing authority over those who wanted a more amorphous system or no organization at all.[BiW177-8]
    • For an essay on this subject see "Some Aspects of the Establishment of the Guardianship" by Dr Loni Bramson-Lerche in SBBR5p253-293
  • During the years of these two plans the National Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada developed practices commonly used in subsequent plans, organized propagation, a central budget and the modern form of the Nineteen Day Feast. [SBBR14p160]
  • United States; Canada Teaching Plans; Teaching Plans, National
    1926 (In the year) Green Acre came under the direct supervision of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada. [GAP118]
  • Canadian Bahá'is played a significant role in redeeming the debts of Green Acre to prepare for its transference to trustees for the benefit of the National Spiritual Assembly. It became the first Bahá'í School to be legally placed under Bahá'í administrative authority in North America. [CBN 82 November, 1956 p2]
  • Eliot; Maine; United States; Canada Green Acre; National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada
    1926 (In the year) The Bahá’í World was first published. [BW1:4; GT77; PP209; SBR232; BWNS1289]
  • The first edition, April 1925 to April 1926, was called The Bahá’í Yearbook.
  • For Shoghi Effendi’s impression of it see UD82–4.
  • This marked a new stage in the capacity of the Bahá'í community to provide reports and statistics, capture experience from diverse countries, and disseminate important insights and analyses. Each edition covered the progress of the international Bahá'í community over a defined period.
  • United States Bahai World volumes; First publications; Publications; - Periodicals; BWNS
    1926 Jan Orcella Rexford and her husband Dr Gayne Gregory (the first to accept the Faith in Alaska) went to Haifa on pilgrimage and were technically the first from Alaska to do so. They were in the process of moving from Alaska to the Continental USA. [SETPE1p112-113 ]
  • See BW11p495-498 for for details of the life of Orella Rexford.
  • Haifa; Alaska; United States First Bahais by country or area; Orcella Rexford
    1926. 7 Feb Carter G. Woodson, author, historian and professor, (1875-1950), initiated the first celebration of Negro History Week which led to Black History Month, to extend and deepen the study and scholarship on African American history, all year long. [Zinn Education Project] Washington DC; United States Carter G. Woodson; Black History Month
    1926 Ridván The National Convention was held at the Hotel Whitcomb on Market Street in San Francisco. Because of the difficulty and expense of travel, only 32 of the 93 delegates attended in person. Those elected to the National Assembly were: Horace Holley, Montfort Mills, Florence Morton, Siegried Schopflocher, Roy Wilhelm, Amelia Collins, Allen McDaniels, Carl Scheffler, and Ali Kuli Khan. [BN No 12 June-July 1926 p3] San Francisco; United States National Convention; National Spiritual Assembly, election of; Horace Holley; Montfort Mills; Florence Morton; Siegried Schopflocher; Roy Wilhelm; Amelia Collins; Allen McDaniel; Carl Scheffler; Ali Kuli Khan
    1926 4 May Queen Marie of Romania wrote three articles as a testimonial to the Bahá’í Faith for a syndicated series entitled ‘Queen’s Counsel’, which appeared in over 200 newspapers in the United States and Canada. [BBR61, HEC57-58, MR245, BW2p174-6]
  • For text of the articles see BBR60–1.
  • For Shoghi Effendi’s response see BA110–13 and UD56–8.
  • United States; Romania Queen Marie of Romania; Newspaper articles
    1926 12 Jul (Or 16 Jul) The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada made representations to the Iranian government concerning the martyrdoms in Jahrum and asking the Sháh to intervene on behalf of the oppressed Bahá’ís. They included in their submission a list of all the places in North America were Bahá'ís resided. [BBR469; BW2:287]
  • For text of the petition see BW2:287–300.
  • On the 31st of July the submission that had been reprinted in booklet form was sent to some 300 newspapers. Copies were also sent to the local spiritual assemblies with instructions to deliver them to all Bahá'ís and friends of the Faith. [BN No 12 June - July 1926 p1]
  • United States; Jahrum; Iran National Spiritual Assembly; Petitions; Persecution, Iran; Persecution; Human rights
    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
    1926 26 Dec Howard MacNutt, Disciple of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, (b. 13 July, 1858 in Philadelphia) passed away in Florida after being struck by a motorcycle while walking to a meeting in a "Coloured" area. [Bahaipedia]
  • He died as a result of injuries sustained from a collision with a motorcycle while walking to a meeting in the Coloured section of the city. There was speculation that the traffic mishap was not accidental. See the newspaper article written by Beatrice Cannnady.
  • See AY321-323 for an account of his death and his funeral.
  • He had lost his beloved wife Mary about one month earlier. He had been a student of Ibrahim George Kheiralla in New York and became a Bahá'í in 1898. He had learned both Persian and Arabic to better understand the Writings. Howard MacNutt was elected to the Bahá’í Board of Counsel for New York when it was established on December 7th 1900 and served on the body for many years. [SEBW42]
  • In 1905 Howard and his wife went on pilgrimage and attended a Nineteen Day Feast held by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who encouraged him to establish the practice in America. MacNutt consulted with the New York Board of Counsel after returning and a Feast was held in New York on May 23, 1905.
  • Howard wrote a booklet consisting of what he learned while on Pilgrimage titled Unity Through Love.
  • MacNutt also edited Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl's Bahá'í Proofs before it was first published in 1902 and revised Ali Kuli Khan's manuscript translation of the Kitáb-i-Íqán for publication in 1904.
  • He held a belief that `Abdu'l-Bahá had no extraordinary spiritual station and he did not regard Him as being different in Spirit from other men, that through works and service and overcoming all He attained to His station. This opinion resulted in MacNutt failing to appreciate the Bahá'í teaching that Covenant-breaking is a spiritual disease. When `Abdu'l-Bahá came to the United States in 1912 He assigned to MacNutt the task of meeting with a group of potential Covenant-breakers in Chicago and warning them. He also ordered MacNutt to break all communication with Ibrahim Kheiralla and other Covenant-breakers. When MacNutt failed to do as directed, `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, which he did on 18 November 1912. The matter was not resolved; `Abdu'l-Bahá cabled Ali Kuli Khan on 16 April 1913, "MACNUTT REPENTED FROM VIOLATION OF COVENANT BUT WAS NOT AWAKENED." After several months of correspondence between MacNutt and `Abdu'l-Bahá via Ali Kuli Khan, MacNutt satisfied `Abdu'l-Bahá that he had come to understand and had repented for his earlier errors. Even though `Abdu'l-Bahá recognized MacNutt as a Bahá'í his reputation in the Bahá'í community remained tarnished. To redeem himself he took on the task of compiling `Abdu'l-Bahá's talks in the United States and Canada and editing them. It was published as The Promulgation of Universal Peace, the name chosen by 'Abdu'l-Bahá himself, in 1922. MacNutt's preface contains a long and important statement about `Abdu'l-Bahá's station. His redemption was complete. [PUPxx]
  • See his "A Statement of Belief" written January 4, 1926 and published in Star of the West Vol 16 No 11 February 1926.
  • His obituary was published in Star of the West Vol 17 No 10 January 1927 p301.
  • For further details of his life and his brush with Covenant-breaking see SEBW35–42.
  • Also see "In Memoriam: Arthur Pillsbury Dodge, 1849-1915", SoW, Vol. 6, No. 19 (2 March 1916) p165 as well as BFA1p125, 168-17, DJT369-372, AOY111-133 and FMH35.
  • See BW2p218 for a photo.
  • HIs crowning achievement was the publication of The Promulgation of Universal Peace (1922) which was a compilation of the public talks given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá while in America.
  • See Bahaipedia.
  • He was posthumously appointed as a Disciple of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
  • Dade City; Pasco County; Florida; United States Howard MacNutt; Disciples of Abdul-Baha; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Promulgation of Universal Peace
    1927 8 Jan The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada appointed seven people to a National Race Unity Committee. [SBR94; TMW166]
  • For the functions and challenges faced by the committee see TMW165–72.
  • United States; Canada National Spiritual Assembly; Race (general); Race Unity; Race Amity
    1927 13–16 Jan A World Unity Conference was held in Dayton, Ohio, one of many such conferences to be held in the year in major cities of the United States. [TMW159, 165]
  • See also The Babi and Bahá'í Religions: An Annotated Bibliography, section 'conference listing'.
  • Dayton; Ohio; United States Conferences, Unity
    1927 8 - 10 Apr The second conference for racial amity in Washington was held at the Mt Pleasant Congregational Church with the cooperation and participation of other like-minded groups and persons. [BW2p284]
  • Members of the Race Amity committee were Louis Gregory; Agnes Parsons, Sia Baghdad, Alain Locke and Pauline Hannen. [SYH146]
  • Other conferences were held inNew York state, in Portsmouth, NewHampshire, with monthly amity meetings in Boston and a second one in Washington in November. [SYH146]
  • Washington DC; United States Race (general); Race Amity; Race unity; Conferences, Race Amity
    1927 29 Apr - 1 May The third National Convention of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada was held at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal, the hotel where 'Abdu'l-Bahá stayed during His visit in 1912. [Bahá'í News No. 17 April, 1927]
  • It was attended by 32 of the 95 elected delegates, others voting "by wire".
  • Those elected to the National Spiritual Assembly were: Allen McDaniel, chairman; Roy C. Wilhelm, vice-chairman; Horace Holley, secretary; Carl Scheffler, treasurer: Mesdames Florence R. Moron, May Maxwell and Amelia Collins, Messrs. Alfred E. Lunt and Louis G. Gregory. This reference contains a very complete report of the Convention including letters from the Guardian. [BN No 18 June 1927 p2-9]
  • See FMH41-42.
  • A major subject of which was race relations. Edwina Powell spoke on the subject, as she had been asked by Shoghi Effendi. In her address, Sadie Oglesby recalled her conversations with Shoghi Effendi on the subject of race. [TMW178–80]
  • Montreal; Quebec; Canada; United States Conventions, National; Allen McDaniel; Roy C. Wilhelm; Horace Holley; Carl Scheffler; Florence R. Moron; May Maxwell (Bolles); Amelia Collins; Alfred Lunt; Louis Gregory; Edwina Powell; Sadie Oglesby
    1927 May The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada drew up and published a ‘Declaration of Trust’ and ‘By-laws of the National Spiritual Assembly’. [BW2:89, BW10:180]
  • For text see BW2:90–8.
  • The Guardian described it as the Bahá’í ‘national constitution’ heralding ‘the formation of the constitution of the future Bahá’í World Community’. [GPB335; PP302–3]
  • The drafting was largely the work of Horace Holley with assistance from the lawyer Mountfort Mills. [SBR234]
  • In subsequent years the National Assemblies of India and Burma, of Egypt, Iraq, Persian and the British Isles all adopted this example almost verbatim. [UD101, BA134-5, SETPE1p145-6]
  • United States; Canada National Spiritual Assembly; Horace Holley; Mountfort Mills; Constitutions; By-laws; Recognition; Firsts, Other
    1927 1 Aug Geyserville Bahá’í Summer School, the first American Bahá’í summer school, was established on property in California donated by John Bosch. It was to operate until 1973 when a new road project divided the property. The land was sold and the funds used to purchase land in the mountains above the coastal town of Santa Cruz. The new school was named In honour of John and Louise Bosch. [BBD87; BW10:180; GPB340, Bosch]
  • BW5:28–9 says this was the second Bahá’í summer school in America but Shoghi Effendi indicates in GPB340 that Green Acre is formally established as a Bahá’í summer school in 1929.
  • Geyserville; California; United States Summer schools; First summer and winter schools; John Bosch; Green Acre
    1927 Oct Shoghi Effendi entrusted Dr William Slater and his wife Ida Slater, who were visiting Haifa on a 19-day pilgrimage, with carpets from the Shrines of the Báb and 'Abdu'l-Bahá for the House of Worship in Chicago. [SETPE1p149] Haifa; Wilmette; United States William Slater; Ida Slater; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Bab, Shrine of; Carpets; Gifts; Shoghi Effendi, Life of
    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
    1927 10 - 11 Nov The third convention for amity in inter-racial relations in Washington was held in the Mt. Pleasant Congregational Church. [BW2p285; SYH146] Washington DC; United States Race (general); Race Amity; Race unity; Conferences, Race Amity
    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 26–30 Apr The National Convention of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada was held in the Foundation Hall of the House of Worship for the first time. [BW2:180; CT167; BN No 24 June 1928]
  • Elected were Allen Mc Daniel (chair), Alfred Lunt (vice-chair), Horace Holley (secretary), Carl Scheffler (treasurer), Roy Wilhelm, May Maxwell, Louis Gregory, Amelia Collins, and Nellie French. [USBN No 26 September, 1928]
  • See BW2:180 for a picture.
  • See FMH53-54]
  • Wilmette; Chicago; United States Conventions, National; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Firsts, Other; Allen McDaniel; Alfred Lunt; Horace Holley; Carl Scheffler; Roy Wilhelm; May Maxwell (Bolles); Louis Gregory; Amelia Collins; Nellie French
    1928 27 Aug The word ‘Bahá’í’ was registered with the United States Patent Office as a trademark. [BW6:348] United States United States Patent Office; Copyright and trademarks
    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 16 Mar In December of 1925 the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of United States and Canada adopted the "Unified Plan of Action" and among the resolutions was to raise some $400,000 over the following three years to construct the first unit of the superstructure of the Temple. By the end of 1926 only $51,000 had been collected and the following year was just as disappointing. At the National Convention in 1928 Fred Schopflocher's donation of $25,000 inspired contributions and the Fund rose to about $87,000 by March 1929. On this day Fred and Lorol Schopflocher contributed a further $100,000. [LoF388-389, SETPE1p162-163]
  • See May 1937 for another contribution of $100,000 from the Schopflochers.
  • Montreal; Canada; Wilmette; United States Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Fred Schopflocher; Lorol Schopflocher; Unified Plan of Action; Funds
    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
    1929 May The American National Spiritual Assembly incorporated as a voluntary Trust. [BBRSM122; GPB335]
  • This enabled the National Spiritual Assembly to hold property, to receive bequests and to enter into contracts. [BBRSM122; GPB335–6]
  • United States National Spiritual Assembly; Voluntary Trust
    1929 12 Aug Green Acre became a fully fledged Bahá’í summer school when the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada obtained legal title to the property. [BBD91; GAP118; GPB340; SBBH126, Green Acre] Eliot; Maine; United States Summer schools; Green Acre
    1929 14 Sep The Green Acre Trustees were appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada. [GAP118] Eliot; Maine; United States Trustees; Green Acre
    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 Apr A ceremony was held at the American annual convention in dedication of the resumption of the building activities on the Wilmette Temple. [BBRSM183; BW3:47]
  • Shoghi Effendi’s gift to the Temple was ‘the most valuable sacred possession in the Holy Land’ a ‘precious ornament of the Tomb of Bahá’u’lláh’, an exquisite Persian carpet. [BA180–1; BW4:208–12]
      The carpet, one of the most exquisite pieces ever woven in Persia, was made in Khurásán in about 1900-1905. It had been donated to by Díyá'ulláh Asgharzádih as a gift to Àbdu'l-Bahá Who immediately placed it in the Shrine of Bahjí. [BW4p208-210]
  • Wilmette; United States Conventions, National; Bahaullah, Shrine of; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Gifts; Carpets
    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. 19 Aug Jean-Baptiste Louis Bourgeois, (b. 19 March 1856, Staint-Célestin de Nicolet, QC. d. Wilmette, IL), the architect of the first Bahá’i Temple of Worship in America, passed away. He was buried in East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento, California.[Find a Grave]

    He, like Sutherland Maxwell and Mason Remey, had studied at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. These three and four others submitted designs for the Wilmette Temple for consideration. Other buildings designed by Louis Bourgeois include the Chicago Tribune Building, Evergreen Cabin in Englewood NJ where 'Abdu'l-Bahá hosted a Unity Feast, the Savoy Hotel in Chicago.

    He became a Bahá'í in New York sometime during the winter of 1906. In April of 1909 the National Spiritual Assembly called for design proposals for the first Bahá'í Hours of Worship in the West and he submitted is design proposal in October. It was finally accepted at the National Convention in 1920. [DP76-100]

    Staint-Célestin de Nicolet, QC; Wilmette; Sacrmento, CA; United States In Memoriam; Louis Bourgeois; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette
    1930 20 Aug Louis Jean-Baptiste Bourgeois, (19 March, 1856, Saint-Célestin, Quebec, Canada) designer of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Wilmette, passed away in that city. He was buried in East Lawn Memorial Park Sacramento, Sacramento County, California, USA [DP145; Find a grave]
  • He had learned of the Faith in Boston through the efforts of Mary Hanford Ford. [Wikipedia]
  • For details of his life see DP76–86.
  • Saint-Celestin-de-Nicolet; Quebec; Wilmette; Boston; United States Louis Bourgeois; Architects; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Mary Hanford Ford
    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. 15 Jan Flames swept through the dome of Bahá'í House of Worship which was nearing completion. Damage was estimated at $50,000. The loss due to the fire was covered by insurance and as a "blessing in disguise" because the Faith receive a great deal of publicity as a result of the incident. [Tribune Archive Photo / Chicago Tribune, Sept. 18, 2014]
  • See the report in BN No 48 February 1931 p5.
  • Wilmette; United States Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship)
    1931 May A permanent summer school is established at Louhelen Ranch near Davison, Michigan. [BW10:181; GPB340] Davison; Michigan; United States Summer schools
    1931 1 May The superstructure of the Wilmette House of Worship was completed and turned over by the Fuller Company at the opening of the National Convention, nineteen years after the day on which the Master had blessed the undertaking. It was then dedicated. [BW10:180; DP:156–7; SBBH1:145] Wilmette; United States Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship)
    1931 May The passing of Mrs Claudia Coles in London. (b. 1863 or 1866 in Charleston, South Carolina). She accepted the Faith in Washington DC and moved to London in 1920. She was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles many times and often served as secretary. [BW4264-265]
  • See tribute from Shoghi Effendi.
  • See Portraits of Some Bahá’í Women by O.Z. Whitehead, GR, Oxford, 1996 pages 29-48.
  • Washington DC; United States; London; United Kingdom Claudia Coles; In Memoriam
    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
    1932 17 Feb The Chicago Bahá’í Assembly incorporated, the first local spiritual assembly in the world to do so. This set the pattern for other Assemblies. [GPB336, Century of LIght p57] Chicago; United States Local Spiritual Assembly; Incorporation; Recognition; Firsts, Other
    1932 27 Feb Race Amity gatherings became an effective way promote the principle of racial equality. A number pf banquets were held and at one such gathering held in Los Angeles, the circle of racial amity activities was widened to include not only white and coloured but also Native Americans, as well as Chinese and Japanese. At the banquet dinner, Nellie French represented the National Assembly and Chief Luther Standing Bear, who attended in full regalia with a number of his tribesmen, offered a prayer and spoke of peace as a covenant among all races. A Native American tribal dance followed as part of the programme. [Louis Gregory, ‘Racial Amity in America: An Historical Review’, in BW7p652-666.] Los Angeles; California; United States Race (general); Race Amity; Race unity; Conferences, Race Amity; Native Americans; Chinese diaspora; Japanese diaspora
    1932 10 Jun The American National Spiritual Assembly addresseed a petition to the Sháh of Iran requesting that the ban on Bahá’í literature be removed and asking that its representative, Mrs Keith Ransom-Kehler, be recognized to present in person the appeal. [BW5:390–1] United States; Iran National Spiritual Assembly; Petitions; Reza Shah Pahlavi; Shahs; Keith Ransom-Kehler; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Bans; Persecution
    1932 15 Aug Keith Ransom-Kehler met the Iranian Court Minister Taymur Tash. [BW5:392]
  • She presented the American petition to him asking that the ban on Bahá’í literature in Iran be lifted and received assurances from him that this would be affected. [BW5:392; PH46]
  • She made seven successive petitions addressed to the Sháh of Persia. [GPB345]
  • For the history and unsuccessful outcome of this effort see BW5:391–8.
  • Iran; United States Keith Ransom-Kehler; National Spiritual Assembly; Petitions; Reza Shah Pahlavi; Shahs; Keith Ransom-Kehler; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Bans; Persecution
    1934 23 Jan Agnes S. Parsons died after an automobile accident. [BW5:410; SBR96; BN No 82 April 1934 p4]
  • She is primarily remembered for her contribution to the cause of race unity in North America. [BW5:413]
  • For her obituary see BW5:410–14.
  • See also Diary of Agnes Parsons; SBR76–96.
  • See as well FMH47-49 for the story of how she came to accept the Cause through three supernatural signs during her pilgrimage in 1910.
  • Washington DC; United States Agnes Parsons; Race (general); Unity; In Memoriam
    1934 28 Aug Mishkín-Qalam’s calligraphic rendering of the Greatest Name was registered as a trademark with the United States patent office. [BW6:350] United States Mishkin-Qalam; Greatest Name; United States patent office; Copyright and trademarks
    1935 Mar World Order magazine was founded. [SBR236; BWNS1289]
  • The publication included essays, poems, personal recollections, and historical pieces. The periodical brought together into one volume works by scholars, poets, artists, and practitioners from various fields of endeavour. The first volume also included excerpts from a letter by Shoghi Effendi titled "The Goal of a New World Order."
  • There was a break in publication from 1949 to 1966. [Bahá'í Works]
  • PDFs of most volumes are available for downloading from the Bahá'í Works website.
  • United States World Order magazine; - Periodicals; First publications; Publications; BWNS
    1935 Jul The Archives Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada made an appeal to collect all of the Tablets sent by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to those western believers who had been designated Disciples of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Shoghi Effendi.
  • The Disciples were:

