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No. 164
July, 1943

Year 100
Bahá’í Era

BAHÁ'Í

NEWS

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National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada – 536 Sheridan Rd., Wilmette, Ill.

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Sealing the Triumph of the First Stage of the Divine Plan

MESSAGE FROM SHOGHI EFFENDI

Successive reports, proclaiming the American believers’ brilliant feat, the completion of the exterior ornamentation of the Temple, their historic exploits in the spiritual conquest of every Republic of Latin America, as well as their impending victory to be won through the establishment of the structural basis of the Bahá’í administrative order in the virgin States and Provinces of North America, are thrilling the Eastern communities of the Bahá’í world with delight, with admiration and with wonder.

Ninety-five Persian families, emulating the example of the American trail-blazers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, have recently forsaken their homes and followed in the footsteps of pioneers already departed from Persia yesterday evening to hoist its banner in the adjoining territories of Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Sulamaniyyih, Hejaz and Bahrayn Island.

Local Assemblies have been founded in Kashmir Valley in the extreme north and in Madras Presidency in the extreme south, as well as in Haydarabad, the leading stronghold of Muslim orthodoxy in India.

The National Bahá’í Administrative Headquarters of the Egyptian believers are nearing completion. A similar institution is in the process of establishing in India’s capital city. Delhi. A Guest House, adjunct to the newly built Administrative Headquarters of the Bahá’ís of ‘Iráq, has been constructed.

Bahá’í communities of East and West are arising in the fourth year of the devastating conflict in the full strength of their undisruptible solidarity, resolved to write, through immortal deeds, further glorious pages in the last Chapter of the first Bahá’í Century.

I appeal to the standard-bearers of Bahá’u’lláh’s ever-advancing army to safeguard the spiritual prizes already won and maintain every outpost of the Faith established in the southern hemisphere. I entreat them to exert still more magnificent efforts to discharge befittingly the one remaining responsibility in the North American continent.

I am praying for the achievement of a resounding total victory in all the Americas, thereby sealing the triumph of the first stage in the Divine Plan for whose execution the entire machinery of the Administrative Order was for no less than sixteen years patiently and laboriously erected.

SHOGHI RABBANI

Received May 27, 1943.

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Regarding the passages in the “Promulgation of Universal Peace”, the word “income” should be changed to “need” until such time as the text of the Master’s address in the original is found and verified. This particular address, however, is not available at present. The second passage is obviously a mistake and should read: “if his production exceeds he will pay a tax.”

As already stated in a previous communication, the observance of the centenary of our Faith should be held in May, 1944, at which time the annual Convention should also take place; the friends should gather in the auditorium of the Temple on the 22nd of May, two hours and eleven minutes after sunset, which is the exact time of the Báb’s Declaration. On that occasion they should also celebrate the completion of the exterior ornamentation of their Temple. This meeting, so historic in nature, will thus be both a dedication ceremony in the House of Worship, as well as a celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Faith. While gathering in the auditorium no addresses should be delivered, but appropriate selections from the revealed writings should be read, whether prayers, meditations, Tablets, the addresses of the Master or selections from the Bible or the Qur’án. Passages from the writings of the Báb should be a special feature of the readings selected for this occasion. Singing, whether by soloists or choirs, should form part of the program. The utmost care should be taken to insure that the standard of the vocal music should befit that solemn occasion. The Guardian approves the selection of some of the psalms of David as an evidence of the universality of the Faith which should be amply demonstrated on that occasion. In order to consummate that historic celebration on that day the Guardian suggests that a meeting should be held in the Foundation Hall immediately following the dedication ceremony in the auditorium, at which addresses should be delivered, and non-Bahá’is be invited to take part. The program for such a meeting should be elaborated and carefully prepared, and every effort should be made to have men of capacity and eminence as well as well-known Bahá’í speakers participate. The agenda of this meeting is left to the discretion of your Assembly, but the Guardian advises you, in view of its importance, to seek the suggestions of the believers before making your final decision. Any new features the friends or the Assembly may wish to add would be most welcomed by the Guardian, who feels that the significance of the Faith, its universality, its world-wide influence, its indestructible unity, its moving history, its world order, its first House of Worship, in the Western World, and its attitude to other Faiths should be clearly and eloquently set forth and explained.

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In honor of this unique occasion the Guardian hopes to send a copy of the portrait of the Báb and some of His relics to be displayed for the first time to the assembled believers in the auditorium of the Temple on that memorable evening, after which they should be placed in a safe spot within the Temple together with the Hair of Bahá’u’lláh previously presented to the American believers. Under no circumstances should the portrait of the Báb be left exposed or hung on the wall of the Temple, nor should any copy of it be made. Only on very rare occasions should it be displayed, and whenever shown should be in no other place except the Foundation Hall of the Temple. Its display in the auditorium is permitted only for this occasion. No such portrait is to be found anywhere in the Bahá’í world —with the exception of Haifa—nor is the Guardian contemplating sending any copy at present to any other Bahá’í community. This indicates the importance he attaches to the Temple in America, which he feels is a befitting edifice to enshrine it. The utmost vigilance should be exercised that no copy be made of it in the future, or any attempts be made to reproduce it in any way.