    Dr. J. E. Esslemont, Mr; Thornton Chase, Mr. Howard MacNutt, Miss Sarah Farmer, M. Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney, Miss Lillian Kappes‘, Mr. Robert Turner, Dr. Arthur Brauns Mr. W. H. Randall, Mrs. Lua M. Getzinger, Mr. Joseph Hannen Mr. C. I. Thacher, Mr. Charles Greenleaf, Mrs. J. D. Brittingham, Mrs. Thornburgh, Mrs. Helen S. Goodall, Mr. Arthur P. Dodge, Mr. William H. Hoar, Dr. J. G. Augur. [BW3p84]

  • United States Disciples of Abdul-Baha
    1935 Oct Shoghi Effendi wrote to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada stating that the laws of fasting, obligatory prayer, the consent of parents before marriage, the avoidance of alcoholic drinks and monogamy should be regarded as universally applicable and binding. [CB313] United States; Canada Laws; Gradual implementation of laws; Kitab-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book); - Basic timeline, Expanded; Obligatory Prayer
    1935. 24 Nov The passing of Dr. Howard Luxmoore Carpenter (b. 1906, d. 24 November 1935). He was buried at the Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito, California. [Find a grave]
  • A graduate of the Stanford Medical School in 1932.
  • He married Mardiyyih Nabil (later Marzieh Gail) in 1929, and in 1932 he and his wife left San Francisco for Vienna, where he took a medical course, and afterward at the Guardian’s direction traveled through Central Europe and the Balkans. With Martha Root in Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade, he then spent five weeks in Sofia, Bulgaria, assisting Miss Marion Jack, after which he stopped briefly in Saloniki and went on to Tirana, Albania, to visit Refo Chapary. He then left for Haifa, where he stayed three weeks on his way to Tihran.
  • In Iran, notwithstanding the efforts of the Assembly, he was prevented for more than one year from obtaining a medical license. His health failed, and he was bedridden for many months. At last his physical condition improved, he resumed activities as a member of the Unity of the East and West Committee, and the authorities granted him a license to practise medicine. At this time he was stricken with paralysis. He lay seven months in a hospital, after which Mr. and Mrs. Rahmat ‘Alá’í invited him to their home, surrounding him with the same loving care which they had given Keith Ransom-Kehler the year before. His doctors advised a return to the United States as his only hope for recovery; he braved the long journey across the desert by motor, the presence of the 'Ala’is, who escorted him to Haifa, helping him to survive it.
  • After nine days in Haifa, during which the Guardian visited him daily, he took a ship for New York where he was greeted by the National Spiritual Assembly, and then left by way of the Panama Canal for San Francisco. Here he had recourse to the best medical authorities, but was pronounced incurable. He passed away November 24, 1935 . He is buried at Sunset Memorial Park in Berkeley. The Bahá’í service held for him was conducted by Leroy Ioas of San Francisco; Bahá’ís of Berkeley, Oakland, Geyserville, San Francisco and Santa Paula were present, and the words of Bahá’u’lláh on immortality radiated such power as to efface all thought of death. [BW6 p491-493]
  • See Shoghi Effendi's tribute to him where he said:
      Next to the late Mrs. Ransom-Kehler he may, indeed, be well considered as the foremost American believer who has, in the last few years, been assisted in rendering invaluable help to the Persian believers in their efforts for the establishment of the Administration in their country… . ["Uncompiled Published Letters"]
  • Berkely; United States; Budapest; Hungary; Belgrade; Serbia; Sofia; Bulgaria; Tirana; Albania; Tihran; Iran In Memoriam; Howard Carpenter; Marzieh Gail; Marion Jack; Marion Jack; Refo Chapary; Keith Ransom-Kehler; Rahmat Alai
    1936 (In the year) The Seven Valleys was published in revised translation by Ali Kuli Khan by the US Bahá'í Publishing Committee. A later revision by Khan and Marzieh Gail was published in 1945. [BEL1.113; About the Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys; BEL1.114]
  • In 1968 the US Bahá'í Publishing Trust bundled it with another allegorical treaties that was revealed in the late Baghdad period, under the title The Seven Valleys And the Four Valleys. It had several reprints until 1984. [BEL1.114, 1.115, 1.116, 1.117]
  • These two works were part of the publication Call of the Divine Beloved published in 2019. .
  • United States Haft Vadi (Seven Valleys); Chahar Vadi (Four Valleys); Ali Kuli Khan; Marzieh Gail; Call of the Divine Beloved (book)
    1936 Jul Following on the success of the initial Race Amity conferences in Washington, DC, the National Spiritual Assembly formed a racial amity committee. For a list of the committees complete with membership from 1921 until 1932 see The Bahá'í 'Race Amity' Movement and the Black Intelligentsia in Jim Crow America: Alain Locke and Robert Abbot by Christoper Buck. [Bahá'í Studies Review 17, 2011, 3–46]
  • In July, 1936 it was announced that "The National Spiritual Assembly had not appointed a Race Amity Committee that year. Its view was that race amity activities have sometimes resulted in emphasizing race differences rather than their unity and reconciliation within the Cause. Local Assemblies were requested to provide for amity meetings and regard them as a direct part of teaching." [TMW213]
  • United States Race (general); Race Amity; Race unity; Conferences, Race Amity; Unity; National Spiritual Assembly
    1936 1 Jul The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada appointed the first Inter-America Committee, beginning an organized and coordinated effort to establish the Faith in the Republics of Central and South America. [BW10:181] America National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada
    1937. 2 Feb The passing of Mary Hanford Finney Ford (b. 1 November, 1856, in Meadville, PA) in Clearwater, FL. She was buried at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, MI.
  • She was active in the sufferage movement throughout most of her life.
  • She found the Bahá'í Faith through Sarah Farmer, Green Acre, and Mirza Abu'l-Fadl, and helped form the first community of Bahá'ís in Boston where Louis Bourgeois, future architect of the first Bahá'í House of Worship in the West, then joined the religion.
  • In 1907 she went on pilgrimage where, it is said, 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave her access to teachings not universally given and to Tablets that were not to be copied. [FMH72]
  • In 1910 she published The Oriental Rose: The Teachings of Abdul Baha Which Trace the Chart of "The Shining Pathway"
  • She traveled with `Abdu'l-Bahá during some of his journeys in various places in Europe and then in America.
  • She published The World of Abdul Baha first in 1921 and then three subsequent printings.
  • In the latter part of her life she often traveled to Europe for some months of the year and during this period introduced the Faith to Ugo Giachery. [Wikipedia]
  • Find a grave.
  • Meadville PA; Clearwater FL; United States Mary Hanford Ford; In Memoriam
    1937. 11 Apr The passing of Dr. Zíá Bagdádí (b. February 9, 1882, Beirut, Lebanon) in Augusta, Georgia. He was buried in Westover Memorial Park, Augusta, Georgia.
  • Dr. Bagdádí attended the American University of Beirut and graduated as a physician. In September 1909, on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s advice, he moved to Chicago to further his medical studies and soon emerged as a pillar of the Chicago Bahá’í community. A major translator of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s tablets into English and the editor of the Persian pages of Star of the West, he accompanied ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on much of His North American travels in 1912. In the year 1929, Dr. Bagdádí wrote a book telling of his birthplace and travels in the Orient under the title, Treasures of the East. He wrote of his experiences in the presence of Bahá'u'lláh as a child.
  • He married Zeenat Khanum who was the daughter of Hasan Aqa Tabrizi, aunt of Ali Nakhjavani who went to the Holy Land to give information relating to the restoration of the house of ‘Abdu’llah Pasha. Zeenat’s sister was Fatimih Khanum (Ali Nakhjavani’s mother) who spent her youth in service to the Greatest Holy Leaf. These two sisters, when they were young girls in ‘Akka, nine and eleven years old, were accepted into the household of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. They were married in the first Bahá’í marriage in Montreal, Canada which took place on April 30, 1914. [Bahá'í Chronicles]
  • Augusta, Georgia; United States; Beirut; Lebanon; Montreal; Canada In Memoriam; Zia Bagdadi; Bagdadi family; Star of the West; Zeenat Khanum; Hasan Aqa Tabrizi; Fatimih Khanum; Ali Nakhjavani; House of Abdullah Pasha; American University of Beirut
    1937 Ridván The First Seven Year Plan (1937-1944) was launched in North America. [BBD180; BBRSM158; BW7:17–18; MA9, 11-12, 87]
  • The Guardian's Seven Year Plan for the American Bahá'ís
  • For the role of individuals, local spiritual assemblies and the National Spiritual Assembly see MA11–12.
  • The Plan called for:
    • the completion of the exterior of the Wilmette Temple. BW7:17–18; PP385]
    • the establishment of a local spiritual assembly in each state and province of the United States and Canada. [PP385]
    • the establishment of a centre in each of the republics of Latin America. [PP385]
  • United States; Canada Seven Year Plan, US and CA (1937-1944); Teaching Plans; Teaching Plans, National; LSA; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette
    1937 May Fred Schopflocher contributed and additional $100,000 (see 16 March, 1929) to the goal of $350,000 to complete the exterior ornamentation of the House of Worship. For his dedication to the construction the Guardian designated him as "Chief Temple Builder". [LoF 388-390, BW12p664] Wilmette; United States Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Fred Schopflocher; Funds
    1938. 27 Apr In a message addressed to the Thirtieth National Convention the Guardian announced:
      "As token my gratitude to such community entrusted beloved co-worker Mrs. Collins locks Bahá’u’lláh’s most precious hair arranged preserved by loving hands Greatest Holy Leaf to rest beneath dome of Temple nobly raised by dearly beloved believers in American continent." [BN Issue 116 June 1938 p1]
      "This is the Tablet read by Mrs. Thomas (Amelia) Collins in presenting at the Convention the Guardian's gift of locks of Bahá'u'lláh's Hair. The Tablet is shared with the believers with the Guardian's permission." [BN Issue 121 December 1938 p11] Though the translation had been approved by Shoghi Effendi, it was more recently (2001) sent to the Bahá'í World Center to verify its authenticity. The translation given here is an authorized translation from the BWC, approved for distribution. Translator not identified.
  • See also provisional translations of the remaining six Tablets of the Hair, that have been completed by Adib Masumian. There are a total of eleven Tablets of the Hair. [Adib Masumian's personal website]
  • Chicago, IL; United States Bahaullah, Writings of; Alvah-i-Shaarat (Tablets of the Hair); Amelia Collins; Conventions; Conventions, National; Gifts; Hair (general); Relics
    1938 1 May The National Convention was held in Chicago. Those elected to the National Spiritual Assembly were: Dorothy Baker, Allen McDaniel, Horace Holley, Roy Wilhelm, George Latimer, Seigfried Schopflocher, Amelia Collins, Harlan Ober, and Charles Ioas. [BN Issue 116 June 1938 p4]
  • Grace Roberts Ober, who had just given a report on a travel teaching trip to Louisville KY and on her work in Toronto where she had been the previous Fall, collapsed into the arms of the Convention chairman, Harlan Ober in view of the assembled delegates while ending her address. She was removed from the convention hall and passed away shortly thereafter. See TG75-76 and FMH273-274 for the background to this story.
  • Born in Thorold, ON of Sarah E. Wilson and the Rev Thomas Tempest Robarts, a cannon in the Anglican Church, Grace's life's work was that of a teacher.
  • During 'Abdu'l-Baha's tour of America she served as his household manager, going ahead to secure an apartment for him and acting as His housekeeper and hostess.
  • On July 17, 1912 she married Harlan Ober at 'Abdu'l-Bahá's suggestion. The legal marriage was conducted by Howard Colby Ives. [BW8p656-660]
  • Chicago; United States Grace Robarts Ober; In Memoriam; Dorothy Baker; Allen McDaniel; Horace Holley; Roy Wilhelm; George Latimer; Seigfried Schopflocher; Amelia Collins; Harlan Ober; Charles Ioas; National Convention; National Assembly, election of
    1939 22 Sep The State of Illinois issued the first Bahá’í marriage licence, authorizing the Spiritual Assembly of Chicago to solemnize Bahá’í marriages and issue Bahá’í marriage certificates. [GPB373] Illinois; United States Marriage; Weddings; Recognition; Firsts, Other
    1939 1 Oct The national Bahá’í office of the United States was established at 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, Illinois. [BW10:181]
  • Horace Holley, the full-time secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada, transfered his office from New York to the Hazíratu’l-Quds in Wilmette. [SBR238]
  • Wilmette; United States Horace Holley; Haziratul-Quds
    1939 25 Oct John Eichenauer, the first pioneer to El Salvador, arrived in San Salvador from Phoenix, Arizona.
  • He was just 17 years old, the youngest pioneer sent out in the First Seven Year Plan.
  • San Salvador; El Salvador; Phoenix; Arizona; United States John Eichenauer
    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
    1940 Sep William Sears, Hand of the Cause of God, became a Bahá’í in Salt Lake City, Utah. Salt Lake City; Utah; United States William Sears; Hands of the Cause
    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. 6 Aug The passing of Elizabeth Roemer Greenleaf (b. 1863) in Eliot Maine. She was buried at the Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum. [BW9p608]
  • She and her husband became active in the Chicago Bahá’í community after completing Kheiralla's class on the 5th of October, 1897.
  • She had a dream in which Kheiralla was represented as a white ram behaving destructively. After he returned from pilgrimage and began sowing seeds of discontent she and her husband were able to understand the meaning of the dream. [FMH50]
  • She served as secretary of the Chicago Bahá’í women’s organization in 1905. After the passing of her husband she began to travel extensively to lecture about the Bahá’í Faith. She also moved to various cities that needed Bahá’ís, remaining there until the community was strong enough for her to move again. In 1924 she was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada for one year. She went on pilgrimage in 1926, meeting Shoghi Effendi. He eulogized her as a “veteran and outstanding teacher” and described her qualities of “deep knowledge of the teachings, profound human sympathy, a heart which mirrored the Master’s love, and a winning sweetness and friendliness.” [The Greenleafs: An Eternal Reunion by Emeric Sala published in Bahá'í News, 510, pages 8-9, 23 1973-09]
  • Eliot; Maine; United States Elizabeth Greenleaf; In Memoriam
    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
    1942. 16 Jan The passing of Carole Lombard Gable (b. 6 October 1908 in Ft Wayne, IN) near Las Vegas. She was buried at the Forst Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. She was a second generation Bahá'í, her mother, Elizabeth Peters, had been brought into the Faith my Mrs Orol Platt. Carole, at the age of 14, wrote to 'Abdu'l-Bahá to ask for His permission to pursue a career in Hollywood. His Tablet came, praying for her success. She accepted the Faith in Los Angeles in about April of 1938. Her closest Bahá’í friend was the well-known teacher, Mrs. Beulah Storrs Lewis.
  • She became an icon of cinema, the American Film Institute named her one of the greatest American female screen legends.
  • She died in a plane crash while on a bond-selling tour. [Bahá'í Chronicles; Bahá'í Teachings; Bahá'í Arts Connection; BW9p635-637]
  • Images.
  • Her biography was entitled Carole Lombard: A Bio-Bibliography by Robert D. Matzen.
  • See documentary videos on You Tube, Carole Lombard (Part 1) and Carole Lombard (Part 2).
  • Ft Wayne, IN; Las Vegas, NV; United States Carole Lombard
    1943 8 Jan The exterior ornamentation of the Wilmette Temple was completed. [BW10:181; UD155–6]
  • The cost of the building was $1.3 million. [UD165]
  • Wilmette; United States Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship)
    1943. 16 Aug The passing of Sydney Sprague (b. Oshkosh WI in 1875) in Los Angeles. He was buried in Inglewood Cemetery. His grave is beside that of Tom Collins, husband of Amelia Collins, and lies just across the road from the grave of Thornton Chase, "First Bahá'í of America." [BW9p633-635]
  • During a pilgrimage in late 1904 'Abdu'l-Bahá suggested he visit the Bahá'ís of the East. He toured India and Burma from December 1904 until the summer of 1905 becoming the first Western Bahá'í of go to the far Orient fulfilling Bahá'u'lláh's prophecy the "The East and West shall embrace as lovers". [YBIB6] iiiii
  • See YBIB55-60 For the story of Kai Khosroe, the Zoroastrian Bahá'í from Bombay who gave his life while nursing Sprague in Lahore when he was deathly ill with typhoid fever.
  • In 1908 he became a resident of Tehran, first teaching in the Bahá'í school and, when he returned the following year, he became principal.
  • He married a niece of 'Abdul'-Bahá and became a brother-in-law of Ameen Fareed. When Fareed was expelled from the Faith in 1914 Sprague and his wife as well as his father-in-law followed. Fareed's father was Mírzá Asadu'lláh-i-Isfahání, the emissary who had taken the remains of the Báb from Iran to the Holy Land [Efforts to preserve the remains of the Bab]. Sprague applied to be reinstated in 1931 (or 1937) and was finally accepted in 1941, two years before his passing. [BW9p633-635]
    • He married Farahangiz Khanum on the 20th of July, 1910, a day selected by 'Abdu'l-Bahá so that Stanwood Cobb could attend. The Bahá'í wedding was performed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the legal ceremony was conducted by a mullá four days later. [BN Vol 1 No 12 October 1910 p 7]
  • He made a teaching trip to South America and died soon after his return to the United States. [AB409]
  • He was the author of The Story of the Bahai Movement published in London in 1907 and A Year with the Bahá'ís of India and Burma in May of 1908. [YBIBxi] iiiii
  • Los Angeles; United States; India; Myanmar (Burma); Lahore; Pakistan Sydney Sprague; Covenant-breakers; Ameen Fareed (Amin Farid); Mirza Asadullah-i-Isfahani; Kai Khosroe; Travel teaching; In Memoriam
    1943 4 Sep The first local spiritual assembly in Alaska was established at Anchorage. Anchorage; Alaska; United States Local Spiritual Assembly find ref
    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
    1944 Ridván Those elected to serve the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada were: George O. Latimer (Chairman), Allen B. McDaniel (Vice), Horace Holley (Secretary), Louis G. Gregory (Recording Secretary), Roy C. Wilhelm (Treasurer), Dorothy Baker. Amelia E. Collins, Philip G. Sprague, Leroy Ioas. The Assembly appointed Siegfried Schopflocher to serve as the Treasurer of the Canadian Bahá’í Fund. [ North America; United States; Canada National Convention; George Latimer; Allen McDaniel; Horace Holley; Louis Gregory; Roy Wilhelm; Dorothy Baker; Amelia Collins; Philip Sprague; Leroy Ioas; Siegfried Schopflocher
    1944 May The first All-American Bahá’í Convention was held. Those elected to the National Spiritual Assembly were: George 0. Latimer, (Chair), Allen McDaniel, (Vice), Horace Holley, (Sec'y), Louis Gregory, (Recording Sec'y), Roy Wilhelm, (Treas), Dorothy Baker, Amelia Collins, Philip Sprague, and Leroy Ioas. [BW No 169 September 1944 p6]
  • For the first time the delegates had been selected at state and provincial conventions by votes from all believers rather than by communities with local assemblies. [BW9:44; PP390]
  • Hilda Yen Male (Hilda Yen) asked to attend the 1944 Baháʼí Annual convention as an observer. She was moved by the spontaneous gestures of welcome and care shown between individuals society normally kept apart as the material demonstration of the ideals of a worldwide unity across all humanity. She requested to enroll as a Baháʼí. She then asked to address the convention as a Baháʼí: "Fellow Baha'is, this is more than a pleasure. It is a miracle that I am participating with you in discussing such important matters. I contacted two denominations and a parliament of religions before I met Julia Goldman, Baha'i, who sowed this seed in my heart. While convalescent from a flying crash, my life was given me for service to God. Julia took me under her wing. I saw God vaguely; then more clearly, through the Baha'i Faith. Then came the battle of Hongkong(sic) where all shared in a common danger and hunger - forced to live the oneness of mankind. At length I secured a priority to fly to America and how do I rejoice to be in this free country! Conferring with Americans I have found this country the best to execute the message of peace. I have been blessed in meeting other Baha'is. I have been deeply impressed by the love and affection among Baha'is. China is well prepared by its sages for the Baha'i Faith. …" [BW No 169 September 1944 p6]
  • North America; United States Conventions, National; Conventions, District; First conventions; Hilda Yen Hilda Yen joins Bahá'í Faith (Wikipedia)
    1944 19–25 May An international celebration of the Centenary of the founding of the Faith was held at the House of Worship in Wilmette.
  • For a description of this event see BW10:158–61.
  • For the programme see BW10:162–70.
  • For a list of the countries participating in the conference see BW10:168.
  • Wilmette; United States Centenaries; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette
    1945 Ridván The election for the National Spiritual Assembly was held by postal ballot. The tellers completed their work in the Temple Foundation Hall. Those selected as members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada were: Horace Holley, Dorothy Baker, Philip Sprague, George Latimer, Amelia Collins, Louis Gregory, Leroy Ioas, Allen McDaniel, Roy C. Wilhelm. [BN No175 Jun 1945 p3]

    The inability, under restrictions imposed by the war, to hold Convention sessions this year challenged the National Spiritual Assembly to maintain the important functions of the annual meeting through other means. Steps were therefore taken to provide for Voting by mail, with a committee of tellers to serve in the customary way, to conduct a public meeting or Bahá’í Congress in Foundation Hall during the Riḍván Period, and to provide the delegates with subjects for written suggestions and views. [BN No 174 April-May 145 p2]

  • For the first time in the history of this Assembly, a postal by-election was held to fill a vacancy caused by the fact that Mr Wilhelm could no longer attend meetings. Elsie Austin was elected as of the 16th of March and attended one meeting before dissolution. [BN No 182 April 1946 p1]
  • Wilmette; United States National Convention; National Spiritual Assembly, election of; Horace Holley; Dorothy Baker; Philip Sprague; George Latimer; Amelia Collins; Louis Gregory; Leroy Ioas; Allen McDaniel; Roy Wilhelm
    1945 24 Oct The United Nations was formally established.
  • For the relationship of the Bahá’í Faith to the United Nations see BW16:327–52.
  • See SDC64-65 for 'Abdu'l-Bahá's prophetic statement, written in 1875, "True civilization will unfurl its banner...".
  • The temporary headquarters for the United Nations was established in Lake Success, NY in a warehouse formerly occupied by the Sperry Gyroscope Company. (1946-1952).
  • See the United Nations Charter.
  • San Francisco; California; United States United Nations; Secret of Divine Civilization (book); Collective security; Prophecies; World War II; War (general); Peace; History (general)
    1946 Ridván The Second Seven Year Plan of the United States and Canada (1946-1953) was launched. [BBR180; BBRSM158, 185; MA87-89, MA89]
  • For details of the plan see BW16:81–2.
  • This marked the end of the First Epoch and the beginning of the Second Epoch of the Formative Age. [CB316; CF5–6]
  • The Second Epoch was marked by the global spread of the Faith and concluded with the election of the Universal House of Justice.
  • United States; Canada Seven Year Plan, US and CA (1946-1953); Teaching Plans; Teaching Plans, National; Formative Age; Ages and Epochs
    1946. 20 Jul The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States enquired of the Guardian whether the existence of the United Nations in its present form changed the attitude of the Baha'is toward military duties which might require the taking of human life. The Guardian's reply, written by his secretary, was:

      ...the Bahá'ís should continue to apply, under all circumstances, for exemption from any military duty that necessitates the taking of life. There is no justification for any change of attitude on our part at the present time.

    The Universal House of Justice amplified this later statement:

      There is no objection in a Bahá'í enlisting voluntarily in the armed forces of a country in order to obtain a training in some trade or profession, provided that he can do so without making himself liable to undertake combatant service. [BW17:384–5]
    United States Armed forces; Military; Weapons; War (general)
    1946 22 Jul The passing of John David Bosch (named "Núraní by 'Abdu'l-Bahá) at his home near Geyserville, California (b. August 1, 1855 at Neu-St Johann, Canton Gall, Switzerland) He had become a Bahá'í in 1905. His teachers being Mrs Beckwith, Mrs Goodall, Mrs Cooper and Thornton Chase. He was buried in the Olive Hill Cemetery, Geyserville. [BW11p488]
  • He and Louise Stapfer married on the 19th of January 1914 in San Francisco. 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent a Tablet. [WmSh21]
  • He, along with George Latimer and Leroy Ioas, were appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly to find a location to establish a "Western Green Acre". John donated his 35 acre estate.
  • For a pen portrait and biography of John and Louise Bosch see Other People Other Places by Marzieh Gail pages 182-194 or Bahá'í News page 705.
  • For pictures of John and Louise Bosch see the Bosch Bahá'í School site.
  • For Shoghi Effendi's tribute to him see MA106. See When the Moon Set Over Haifa by Angelina Diliberto Allen pages 11-52 for an account of the Bosch's time in Haifa during the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
  • Geyserville; California; United States In Memoriam; John Bosch; Louise Bosch
    1946 11 Aug The passing of Orcella Rexford (b. Louise Cutts-Powell, 12 Jun 1887 in Tracey, Minnesota) in Los Angeles. She was buried near the grave of Thornton Chase in the Inglewood Park Cemetery. [BW11p495-498; Find a grave]
  • Orcella first heard of the Bahá'í Faith from Mrs. Myrta Sandoz of Cleveland, Ohio, and was later confirmed by Dr. Edward Getsinger in Boston, Mass. She became a believer in 1918-1919. [BW11p495]
  • For a brief biography see Bahá'í Chronicles.
  • For a more extensive biography see Bahaipedia.
  • See her article, Alaska, Our New Frontier. [BW9p918-922]
  • Los Angeles; United States Orcella Rexford; Births and deaths; In Memoriam; Cemeteries and graves; Thornton Chase
    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
    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
    1948 Ridván The first All-Native Bahá’í Assembly was established on the Omaha Reservation in Macy, Nebraska. [BW13:837; CF72]
  • See BW11:536 for a picture.
  • For the role of Amelia Collins in establishing this Assembly see PSBW88.
  • Macy; NE; United States Amelia Collins; Local Spiritual Assembly
    1948 Ridván The National Spiritual Assembly was elected in the United States. Those elected were: Dorothy Baker (Chair), Paul Haney (Vice·Chalr), Horace Holley (Secretary), Philip Sprague (Treasurer), Elsie Austin, Kenneth Christian, Edna True, Amelia Collins, and George Latimer. [USBN No. 207 May, 1948 p 4] United States National Spiritual Assembly of the United States; Dorothy Baker; Paul Haney; Horace Holley; Philip Sprague; Elsie Austin; Kenneth Christian; Edna True; Amelia Collins; George Latimer
    1949 (In the year) Agnes Harrison (née Parent), an Athabascan, became a Bahá’í in Alaska, the first Native Alaskan to accept the Faith in the country. Alaska; United States First Bahais by country or area
    1949 24 Apr The passing of Montfort Mills.
  • He had been a believer since 1906 and by 1909 he had made two pilgrimages to 'Akká as well as a third in early 1921.
  • In 1922 he and Roy Wilhelm were invited to Haifa to discuss the possibility of calling for the formation of the Universal House of Justice.
  • He was the first chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada when it first formed in 1922 and was elected to that body seven times between 1922 and 1937 and was responsible for the final draft of the Declaration of Trust and By-Laws adopted in 1927.
  • One of his most outstanding achievements was his role in the case of the appeal for possession of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád. He made two trips to Baghdad and had audiences with King Feisal. During one of these trips he was brutally assaulted and suffered the effects for many years.
  • He met with Professor E. G. Browne and, after hearing Mr. Mills explanation of the evolution of the Faith and of the Covenant, Mr. Browne realized he had been veiled by conflicting claims and disturbances following the martyrdom of the Báb and expressed a desire to translate later Bahá'í works but died before this contribution could be made. [BW11p509-511]
  • United States; Baghdad; Iraq House of Bahaullah (Baghdad); In Memoriam; Edward Granville Browne; Births and deaths; Covenant-breakers
    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
    1950 15 Jan The earliest observation of what has become known as World Religion Day was observed in Portland, Maine in October of 1947 and was entitled "World Peace Through World Religion" after a talk by Firuz Kazemzadeh. [Portland Sunday Telegram And Sunday Press Herald. Portland, Maine. October 19, 1947. p. 42.; BN No 229 March 1956 p1]
  • In 1949 there were observances in various communities in the United States and in December of 1949 it was standardized across the United States by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States to be held January 15, 1950. The purpose of World Religion Day is to highlight the ideas that the spiritual principles underlying the world's religions are harmonious, and that religions play a significant role in unifying humanity. [BN No 226 December 1949 106BE p4-5]
  • It is celebrated internationally each year on the third Sunday in January. [Wikipedia]
  • See World Religion Day (January) by Christopher Buck
  • See message from the Universal House of Justice dated 22 October, 1968 to the Spiritual Assembly of Chicago in Lights of Guidance #1710 in which they describe the purpose of World Religion Day.

    ".....is a celebration of the need for and the coming of a world religion for mankind, the Bahá'í Faith itself." iiiii

  • United States World Religion Day; Interfaith dialogue; Firsts, Other; Firuz Kazemzadeh
    1950 Apr Shoghi Effendi announced the Africa Campaign (1951-1953) in a cable to the British National Convention. [BW12:52; UD245–6]
  • The British community was to lead the campaign supported by the Bahá’ís of the United States and Egypt. [UD245]
  • The object was to open the Faith to three countries, Gold Coast, Tanganyika and Uganda. Shoghi Effendi termed it "the first International collaboration plan in Bahá'í history. (CG157, 159]
  • For the objectives of the campaign see UD245–6.
  • For the importance of the enterprise see UD260–3.
  • The plan was to be launched after a year’s respite but the British Bahá’ís begin to implement the plan immediately. [CB317]
  • At the time of the Campaign there was "...since the days of the Blessed Beauty and up to the early 1950s, the activities of the friends in Africa had produced the formation of one National Spiritual Assembly with its seat in Cairo, Egypt, the opening of 12 countries to the light of the Faith, and some 50 localities established throughout its vast lands. It was at such a time that the beloved Guardian ushered in the first African Teaching Plan" [Message from the Universal House of Justice To the Friends gathered at the Bahá’í International Conference at Lagos dated 19 August, 1982 ; The UK Bahá'í Journal/History]
  • The first to arise for the Campaign was Claire Gung who departed from England on the Warwick Castle on the 3rd of January, 1951 bound for Tanganyika. [CG13, 26]
  • Others who pioneered were: Philip Hainsworth, Uganda, June 1951; Hasan and Isobel Sabri, Tanganyika, July 1951; and Ted Cardell, Kenya, October 1951.
  • Africa; United Kingdom; United States; Egypt Teaching Plans; Africa Campaign; Claire Gung; Philip Hainsworth; Hasan Sabri; Isobel Sabri; Ted Cardell
    1951 Ridván Several National Spiritual Assemblies-Britain, Egypt, India, Iran and the United States, joined forces in their first collaborative teaching effort called the Africa Campaign (1951-1953). [Ruhi 8.2 p46, BBRSM158, MBW135-140]
  • See also UD261 for the significance of the Africa Campaign.
  • See Bahá'í Communities by Country: Research Notes by Graham Hassall for further details of the Plan.
  • Africa; United Kingdom; United States; Egypt; India; Iran Teaching Plans; Africa Campaign
    1951 30 Jul Louis Gregory, Hand of the Cause of God, passed away in Eliot, Maine, near Green Acre. [CoF163; BW12:666; TMW310, LOF98; SYH236; BN No 247 September 1951 p1]
  • A national memorial service was held for him at the Temple in Wilmette on the 24th of November 1951. [SYH236]
  • Soon after his passing he was designated by Shoghi Effendi the first Hand of the Cause of his race. (On 5 August, 1951) [BBD91; BW12:666, MoCxxii]
  • Louis Gregory was the first person of his race to be elected to any administrative body in the United States. [-from talk by Louis Venters 2min 13sec]
  • See TG114, 117-8 for a description of his passing .
  • For his obituary see BW12:666–70.
  • See a list of his publications.
  • For biographical information on Hand of the Cause Louis Gregory see Gayle Morrison, To Move the World: Louis G. Gregory and the Advancement of Racial Unity in America (Wilmette, IL, USA Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1982, 1999 printing).
  • For short biographical information see Bahá'í Encyclopedia]
  • Louis Gregory kept a journal of his visit to 'Abdu'l-Baha in 1911 including statements of 'Abdu'l-Baha, stories of the believers in the Holy Land and his experiences at the Shrines. It includes a selection of tablets 'Abdu'l-Baha addressed to him. A Heavenly Vista: The Pilgrimage of Louis G. Gregory".
  • See Louis Gregory, the Oneness of Humanity, and Highlights in the Development of the African-American Lawyer a presentation by Anthony Vance.
  • Eliot; Maine; United States Louis Gregory; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths; In Memoriam; Hands appointed posthumously by Shoghi Effendi; Firsts, Other
    1951 Sep National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States provided guidance on military service. [BN No 247 September 1951 p4] United States Armed forces; Military; Weapons; War (general)
    1951 20 Dec Hand of the Cause Roy C. Wilhelm, (b.17 September, 1875) passed away in Lovel, Maine. He was buried in the Wilhelm Family Cemetery in Stoneham, Maine. [BW12:662]
  • He became a Bahá’í when he accompanied his mother on her pilgrimage to ‘Akká in 1907. He introduced Martha Root to the Faith in 1908. In 1909 he was elected to the Executive Board of the Bahá’í Temple Unity and served on the American National Spiritual Assembly. A Unity Feast was held at his home in West Englewood, NJ in June of 1912, an event commemorated every year. [Highlights of the First 40 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in New York, City of the Covenant, 1892-1932 by Hussein Ahdieh p7]
  • He, along with Stanwood Cobb, and Genevieve Coy, wrote In His Presence: Visits to 'Abdu'l-Bahá These are said to be "three of the most important, and most touching, accounts of pilgrimages to the Holy Land in the time of `Abdu'l-Bahá. These are three classic works of Bahá'í history and literature. Roy Wilhelm's account is from his visit in 1907.
  • On his passing Shoghi Effendi designated him a Hand of the Cause of God. (23 December, 1951) [MoCxxii, BW12:662]
  • For his obituary see BW12:662–4.
  • Find a grave
  • Lovel; Maine; United States Roy Wilhelm; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths; In Memoriam; Hands appointed posthumously by Shoghi Effendi; Martha Root
    1952 (In the year) The establishment of the Bahá'í Service for the Blind and the Physically Handicapped as a committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. Its purpose is to provide the literature of the Faith in mediums which can be used by those individuals whose physical or mental handicaps prevent them from using normal print. [website] United States Blindness; Disability
    1952 1 Jun In a letter written on behalf of the Guardian by the Assistant Secretary, the National Spiritual Assembly was informed that Ahmad Sohrab had cabled the Israeli Minister of Religion to influence the court case brought by the Covenant-breakers, against the Guardian, and which resulted in complete vindication of the Guardian's control of the Bahá'í Shrines and properties. Sohrab's cable identified the Caravan with the Covenant-breakers and stated that the organization was not under the authority of Shoghi Effendi. In a letter dated May 25, 1941, the Guardian wrote through his Secretary that Sohrab "is no doubt the most subtle, resourceful and indefatigable enemy the Faith has had in America." United States Covenant-breakers; New History Society; Ahmad Sohrab
    1952 8 Oct Holy Year, "The Great Jubilee", October 1952 to October 1953, was inaugurated. [MBW16-18; BW12:116; DG84; PP409–10; SBR170–1]
  • Centenary celebrations of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission were initiated. [MBW16–18]
  • "Shoghi Effendi began the Holy Year to commemorate the centenary of Bahá’u’lláh's experience in the Siyáh Chál in October 1952 and closed the Holy Year in October 1953 (which corresponds to the centenary of the “Year Nine”, the Islamic year 1269)". [Two Episodes from the Life of Bahá’u’lláh in Iran p21 by Moojan Momen]
  • Four international conferences were scheduled in Kampala, Wilmette (dedication of the Temple), Stockholm and New Delhi. [SETPE2p31-43]
  • For a brief description of the Kampala Conference see CG20-21.
  • Kampala; Uganda; Wilmette; United States; Stockholm; Sweden; New Delhi; India Great Jubilee; Holy Years; Centenaries; Bahaullah, Birth of Revelation of; Siyah Chal (Black Pit)
    1952 12 Nov Dagmar Dole, pioneer to Alaska and Denmark, passed away in Glion, Switzerland.
  • Shoghi Effendi said she was the ‘first to give her life for the Cause in the European project’. [BW12:702; ZK66–7]
  • For her obituary see BW12:701–2.
  • See also Bahá'í Chronicles and Find a Grave.
  • Glion; Switzerland; Alaska; United States; Denmark Dagmar Dole; In memoriam; Births and deaths
    1953 (In the Year) The publication of Questions about the Second Coming by George Townshend by the Bahá'í Publishing Committee in Wilmette in response to questions asked of him by the Bahá'ís of Kampala.
  • The publication is available in PDF.
  • Wilmette; United States; Uganda Christianity; George Townshend
    1953 29 Apr - 2 May The All-American Jubilee celebrations began. [BW12:149] United States Centenaries
    1953 1 May The House of Worship in Wilmette was consecrated in a simple ceremony for Bahá’ís only. [BW12:143, 152; ZK93]
  • For details of the dedication see BW12:152–4.
  • A most wonderful and thrilling motion will appear in the world of existence,” are ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s own words, predicting the release of spiritual forces that must accompany the completion of this most hallowed House of Worship. “From that point of light,” He, further glorifying that edifice, has written, “the spirit of teaching … will permeate to all parts of the world.” And again: “Out of this Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, without doubt, thousands of Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs will be born.” “It marks the inception of the Kingdom of God on earth. [CoF69 Message of 21 March 1949]
  • Wilmette; United States Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); Dedications
    1953 2 May The House of Worship in Wilmette, the Mother Temple of the West, was dedicated in a public ceremony. [BW12:142, BWNS218]
  • For the text of the Guardian’s message of dedication see BW12:141–2.
  • For an account of the event see BW12:154–63.
  • See BN No 261 November 1952 p9-10. The Temple Dedication Committee consisted of: Paul E. Haney, Mrs. Corinne True, Allen B. McDaniel, Carl Scheffler, Albert R. Windust with Horace Holley as the chairman.
  • See The Bahá'í Faith 1844-1952 Information Statistical & Comparative p24-26 for project statistics and a chronology of events.
  • Towards the end of his life in Tehran, Ahmad (of "Tablet of Ahmad" fame) had entrusted the original Tablet to his grandson Jamal who, in turn, out of the purity of his heart and his devotion to the Faith of God, offered it as a gift to Hand of the Cause, Trustee of Huqúq, the son and brother of two illustrious martyrs, Jinab-i-Valiyu'llah Varqá. When Jinab-i-Varqa, according to the instructions of the beloved Guardian, was sent to take part in this dedication ceremony he brought this most precious Tablet as his offering to the archives of the Bahá'ís of the United States. [A Flame of Fire by A.Q. Faizi.]
  • See the message of the Universal House of Justice dated 1 August, 2014 for more on the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Wilmette.
  • See The Story of the Temple by Allen Boyer McDaniel. [CBN No43 August 1953 p4; BELp101 7.1479]
  • See the video The Temple History Design and Construction.