This celebration, on the 22nd of May, 1944, is one feature of the festivities commemorating that historic event. The Convention period, during which these festivities are to be held, should be extended to at least a full week, during which the greatest publicity should be given to the events that are being commemorated. A banquet, at which distinguished friends, sympathizers and admirers of the Cause should be invited to be present, should be held in a befitting setting in the city of Chicago where the Cause was first established in America. In this connection, the Guardian would like to point out that that first center was, as affirmed by Dr. Khayrullah himself, established by him in 1894. Hence, it is justifiable to consider the establishment of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in the continent of America to have begun in 1894. The American believers will, therefore, be celebrating in May, 1944, at once the hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Faith, the completion of the exterior ornamentation of the Temple, and the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Bahá’í Faith in the Western hemisphere

Profoundly deplore the loss of the self-sacrificing distinguished teacher of the Faith, Mable Ives. Her manifold contributions to the teaching activities before and since the inception of the Seven Year Plan are outstanding, memorable and highly meritorious. Assure her daughter of my deepest loving sympathy and prayers. Abiding felicity is crowning her noble labors. SHOGHI RABBANI Received June 21, 1943

and, indeed, in the entire Western world. To this marvelous coincidence adequate recognition should be given during the dedication ceremony in the form of thanksgiving prayers, in the meetings held in the Foundation Hall of the Temple, at the sessions of the Convention, through the press, and over the radio.

As to this particular Convention itself, the Guardian feels that the Bahá’ís in Central and South America should be invited to participate and to send, if possible, one representative from each country. These representatives would have the right to deliberate and participate in all the discussions of the Convention, only, naturally, for that year. They would not, however, exercise the right to elect the National Assembly, which will be restricted to the delegates from the United States and Canada. In a sense the Convention will represent the entire community of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the Americas, gathered to celebrate, in the newly completed Temple, the centenary of their Faith, and commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of its inception in the Western Hemisphere.

As the number of local Spiritual Assemblies in North America is steadily increasing, and will soon reach a point when it will be impracticable to apportion the 171 delegates among them, and as the number of delegates should not at present be further increased, the Guardian considers it advisable to introduce a new basis for election on the occasion of this historic Convention. This new principle will enable all Bahá’ís, whether belonging to communities that have an Assembly or to groups, and even all isolated believers, to participate in the election of delegates for the national Convention. Such a step has become necessary in view of the fact that the number of the Bahá’ís in localities where there are only groups or isolated believers has increased to such an extent as to constitute more than half of the total number of believers living in localities where there is a Spiritual Assembly. All the Bahá’ís will participate, through this new method, in the election of the national delegates — a step that will greatly increase the electorate, and broaden the basis of Bahá’í representation. The unit will, henceforth, have to be regarded as the State or Province, rather than the locality in which the believers reside. In other words, the hundred and seventy-one delegates will have to be apportioned among the States of the U.S.A. and the Provinces of Canada, in direct proportion to the number of believers residing in each one of them. The Bahá’ís in each State and Province must either through correspondence or, preferably, by coming together whenever feasible, elect from among all the believers in that State or Province, the number of delegates allocated to them by the National Spiritual Assembly. In those States where there are numerous local Bahá’í communities it may be found advisable to divide each one of them into districts, allocating to each district a portion of the delegates assigned to that State, and in direct proportion to the number of believers living within the specified district. It is for the National Assembly to consider the most efficient methods whereby all the American believers will henceforth be able to participate in the election of their delegates. This method will promote Bahá’í solidarity in every State and Province, and, by bringing together the believers, enable them to function more efficiently and harmoniously, and promote the work of the Cause that lies ahead. No more befitting occasion could be found on which to initiate this measure than when the Bahá’í representatives of North, Central and South America are gathered to celebrate such historic events in the annals of the Cause.

In connection with these celebrations the Guardian would advise your Assembly to consider the following suggestions:

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1. Bahá’ís unable to participate in the festivities in Chicago and Wilmette should be urged to observe befittingly these anniversaries in their respective localities. Articles in the press, radio broadcasts, invitations to well-known friends and admirers of the Cause, the showing of the Master’s film, the playing of the record of His voice, banquets, exhibitions of the Temple models, etc., should characterize these festivities.

2. The special attention of the friends and visitors, during this celebration should be directed to the fact that the event marks also the hundredth anniversary of the birth of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. This should be emphasized in the addresses delivered in the special anniversary publication, the souvenir pamphlets, the articles for the press and the radio broadcasts.

3. A special anniversary publication should be issued under the supervision of the National Spiritual Assembly and following the general lines indicated in the memorandum submitted by them to the Guardian.

4. The preparation of a smaller souvenir pamphlet, adorned by the Paris photograph of the Master and an artistic reproduction of the Temple, containing a brief outline of the salient events of the first Bahá’í century, and prefaced by a short statement of the aims and purposes of the Faith, attractively bound and to be presented to the distinguished guests participating in these celebrations.

5. Special instructions to the Bahá’ís of Central and South America to celebrate the occasion and to gather at the exact time of the Báb’s Declaration, and to give as wide a publicity to the event as their resources permit.

6. The appointment of a special committee as soon as possible to insure the carrying out of the necessary measures, under the close supervision of the National Assembly, for the proper execution of these plans.

7. An effort should be made to give publicity to this event and its celebration through national radio broadcasts, and, if feasible, to broadcast the ceremony from the auditorium of the Temple.

Memorial to May Ellis Maxwell, Quilmes Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Argentina, dedicated May 30, 1943.

The Guardian hopes to send a color film of the Holy Shrines and gardens in ‘Akká and Haifa to be shown to the friends at the Convention and circulated amongst the various centers.

In conclusion, he wishes to assure you, one and all, of his special prayers for the success of the mighty efforts which he is sure you will exert to insure the triumph of the Seven Year Plan, as well as the glorious celebrations which must consummate the first Bahá’í century.