    Specifics

      Location: Wilmette, Illinois, U.S. Cook County
      Administration: On the same day as the internment of the sacred remains of the Báb on Mount Carmel, March 21st, 1909, the first American Bahá'í Convention opened in Chicago. The Convention established the 'Bahá'í Temple Unity', incorporated to hold title to the Temple property and to provide for its construction. A constitution was framed and an Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity elected. This body became the future National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada. [BBD39; BBRSM:106; BW10:179; GPB349; PP397; SBBH1:146; BFA2:XVII, 309; BW13:849; MBW142–3]
      Foundation Stone: by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1 May, 1912
      Construction Period:The purchase of the site completed: 1914. Design Chosen: 1920. Superstructure: 1921 – 1 May 1931. External Ornamentation: June 1932 -1943. Interior: 1951
      Dedication: 1 May 1953
      Architects: Louis Bourgeois with Alfred Shaw (interior cladding) Bourgeois became a Baha’i in New York City in 1907, and two years later responded to the call for designs for the Temple. In 1920, delegates from across the country unanimously selected his innovative design. Bourgeois traveled to Haifa to consult with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. With ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s encouragement, Bourgeois refined and scaled down the size of his design. [The House of Worship Architecture]
      Seating: 1,191 [DP220]
      Dimensions: 203ft at the base and 49ft high
      Cost: $2.6 million (another source) $51,500 (land) plus $3,212,517.60 (construction costs 1921-1953)
      Dependencies: Construction of a home for the aged was began in December, 1957 and inaugurated on 1 February, 1959. It is located about three blocks away.
      Note: In GPB349 Shoghi Effendi states that “…this enterprise—the crowning achievement of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in the first Bahá’í century…”.
      References: CEBF236-241,GPB348-353, MDM121-239, The Dawning Place, The Bahá'í Faith 1844-1963 Information Statistical & Comparative p36-37. iiiii
  • Wilmette; United States Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Mother Temples; Lawh-i-Ahmad (Tablet of Ahmad (Arabic)); Gifts; Archives; Dedications; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); Mashriqul-Adhkar, Quick facts; Alfred Shaw; Architects; Bahai home for the aged; Homes for the aged; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Dependencies of; BWNS; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Shoghi Effendi, Life of
    1953 3 – 6 May The All-America Intercontinental Teaching Conference was held in Chicago. [BW12:133]
  • For the texts of Shoghi Effendi’s messages to the conference see BW12:133–41 and MBW142–6.
  • Twelve Hands of the Cause were present. The Guardian was represented by Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum. [BW12:143; CBN No 82 November, 1956 p3]
  • At the conference, five members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States resigned from that body in order to go pioneering: Elsie Austin, Dorothy Baker, Matthew Bullock, Mamie Seto and Dr William Kenneth Christian. [ZK102]
  • Extract from the second message to All-American Intercontinental Conference from Shoghi Effendi... [MBW150]
    .....the lands contributed in Latin America for a similar purpose approximate one-half of a million square meters, ninety thousand of which have been set aside near Santiago, Chile, for the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of South America..
  • Chicago; United States; Santiago; Chile; America Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, Teaching; Conferences, Intercontinental; Ten Year Crusade; Teaching; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Activities; Pioneering; Elsie Austin; Dorothy Baker; Matthew Bullock; Mamie Seto; William Kenneth Christian; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Santiago; Purchases and exchanges
    1953 26 Aug Ella Bailey (b. 16 December, 1864, Houston, Harris County, Texas) passed away in Tripoli, Tarabulus, Libya at the age of 88 years. [BW12:687]
  • She was elevated to the rank of martyr. [MBW170]
  • For the story of her life see PSBW131–42.
  • See Bahá'í Chronicles.
  • For her obituary see BW12:685–8.
  • For information on her burial site and a short biography see Find-a-grave.
  • See Youtube video I Adjure Them - The Ella Bailey Story as told by Hand of the Cause of God William Sears.
  • She had accompanied Mr and Mrs Rober Gulick in their settlement in Tripoli. [BN No 271 september 1953 p6]
  • Tripoli; Libya; Houston; Texas; United States Ella Bailey; Names and titles; In Memoriam; Births and deaths
    1954 (In the year) The first Tlinget from Alaska to become a Bahá’í, Eugene King, enrolled. Alaska; United States First Bahais by country or area find reference
    1954. 3 Jan The passing of Helen “Nellie” Stevison French (b.19 Oct 1868 Peoria, Illinois) in Monaco. She was buried in the Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Chicago.
  • Evincing a marked talent for singing, Nellie left in 1888 for Naples, Italy, to develop that interest. The four-year residence abroad gave her the opportunity to learn the French and Italian languages, to acquire an appreciation of the Latin fine arts, and to master a strenuous course in training for the operatic stage. She suffered a case of typhoid fever in 1892 and returned to the United States to recuperate; but her recovery was followed by scarlet fever which impaired her vocal chords irreparably. Her aspirations for a musical career were ended.
  • In 1894 she married Stuart Whitney French, a childhood companion. About 1896, accompanied by her mother, she attended a few meetings at the home of Dr. Khayru’lláh. The spiritual seeds were sown. Moving to Arizona in 1900, Nellie French lived in Bisbee until 1904 and in Douglas until 1917. Her visits to Chicago and New York furnished a few Bahá’í contacts with meager information; the Bahá’í messages. Mrs. Isabella Brittingham went to Arizona in 1917 to teach the spiritual significance of the Bahá’í Faith offered Nellie a rare privilege. That experience confirmed Nellie who became the first resident Bahá’í teacher in Arizona.
  • Mr. and Mrs. French moved to Pasadena in 1918. During Riḍván, in April, 1921, Mr. and Mrs. French visited Haifa and ‘Akká; that pilgrimage became the fulfillment of all her hopes.
  • She contributed to the literature of the Faith by her work from 1930 to 1946 as Chairman of the Bahá’í World Editorial Committee, during which time she assembled material for volumes IV—X. She translated into French and Italian the “Blue Book” and the brochure “Number 9,” and for several years she wrote “Loom of Reality,” a column published in the Pasadena Star-News. In 1931 she made permanent Braille plates for Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era and for the Kitdb-i-iqan. She served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada 1929 - 1938.
  • As an administrator, she served as Chairman of the Pasadena Spiritual Assembly from 1928 to 1938. For four years, ending in 1944 she was Chairman of the InterAmerica Committee, and in this capacity she presided at a session of the Centenary Celebration in 1944. Later she was a member of the European Teaching Committee. She helped support the work of the International Bureau at Geneva and the All-Indian project at Macy, Nebraska, undertaken by her sister-in-law, Mary Farley Stevison.
  • In April, 1952, thirty-one years to the day, Nellie French returned Mt. Carmel to meet the beloved Guardian in person. During the Holy Year which was also the first year of the World Spiritual Crusade, Nellie French settled in the principality of Monaco to win the accolade, "Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. [BW12p700]
  • Find a grave.
  • Peoria, IL; United States; Monaco Nellie French; In Memoriam
    1954 May Elinore Putney arrived in the Aleutian Islands and was named a Knight of Bahá’u‘lláh. [BW13:449] Aleutian Islands; Alaska; United States; Russia Knights of Bahaullah
    1954. 16 Dec Shoghi Effendi announced the death of Avarih in Iran, "CONDEMNED POSTERITY MOST SHAMELESS, VICIOUS, RELENTLESS APOSTATE ANNALS FAITH, WHO THROUGH CEASELESS VITRIOLIC ATTACKS RECORDED VOLUMINOUS WRITINGS CLOSE ALLIANCE ITS TRADITIONAL ENEMIES, ASSIDUOUSLY SCHEMED BLACKEN ITS NAME SUBVERT FOUNDATIONS ITS INSTITUTIONS.
  • In the same message he announced the death of Ameen Fareed in North America; "HISTORY WILL RECOGNIZE ONE MOST PERFIDIOUS AMONG KINSMEN INTERPRETERS CENTER COVENANT, WHO, DRIVEN BY UNGOVERNABLE CUPIDITY COMMITTED ACTS CAUSING AGONIES GRIEF DESTRESS BELOVED MASTER CULMINATING OPEN ASSOCIATION BREAKERS BAHA'U'LLAH'S COVENANT HOLY LAND."
  • Likewise he announced the death of Falah in Turkey; "CHIEFLY REMEMBERED PRIDE, OBSTINACY INSATIABLE AMBITION IMPELLING HIM VIOLATE SPIRITUAL ADMINISTRATIVE PRECEPTS FAITH."
    • Ne'matullah Falah had left Iran at the time of Baha'u'llah's exile and had finally settled in Iskenderun, Turkey, where he had become a successful businessman. He had been appointed Honorary Iranian Consul in that city, a post he had taken upon the explicit encouragement of the Master, 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Upon his accession to the Guardianship Shoghi Effendi had considered that it would serve the Cause better if Baha'is refrained from all political activities. He therefore asked Falah to resign his post. This Falah refused to do, especially as he had a letter from the Master urging him to take the post. This resulted in the expulsion of Falah and his family from the Cause.
    [Bahá'í History]
  • Iran; Turkey; United States Covenant-breakers; Abdul-Husayn Avarih (Abd al-Hosayn Ayati); Ameen Fareed (Amin Farid); Nematullah Falah
    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 (In the year) The first Tlinget to become a Bahá’í in Alaska, Joyce Anderson Combs, enrolled. Alaska; United States First Bahais by country or area
    1956 20 May Louisa Mathew Gregory, (b. 1 February 1866 in Penge, Kent, England) whose wedding to Hand of the Cause of God Louis Gregory in 1912 was the first interracial western Bahá’í marriage, passed away in Eliot, Maine. [BW13:878; SYH19, 239]
  • She had been introduced to the Faith by Edith Sanderson in Paris in about December of 1909. Edith had been taught by May Maxwell in 1902. [SYH5, 206]
  • For her obituary see BW13:376–8. Error in this article
    • There was no Bahá'í Congress in Prague in 1928
    • She did not attend Cambridge.
    • 'Abdu'l-Bahá did not attend her marriage on the 27 September 1912. He was in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. [SYHvii-viii; 28]
  • Eliot; Maine; United States; Penge; Kent Louisa Mathew Gregory; Louise Gregory; Edith Sanderson; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths; Firsts, Other
    1957 Ridván The National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska was formed and incorporated immediately upon formation. [HE31]
  • This was the first time a political entity (i.e. the United States) was subdivided to form a national spiritual assembly. [BW13:270]
  • In 1927 the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada resolved, in their Declaration of Trust and By-law of the National Spiritual Assembly, to exclude Alaska and Hawaii and all United States trusts and territories including Puerto Rico from their jurisdiction. [Constitution of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States]
  • Picture.
  • Alaska; United States Incorporation; National Spiritual Assembly, formation
    1957 9 Jun The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States designated the second Sunday in June as Race Unity Day. The purpose of Race Unity Day is to promote racial harmony and understanding and to focus attention on racial prejudice, which Bahá’ís believe is the most challenging moral issue facing our nation. Since then, communities throughout the country have held celebrations, open to the public, every year on the second Sunday in June. [Race Unity Day by Christopher Buck published in Religious Celebrations, pages 727-732] United States Race Unity Day
    1957 Oct Shoghi Effendi called for the convocation of a series of Intercontinental Conferences to be held successively in Kampala, Uganda (Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Central and East Africa); Sydney, Australia (National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia); Chicago, United States (National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States of America,; Frankfurt, Germany (National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany and: Austria); and Djakarta, Indonesia (Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of South-East Asia). [BW13:311–12; MBW125]

    The five-fold purpose of the International Conferences was:

    1. offering humble thanksgiving to the Divine Author of our Faith, Who has graciously enabled His followers, during a period of deepening anxiety and amidst the confusion and uncertainties of a critical phase in the fortunes of mankind,
    2. to prosecute uninterruptedly the Ten-Year Plan formulated for the execution of the Grand Design conceived by 'Abdu'l-Bahá,
    3. of reviewing and celebrating the series of signal victories won so rapidly in the course of each of the campaigns of this world-encircling Crusade,
    4. of deliberating on ways and means that will insure its triumphant consummation,
    5. and of lending simultaneously a powerful impetus, the world over, to the vital process of individual conversion -the preeminent purpose underlying the Plan in all its ramifications - and to the construction and completion of the three Mother Temples to be built in the European, the African, and Australian continents. [CBN No 94 Nov 1957 p1]
    BWC; Kampala; Uganda; Sydney; Australia; Chicago; United States; Frankfurt; Germany; Djakarta; Indonesia Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, Teaching; Conferences, Intercontinental; Ten Year Crusade
    1957 26 Dec The passing of Mirzā Asad-Allāh, known as Fāżel Māzandarāni (b. Bábol, Persia 1881).
  • He became a Bahá'í in Tehran in 1909. He travelled to Egypt in 1919-1911 where he met with 'Abdu'l-Bahá and was send to India and Burma to promote the Faith.
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent him to North America for the period 1920-1921. He arrived in North America with Manúchihr Khán in time to speak at the National Convention. His purpose was to assist and stimulate the Bahá'í communities. He departed for the Holy Land on the 9th of July, 1921. [AB443; SBR88]
  • Mírzá Asadu'lláh Fádil-i-Mázandarání visited North America again in 1923-1925 at the request of Shoghi Effendi. [Fádl Mázandarání, Mírzá Asadu'lláh by Moojan Momen]
  • See Jináb-i-Fádil Mazandarání in the United States by Fadl Mazandarani (published as Jinab-i-Fadil Mazandarani) compiled by Omeed Rameshni for transcripts of his talks.
  • In about 1924 Shoghi Effendi wrote to the Central Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia, asking them to gather materials towards the compilation of a general history of the Bahá'í faith. Initially this work was handed to a committee and Fāżel served as the liaison between this committee and the Assembly, of which he was himself a member at the time. However, after the committee failed to make significant progress, Fāżel took on the responsibility to compile this work himself. His work, Ẓohur-al-Ḥaqq (variously also called Tāriḵ-e Ẓohur-al-Ḥaqq and Ketāb-e Ẓohur-al-Ḥaqq) is said to be the most comprehensive history of the first century of the Bahá'í faith yet written. It records the full biographies of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, and ʿAbdu'l-Baháʾ, the Faith’s leading disciples and learned members, poets, martyrs, and other prominent personalities. It covers the history of the persecutions of the Bahá'ís; discusses the internal crises of the faith and, more significantly, contains excerpts from the holy writings and includes documentation and a considerable number of pictures. It was compiled in nine volumes: volumes 1-3 completed in May of 1932, the fourth in February, 1936, and the final volume in 1943. For various reasons it has not been translated into English. [Ẓohur-al-Ḥaqq]
  • Other works of Fāżel include his dictionary of commonly used proper terms and titles in Bahá'í literature, Asrār al-āṯār, which was published in five volumes (1967-72) of more than 1,600 pages.
  • Fāżel’s other major work, Amr wa ḵalq, contains hundreds of selections from the Bahá'í holy writings grouped under topics related to philosophical, theological, religious, and administrative matters. The work was published in Iran (1954-74) in four volumes.
  • The Collected Works of Asadu'llah Fadil Mazandarani.
  • Wikipedia page.
  • Babol; Iran; Tihran; India; Myanmar (Burma); United States Mirza Asadullah Fadil-i-Mazandarani; Amr va Khalq; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Bahai studies; Bahai history; Zuhur al-Haqq (Zuhurul-Haqq); Translation
    1958 (In the year) The first Aleut to become a Bahá’í, Vassa Lekanoff, enrolled in Unalaska. Unalaska; Alaska; United States First Bahais by country or area
    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
    1958 2–4 May The third Intercontinental Conference was held at the mid-point of the Crusade convened in Wilmette, Illinois. [BW13:323]
  • Hand of the Cause Dr Ugo Giachery, who had been designated by the Guardian as his representative, attended, accompanied by four other Hands of the Cause. [BW13:323]
  • For the message of the Custodians to the conference see MC90–8.
  • For a report of the conference see BW13:323–5.
  • See Notes by Emma Maxie Jones and Anonymous.
  • Wilmette; Illinois; United States; America Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Activities; Ugo Giachery; Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, Teaching; Conferences, Intercontinental; Ten Year Crusade
    1959 (In the year) The first Inuit in Alaska to become a Bahá’í, William Wiloya, enrolled in Nome. Nome; Alaska; United States First Bahais by country or area; First believers by background; Inuit
    1959 (In the year) Bahá’í communities in the United States began the observation of World Peace Day to call attention to the need for world peace. [BBD175]
  • This was replaced in 1985 by the observance of the UN International Day of Peace, which occurs on the third Tuesday in September. [BBD175]
  • United States World Peace Day; United Nations; International Day of Peace; Peace; World peace (general)
    1959 1 Feb The ‘first Dependency of the Mashriqul-Adhkár in Wilmette’, the Bahá’í Home for the Aged, opened. [BW13:747]
  • For the history of its building see BW13:743–8.
  • For pictures see BW13:742, 744–7.
  • See National Bahá'í Review No 4 April 1968 p11.
  • Wilmette; United States Bahai home for the aged; Homes for the aged; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Dependencies of
    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
    1960 12 Jul Horace Hotchkiss Holley, Hand of the Cause of God, passed away in Haifa. (b. 7 April, 1887 in Torrington, CT) [MC226-227, BW13:849-858]
  • See FMH58-59 for the story of how he came to believe in the Faith.
  • He had served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States from 1923 until 1959 and as the secretary from 1924 to 1930 and 1932 until 1959. After the passing of the Guardian he served in the Holy Land. [UN110; BN No 347 January 1960 p1]
  • Shoghi Effendi had appointed him among the first contingent on the 24th of December, 1951. [MoCxxiii]
  • For his obituary see BW13:849–858.
  • For cable from the Hands of the Cause see MC217–18.
  • See also SBR214-247, LoF253-264 and Holley, Horace Hotchkiss by R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram.
      Some of his is publications: See BEL7.1197 to 7.1233]
    • The Bahá'í Religion: Papers Read at the Conference on Some Living Religions Within the British Empire Papers presented by Horace Holley and Ruhi Afnan. 1925 [BEL7.386]
    • Bahaism: The Modern Social Religion, (1913) [BEL7.1203]
    • Religion for Mankind, (1956) [BEL7.1222]
    • World Unity,
    • Bahá'í, The Spirit of the Age, (1921) [BEL7.1201]
    • Bahá'í Scriptures; Selections from the Utterances of Bahaʼuʼllah and Abdul Baha, (1923 and 1928) The first general book-length compilation of the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Many passages were early and nonauthoritative translations. The book was superseded by Bahá'í World Faith [BEL4.71]
    • Read-aloud Plays,
    • Divinations and Creation,
    • The World Economy of Baháʼuʼlláh
    • The Inner Garden; A Book of Verse
    • The Reality of Man (1931) [BEL3.103]
    • He was a man of enormous capacity. When asked about it he referred to a "zone of energy" in which he sometimes operated when more than normal strength was available to him. [FMH58]
    • See the biography Infinite Horizons - The Life and Times of Horace Holley by Kathryn Jewett Hogenson published by George Ronald 2022.
  • Haifa; Torrington; Connecticut; United States Horace Holley; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths; In Memoriam; Hands of the Cause, First Contingent; Bahai Scriptures (book); Drama; Plays; Arts
    1961 (In the year) Knud Jensen (of mixed Danish, St Thomanian parentage), the first local person to become a Bahá’í in the Virgin Islands, enrolled. Virgin Islands; United States First Bahais by country or area
    1961 3 Apr Corinne Knight True, Hand of the Cause of God, (b. 1 November 1861 Louisville, KY) passed away in Chicago. She was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago. [BW13:846]
  • Find a Grave.
  • For her obituary see BW13:846–9.
  • For cables from the Custodians see MoC257.
  • Shoghi Effendi had appointed her among the second contingent on the 29th of February, 1952. [MoCxxiii]
  • See also Rutstein, Corinne True George Ronald (1987).
  • See as well Lights of Fortitude p391-407.
  • Chicago; United States Corinne True; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths; In Memoriam; Hands of the Cause, Second Contingent
    1961 1 May Kanichi (Moto) Yamamoto, the first Japanese Bahá’í, passed away in Berkeley, California. [SBR185]
  • For the story of his life see SBR176–86.
  • For picture see SBR190.
  • Berkeley; California; United States Kanichi Yamamoto
    1962. 20 Jul The passing of Harlan Foster Ober (b. October 6, 1881 in Beverly, Massachusetts) in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.
  • He had graduated from Harvard University in 1905 with a B.A. and later obtained a law degree from Northeastern University in Boston.
  • Harlan Ober became a Bahá'í at Green Acre in 1905. Another source said it was in the spring of 1906 in a room in the Commonwealth Hotel in Boston that he overcame his doubts while using a prayer and other literature given to him by Lua Getsinger. [LDNW23; 100-101; SBR120-121]
  • Hooper Harris and Lua Getsinger's brother, Dr. William Moore, were selected to make a teaching trip to India. When Moore died suddenly Harlan Ober was chosen to replace him. As he had no funds for the trip Lua borrowed the money from Mr Hervey Lunt, the father of Alfred Lunt. [LGHC105]
  • In 1906 he made a visit to 'Abdu'l-Bahá while He was still confined to prison.
  • On the 17th of July, 1912 he married Grace Roberts (aunt of future Hand of the Cause John Robarts) in a ceremony conducted by the Reverend Howard Colby Ives at 209 West 78th Street in New York. When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited America in 1912 He had suggested that Grace Robarts and Harlan marry, and they both agreed with the match, with Harlan travelling to New York from Boston and proposing in Central Park after being informed of the suggestion by Lua Getsinger. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá performed the marriage ceremony in the room he was staying in in New York on July 17, 1912, and Howard Colby Ives later performed a legal ceremony. [SoW Vol 3 No 12 p14; Bahaipedia; The Jouney West, July 2012; Mother’s Stories: Stories of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Early Believers told by Muriel Ives Barrow Newhall to her son, p. 20]
  • They adopted three children of English, German and Russian background.
  • It was from their home in Cambridge, MA, from the office of the National Teaching Committee, that the first Teaching Bulletin was issued on November 19, 1919. This bulletin evolved to the US Baha'i News.
  • He was closely involved with Race Unity work and made many teaching trips to the southern states with his friend Louis Gregory.
  • He served on the Bahá'í Temple Unity Executive Board as president or secretary from 1918 to 1920. The work of this board was taken over by the National Spiritual Assembly when it was elected in 1922.
  • In 1938 Harlan was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada and he served on it until 1941.
  • Grace passed away in 1938, leaving Harlan widowed.
  • He married his second wife, Dr Elizabeth Kidder Ober in Beverly, MA on the 21st of June, 1941. Shoghi Effendi was pleased with the way the marriage was conducted, without having any church ceremony or minister conduct the service. [BW13p869, 871]
  • After their pilgrimage in 1956 Harlan and Elizabeth Ober travelled to South Africa where they helped form the first all-African Local Spiritual Assembly in Pretoria as had previously been request of them by the Guardian. They returned in December as pioneers. [BW13869]
  • He was appointed to the Auxiliary Board for Protection in Africa in October of 1957 and served on the National Teaching Committee of South and West Africa for two years.
  • He was buried in the Zandfontein Cemetery in Pretoria. [BW13p870; Find a grave] [Bahaipedia; BW13p869]
  • Beverly MA; United States; Pretoria; South Africa Harlan Ober; Grace Robarts Ober; In Memoriam; US Bahai News; Race Unity; Elizabeth Kidder Ober; Elizabeth Ober; Auxiliary Board Members
    1962 22 Aug The Custodians ask the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States to make representations to the diplomatic missions of Morocco in Washington and at the United Nations concerning the 14 Bahá’ís imprisoned in Morocco. [MoC368–9] United States; Morocco Persecution, Morocco; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Human rights; NSA; Custodians; United Nations
    1962 23 Sep The Custodians ask the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States to obtain an interview with the personal representative of the King of Morocco who heads that country’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York in connection with the Bahá’ís imprisoned in Morocco. [MoC373–4] United States; Morocco Persecution, Morocco; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Human rights; NSA; United Nations
    1964 5 Nov Followers of Charles Mason Remey filed suit in the United States District Court for Northern Illinois against the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, claiming they were the rightful owners of all Bahá’í properties and funds in the United States. [BW14:95]
  • The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States filed a counter-claim asking the court to restrain the Covenant-breakers from using Bahá’í names and symbols protected by trademark. [BW14:95]
  • United States Charles Mason Remey; Covenant-breakers; NSA; Court cases; Copyright and trademarks; Criticism and apologetics
    1965 23 Mar The case filed by the followers of Charles Mason Remey against the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States was dismissed on technical grounds. [BW14:95]
  • The Covenant-breakers filed a further suit. [BW14:95]
  • United States Charles Mason Remey; Covenant-breakers; National Spiritual Assemblies; Court cases; Copyright and trademarks
    1965 22 Jul Leroy Ioas, Hand of the Cause of God, passed away in Haifa. (b.15 February 1896 in Wilmington, IL). He was known as "the Guardian's Hercules" and was praised by Shoghi Effendi for his "tireless vigilance, self-sacrifice, and devotion to the Cause in all its multiple fields of activity, in 'prodigious labours' and his 'stupendous efforts'. [BW14:291-300, VV7]
  • For his obituary see BW14:291–300.
  • Both of his German-born parents had become Bahá'ís, instructed by Paul Dealy who taught Kheiralla's classes when the demand for such classes became overwhelming in Chicago in 1998. [The Bahá'í Faith: Beginning in North America by Robert Stockman, World Order Vol 18 Issue 4 p24]
  • Shoghi Effendi had appointed him among the first contingent on the 24th of December, 1951. [MoCxxiii]
  • For cable of the Universal House of Justice see WG157.
  • For a short biography see LoF265-275.
  • See Leroy Ioas: Hand of the Cause of God by Anita Ioas Chapman, published by George Ronald, 1998
  • Bahaipedia.
  • Shoghi Effendi named the inner front door of the Shrine of the Báb "Báb-i-Ioas".
  • See The Cause of Universal Peace: 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Enduring Impact by Kathryn Jewett Hogenson for information on his part in the organization of a Race Amity Conference in San Francisco with Ella Goodall Coop and Kathryn Frankland Rabbi Rudolph Coffee, the head of the largest synagogue in the Bay Area..
  • Haifa; Wilmington, IL; United States Leroy Ioas; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; In Memoriam; Hands of the Cause, First Contingent; Anita Ioas Chapman
    1965. 20 Sep The obligation that Bahá'ís should seek exemption from combatant service was specifically affirmed by the Universal House of Justice in a letter to the American National Spiritual Assembly. That letter said:

      It is for each believer, under pain of his own conscience, to determine for himself what his actions should be, bearing in mind that the application of these principles is the spiritual obligation of every Bahá'í. It is rather for your Assembly to see that adequate instruction is provided so that the friends will let these principles be mirrored forth in their actions, and that they will be so steadfast in their love for Bahá'u'lláh that it would be unthinkable for them to willingly place themselves in a position where they must take human life. [Universal House of Justice letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States ref41]
    United States Armed forces; Military; Weapons; War (general)
    1966 (In the year) In 1966, as part of the Lamp Unto My Feet series, an ecumenical religious program that was produced by CBS Television and broadcast from 1948 to 1979 on Sunday mornings, the episode And His Name Shall Be One was aired. The film was used by Bahá'ís throughout the world. [BW14p93] United States Film; Documentaries; Television; And His Name Shall Be One (film)
    1966 8 Mar The second suit brought against the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States by the followers of Charles Mason Remey, who claimed to he the lawful owners of all Bahá’í properties and funds in the United States, was dismissed. [BW14:95] United States Charles Mason Remey; Covenant-breakers; National Spiritual Assemblies; Court cases; Copyright and trademarks
    1966 7 Apr The passing of Ali Kuli Khan (b. Káshán Persia, about 1879) in Washington, DC. [BW14p351]
  • For information on his burial place see Rock Creek Cemetery.
  • For a short biography and recollections by Ali Kuli Khan see World Order, 6.1 p29-41.
  • Washington DC; United States; Kashan; Iran Ali Kuli Khan; In Memoriam; Births and deaths
    1966 1 Jun The counter-claim of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States against the followers of Charles Mason Remey restraining them from using Bahá’í names and symbols, was upheld when the Covenant-breakers failed to appear at the trial. [BW14:95] United States Charles Mason Remey; Covenant-breakers; National Spiritual Assemblies; Copyright and trademarks; Court cases; Criticism and apologetics
    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
    1968. Apr An article honouring the Centenary of Bahá'u'lláh's Proclamation to the Kings and religious leaders of the world appeared in the April 1968 issue of Ebony Magazine. The article included a number of colour photographs taken during the recent Bahá'í Intercontinental Conference in Kampala, Uganda. Auxiliary Board member Mrs. Beth McKenty was instrumental in getting the article and has worked with Ebony on the material.
  • In April 1965 Ebony carried a feature story on the Faith titled: "Bahá'í: A Way of Life for Millions."
  • The July 1965 issue of the magazine carried a quarter-page advertisement on the Bahá'í Faith which has been one of the most successful ads in terms of response. [National Bahá'í Review No 3 March 1968 p10]
  • United States Ebony; Proclamation; Beth McKenty; Auxiliary Board Members
    1968 22 – 23 Jun The first National Youth Conference of the Bahá’ís of the United States opened in Wilmette, Illinois. [BW15:327 8]
  • For picture see BW15:325.
  • Wilmette; Illinois; United States Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, Youth; Conferences, National
    1968. Jul In the United States a "Bahá'í Teacher and Speaker List" was compiled for distribution to goals committees and assemblies. 600 people were approached for inclusion on the list. [Bahá'í National Review Issue 13 January 1969 p7] United States Bahai Teacher and Speaker List
    1969 Jun For the Bahá'í position on military service see War, Governance, and Conscience in This Age of Transition by National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States published by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States in the National Bahá'í Review. United States Armed forces; Military; Weapons; War (general)
    1969. 15 Jun - 15 Sep Hand of the Cause Ali-Akbar Furutan travelled throughout the width and breadth of North America. This was part of an eight-month world teaching trip during which he visited New York, Dallas, Fort Worth, Memphis, Washington DC, and the National Centre in Wilmette while he was in the United States. In addition he taught at Baha'i Schools at Green Acre, Camp Dorothy Walls in Black Mountain, North Carolina as well as Davison in Michigan and Geyserville in California and he attended three deepening conferences, two in Juneau and Anchorage, Alaska and one in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    While in Canada he visited St. Johns, Newfoundland, Vancouver, British Columbia and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and he taught at summer schools at Laurentian, Sylvan Lake, the Pacific Youth Institutes and he attended the Continental Indian Conference held at Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan. [BN No 466 January 1970 p3-4]

    United States; Canada Hand of the Cause; Ali-Akbar Furutan
    1969. Jul With regard to the classification of Bahá'í books, in most libraries the listing is according to the Dewey Decimal Classification system employed by the National Library of Congress. While the classification is not yet satisfactory from the Bahá'í standpoint, considerable improvement has been made since the early days of the Faith. The National Spiritual Assembly advised its community that it will continue to follow up with the National Library of Congress for further improvement.

    The proper call number of Bahá'í literature is 297.89. The number 297 is given to Islam, and religions under that parentage are listed in that same general sequence. While the Bahá'í Faith is not a branch of Islam, our roots are in that faith, as the roots of Christianity were within Judaism. Most Bahá'í books published in North America under Bahá'í auspices will have the proper call number along with the copyright information inside the front cover.

    It was recognized that the changing classifications of library listings is a very serious matter and once any change is made it must remain in effect a very long time in order to avoid the tremendous confusion that frequent changes and revisions would create in the library system involving thousands of local public libraries throughout the country. For this reason they asked that the community not make an issue of this with their local library not take up the question with the National Library of Congress. [Bahá'í National Review Issue 19 July 1969 p4-5]

    United States Dewey Decimal Classification; Call Number; Libraries
    1969. 12 Nov The world premiere of the film A New Wind, written and directed by George C Stoney and distributed by the Public Information Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States. The National Spiritual Assembly approved an initial showing of the film in forty cities and ten colleges across the United States. A second premiere showing of the film was on World Religion Day, January 18th, 1970, in forty different cities and ten different colleges.
    The film shows scenes from the Holy Land, as well as Bahá'í communities in India, Japan and in the United States, depicting Bahá'ís in their gatherings and firesides, in their daily lives and personal activities. It demonstrates the unity in diversity so characteristic of the Faith and portrays, in twenty- eight minutes of screen time, the spirit and scope of a fast-growing worldwide religious community. [National Bahá'í Review Issue 21 September 1969 p10; National Bahá'í Review Issue 23 November 1961 p13; National Bahá'í Review Issue 47 November 1972 p2]
  • See National Bahá'í Review Issue 22 October 1969 p14 for a resumé of the work of George Stoney.
  • YouTube.
  • United States film; A New Wind; George Stoney
    1970 - early 1971 Over 20,000 Afro-Americans from the rural areas of the south-eastern United States became Bahá’ís. [BBRSM187] United States Mass conversion
    1970. 20 Feb The passing of Curtis Demude Kelsey (b. 6 March, 1894 in Salt Lake City, UT) in Bradenton, FL.
  • He became a Bahá'í in 1917 through the influence of his mother, a talented poetess and writer who learned of the Faith in 1909.
  • Roy Wilhelm had sent three generators to the Holy Land and had asked permission from 'Abdu'l-Bahá to have Curtis come and install them. His request was granted and Curtis spent from September, 1921 until April, 1922 in the Holy Land. The units were installed at the Shrine of the Báb, (See SETPE1p38) at Bahjí (See SETPE1p55) and at the home of 'Abdu'l-Bahá at #7 Haparsin Street and the work was completed at all three locations on the last day of Ridván, 1922.
  • On the 6th of August, 1928 he married Harriet Morgan Kelsey (d. 18 March, 1971), a gifted musician and a teacher. They raised four children.
  • In 1953 while on pilgrimage Shoghi Effendi asked him to extend his stay to install a pump and watering system for the grounds at Bahjí.
  • He served on the Spiritual Assembly of West Englewood (now Teaneck) for some 30 years.
  • Curtis spent some time serving as an Auxiliary Board Member and gave talks at summer schools.
  • He passed away while serving at his place of retirement in Bradenton Florida. [BW15p468-473]
  • Bradenton; FL; United States Curtis Kelsey; Harriet Kelsey; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Auxiliary Board Members
    1970. 20 - 22 Feb First American National Baha'i Education Conference in America was held in Wilmette. [USBN April 1970] Wilmette; United States Conferences; Conferences, Bahai
    1970. 22 Apr The first Earth Day mobilized 20 million Americans to call for increased protections for our planet. The organization of this event was inspired in part but the Santa Barbara Oil Spill of the 28th of January 1969 when an off-shore oil well owned by Union Oil blew out and spilled more than three million gallons of oil and killing thousands of seabirds, dolphins, seals, and sea lions and fouling the California coastline. As a reaction to this disaster, activists were mobilized to create environmental regulation, environmental education, and Earth Day. [Earth Day website] California; United States Earth Day; Environment
    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 19 – 21 Jun Rúhíyyih Khánum interrupted her African teaching safari to meet with more than 2,000 youth at the National Youth Conference in the United States. [BW15:331; VV10] United States; Africa Amatul-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum; Amatul-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum, Journeys of; Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, Youth; Youth
    1970. approx Jul The release of the film It's Just the Beginning. The documentary film is about the 1970 Bahá’í National Youth Conference and was made by Kiva Films. This film was aired on television and at community events. Distribution was under the Public Information Committee of the National Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States. [National Bahá'í Review Issue 47 November 1972 p2]
  • YouTube.
  • United States film; Its Just the Beginning
    1971. (In the year) The publication of Memorials of the Faithful by the Bahá'í Publishing Trust in Wilmette as translated from the original Persian and annotated by Marzieh Gail. It contains eulogies of some eighty early Bahá’ís transcribed from a series of talks given by ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá in Haifa around 1914–15.

    It was first published in 1924 in Farsi when the Persian transcripts that had been corrected by ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá were compiled into a single volume.

  • In 1973 Memorials of the Faithful was transcribed by Gertrude D Schurgast and published in Tucson, AZ by the Bahá'í Service for the Blind. In 1975 a second print run was done. [BEL3.75, 8.3]
  • See reviews, papers and tributes to the book.
  • Wilmette; United States Abdul-Baha, Writings and talks of; Abdul-Baha, Life of; Memorials of the Faithful (book); - Basic timeline, Expanded; Abdul-Baha, Basic timeline; Bahai Service for the Blind; Gertrude D Schurgast; Marzieh Gail
    1971. 24 May The passing of Anna Reinke (b. 15 August, 1882 Travis County, Texas) in Travis County Texas. She was buried in the Maul Cemetery in Travis County.
  • She is considered the mother of the Bahá'í community in Texas. Anna Reinke was a seamstress who lived in a converted Austin trolley from 1942 until her passing. She had learned of the Faith from her sister in Washington DC. Reinke is credited with the first racially integrated meeting ever held in Texas when she joined Gregory at Anderson High School, which was an all-African American school, where he delivered a message of racial friendship. The program eventually became the forerunner of the Louis Gregory Symposium on Race Unity that began March 27, 2007, and is held annually on Austin’s Huston-Tillotson University campus. In the late 1940s, the Texas Regional Teaching Committee began an annual event, the Inter-racial Panel, that included Texan members of the Bahá'í faith, with the first event—a picnic—held at the home of Reinke, an active committee member. [The Statesman 29 October, 2019]
  • Find a grave
  • Travis County, TX; Texas; United States Anna Reinke
    1972 summer Over 150 American youth join European youth in Operation Hand-in-Hand, a joint teaching project. [BW15:338]
  • For picture see BW15:347.
  • United States Teaching campaigns; Youth
    1972 17 Dec The passing of Matthew Washington Bullock (b. 11 September, 1881 in Dabney, North Carolina) in Detroit, Michigan. His place of burial is unknown.
  • He was a singer, a talented athlete, a football coach, a teacher, a soldier, a war hero, a civic leader, a church leader.