March 28, 1943

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Words of the Báb Addressed to Quddus

“The days of your companionship with Me are drawing to a Close. The hour of separation has struck, a separation which no reunion will follow except in the Kingdom of God, in the presence of the King of Glory. In this world of dust, no more than nine fleeting months of association with Me have been allotted to you. On the shores of the Great Beyond, however, in the realm of immortality, joy of eternal reunion awaits us. The hand of destiny will ere long plunge you into an ocean of tribulation for His sake. I, too, will follow you; I too will be immersed beneath its depths. Rejoice with exceeding gladness, for you have been chosen as the standard-bearer of the host of affliction, and are standing in the vanguard of the noble army that will suffer martyrdom in His name. In the streets of shíráz, indignities will be heaped upon you, and the severest injuries will afflict your body. You will survive the ignominious behavior of your foes, and will attain the presence of Him who is the one object of our adoration and love. In His presence you will forget all the harm and disgrace that shall have [Page 4] befallen you. The hosts of the Unseen will hasten forth to assist you, and will proclaim to all the world your heroism and glory. Yours will be the ineffable joy of quaffing the cup of martyrdom for His sake. I, too, shall tread the path of sacrifice, and will join you in the realm of eternity.”

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The Thirty-Fifth Annual Convention

The Bahá’í annual Convention, answering its thirty-fifth call, assembled in the Temple foundation at Wilmette, Ill., Thursday, April 29. During its three-day session ninety-nine of its accredited delegates, a wide margin over a majority, answered the roll. Visiting friends came in such numbers as to fill all seats throughout the time. The impression of a sea of humanity, each wave surging with a divine harmony, love and spiritual illumination, is one to be cherished. Most of these friends came from nearby centers. But it was also noticeable that region as remote from each other as the two oceans, Canada and the deep South, were drawn together during this Riḑván festival. Red, white and black as to ethnic stocks; Jew, Catholic, Protestant, Moslem, as to religious background; wealth and poverty as to economic values; prominence and obscurity as to social preferment; each and all entered the majestic and wondrous Temple of God and found fellowship under the Banner of Bahá’u’lláh.

Allen B. McDaniel, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, called the Convention to order, voicing in golden phrases the praises of God, whose mighty confirmations assembled us. Radiant faces were significant of a universal faith, calling together the workers for a new world order. In contrast to a world filled with confusion, fear and chaos, here love, hope, faith and courage were evident. The Master’s dedication of this Temple site thirty-one years ago was feelingly mentioned. And now, under the guidance of our revered Guardian, we have completed the sixth year of the Seven Year Plan. Let us be ever mindful of his exhortation to draw near to Bahá’u’lláh that He may draw near to us.

The Convention organized with the election of Philip Sprague of New

Announcement of New Bahá’í Book The long-awaited one-volume selection of Bahá’í Writings is now in publication, replacing the former Bahá’í Scriptures. The new book contains 465 pages, including Index, and its Contents include excerpts from fifteen different Bahá’í books, pamphlets or magazines. The title is Bahá’í World Faith. Of its nine Chapters, five are Words of Bahá’u’lláh, four the Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Printed on thin paper, bound in fabrikoid. The low cost, $1.50 per copy, results from having ordered an edition of 10,000 copies at one printing. Delivery promised by July 15. Assemblies should place large orders now — every believer will desire a copy.

York as chairman and Horace Holley as secretary. The chairman modestly took hold, stressing the need of improvement as we move forward to the desired goal.

The first order was the reading of two cablegrams from the Guardian. They were also spread in writing among the delegates. Shoghi Effendi showers his loving encouragement upon the American friends, indicating a high station and in fortune even greater triumphs for this community. Raising the standard of justice, he points out that isolated believers are now a majority of the American friends. Therefore, in order that all the friends may exercise the right to vote, a new apportionment is provided in which each state or province is the unit and all the qualified friends therein may vote for Convention delegates. These most important messages were elsewhere printed in full in the last issue. As a great sign of bounty, the likeness of His Holiness, the Báb, is to be sent to America as a most precious relic for the Temple archives. Also plans are unfolded for the Centennial Convention next year, which promises to be a glorious, epoch-making gathering.

The Convention in reply, sent the following message to the Guardian:

“Hearts overflowing (at the) magnitude (of the) new vision (of) complete Western participation. Reverent appreciation (for the) anticipated gift (of the) portrait (of the) Holy Báb. (We) pledge (the) utmost exertion (of the) American Bahá’í community toward total victory (of the) Centennial celebration. (We) supplicate (our) beloved Guardian’s continuous prayers (for the) consummation (of the) divinely appointed task. Loving devotion.”

The National secretary presented his annual supplementary report covering such matters as could not be included in his general report. The Faith gained two hundred and twenty-four new members during the current year; emphasis upon teaching, calling to mind the duty of each Bahá’í to bring one person per year, at least, into acceptance of the Faith; the enviable record of achievement in Canada; bulletins and new teaching pamphlets, foreign publications; contacts with Irán; progress and completion of Temple construction; foundation hall renovation; landscape gardening; increasing channels of publicity; such as encyclopedias, radio, press; pioneer settlers in virgin territories; twenty-eight new centers, etc., convey a summary of this report.

Two object lessons were presented making vivid and picturesque the recital of the plan. The first was a chart containing a single line divided into three sections running in different directions. The first part was a very gradual slope from the beginning upward, indicating the slow increase of pioneer teaching. Then, strange to say, the second part of the line was a slant downward, though not as far as the level of starting. Then, under the strong impetus of the Guardian’s appeal, so greatly did pioneers respond that this index line shot upward, almost in a perpendicular direction. A far more impressive object lesson was the presence in the Convention of about twenty-eight friends who have engaged in pioneering and settlement work. These heroic souls were invited to stand before the convention. The committee chairman extolled their merits, to the approval of all the friends.

Of the virgin teaching areas there remain but seven to be settled and in these a start has already begun. Eighteen such areas have been settled during the past year and twenty-nine have been settled during the past six years. The progress of the past year synchronized with the completion of the Temple ornamentation, releasing great spiritual confirmations. The pioneers have [Page 5] made great sacrifices. In one case, a temperature of 50 degrees below zero was encountered in Canada.

The momentum acquired by the teaching effort bids fair to bring to a successful conclusion the Seven–Year Plan, for which but a year remains. But in the meantime, there should be no relaxation of effort in any of the various lines of service.

Inter-America Teaching

The report of this second great arm of teaching was presented by its Committee Secretary, Mrs. Nellie S. French. Mexico City has done a fine work in spreading the teachings to five groups in various sections of the country. Ten Spiritual Assemblies were organized in Latin America during the past year. Recent obstacles and dangers could not escape notice. One of the friends, Mrs. Collins, had her plans for a journey upset three times by forces not under control. But at length she set out under difficulties and had a successful trip. Returning, the situation seemed so difficult under new trials, that she made these words of Bahá’u’lláh a prayer:

“Put your whole trust and confidence in God, Who hath created you and seek ye His help in all your affairs. Succor cometh from Him alone. He succoreth whom He willeth with the hosts of the heavens and of the earth.”—(Promised Day Is Come, Page 22)

All difficulties melted away.

Philip Sprague related some of his teaching experiences in South America. Mrs. H. Emogene Hoagg mentioned the Cuban work and Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth Blackwell, just returned from Haiti, were successful there in organizing a Spiritual Assembly, with the son of a former Haitian President as its Chairman, and with a community of fourteen They gave an interesting account of Haitian customs.

More literature is needed for Latin America and a compilation prepared by Mesdames Loulie A. Matthews and Helen Bishop will soon be available. Miss Roan Orloff, Boston delegate, has recently completed the translation of the Dawn-Breakers into Esperanto, a service which will greatly facilitate knowledge of the Faith in foreign lands. The bulky manuscript was turned over to the National Spiritual Assembly during the Convention period.

Bahá’ís of Buenos Aires representing the National Spiritual Assembly at the dedication of the Memorial to May Ellis Maxwell. Here the remains are being transferred to the Memorial Vault.

The Election

The Convention in accordance with its legal requirements balloted for the new National Spiritual Assembly, on Friday of the sessions and following prayers and readings. The tellers reported those elected for the ensuing year as follows: Horace Holley, Louis G. Gregory, Dorothy K. Baker, Ray C. Wilhelm, Allen B. McDaniel, Amelia E. Collins, Leroy Ioas, George O. Latimer, Siegfried Schopflocher. Later the new body reported the following organization: George O. Latimer, chairman; Allen B. McDaniel, vice-chairman; Horace Holley, secretary; Louis G. Gregory, recording secretary; Roy C. Wilhelm, treasurer; Siegfried Schopflocher, assistant treasurer.

Spiritual Greetings

Friends in various cities sent loving messages: Alberquerque, New Mexico; Honolulu, H. I.; British Columbia; Louden County, Va.; Charleston, W. Va.; Spokane, Wash.; Chicago; Philadelphia; Denver, Colo.; Laramie, Wyo.; Syracuse, N. Y.; Rockford, Ill. The spirit of all these beautiful messages is conveyed by one from San Jose, Costa Rica, in Spanish, with its English translation as follows: “The Bahá’í Committee of San Jose, Porto Rico, convey to all their brothers who united in our glorious Temple, fraternal greetings and our best wishes for the continued success and happiness of all. May the resolutions taken at the Convention be luminous torches which will enkindle greater faith in all the hearts of our brothers who are scattered throughout the world, and awaken spiritual unfoldment in all those who have not yet learned of the light and truth so beautifully expounded in the Bahá’í Teachings. May this sincere and loving fraternal greeting assure you that this community has worked arduously and that the fruit gathered is the best offering we can present to adorn those halls toward which all our spirits are directed.”

(Signed) “Bahá’í Group

of San Jose,

“22 de Abril de 1943” Costa Rica.”

Youth and Education

Three Bahá’í Schools, Green Acre, Louhelen and Geyserville made known their interesting schedules for the summer’s work. An unusual number of young people attended the Convention, soon discovering each other, arranged a conference and luncheon, formulated [Page 6] plans and had an interesting hearing before the Convention. The National Assembly delegated two of their more youthful members to confer with them so as to relate their ideas and activities of the National Youth Committee, an administrative step.

Publicity

This committee advised against a beggarly attitude in contacting the press. Better, give the true impression that here is something of value. Convey the international scope of the Faith. Offer specific news of current happenings, such as to the Race Unity banquet. Make it a habit to present to the public the right thing at the right time and in the right quantity. This committee has made nine news releases and they have been received and published by the press. Some success has also been obtained in foreign publicity. This committee through Clarence Niss, offers to serve any who will ask for information.

Race Unity and College Circuits

These two committees have functioned during the past year with pleasing results, finding an astonishing readiness to hear the Bahá’í Plan of World Unity with its related principle of the oneness of mankind. The avidity with which Bahá’í literature is received and read in cultural circles is impressive. The heroic souls who are upholding this principle with courage and wisdom, especially in the South, are worthy of the highest admiration and praise. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in one of His Tablets mentions “The Art of Manipulation and the inflexibility of Will.” His attitude toward races during His American tour has been pointed out by the Guardian as a model for each and all to follow. Timidity and fear conceal the merits of the Cause. Firm adherence to its principles and ideals, with kindness and good-will to all, discloses divine values and serve as channels of confirmation and victory. Bahá’ís can lead a crucified humanity in the way of relief.