    • See this newspaper clipping which implies that he may have been subjected to rough treatment by the opposing Princeton team.
  • Lawyer-graduated from Harvard Law School in 1907.
  • Found the Faith in 1940 after many years of careful investigation.
  • Husband to Katherine Wright, (d. 1945), father to Matthew W. Bullock Jr (a judge) and Julia Gaddy (librarian).
  • Chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Boston.
  • Travel teacher to Haiti, Costa Rica, Mexico, Belgian Congo, Liberia.
  • Elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the the United States in 1952.
  • Represented the NSA at the first Intercontinental Bahá'í Conference in Uganda, East and received permission to visit the Holy Land on pilgrimage prior to attending the Conference.
  • Became a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh in 1953 for Dutch West Indies when he and four other members of the NSA resigned to take up pioneer posts.
  • He received an honorary degree from Harvard in recognition of the lifetime of achievements.
  • He spent his last years in Detroit in the care of his daughter. [BW15p535-539]
  • Find a grave
  • See a biographical article in the Evertt Independent.
  • Dabney, NC; Detroit; United States In Memoriam; Matthew Bullock; Knights of Bahaullah; Births and deaths
    1974 (In the year) The first Native Council took place in Haines, Alaska, attended by 50 native Bahá’ís. Haines; Alaska; United States Firsts, Other
    1974 (In the year) The publication of The Bahá'í Faith: Its History and Teachings by Reverend William McElwee Miller. This book was an update of his 1931 publication Bahá'ism: Its Origin, History and Teachings. Forty-three years earlier he had predicted that the Bahá'í Faith would soon only be known to students of history. Now he revised his assessment to say, "Whoever peruses the thousands of pages of the thirteen large volumes of The Bahá'í World will be impressed by the fact that the Bahá'í Faith is indeed a world faith." [MCSp766]
  • See The Cyprus Exiles p102 by Moojan Momen for information on how Miller got a great deal of material for his book.
  • See "Missionary as Historian: William Miller and the Bahá'í Faith" by Douglas Martin published in Bahá'í Studies, volume 4.
  • Pennsylvania; United States Criticism and apologetics; William McElwee Miller
    1974 Ridván The first local spiritual assembly of Kotzebue, an Iñupiat Eskimo community situated north of the Arctic Circle, was formed. Kotzebue; Alaska; United States; Arctic Local Spiritual Assembly
    1974 13 July The dedication of the Bosch Bahá'í School north of Santa Cruz, California. (Bosch Bahá'í School site, Bahá'´News page 716] Santa Cruz; California; United States Bosch Bahai School; Bahai schools
    1974 28 Aug - 2 Sep The conference held in St Louis, Missouri, to launch the Five Year Plan in the United States attracted some 10,000 Bahá’ís, the largest gathering of Bahá’ís to take place anywhere in the world to date. [BW16:203; VV40]
  • See "From Badasht to Stain Louis; An Evaluation of the First Bahá'í Conference and the Largest" by Zikrullah Khadem, ZK266-278.
  • St Louis; Missouri; United States; Badasht; Iran Conferences, Bahai; Zikrullah Khadem
    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
    1975. 4 - 8 Jul The Ridván Message contained the phrase, "EVIDENCES GATHERING CLOUDS WIDESPREAD OPPOSITION" and the Universal House of Justice called together all the 'high ranking officers' and 'senior administrative bodies' of the Faith in North America for special consultation on the future protection of the Cause" to be held in Wilmette. It was attended by the three Hands of the Cause for North America, Mr Sears, Mr Robarts and Mr Zikrullah Khadem; the four members of the Board of Counsellors, Velma Sherrill, Lloyd Gardner, Sarah Periera, and Edna True; all the members of the National Spiritual Assemblies of Alaska, Canada and the United States as well as representative of the National Assembly of Hawaii; all of the Auxiliary Board members in North America and special guest, Counsellor 'Azíz Yazdí of the International Teaching Centre.
  • Although the primary reason for gathering was to discuss the issue of the protection of the Faith there were opportunities for members of the three National Spiritual Assemblies and the Auxiliary Boards to share teaching ideas and to lear of the goals achieved in other areas. [BN Vol 52 No 8 August, 1975 p13-14, CBN Issue 287 Aug/Sept 1975 p1-4]
  • Wilmette; Chicago; United States Conference; Continental Conference for Protection
    1976 10 Jan The most northerly-located local spiritual assembly in the world was formed in the Iñupiat community of Barrow, Alaska. Barrow; Alaska; United States Local Spiritual Assembly; Superlatives
    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
    1976 24 Apr The passing of Mark George Tobey (b. December 11, 1890 Centerville, Wisconsin – d. April 24, 1976 Basel, Switzerland) [Bahá'í News page 341, Wiki, VV119]
  • He had been introduced to the Faith by Bernard Leach. [OPOP223]
  • Another version is that In 1918 Mark Tobey came in contact with Juliet Thompson and posed for her. During the session Tobey read some Bahá'í literature and accepted an invitation to Green Acre where he converted. [Seitz, William Chapin (1980). Mark Tobey. Ayer Publishing. p. 44]
  • Tobey was one of the twentieth century’s most cosmopolitan of artists. An inveterate traveler—he eventually settled in Basel, Switzerland—he was always better known in Europe than in his homeland.
  • His mature ‘white writing’ works are made up of pulsing webs of lines inspired by oriental calligraphy, explicitly acknowledged the direct influence of the Bahá'í Faith on his painting. It has been said that Tobey “made line the symbol of spiritual illumination, human communication and migration, natural form and process, and movement between levels of consciousness.” He often stated, “that there can be no break between nature, art, science, religion, and personal life".
  • See Bahá'í World 1994-95 pg248 for an article by Anne Boyles entitled "The Language of the Heart: Arts in the Bahá'í World Community" for mention of Mark Tobey.
  • For his obituary see BW17:401–4.
  • Towards the end of his life, Tobey was the recipient of some of the highest distinctions that the European art scene of his time could bestow. He won the gold medal at the Venice Biennale in 1958—the first American painter to do so since 1895. In 1961, a major retrospective of his work was held at the Louvre in Paris, an unprecedented achievement for a living and American artist.
  • See The Journal of Bahá'í Studies, Volume 26, number 4 – Winter 2016 p94 for an article by Anne Gordon Perry entitled Anne Gould Hauberg and Mark Tobey: Lives Lived for Art, Cultivated by Spirit.
  • An exhibition, Mark Tobey: Threading Light showed at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, 6 May to 10 September 2017 and at the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, 4 November 2017–11 March 2018.
  • An example of some of his works.
  • See World Order Vol 11 No 3 Spring 1977 for the following articles:
    • The Days with Mark Tobey by Marzieh Gail
    • Mark, Dear Mark by Bernard Leach
    • Memories of Mark Tobey by Firuz Kazemzahed
    • The Dot and the Circle by Mark Tobey
  • Centerville; Wisconsin; United States; Basel; Switzerland In Memoriam; Mark Tobey; Bernard Leach; Anne Gould Hauberg; Arts; Painting
    1976 23 – 25 Jul An International Teaching Conference was held in Anchorage, Alaska, attended by 1,005 Bahá’ís. [BW17:81]
  • For the message of the Universal House of Justice see BW17:130–1.
  • For pictures see BW17:110, 113, 116–17.
  • Anchorage; Alaska; United States Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, Teaching; Conferences, International; Teaching
    1976 5 Oct The passing of Adelaide Sharp (b. Texas, 1896) in Tehran.
  • In 1929 she accompanied Dr Susan Moody (77) to Tehran and and took up the position of principal of the Tarbiyat School for Girls (opened 1910).
  • In 1931 she invited her mother, Clara Sharp, to come and live with her.
  • After the closing of the Tarbiyat Schools on the 6th of December, 1934, the Guardian asked her to remain in Persia. She organized study classes for both boys and girls to study English writings such as Bahá'í Administration, The Promised Day is Come, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh and other works from the Guardian. In 1954 the Guardian ruled that women could serve on Bahá'í administrative bodied in Persia. She was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly and served in this role for the next fourteen years. She attended the First and Second International Conventions in 1963 and in 1968. Her five decade legacy of service in Iran included children's education, translating Writings, consolidating administrative institutions, serving as the"external affairs" representative for the National Assembly. Upon her passing memorial services where held in Tehran as well as other centres throughout the country. [BW17p418-420, Bahá'í Heroes & Heroines]
  • Texas; United States; Tihran; Iran Adelaide Sharp; Clara Sharp; Tarbiyat School; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Firsts, Other
    1977. 16 Aug The passing of Annamarie Honnold (b. 23 December 1914 in Urbana, Illinois) in Kennet Square, PA, USA. She was an American Bahá'í author, teacher and United Nations representative. Her mother became a Bahá'í a year after her birth and in 1921 the parents and their two daughters, Annamarie and Margaret Rosa, went on pilgrimage and met 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

    Her publications were:

  • 1982 - Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
  • 1986 - Divine Therapy: Pearls of Wisdom from the Bahá'í Writings
  • 1994 - Why They Became Bahá'ís: First Generation Bahá'ís By 1963
  • In 1972 she published Glimpses of Early Bahá'í Pilgrimages, a discussion of early pilgrimages based on the resulting pilgrim's notes. Includes text from a variety of memoirs.
  • Urbana, IL; Kennett Square; Pennsylvania; United States In Memoriam; Annamarie Honnold
    1978 23 May The House of Worship in Wilmette was included in the register of historic places in the United States. [BW17:166, 375]
  • For picture see BW17:165.
  • Wilmette; United States Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Mashriqul-Adhkar (House of Worship); Architecture; Recognition
    1979 -1982 In the period Riḍván 1979 to Riḍván 1982 the Association for Bahá’í Studies played an increasingly important role in the affairs of the international Bahá’í community and through its conferences and publications has provided an exciting forum for intellectual and spiritual development.

    A change of name which was recommended by the Canadian National Assembly and approved by the Universal House of Justice in April 1981 reflecting the emerging nature of the Association’s membership and activities with national affiliates established in a number of countries. lts executive committee included, for the first time, members from the United States as well as Canada. Serving on the Executive Committee were Hossain Danesh, Glen Eyford, Richard Gagnon, Jane Goldstone, William Hatcher, Douglas Martin, Peter Morgan, Nasser Sabet and Christine Zerbinis, of Canada. Firuz Kazemzadeh and Dorothy Nelson served as liaison officers in the United States. [BW18p194]

    See Wikipedia for a current list of association for Bahá'í Studies worldwide.

    In 1979 the Universal House of Justice gave a further goal to the Canadian community for the Seven Year Plan: ‘Expand the opportunities for teaching in Canadian institutions of higher learning and further develop the Canadian Association for Studies on the Bahá’í Faith.’

    And in 1981, when the second phase of the Seven Year Plan was launched, the Universal House of Justice restated this goal and divided it into two parts: ‘Foster the development of the Canadian Association for Studies on the Bahá’í Faith’ and “Expand and intensify the teaching of the Faith in Canadian institutions of higher learning.‘

    The goal of cultivating opportunities for formal presentations and courses remained a primary objective of the Association, but the Universal House of Justice also encouraged specific attention to the development of the Association itself. The Association had become a significant feature of the intellectual, social and spiritual life of the Canadian community, and for increasing numbers of Bahá’ís worldwide.

    In March of 1981 the Association for Bahá'í Studies announced the acquisition of a property in the heart of the University of Ottawa campus, the first such centre in the world. It is located at 34 Copernicus Street Ottawa, Ontario KIN 7K4. [BW18p195]

    Canada; United States Bahai Studies, Associations for
    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
    1982 25 May The Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives heard the testimony of six witnesses concerning the persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran. [BW18:172]
  • See A Congressional resolution: Protesting Iran's Bigotry. [World Order, Series 2, Volume_17 Issue 1 p9-14]
  • See as well [World Order, Series 2, Volume_16 Issue 3]
  • Washington DC; United States; Iran Human Rights; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Other; Persecution; United States government
    1982 19 – 20 Jun The teaching project Camino Del Sol (Trail of Light), comprising indigenous believers from North America, was formed on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, United States. [BW18:239]
  • The team traveled through Central and South America in a programme of cultural exchange. [BW18:172]
  • For a report of the project and pictures see BW18:239–45 and BW19:74–6.
  • Arizona; United States Indigenous people; Native Americans; Navajo (Dine)
    1982 22 or 23 Oct The murder of Daniel Jordon in New York. The crime was unsolved. Mr. Jordon was on the National Spiritual Assembly and was a co-founder of The Anisa Model. [New York Times Archives] Stamford; Connecticut; United States Daniel Jordan (Dan Jordan); In Memoriam
    1982 29 Dec The passing of Stanwood Cobb, (b. November 6 Newton, Massachusetts, 1881 – d. December 29, 1982) noted Bahá'í lecturer, educator and author at his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland at the age of 101 after 75 years of service to the Cause.
  • His first exposure to the Faith was in 1906 at Green Acre where he attended a conference during his studies at Harvard Divinity School where he was preparing for the Unitarian ministry. [Wikipedia]
  • While serving as a college instructor in Constantinople, disguised as a Turk, he made a visit to 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Akka while He was still a prisoner. He met Him again in 1910 and while He was in Paris and the United States during His Western travels.
  • He was the author of some 30 books and numerous articles. Some of his publications can be found on Bahá'í Library.
  • He served as an editor of Star of the West until 1939 and was a co-editor of World Order.
  • He founded Avalon Press in 1935 through which he published his works. [Wikipedia]
  • One of his essays entitled The Continuity of Religion was first published in The Bahá’í World Volume VI, 1934-1936.
  • Bahá'í Chronicles.
  • Chevy Chase; United States Stanwood Cobb; In Memoriam; Births and deaths
    1983 (In the year) The Diary of Juliet Thompson with a foreword by Marzieh Gail was published by Kalimat Press. The diary was of one of the earliest Bahá'ís of New York, covering her many hours with 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 1909, 1911, and 1912. It was a vivid personal account of spiritual love and the tests of her faith. [BEL7.2553] Los Angeles; United States Diary of Juliet Thompson; Juliet Thompson; Marzieh Gail
    1983. 25 Jun The passing of Reginald "Rex" Collison (b. 3 May 1884 in Ohio). He was buried in Oak Mound Cemetery, Healdsburg, Sonoma County, California, USA. [BW19p595-596]
  • Rex accepted a position in plant research on the staff of Cornell University and held this post for thirty-three years, retiring in 1945 as Chief of Research and Professor Emeritus.
  • Rex and Mary were married in 1920 and in 1924 learned of the Faith from Howard and Mabel Ives.
  • In 1952 he and Mary pioneered to Uganda. When the Ten Year Crusade was launched in 1953, the Collisons were the first American believers to arise. Accompanied by Mr. Dunduzu Chisiza, a young Nyasaland African who served as their interpreter and shared their home for over a year, they settled in Ruanda-Urundi. (Today,known as Rwanda and Burundi.) For their service in opening Ruanda-Urundi to the Faith the trio were named by Shoghi Effendi Knights of Baha'u'llah. Returning to Kampala in 1955, the Collisons were later appointed custodians of the Mother Temple of Africa and they served the Faith in this capacity with great devotion until 1966 when they found it necessary to return home to Geyserville.
  • See CG66-67 for their services while in Uganda.
  • Find a grave.
  • On August 11, 1970, Rex lost his wife Mary (b. 13 Nov 1892 in Adelaide, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada). [BW15p486]
  • Find a grave.
  • Healdsburg; California; United States Rex Collison; In Memoriam; Mary Collison; Dunduzu Chisza; Knights of Bahaullah
    1983 5 – 7 Aug The first Los Angeles Bahá’í History Conference was held at the University of California at Los Angeles. [BW19:369–70] Los Angeles; United States Bahai history; Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, Other; Conferences; First conferences
    1984 21 Mar The inaugural broadcast for Radio Baha'i WLGI, located at the Louis Gregory Bahá'í Institute in Hemingway, South Carolina, was Naw Ruz, 141 B.E. (March 21, 1984). [from an email from Greg Kintz, General Manager, Radio Baha'i, dated 19 March, 2019]
  • WLGI Website
  • To listen to WLGI on-line.
  • Hemingway SC; South Carolina; United States Bahai radio; Bahai-owned radio
    1984 Ridván Delegates at the United States National Convention petition the Universal House of Justice requesting that the law of Huqúqu’lláh be made binding on the American Bahá’ís. [AWH30; ZK146–77]
  • The Universal House of Justice replied that it is not yet the time to take this step. [AWH30, Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 6 August, 1984]
  • United States Huququllah, Basic timeline; Conventions, National; UHJ; Gradual implementation of laws
    1984 16 Nov Shu’á’u’lláh ‘Alá’í, Hand of the Cause of God, passed away in Scottsdale, Arizona. (b. 16 November 1889) [BW19:594; VV123]
  • BW19: 159 says this was 17 November.
  • For his obituary see BW19:593–5.
  • Shoghi Effendi had appointed him among the second contingent on the 29th of February, 1952. [MoCxxiii]
  • For a short biography "General" 'Alí see Bahá'í Chronicles.
  • See LoF335-338.
  • Scottsdale; Arizona; United States Shuaullah Alai; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths; In Memoriam; Hands of the Cause, Second Contingent
    1985 3 – 7 Jul An International Youth Conference to support the United Nations International Youth Year was held in Columbus, Ohio, United States attended by more than 3,200 youth from 42 nations. [BW19:300] Columbus OH; Ohio; United States; North America Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, Youth; Conferences, International; Youth; International Youth Year
    1986 28 Jan The death of NASA Astronaut Ronald Erwin McNair (b. 21 October, 1951 in Lake City, SC) when Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated nine miles above the Atlantic Ocean just 73 seconds after liftoff. Prior to this launch he had served 7 days, 23 minutes in space. He was buried in Rest Lawn Memorial Park in Lake City, South Carolina. [BlackPast.org]
  • McNair Crater on the Moon is named for him. [Wikipedia]
  • Cape Canaveral; Florida; Lake City; South Carolina; United States Ronald McNair; Space exploration; Science; African Americans; Famous Bahais
    1986 19 Oct Lorraine Kahn of Pine Springs, Arizona, is elected a delegate to the United States National Convention, the first Navajo woman to serve in this capacity. [BINS161:19] United States Lorraine Kahn; Native Americans; Conventions, National; Firsts, Other
    1986 13 Nov Zikrullah Khadem (Dhikru’lláh Khádem), Hand of the Cause of God, passed away in Skokie, Illinois. (b.1904 in Tehran) [VV123; ZK151]
  • Mr Khadem served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of Iran from 1938 to 1960. [LoF362-371]
  • Shoghi Effendi had appointed him among the second contingent on the 29th of February, 1952. [MoCxxiii]
  • See also Khadem, Zikrullah Khadem: The Itinerant Hand of the Cause of God.
  • In 1972 the Universal House of Justice asked Khadem to research and document places and people of historical significance to Baháʼís, which he concluded in 1977 with a 134-volume work that was submitted to the Universal House of Justice. He had called the project a Registry of Bahá'í Holy Places. [LoF369]
  • See In Memoriam in BN No 669 December 1986 p2.
  • Find a grave.
  • Skokie; Illinois; United States Zikrullah Khadem; Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths; In Memoriam; Hands of the Cause, Second Contingent
    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 9 Dec The passing of Edna M. True, (b. July 29, 1888, in Grand Rapids, Michigan) She was a daughter of the Hand of the Cause of God Corinne Knight True whose valiant work from 1909-25 as financial secretary of Bahá'í Temple Unity was instrumental in building the House of Worship in Wilmette.
  • She formally enrolled in the Faith as a 15-year-old in 1903.
  • See PG111-113. Edna and her mother had spent 11 days on pilgrimage in November of 1919. On the point of her departure 'Abdu'l-Bahá called her to His side.
  • Like her mother, Miss True became intimately involved in the completion of that magnificent edifice, serving on its construction committee from 1947-53, lending her expertise to interior design, and helping to plan its formal dedication in 1953.
  • From 1940-46 she was a member of the Bahá'í Inter-America Committee, serving as its chairman in 1941-42 and secretary in 1945-46.
  • In 1946 when she was elected to membership on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States. She served as recording secretary for the next 22 years.
  • She served as chairman of the European Teaching Committee for the entire span of its existence (1946-64), her organizational skills to work to help form local Spiritual Assemblies and, later, National Spiritual Assemblies in 11 European countries.
  • In 1968, now 80 years old, Miss True was named by the Universal House of Justice as a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Americas. She served with distinction as a Counsellor and Trustee of the Continental Fund until 1981 when advancing years (she was then 93) forced her to reduce her activities.
  • In 1986, Miss True and and her longtime friend and companion Miss Jackson made a pilgrimage to the World Centre in Haifa, Israel, where they visited the Holy Shrines and were entertained by members of the Universal House of Justice.
  • She was buried in the True family plot at Chicago's Oak-woods Cemetery. [Bahá'í News January, 1989 Issue 694 p.2]
  • Grand Rapids; Wilmette; United States Edna True; Corinne True; Counsellors; National Spiritual Assemblies; European Teaching Committee; In Memoriam
    1988 18 Dec H. Borrah Kavelin, (b. 18 March, 1906, Russia), former member of the first House of Justice, passed away in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was buried in Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque. [VV97]
  • A biography.
  • Find a grave
  • Albuquerque; New Mexico; United States H. Borrah Kavelin; Universal House of Justice, Members of; Births and deaths; In Memoriam
    1988 29 Dec The Universal House of Justice issued a letter to the Bahá’ís in the United States published as Individual Rights and Freedoms in the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. [Mess86-01p60] BWC; United States Universal House of Justice, Letters and messages; Publications; Administration; Administrative Order; Authority; Bahai Faith, Evolutionary nature of; Consultation; Criticism and apologetics; Ethics; Freedom and liberty; Freedom of expression; Human rights; Individualism; Moderation; Review; Unity; Western culture
    1989 (In the year) The New Era Foundation was formed by the US National Spiritual Assembly to sponsor a wide range of development projects in several continents. [VV81] United States New Era Foundation
    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 (In the year) The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the emancipation of the Iranian Bahá'í community and outlined the steps to be taken by the US government towards this end. [AWH76; VV60] United States House of Representatives
    1990 26 Jan The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace was established at the University of Maryland's Centre for International Development and Conflict Management at the official signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. [AWH76; BINS217:7; VV108]
  • Professor Suheil Bushrui was appointed to the Chair in 1992.
  • For picture see VV108.
  • On the 12th of February the Universal House of Justice announced that the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and the University of Maryland had signed a memorandum of understanding to establish "The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace" in its Centre for International Development and Conflict Management.
  • In 1992 Professor Suheil Bushrú’í was named as the first scholar to hold the Chair. [AWH76; VV108]
  • See The American Bahá'í for information on the endowment to fund the Chair as well as the programs and activities. "As part of its threefold objective of research, education and publication, the Bahá’í Chair collaborates with academics and practitioners to provide inspiration and direction to students, faculty and leaders seeking solutions to the world’s great challenges through the study of Bahá'í perspectives."
  • Official website.
  • Maryland; United States Bahai Chair for World Peace; Suheil Bushrui
    1990 31 Mar 31 – 1 Apr The first Bahá'í International Chinese Symposium was held in San Francisco, California; it was attended by 362 Bahá'ís from eight countries. [BINS222:6] San Francisco; California; United States Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, International; Conferences, Other; First conferences; China
    1990 May The US Senate unanimously adopted a concurrent resolution condemning Irán's continued repression of the Bahá'ís calling for their complete emancipation. This was the fourth congressional appeal. [VV60] United States; Iran United States Senate; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Other; Persecution
    1990 Oct The publication of the last issue of the Bahá'í News by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States after nearly 70 years of uninterrupted service. [CBN Feb1991pg15]
    • Issues 1 to 40 were published under the name Bahá'í News Letter. Subsequent issues, from #41 to #714, were entitled simply Bahá'í News.