Mrs. Dorothy Baker gave a fascinating recital of her college work and of the sweet humility and readiness which met the teachings everywhere. Clarence Niss told of service to the press of minority groups with Bahá’í Editorials and of the warm appreciation they met. Eli W. Powlas spoke to the American Indians. It was also brought out that both white and colored colleges of the South, as elsewhere, are now ready to receive Bahá’í speakers of both races. Shall we now hesitate or doubt the increasing capacity of mankind for the Program of God?

Radio

Mrs. Bacon of the Radio Committee suggested the establishment of a sending station in the Temple itself. This the committee achieved temporarily, by successful plans for Allan B. McDaniel to give a radio address from the Temple and on the Temple. This happy delivery described the symbolism, the outward beauty and the spiritual significance of the structure.

The committee further recommended that regular broadcasts about the Temple and Teachings would be a good investment for Bahá’í funds. A brilliant address by William B. Sears, Bahá’í, and radio expert, added much to the instruction and entertainment of the friends.

Contacts

This committee reported over nine hundred letters with literature sent authors, educators, editors, etc. Replies came from many notables. Friends are invited to cooperate by sending names of good prospects for advanced thought.

World Order Magazine

This Magazine Committee explained they wish to do a two-fold service. Help the Bahá’ís in teaching the Faith and to make contacts with new people. The back cover always contains a very comprehensive statement. The various numbers express much planning ahead. Cooperation is asked, also wide-awake contributions.

Braille

Miss Ella C. Quant of the Braille Committee, made an earnest plea for the blind, especially those deprived of sight in later life. During the past year twenty-two people have been brought closer to Bahá’u’lláh by Braille study. Some of the Boston friends, who are active in this humane service are now in close touch with the Perkins Institute of that city. Sometimes the loss of the eyesight makes the insight keener and more penetrating. The true vision is of reality.

Bahá’í Centennial Celebration

The hundredth anniversary of the Bahá’í Faith gives promise of being a brilliant and elaborate celebration. The Convention will be in session a week. Prominent people, both within and without the Faith, will make addresses. As illustrating the universal nature of the Faith readings will be made from the Bible and Qur’án as well as the Teachings. Every phase of Bahá’í activity and every institution of the Faith will have its history and work set forth briefly in a Centennial booklet. A motion to invite Shoghi Effendi to be present on this occasion was heartily, unanimously and enthusiastically carried.

El Ridvan

This great Feast was celebrated on Saturday evening of the Convention with a record attendance. The readings selected were Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, followed by explanatory Tablets of ‘Abdul-Bahá and letters of Shoghi Effendi. Mrs. Corinne True was chairman. She is one of the very few people, if not the only one, who has attended all of the thirty-five annual Conventions. Although well in the evening of life one seeing her radiance and hearing her eloquent expressions might think she still in the meridian of life. This Feast is always a very happy occasion alike to friends and visitors.

The chairman at the Sunday Teaching Congress was Mrs. Amelia E. Collins. The speakers, who were heard to good advantage, were Mrs. A. Y. Seto and Leroy Ioas, both of San Francisco, California. This meeting was a very successful one. The subjects were: Birth of a World Faith and Development of a World Order.

Summary

The Convention took a new and sustained flight in the direction of perfect harmony, cooperation and peace. Its spiritual atmosphere was made possible by prayerfulness and loving kindness. There was joyfulness over the notable victory won, yet a solemness in the view of greater responsibilities and works ahead.

The friends seemed alert and well trained in guarding the sacred edifice [Page 7] of the Faith from the machinations of Covenant breakers. Nor could any breath from the Nether world becloud its radiance or mar that loyalty which is its own stronghold and security.

The unity of the Convention greatly quickened the dispatch of business. For the first time within memory, the last session closed much earlier than the time set by the agenda, due to the meeting of minds with hearts united. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá once described tine consultation as a line connecting the Earth with Heaven. At one end of the line is the Supreme Concourse; at the other, the gathering of the friends. The Faith is an ever unfolding vision of reality. Greater things seem in store for the American friends than minds can now conceive. We are blessed beyond our dreams and happier, far happier than we know. But the joy of a community depends upon its capacity, developed by Divine Favor, to make joyful mankind. In the process, of growth there are tears as well as laughter.

LOUIS G. GREGORY

Convention Reporter

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Letter From the National Spiritual Assembly

Beloved Coworkers and Friends:

The American Bahá’í community has been profoundly stirred by the significance of the Centenary of the Faith to be celebrated next May. That we are now in the Centennial Year and our opportunity to serve under the Seven Year Plan is now in its final phase is a source of renewed determination to every believer. Since the Convention the friends have been awaiting the announcement of plans and activities worthy of our unique destiny.

This announcement the National Spiritual Assembly now privileged to make. A nationwide teaching plan, coordinated, intensive and continuous, has been adopted, and in the promotion of this plan each Assembly and each Committee will find its point of connection with the flow of spiritual power through the heart of the Cause.

The plan calls for a series of public meetings to be held in each local community of the United States and Canada from September, 1943 to April, 1944, culminating in the Centennial Celebration May 23, 1944. A

Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Little Rock, Arkansas, newly constituted, April 21, 1943.

theme is supplied for each meeting, to concentrate the efforts and make for utmost publicity.

For the period September 1 to October 31, the theme is Race Unity. Sometime within that period each Assembly and group called upon to hold one public meeting with addresses keyed to the subject.

The second period, including November and December, revolves around the theme of Religious Unity.

The third period, January and February, 1944, will be devoted to the subject of World Unity.