    Bahá'í News Published December 1924 to October 1990
              Link (Will open in this window)            
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    "Bahá'í News" Issues 001-110
    Dec 1924 - Sep 1937
    969
    bahai-news.info/pdfs/bn01.pdf
    "Bahá'í News" Issues 111-210
    Oct 1937 - Aug 1948
    1186
    bahai-news.info/pdfs/bn02.pdf
    "Bahá'í News" Issues 211-280
    Sep 1948 - Jun 1954
    1072
    bahai-news.info/pdfs/bn03.pdf
    "Bahá'í News" Issues 281-345
    Jul 1954 - Nov 1959
    1088
    bahai-news.info/pdfs/bn04.pdf
    "Bahá'í News" Issues 346-400
    Dec 1959 - Jul 1964
    849
    bahai-news.info/pdfs/bn05.pdf
    "Bahá'í News" Issues 401-440
    Aug 1964 - Nov 1967
    716
    bahai-news.info/pdfs/bn06.pdf
    "Bahá'í News" Issues 441-490
    Dec 1967 - Jan 1972
    1008
    bahai-news.info/pdfs/bn07.pdf
    "Bahá'í News" Issues 491-525
    Feb 1972 - May 1975
    958
    bahai-news.info/pdfs/bn08.pdf
    "Bahá'í News" Issues 526-580
    Jun 1975 - Jul 1979
    1019
    bahai-news.info/pdfs/bn09.pdf
    "Bahá'í News" Issues 581-630
    Aug 1979 - Sep 1983
    958
    bahai-news.info/pdfs/bn10.pdf
    "Bahá'í News" Issues 631-670
    Oct 1983 - Jan 1987
    780
    bahai-news.info/pdfs/bn11.pdf
    "Bahá'í News" Issues 671-714
    Feb 1987 - Oct 1990
    847
    bahai-news.info/pdfs/bn12.pdf

    Subscribers in the United States received an insert entitled US Supplement from 1958 to 1967 and the name of the insert was changed to National Bahá'í Review from 1968 until the Bahá'í News discontinued publication in 1990.
    United States Bahai News; Newsletters; - Periodicals; Publications
    1991 (In the year) The first major public statement of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, The Vision of Race Unity: America's Most challenging Issue, was published and disseminated widely throughout the country. United States Vision of Race Unity (statement); Race (general); Unity; Publications; Statements; National Spiritual Assembly, statements; Public discourse Find ref
    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
    1991 25 Jan Mottahedeh Development Services was established by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States as a non-profit agency to promote social and economic development to benefit individuals of any race, creed, or nationality. The agency name honours more than fifty years of dedicated service by Mildred and Rafi Mottahedeh, two pioneers in social and economic development.
  • Mottahedeh Development Services was organized as a charitable organization under US law. [MDS]
  • United States National Spiritual Assembly of the United States; Social and economic development; Mottahedeh Development Services; Mildred Mottahedeh; Rafi Mottahedeh
    1991 25 Feb In Iran, a secret government memorandum (known as the Golpaygani Memorandum) was drawn up by Iran's Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council and signed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, which provided a blueprint of the policies and actions to which the Bahá'í community of Iran was to be subjugated. The memorandum demanded a shift in Iran's stance towards Bahá'ís from overt persecution to a more covert policy aimed at depleting the Iranian Bahá'í community's economic and cultural resources. This was a change in the policy for the Islamic regime which had openly persecuted and killed Bahá'ís during its first decade in power and had accused them of being spies for various foreign powers. The document also called for “countering and destroying their [Bahá'ís] cultural roots abroad.” [Iran Press Watch 1407]
    Signed by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the memorandum established a subtle government policy aimed at essentially grinding the community into nonexistence by:
  • forcing Bahá'í children to have a strong Islamic education,
  • pushing Bahá'í adults into the economic periphery and forcing them from all positions of power or influence, and
  • requiring that Bahá'í youth "be expelled from universities, either in the admission process or during the course of their studies, once it becomes known that they are Bahá'ís." [One Country; Iran Press Watch 1578]
  • The memorandum can be found here, here and here.
  • This document might have remained secret had it not been divulged to Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, the Salvadoran diplomat who served as the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran between 1986 and 1995. Professor Pohl disclosed the document in 1993 during a session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (now replaced by the Human Rights Council). [BWNS575]
  • Iran; United States Golpaygani Memorandum; Ayatollah Khamenei; Ayatollahs; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Human rights; United Nations; Persecution, education; BWNS; Bahai International Community
    1992 (In the year) Prime Minister Hamilton Green of Guyana made a formal state visit to the temple in Wilmette. [Bahá'í Newsreel Vol. 3 number 2; VV133] Guyana; Wilmette; United States Prime Ministers; Hamilton Green; Mashriqul-Adhkar, Wilmette; Prominent visitors
    1992 (In the year) The establishment of the Bahá'í Chair for Peace at the University of Maryland in the United States. The mission of the Bahá'í Chair for Peace, in part, was to develop alternatives to the violent resolution of conflict, promote global education and spiritual awareness, and reflect the beliefs of the Bahá'í world community in building a global society. Suheil Bushrui held the chair from 1992 until 2005. [BWNS282] Maryland; United States Bahai Chair for World Peace; University of Maryland
    1992 25 Mar William Benard Sears, (b.28 Mar 1911), Hand of the Cause of God, passed away in Tucson, Arizona. He was buried in East Lawn Palms Cemetery and Mortuary Tucson, Arizona. [BINS267; VV124]
  • Shoghi Effendi had appointed him among the third contingent on the 2nd of October, 1957. [MoCxxiii]
  • Find a grave.
  • See LoFp496-506 for a short biography.
  • He was the author of several books:
    • All Flags Flying, The NSA of South and West Africa, (1958)
    • A Cry from the Heart: The Bahá'ís of Iran, George Ronald, (1982)
    • God Love Laughter, George Ronald, (1960 and multiple re-prints)
    • The Prisoner and the Kings, General Publishing Company, (1971)
    • Release the Sun, Bahá'í Publishing Trust, (1957)
    • Thief in the Night or The Strange Case of the Missing Millennium, Talisman Books, (1961 and multiple re-prints
    • The Wine of Astonishment, George Ronald, (1963 and multiple re-prints)
    • The Flame; The Story of Lua, (with Robert Quigley), George Ronald, (1972) [BEL7.2354-79]
  • Tucson; Arizona; United States Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Births and deaths; Births and deaths; William Sears; In Memoriam; Hands of the Cause, Third Contingent
    1992 April With a world population 5.48 billion, the American Bahá'í population was 110,000 in more than 7000 communities. [From a press release by the American National Office dated the 28th of May, 1993] United States Statistics
    1992 18 Jun The passing of Counsellor Isobel Sabri, (b. 19 July, 1924) member of the International Teaching Centre in England. She was born in California in 1924. Letter from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada to all Local Spiritual Assemblies dated the 16th of October 1992. [VV124]
  • She was buried at the New Southgate Cemetery
  • Find a grave
  • See Bahaipedia for the message of condolence from the Universal House of Justice.
  • California; United States; United Kingdom Counsellors; Isobel Sabri; International Teaching Centre, Members of; In Memoriam; Births and deaths
    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;
    1993 6 Jan The passing of John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (b. 21 October 1917, Cheraw, South Carolina). He was buried next to his mother in Flushing Cemetery, New York. [VV141]
  • His autobiography was entitled “To Be, or Not...to Bop".
  • He had become a Bahá'í in 1968 at the age of 51.
  • See Bahá'í World 1994-95 pg251 for an article by Anne Boyles entitled "The Language of the Heart: Arts in the Bahá'í World Community" for mention of Dizzy Gillespie.
  • Find a grave
  • Englewood; New Jersey; United States Dizzy Gillespie; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Jazz music; Famous Bahais
    1993 19 Jan The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland was inaugurated. It was situated in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. [BW92–3:140–1]

    The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace is an academic program that conducts and publishes research with a diverse group of scholars on global issues. The organization’s purpose is to study worldwide challenges and discuss solutions that could advance peace and promote tolerance.
    In addition to conducting academic research and releasing publications, the chair hosts events at the University of Maryland that are available to students, university staff and the general public.
    Although the chair was inspired by the spiritual teachings of the Bahá'í faith’s focus on humanity’s unity, the program emphasizes science-based analysis along with the values the Faith provides. [Unwind Magazine]

    Maryland; United States Bahai Chair for World Peace; University of Maryland
    1993 15 Apr The passing of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh Stanley Theodore Bagley, (b.2 February, 1912 in Bertrand, Missouri). He had been a pioneer to Belgium, France, Guadeloupe, Martinique, the United States as well as Sicily where he and his family, wife Florence, son Gerry and daughters Susan and Carol, received the Knighthood for their service. [BW93-94p319; BWIM63-65] United States; Belgium; France; Guadeloupe; Martinique; Sicily Knights of Bahaullah; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; Stanley Bagley
    1993 23 May The first general conference of Health for Humanitarian association of health professionals sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, was held in Evanston, Illinois. [BINS298:7; BW93–4:104] Evanston; Illinois; United States Conferences, Health
    1993 16 Oct The passing of Marzieh Nabíl Carpenter Gail, the second child and eldest daughter of the first Persian-American marriage in the Bahá'í Faith between Persian diplomat Ali-Kuli Khan and Boston debutante Florence Breed. (b. 1 April, 1908) [BW1993-1994p320-321, Find a grave]
  • See AY91 for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s praise of her as a child and confirmation and promises for the future. He commented that she had átish (fire) and namak (salt). [AY93]
  • Photo of 'Abdu'l-Bahá with the children of Ali-Kuli Khan and Florence.
  • A translator (Arabic and Persian into English) and author. Poet Roger White would say of his friend: "She is the first lady of Bahá'í literature and I and many writers are indebted to her for leading the way."
  • Translations include: The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys (1945) and The Secret of Divine Civilization (1957) with her father; Memorials of the Faithful (1971); Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá (1976) with a Committee at the Bahá'í World Centre; My Memories of Bahá'u'lláh (1982).
  • Author of a dozen Bahá'í and non-Bahá'í books in addition to countless essays, articles, and short stories. Her remembrances of 'Abdu'l-Bahá are contained in The Sheltering Branch (1959), and those of His Exalted Sister in Khanum: The Greatest Holy Leaf (1981).
  • Many of her essays and pioneering stories are contained in Dawn Over Mount Hira (1976) and Other People, Other Places (1982). As well she wrote “Six Lessons in Islam” (1953), Summon Up Remembrance (1987), Arches of the Years (1991) and, “Bahá'í Glossary” (1955). [Bahá'í Studies Review, Vol 6, 1996]
  • See Obituary: Marzieh Nabil Carpenter Gail (1908-1993): Translator and Author, "Patron Saint" of Women Bahá'í Scholars by Constance M. Chen.
  • Bahaipedia.
  • For a more complete list of her writings and translations see Bahai-library. iiiii
  • San Francisco; United States Marzieh Gail; Ali Kuli Khan; Florence Breed; Bahai scholars; In Memoriam; Births and deaths
    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 Jan By decision of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United State, the Wilmette Institute was established as an agency of the National Assembly.

    "The Wilmette Institute is a center of Bahá’í learning. Its programs aim to facilitate study and dialogue on the teachings and principles of the Faith to help individuals and communities apply learning and advance human civilization."

  • In 1998, the Wilmette Institute moved to a largely online study approach in order to provide educational classes to a broader student body. [Wilmette Institute]
  • Wilmette; Chicago; United States Wilmette Institute; Bahai study centers
    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
    1997 (In the year) The Tahirih Justice Center was founded to address the acute need for legal services of immigrant and refugee women who have fled to the U.S. to seek protection from human rights abuses.
  • The Center's founder, Ms. Layli Miller, created the Center after she was besieged by requests for legal assistance following her involvement in a high-profile case that set national precedent and revolutionized asylum law in the United States. The case was that of Fauziya Kassindja, a 17 year-old woman who fled Togo in fear of a forced polygamous marriage and a tribal practice known as female genital mutilation. After arriving in the U.S. and spending more than seventeen months in detention, Ms. Kassindja was granted asylum on June 13th, 1996 by the United States Board of Immigration Appeals in a decision that opened the door to gender-based persecution as a grounds for asylum. [Tahirih Justice Center]
  • For more on the Tahirih Justice Center see article in the Religion News Service.
  • United States Tahirih Justice Center; Human rights; Women; Refugees; Migration; Layli Miller-Muro
    1998. 25 March The passing of former Universal House of Justice member (1963-1993) Mr. Hugh E Chance (b. 28 December, 1911 in Winfield, Kansas d. 25 March,1998 in Tisdale KS.). [BW97-98p271-272]
  • Mr Chance had been a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States from 1961 to 1963.
  • Kansapedia.
  • He was the co-author of "A Crown of Beauty" with Eunice Braun which was published by George Ronald in 1982.
  • Tisdale; Kansas; United States Hugh Chance; In Memoriam
    1998 23 Nov The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States announced the results of the elections for their first Regional Councils. Four were elected in the regions corresponding to those mentioned in The Tablets of the Divine Plan. [Results of the First Regional Bahá'í Council Election] United States Regional Bahai Councils; Tablets of the Divine Plan; Regional Council
    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
    1999 5 May Firuz Kazemzadeh, Secretary for External Affairs for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, was appointed by President Clinton as a member of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. White House Press Release United States Firuz Kazemzadeh; NSA; United States government; United States Commissions; Religious freedom; Human rights Find ref
    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. 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
    2000. 2 Nov The passing of Creadell Johnetta Haley (b. 4 Jul 1916 in Pawhuska, Osage County, Oklahoma, USA) in Washington, DC. She was buried in the Quantico National Memorial Cemetery, Virginia. [Find a grave; ObeisanceBaha]
  • Her passion included mechanic and learning to fly. While studying for her pilot's license war broke out and so in September 1942 she joined the Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) of the Army. After military service, she enrolled in Wilberforce University, and also returned to the airfield where she was able to quickly receive her private pilot’s license.
  • She later left Wilberforce University to enroll in the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, and later continued her music education at San Jose State University. It was during her time in California that she was introduced to the Baha’i Faith.
  • In the spring of 1967 she pioneered to Venezuela where she remained until her return to the United States in 1999. She then took up residence at St. Mary’s Court Apartments in the Foggy Bottom section of Washington, DC.
  • She is well-remembered for writing Bahá'u'lláh and There Is Only One God, both of which appear on the album Fire and Snow. Other songs include ("Love, Love, Love"; "Sing His Praises"; "It's Time To Be Happy"; "Baha'u'llah Is The Promised One"; "A New Race of Men" and "God Is One".
  • See Pioneering pilot's missions carried her skyward by
  • Pawhuska, OK; Washington DC; United States Creadell Haley; Pioneer; Songs
    2000 12 - 14 Dec The 4th Annual Conference of the International Environment Forum (IEF) was held in Orlando, Florida. The theme was Applying the Bahá'í Teachings to the Environmental Challenges Facing the World. (IEF Web Site) Orlando; Florida; United States Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, International; International Environment Forum; Environment
    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 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
    2002 21 Sep The dedication, at the Green Acre Bahá'í School in Eliot Maine, the oldest permanent Bahá'í school in the world, of a new classroom and lecture hall designated as The Harriet and Curtis Kelsey Center, with an attendant Manny Reimer Hall. [BWNS175] Eliot; Maine; United States Green Acre; Bahai schools; Curtis Kelsey; Harriet Kelsey; First schools; BWNS
    2003 7 – 9 Feb The dedication of the Louis G. Gregory Museum in his birthplace, Charleston, South Carolina. [BWNS188, Wilmette Institute; Bahá'í Encyclopedia]
  • For biographical information on Hand of the Cause Louis Gregory see Gayle Morrison, To Move the World: Louis G. Gregory and the Advancement of Racial Unity in America (Wilmette, IL, USA Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1982, 1999 printing).
  • Museum website.
  • South Carolina; United States Louis Gregory Museum; Louis Gregory; Gayle Morrison; 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 6 Sep The passing of former Universal House of Justice member David S. Ruhe (b. 3 January, 1913) near Newburg, New York. He served on the Universal House of Justice from 1968 to 1993. [BWNS388]
  • Dr Ruhe will be remembered for his contributions to medicine as well his Bahá'í service. [BW05-06p237-238]
  • Among his Bahá'í publications were:
    • Door of Hope (1983)
    • Robe of LIght (1994)
  • Newburg; NY; United States David Ruhe; Universal House of Justice, Members of; In Memoriam; Births and deaths; BWNS
    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
    2005 Nov Dr. John Grayzei was appointed to the Bahá'í Chair for Peace at the University of Maryland in the United States. He succeeded Suheil Bushrui who held the position since its inauguration in 1992. [BWNS404] Maryland; United States John Grayzei; Suheil Bushrui; Bahai Chair for World Peace; University of Maryland; BWNS
    2007 Aug-Sep In memory of Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum and because the Native people had such a special place in her heart and that of the Guardian, Violette and 'Ali Nakhjanání travelled throughout North America during the months of August and September visiting aboriginal believers. They visited Vancouver, Anchorage, Juneau before going to South Dakota, Montana, Arizona and Atlanta, Georgia where they spoke with 450 African-American believers. They visited the temple in Wilmette and then the Eskasoni First Nation in Nova Scotia.
  • The primary purpose of their visit was to meet with and encourage the aboriginal believers and to remind the of their responsibility and high destiny in the Faith. [CBN Vol 20 No 3 Winter 2007/2008 p23-25]
  • First Nations; Vancouver; Anchorage; Juneau; Canada; South Dakota; Montana; Arizona; Atlanta; Wilmette; United States Violette Nakhjavani; Ali Nakhjavani; Teaching; Indigenous people; Native Americans
    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 6 – 7 Dec Regional Conferences were held in Portland, United States, Chicago, United States, Atlanta, United States and Almaty, Kazakhstan. [ Portand, Chicago, Atlanta, Almaty] Portland; United States; Chicago; United States; Atlanta; United States; Almaty; Kazakhstan Regional Conferences; BWNS
    2008 13 – 14 Dec Regional Conferences were held in Stamford, United States, Dallas, United States and Los Angeles, United States. [BWNS677] Stamford; United States; Dallas; Los Angeles Regional Conferences; BWNS
    2009 15 Feb The US House of Representatives introduced a resolution condemning the government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of its Bahá'í minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights. [Iran Press Watch 1203] Washington DC; United States; Iran Yaran; Persecution, Iran
    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 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. (In the year) Stanford University’s Bahá'í Collection was the first university-based collection of its kind in the United States and is a premier research resource of all topics Bahá'í related.
  • The Stanford Libraries preserves and makes accessible to all students and researchers a wealth of rare and unique archival materials and books on the Bahá'í Faith. The initial donation of the Jack H. Lee and Arden T. Lee Baha’i Collection in 2012, one of the most extensive private libraries of materials related to the Bahá'í Faith, includes thousands of books, letters, newspaper clippings, photographs and early Bahá'í publications from many countries and in various languages, from Urdu to Japanese to Greenlandic.
  • Holdings in the Bahá'í Collection also include the personal materials from the life’s work of renowned educator, psychologist and philosopher Daniel C. Jordan (which include the only original 16 mm film of his ballet, Metamorphosis of the Owls, as well as the Bahá'í Library of Hourolain and Nasrollah Maghzi, an important collection of Persian rare books.
  • Donations to the physical collection or monetary contributions can be made. [Bahá'í Collection]
  • Stanford; United States Stanford University; Universities; Libraries; Nasrollah Maghzi; Hourolain Maghzi; Daniel Jordan (Dan Jordan); Arden Lee; Jack Lee
    2012 24 Feb The inaugural screening of Iranian Taboo by Dutch-Iranian filmmaker Reza Allamehzadeh in Los Angeles. [Iranian Taboo, BWNS890] Los Angeles; United States Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Other; Persecution; Documentaries; Iranian Taboo; Reza Allamehzadeh; BWNS
    2012 Jul The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace was assumed by Professor Hoda Mahmoudi who previously headed a research department at the Bahá'í World Center in Israel. [Bio Professor Hoda Mahmoudi]