The fourth period, March and April, 1944, carries the theme of The Manifestation station of God.

These four teaching periods, each with its phases of publicity, public meeting, and study classes arranged for those interested, release our best efforts and prepare the way for the Centennial, the supreme experience or this generation of Bahá’ís.

Meanwhile, the National Spiritual Assembly is requesting the National Committees, Bahá’í News Service, Radio, Exhibits, etc., to prepare material for each of the four themes and submit it to the National Assembly in advance, so that a portfolio of teaching helps and publicity material can be issued to each Assembly at the beginning of each of the four periods. Moreover, the National Teaching Committee is requested to arrange for circuits which will assist the smaller Assemblies not able to undertake the public meeting with their own local facilities.

Thus, as the teaching work continues steadily for the settling of the yet-unoccupied areas, the spirit of teaching intensifies in relation to every other part of the American Bahá’í community. The National Spiritual Assembly will coordinate the various phases of this mighty undertaking, and calls upon each and every Bahá’í to do his full share.

The friends are requested to note the list or Committees appointed, each with its own defined area of function, as published in Bahá’í News for July. We should be familiar with the services set up to assist us with material, programs or information.

May we all, dear friends, strive to learn the divine art of unified action this year, and confirm our zeal and devotion with the joy of association with all other believers. Out of[Page 8] this unity of hearts will come the power to establish His teaching and His law in this darkened world.

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The Eleventh Hour

The sixth year of the Seven Year Plan carried the American Community to a height of achievement which Shoghi Effendi himself has acclaimed a “magnificent victory”. Through the widespread devotion and efforts of the friends,—through pioneers, settlers, traveling teachers, and concentrated activities of Committees—the Faith swept forward into eighteen virgin States and Provinces. The tremendous events of the “crucial year” turned the tide in our North American teaching campaign. We no longer struggle against possible defeat. The long–sought goals are in sight. Although “the eleventh hour for the Seven Year Plan has struck,” there is hope and confidence in “total victory”.

Let us for a moment survey the accomplishments of the sixth year of the Plan, as they are thrillingly disclosed at Convention:

In the first five years—9 virgin States and Provinces were won.

In the sixth year—18 virgin States and Provinces were won.

In the first five years—29 new Assemblies were gained in North America.

In the sixth year—29 new Assemblies were organized in North America.

From Convention, 1942, to Convention 1943, the pioneers and settlers who answered the Guardian’s call were 105, Of these 86 moved to virgin areas and 19 to disband Assemblies. One-fourth of the total number (25) moved to new homes between March 15, 1943, and Convention time; in this issue their names are added to the Pioneer Roll of Honor which was published in the Annual Report.

Here in these striking facts, the American Community may find just cause for gratitude and pride. But figures do not tell the real story, no, nor the hundreds of stories which underlie this work. Only those at the forefront of the effort can know the fears and joys of the pioneer front. Perhaps these words from two settlers will speak more tellingly.

“Next to being a pioneer, being a settler is a tremendous bounty. How

VIRGIN STATES AND PROVINCES Since the accompanying article on “The Eleventh Hour” was prepared, the National Teaching Committee has become increasingly concerned by the lack of volunteers for the pioneer front. As outlined in the article, there are still seven virgin States and Provinces, needing thirty pioneers and settlers to assure the formation of Local Spiritual Assemblies. The offers to settle, since Convention, have been alarmingly few. Two months have already passed in this seventh year. We must not forget that plans for settlement, in such a difficult period, often require much time to complete, especially in Alaska and the two Canadian Provinces. As “standard–bearers of Bahá’u’lláh’s ever-advancing army,” we American Bahá’ís cannot afford the least delay in discharging our “one remaining responsibility.” Our object is total victory; we can insure it only through an immediate and wide–spread response to the Guardian’s call. The Teaching Committee urges all those whose hope is to uphold an active share in the Seven–Year Plan, to volunteer at once for settlement in one of these virgin areas. Write or telegraph Miss Charlotte Linfoot, Secretary, 156 Nova Drive, Piedmont, California. Remember—this is our eleventh hour! The Guardian has cabled that our task “demands one last, supreme effort to harness all available resources to achieve total victory.” —NATIONAL TEACHING COMMITTEE

I pray that those who are hesitating will see the light and answer the call. Daily we have the assurance that ‘God will assist those who arise to serve,’ and how wonderful that assurance is for it’s proven every day, both spiritually and materially. It’s the most tremendous bounty for one does so very little and receives so much.”

“I wish you could convey to those volunteers who turn back my most earnest prayer that they remain steadfast in spite of all difficulties, for sometimes the desired results only come at the eleventh hour. We cannot fail our Guardian’s call, the very success of our beloved Cause hangs in the balance. One person, failing in his duties may be the one to spell its failure or one person alone and unassisted, suffering adversities, by holding on until the very end may be the very one to bring the success so anxiously awaited by our beloved Guardian. Let each one feel that the success of the Cause rests upon his shoulders alone.”

Now the sixth year of the Plan has passed and the months allotted to us by Bahá’u’lláh are swiftly vanishing. The Guardian has cabled that “The one remaining task. . .demands one last, supreme effort to harness all available resources to achieve total victory.”

The first and imperative demand is to complete the settlement of seven virgin areas. The following list shows these remaining areas and the number of settlers needed in each:

Virgin Area		Settlers Needed
Anchorage, Alaska		5
Regina, Saskatchewan		6
Charlottetown, P.E, Island		9
Omaha, Nebraska		2
Fargo, North Dakota		3
Sioux Falls, So. Dakota		5
Greenville, So. Carolina		3
TOTAL NEEDED		33

The second demand, as critical as the first, is to consolidate and insure the work in areas already won. Fifteen of the eighteen Assemblies organized in 1943 have less than twelve members, while eleven have only nine members. We need a margin of safety; we must be certain of victory no matter what comes. Here are several essential ways to achieve this:

1) The Faith counts upon pioneers and settlers who have moved to these areas to hold firmly to their posts. Theirs is a solemn responsibility undertaken at the call of the Guardian. Each of them must see his job through to the end, working to deepen and extend the knowledge of the Faith, for our objective is no less than the permanent and solid foundation of Spiritual Assemblies, the bedrock of the unfolding Order of Bahá’u’lláh.

2) Additional settlers are needed to strengthen these many new Assemblies. Here is an opportunity which every believer is qualified to accept. A vast field of progress awaits the friends, where the work of teaching and consolidating the Faith calls for many hands. What else can these[Page 9] words of the Guardian signify? “The ''hour requires all ranks of the faithful unitedly to arise, widely disperse, speedily settle, tirelessly persevere. . .”

3) Traveling and circuit teachers, and friends who can visit and assist in making contacts, will greatly stimulate and enliven the new communities.

It is urgent that every believer immediately determine how he can best respond to the Guardian’s most recent plea “for further heroism, for a concerted, a persistent, a Herculean effort.” The National Teaching Committee and the Regional Teaching Committees eagerly await offers of teaching assistance in accordance with the needs outlined above. May the glimpse of approaching victory quicken and renew our hope. May the momentum of our onrushing Faith accelerate in this eleventh hour. For the vision of the Guardian is ever marching ahead: “The success of the Seven Year Plan must be assured and the magnificent undertaking launched by the American Bahá’ís carried to a glorious consummation.”

—NATIONAL TEACHING CDMMITTEE

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Latin American Assemblies

Up to May 27, 1943, the National Spiritual Assembly had received notice of the election of a local Spiritual Assembly in the following cities of South and Central America. This list does not include the Assembly formed in Puerto Rico, as that is classified with the Assemblies of the United States and Canada.

Buenos Aires, Argentina.

San Jose, Costa Rica.

Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

Mexico, D. F.

San Salvador, El Salvador.

Havana, Cuba.

Port au Prince, Haiti.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Santiago de Chile.

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Inter-America News

The eagerly awaited record of the formation of new Assemblies in Latin America is not entirely complete, but we are able now to report that Santiago, Chile, Guatemala City, and Puerto Rico (San Juan) have reached that goal and we feel confident that Bahia, Brazil will have been re–established. But on the other hand, we have had to drop back

Conference of National and Regional Teaching Committees, Temple Foundation Hall, May 1, 1943.

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PIONEER ROLL OF HONOR

March 15th to May 15th, 1943

Name

Pioneer Front

Home City

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Frances Wells	Anchorage, Alaska	San Bernardino, Calif.
Lulu Barr	Regina, Saskatchewan	Saskatoon, Sask.
Oscar P. Stone	Brattleboro, Vermont	Englewood, N.J.
Mrs. Oscar P. Stone	Brattleboro, Vermont	Englewood, N.J.
Mrs. Eva Kisser	Providence, Rhode Island	Chepatchet, R.I
Harlyn Schott	Charleston, West Virginia	Lima, Ohio
Mrs. Harlyn Schott	Charleston, West Virginia	Lima, Ohio
Mrs. Luda Dabrowski	Greenville, South Carolina	Larchmont, N.Y.
Mr. H. W. Holmes	Little Rock, Arkansas	Lima, Ohio
Mrs. H. W. Holmes	Little Rock, Arkansas	Lima, Ohio
Mrs. Barbara McCurdy	Little Rock, Arkansas	Wilmette, Ill.
Mr. Raphael Lillywhite	Laramie, Wyoming	Denver, Colo.
Mrs. Raphael Lillywhite	Laramie, Wyoming	Denver, Colo.
Mrs. Eunice Shurcliff	Laramie, Wyoming	Ispswich, Mass.
Gladys Fox	Laramie, Wyoming	New Rochelle, N.Y.
Mrs. Margery Dixon	Reno, Nevada	Riverside, Calif.
Edward Belcher	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Syracuse, N.Y.
Mrs. Myrtle Barnes	Jackson, Mississippi	Los Angeles, Calif.
Mrs. Charlotte Fosselman	Jackson, Mississippi	Washington, D.C
Mrs. Dorothy Campbell	Jackson, Mississippi	Pascagula, Miss.
Mrs. Adeline Lohse	Greenville, South Carolina	Washington, D.C
Albert Kalfus	Omaha, Nebraska	Los Angeles, Calif.
Bruce Davison	Omaha, Nebraska	New York, N.Y.
Mrs. Villa Vaughn	Greenville, South Carolina	New York, N.Y.
Mrs. Emogene Hoagg	Greenville, South Carolina	Berkeley, Calif.
Mrs. Emogene Hoagg	Greenville, South Carolina	Berkeley, Calif.

Disbanded Assemblies

Mrs. Dorothy Stotts	Huntington Park, California	Lima, Ohio
Miss Mary M. Smith	Hungtington Park, California	Long Beach, Calif.
Mrs. Lillian Morris	Huntington Park, California	Gardena, Calif.

Mrs. Rowan Carter is now helping with the teaching work in Fargo, North Dakota.

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because at last reports sent from Montevideo they lacked one member, and Puebla, Mexico also was minus its quota; but on the whole we are very happy to announce that we now have thirteen Spiritual Assemblies and there are several other places where we may confidently expect to have an Assembly by next year. The committee is busily engaged in trying to compile a correct list of believers, but we find this very difficult as reports list certain names for which we have no cards and we have several cards which do not agree with the lists received to date.