    She studied structural racism and root causes of prejudice, equality of women as a prerequisite to peace, human nature, global governance, and globalization and the environment. Professor Mahmoudi collaborated with a wide range of scholars, researchers, and practitioners to advance interdisciplinary analysis and open discourse on global peace. Before joining the University of Maryland faculty, Professor Mahmoudi served as the coordinator of the Research Department at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel. Prior to that, Dr. Mahmoudi was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Northeastern Illinois University, where she was also a faculty member in the Department of Sociology. Professor Mahmoudi’s books include: A World Without War: ‘Abdu’l-Baha and the Discourse for Global Peace, co-authored with Dr. Janet Khan; Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Human Rights.

  • The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace website.
  • Publications.
  • Maryland; United States Hoda Mahmoudi; Bahai Chair for World Peace; University of Maryland
    2013 11 Apr – 5 Dec The commemoration of the centenary of the visit of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá to North America. [BWNS918] Wilmette; United States Centenaries; Abdul-Baha, Travels of; BWNS
    2013. 28 July The passing of Amin Banani (b. 23 September 1926 in Tehran) in Santa Monica. He was survived by his wife Sheila Wolcott (m. 1951)and daughters Sussane and Laila. Find a grave.
  • During World War II, like a number of other young Persian men, Amin was sent to study in the United States. He graduated with a BA, majoring in history from Stanford University in 1947. During his study at Stanford he became familiar with western music and read philosophy and world literature. He obtained his MA from Columbia University in 1949 and returned to Stanford for his PhD degree, which he received in 1959.
  • In 1953 Amin and Sheila became Knights of Bahá'u'lláh for being among the first Bahá'ís to settle in Greece. In Athens Dr. Banani taught history at the Overseas Program of the University of Maryland in Athens until 1958 when his work permit expired and they were obligated to leave the country.
  • A list of some of his publications can be found on Bahá'í Library.
  • A tribute to Dr Banani Professor Amin Banani, 1926–2013: A Prominent Scholar of Iranian Studies by Ehsan Yarshater.
  • His three-part lecture on Shoghi Effendi's letters entitled The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh can be found on Soundcloud. Another talk The Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha can be found at "Bahá'í Talks".
  • In the late 1940s he accepted assignments to represent the Bahá'í community at a UN conference of nongovernmental organizations and a human rights commission. In the early 1950s he also served the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly on its National Youth Committee. For more complete biographical information see his eulogy on the US Bahá'í site and another in the Lights of Irfan.
  • Santa Monica; United States In Memoriam; Amin Banani; Sheila Wolcott; Knights of Bahaullah
    2015 27 Feb The premiere of the film To Light a Candle by Iranian-Canadian filmmaker and journalist, Maziar Mahari. The gala in Los Angeles was part of a campaign called "Education is Not a Crime", started in 2014, to highlight the plight of Bahá'í students in Iran and their recourse to the denial of education, the Bahá'í Institute of Higher Education. The film was also screened in some 300 locations around the world. [BWNS1041, BWNS1025]
  • See also Not a Crime.
  • Los Angeles; United States Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Education; Persecution; Documentaries; Education is not a Crime; BWNS; Bahai Institute for Higher Education (BIHE)
    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 Sep As of this date the Bahá'í community in the United States had about 175,000 Bahá’ís (less than one percent of the nation’s population), residing in more than 9,000 localities. The makeup of the Faith’s adherents was very diverse. The largest communities were in California, Georgia, Illinois, South Carolina, and Texas. There were Bahá’í communities in every state. (From ‘Information about the Bahá'í Faith for Funeral Directors’, a document available at US National website)[ Bahá'í Historical Facts MARCH 4, 2018] United States Statistics
    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 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. 18 Sep The release of the film entitled World Peace - A Bahai Vision.
  • Produced by Radiant Century Productions, Executive Producer, Cyrus Parini.
  • Los Altos; United States Documentaries
    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 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 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 12 Apr The premiere of the documentary film, An American Story: Race Amity and The Other Tradition in a television broadcast on station WBGH, channel 2 in Boston, MA. [Trailer]
  • From the film website...."The primary purpose of the documentary project, An American Story: Race Amity and The Other Tradition, is to impact the public discourse on race. To move the discourse from the “blame/grievance/rejection” cycle to a view from a different lens, the lens of “amity/collaboration/access and equity.”
  • Boston; Massachusetts; United States Race (general); Unity; Race Amity; Race unity; Racism; Documentaries
    2018 9 May The premiere of the film The Gate: Dawn of the Bahá’í Faith in Los Angeles. The first ever documentary about the origins of the Bahá’í Faith. On May 23rd, Bahá’í communities in multiple locations showed the film as part of their Holy Day observance. The film was directed by Bob Hercules, written by Ed Price, and the producers were Steve Sarowitz, Ed Price and Adam Mondschein. [Film Website]
  • Later, about October, 2019, the film would be used to produce The Gate, Dusk of the Baha'i Faith as propaganda against the Faith.
  • Los Angeles; United States Bab, Life of; Babi history; Documentaries; Film; The Gate: Dawn of the Bahai Faith (film); Bob Hercules; Persecution, Iran
    2019. 19 Dec The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated for sanctions, two judges presiding over branches of the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Court who, for years, had punished Iranian citizens and dual-nationals for exercising their freedoms of expression or assembly. In many cases, these judges sentenced political prisoners to death. Through their respective branches of the Revolutionary Courts, Abolghassem Salavati and Mohammad Moghisseh oversaw the Iranian regime’s miscarriage of justice in show trials in which journalists, attorneys, political activists, and members of Iran’s ethnic and religious minority groups were penalized for exercising their freedom of expression and assembly and sentenced to lengthy prison terms, lashes, and even execution.
  • Both Salavati and Moghisseh had been sanctioned by the European Union for presiding over a series of show trials following the June 2009 Iranian presidential election, which imposed long prison sentences and several death sentences for political activists and journalists.
  • Moghisseh, Head of Tehran Revolutionary Court, Branch 28, had also pressed questionable charges against several members of Iran’s Bahá'í religious minority, prosecuting them for supposed participation in activities such as propaganda against the state and assembly and collusion against national security, after they reportedly held prayer and worship ceremonies with other members. [US Dept of the Treasury; Iran Press Watch 30 June 2017]
  • As the Head of Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, Judge Abdolghassem Salavati had been responsible for multiple human rights violations by presiding over unfair trials, suppressing protests, persecuting ethnic and religious minorities, making excessive use of the death penalty, and issuing heavy prison sentences for activists. He had prosecuted and delivered harsh sentences, including many death sentences, to scores of political prisoners, human rights activists, and peaceful demonstrators, earning him the moniker “the Judge of Death.” Salavati is responsible for executing prison sentences for Bahá'í professors on the basis of their faith after they were charged with national security-related charges for their work at a virtual Bahá'í university. [ifmat.org]
  • Washington DC; United States; Iran Abolghassem Salavati; Mohammad Moghisseh; Persecution, Iran
    2020 (In the year) The publication of The Last Refuge: Fifty Years of the Universal House of Justice by Shahbaz Fatheazam. It was published by ‘Irfán Colloquia. United States Universal House of Justice; The Last Refuge
    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. 28 Apr The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan federal government advisory entity. The U.S. Congress created the USCIRF to monitor, analyze, and report on threats to freedom of religion. In their annual report, USCIRF 2020 Annual Report (PDF) they documented a particular uptick in the persecution of Bahá'ís and of any local government officials who supported them in 2019. Iran’s government blamed Baha’is for widespread popular protests, accusing the community of collaboration with Israel and continued to promote hatred against Bahá'ís and other religious minorities on traditional and social media channels.

      More specifically the USCIRF released Iran Policy Brief: Increased Persecution of Iran’s Bahá'í Community in 2019 (PDF). Referring to the continuing violations of religious freedom by the clergy-dominated Islamic Republic government, the report urged the U.S. government to impose sanctions on government institutions and officials responsible for violating religious freedoms in Iran, to freeze their assets and to ban them from entering the United States.

    United States; Iran Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Human rights; Human rights
    2020. 25 May George Floyd, an African-American man, was killed during an arrest by four police officers. Subsequently a memorial was set up for him on the site where he died. [Wikipedia]
  • The memorial was about one block from the Minneapolis Bahá'í Center. See The American Bahá’í - August/September/October 2020 • V51N04 for the story of how the Bahá'í community reacted to the crisis in their neighbourhood.
  • Minneapolis; Minnesota; United States George Floyd
    2020. 19 Jun The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States issued a statement entitled Forging a Path to Racial Justice in response to the death of George Floyd and the subsequent demonstrations for racial unity that followed.
  • See as well their website Race Unity Action.
  • See also The Bahá’í Response to Racial Injustice and Pursuit of Racial Unity Part 1 (1912-1996) and Part 2 (1996-2021). [BWNS1514]
  • Wilmette; United States Racial amity; Race (general); Race unity; Racism; Statements; Public discourse
    2020. 22 Jul The Universal House of Justice addressed a message to the Bahá'ís of the United States on the subject racism in their country. [22 July 2020]
  • Audio version.
  • BWC; United States Racism
    2020. 18 Sep The passing of Talat Bassari (b. 1923 Babol, Iran) in Los Angeles. She was an Iranian Bahá'í poet, feminist, academic, and writer with a doctorate in Persian language and literature. She was the first woman to be appointed as vice-chancellor of a university in Iran when she worked at the Jondishapur University in Ahvaz (1956–1979). In the aftermath of the Islamic revolution in Iran and because of her Bahá'í faith, she was dismissed from her university position and eventually migrated to the United States.

    In addition to her critiques on Persian literature she published a biography of Zandokht Shiraizi, a pioneer in the feminist movement in Iran. She resided in New Jersey where she worked on the editorial board of the New Jersey-based magazine, Persian Heritage. Bassari also assisted in books on the life of Táhirih and contributed with Persian to English translations in academia. [Wikipedia]

    Los Angeles; United States; Iran In Memoriam; Talat Bassari; Women; Tahirih
    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. 25 Sep The passing of former Universal House of Justice member Farzam Arbab (b. 1941 in Tehran) in San Diego where he had been living.

    He completed an undergraduate degree at Amherst College, Massachusetts in 1964 and obtained a doctorate in physics at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1968 before settling in Colombia as a pioneer.

    From 1970 until 1980 he served as the Chairman for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Colombia. In 1980 he was appointed to the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Protection and Propagation of the Faith in the Americas, on which he served for eight years. In 1988, he was named to the Bahá’í International Teaching Centre and was a member of that body until 1993, when he was first elected to the Universal House of Justice. He served until his retirement in 2013.

    He served as president of Fundacion para la Aplicacion de las Ciencias (FUNDAEC), a nongovernmental development agency in Colombia, from 1974 to 1988, and continued to serve on its board of directors until the end of his life. [BWNS1453; Bahaipedia]

  • Documents by Dr Arbab.
  • Scientific documents by Dr Arbab.
  • San Diego; United States In Memoriam; Farzam Arbab; Universal House of Justice, Members of
    2020. 1 Oct The release of the documentary film Nasrin, about the Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, in the USA. [IMDB; Wikipedia]

    The American screenwriter, director and producer Jeff Kaufman and his co-producer, Marcia S. Ross, were unable to get visas to travel to Iran themselves. They relied on their on-the-ground film crew as well as calls with Sotoudeh and her husband Khandan. The film took four years to make and is essential viewing. Everyone involved, including Sotoudeh, put themselves in jeopardy by agreeing to participate in the project, but clearly, for them, the importance of its message outweighed the risk of arrest. The project also had to forego crowdfunding or fundraising of any kind in order to keep the film secret and protect those involved.

    Sotoudeh has been called “the Nelson Mandela of Iran.” [Forbes] ,

  • The film was released for VOD on the 26th of January 2012. See an interview with the director, Jeff Kaufman and the producer, Marcia Ross in Awards Daily 26 January 2021.
  • United States; Iran Documentaries; Film; Nasrin; Nasrin Sotoudeh; Persecution, Iran; Persecution, Human rights
    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 The paintings of Maryam Safajoo depict the many forms of persecution faced by the Bahá'ís of Iran. She has exhibited her work at venues including Harvard University, the Massachusetts State House and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She has been interviewed by Voice of America, BBC, Radio Farda, Iran Wire, Iran Press Watch, the Centre for Human Rights in Iran, Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre and Persian Bahá'í Media Services about this current persecution. Boston Herald wrote an article about her life. She currently lives in Champaign, Illnois.
  • See her story in Iranwatch.
  • Champaign; Illinois; United States Persecution, Iran; Arts
    2021. 27 Apr The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States provided guidance on the question of the vaccination for the coronavirus. They included five letters from the Universal House of Justice on the subject. [27 April 2021]
  • [10 July 2020]
  • [8 December 2020]
  • [15 December 2020]
  • [11 February 2021]
  • [26 February 2021]
  • United States Vaccination; Covid-19 (Corona virus)
    2021. 3 Jun The passing of John Kolstoe in Livingstone, Montana. [Bahá'ís of Montana and Surrounding Areas Facebook page]

    John was raised in a Lutheran family, and studied psychology at University. He and his wife, Beverley, became Bahá'ís in 1953 and John attended the New Delhi Intercontinental Teaching Conference the same year. He had been intending to conduct research in the field of Psychology on cognitive modalities, but felt that pioneering for the Faith was more important after attending the Conference, and volunteered to pioneer to Alaska. John and Beverley moved to Alaska in 1953.

    He was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska in the late 1950's and served on the body until 1960, when he and Beverley pioneered to Fort Yukon, where they lived for three years. He went on pilgrimage to Haifa in 1960 and met Ruhiyyih Khanum, and told her a story about meeting Dr. Hubert Parris, which she encouraged him to put in writing. He eventually did so when he wrote the book Crazy Lovers of Bahá'u'lláh.

    In 1962 he co-wrote a pamphlet on the Faith titled Bahá'í Teachings: A Light For All Regions with Peter Simple, the second Athabaskan Indian to become a Bahá'í in Yukon. The Kolstoes moved from Fort Yukon to Fairbanks and John was re-elected to the Alaskan National Assembly in 1963. He was elected Chairman of the Assembly in 1972, and represented the Assembly at the Dedication of the Matthew Kaszab Institute in November that year.

    In 1975 he wrote twelve articles on the Covenant for Alaska Bahá'í News which eventually served as the basis for the book The Covenant and You. In July 1976 he opened the International Bahá'í Conference held in Anchorage. The Kolstoes left Alaska in 1985 and pioneered to St. Lucia in the Caribbean. John's wife Beverley passed away in Alaska in 1996. In 2001 John re-married, marrying Janet J. Smith. [Bahaipedia]

    A list of his publications includes:

  • He has a number of talks on YouTube
  • Livingston, MT; United States John Kolstoe; in Memoriam
    2021. 4 Nov The US premiere of the short film entitled The Prisoner in the Cinema Paradisl in Hollywood. The film was written and directed by Jayce Bartok. In the film two bickering prison guards, one with a dangerous secret, connect while guarding a prophet that is causing a revolution throughout the Middle East of the 1800’s. [FLIFF 2021 Film Guide; Bahá'í Blog] Hollywood; California; United States; Chihriq; Iran The Prisoner (film); Films; Jayce Bartok; Bab, Life of
    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
    2022. 17 Aug The Universal House of Justice announced that a Persian Reviewing Panel, appointed by and operating under the auspices of that National Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, would attend to the review and approval of manuscripts in Persian written by Bahá’ís in all countries, with the goal of ensuring that such publications represent the Bahá’í Faith accurately and with dignity. [Letter from the NSA of Canada S122269] United States Persian Reviewing Panel
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