Cuba

Our two faithful pioneers, Miss Kruka and Miss Silver are making every stroke count. They write that 58 persons signed their Riḍván Feast list and there was great enthusiasm and many desired to attend classes. Of course the Youth group in Havana holds the record for attendance, accomplishment and activity. The members of this group are younger than most youth groups as will be seen from their photographs. Miss Silver is now teaching both adults and children and sharing the days with Miss Kruka.

[Page 10]

Puerto Rico

We quote from the report recently received from Mrs. Ayned McComb secretary of the newly established Spiritual Assembly as follows: “Constant opportunities open for us to give out literature. It is marvelous how the divine message is spreading throughout the Island without a studied effort on our part. . . . The Faith has reached people in the cities of Carolina, Guaynabo, Rio Piedras, Arecibo, Aguadilla, Cabo Rojo, Mayaguez, San German, Ponce, Caguas, Juncos and Rio Grande. . . . One readily understands then why this Island has been termed “Where the Americas Meet”.

Colombia

Mrs. Ruth Shook has returned from Bogotá for a visit, but will be at her post again in the fall and in the meantime Miss Winnie Lou Baker is living in Bogotá and is employed there.

Panama

Several new names are being added to the list in Ancon and our pioneers there are also meeting men in the armed forces who are attending meetings. Miss Gwenne Dorothy Sholtis is now in Panama awaiting news of transfer to some other post. She did wonderful work in Venezuela but has left Priscilla Rhoads to carry on in Caracas as Gwenne is needed elsewhere. She has learned Spanish very well and we must capitalize on this knowledge to use her services in less developed regions.

Chile

Glowing reports come in from Santiago and photographs of the Youth Group, which constituted the attendance at the Youth Symposium confirm our highest hopes. An interesting event occurred also in connection with the visit of Vice-President Wallace to Chile as one of the native believers was appointed by the Chilean Government to attend him personally during his entire sojourn. Mrs. Atwater is writing for the Chilean press and we have recently received a lengthy clipping which is the beginning of a series of articles which she is to write in Spanish, being assisted for the present by eminent writers whom she has met and interested. Sra. Yvonne de Cuellar who resides in La Paz, Bolivia, and was our first believer there has been sojourning in Santiago and enjoying the meetings. The joyousness with which Miss Virginia Orbison writes of the teaching activities in Santiago leaves no doubt of the penetration of the spirit there.

Jamaica

We received, in time for the Convention, a small Jamaican flag from Dr. King and no doubt he was wishing he might have accompanied it and been at the Convention also. This flag and the beautiful set of those from all the South and Central American Republics were intended for ornamentation of the Inter-America booth but since no booths, were constructed because of war conditions, the flags were displayed as a loving tribute to our friends in far away lands.

Haiti

It was a great surprise and pleasure to greet Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth Blackwell, who arrived at the Temple during the course of our session. They both look very well and gave a verbal report of the work in Port-au-Prince as well as delivering the greetings of the faithful community there. The home of Mr. and Mrs. McBean is the center for meetings and we are told that Mrs. McBean devotes herself to making things comfortable for the friends and to supplying delicious refreshments for the Feasts in true Bahá’í style.

News from Mrs. Barton from Montevideo informs us that she will attend the unveiling of the monument to Mrs. Maxwell in Buenos Aires on May 30, and will then return home by way of the west coast.

The Guardian mentions in a recent letter the “vital and ever increasing importance” of this Inter-America work and urges us to concentrate at all costs our attention and energies on maintaining the centers already established in Latin America so that a nucleus of two native believers may be found in each of those Republics by 1944.

We beg the continued assistance of the friends that the means to fulfill these obligations may be forthcoming.

Inter-America Youth Activities

“. . . . . Train these children with divine exhortations. From their childhood instill in their hearts the love of God so that they may manifest in their lives the fear of God and have confidence in the bestowals of God. Teach them to free themselves from human imperfections and to acquire the divine perfections latent in the heart of man. . . . Know ye the value of these children, for they are all my children.” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Promulgation of Universal Peace.)

The Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, Washington, D. C. has issued a book on “Children of Other Americas”. We suggest this since more and more the Inter-America Committee is hearing of the work being done by our pioneers for children in Central and South America. A compilation suitable for translation might be very valuable.

MEXICO CITY reports that on several occasions the Bahá’í Community there has held special entertainments for children, not only children of the Bahá’í families, but especially under-privileged children who have been made very happy by stories and little gifts and the friends have felt amply repaid and will continue this work.

HAVANA is perhaps the most outstanding center for the work with children and we are always proud and happy to hold them up as an example of what can be done. Correspondence with our two pioneers there might assist others to know how to win the interest and cooperation of the children whose parents are not associated with the believers and who might be won themselves through the medium of their little ones.

SAN SALVADOR writes about a school for the under-privileged children in their city. We are eager for more information about this and hope to hear more particulars from Clarence Iverson.

BAHIA, BRAZIL — Well, do we remember the little home which Leonora Holsapple had established in Bahia. Thirteen little girls were residents of this home which, under supervision, they conducted themselves, attending to all the household duties as well as being taught the principles of the Faith. These [Page 11] little girls recited a Bahá’í prayer for us which Leonora had translated into Portuguese. These children must now be grown and we rejoice at the effect which this training must have had on their lives and those with whom they are associated.

PERU—Miss Nicklin has also been teaching children in her kindergarten class who, although not specifically Bahá’í, cannot fail to absorb the wonderful plan for a better world from her loving training.

Due to our eagerness to fulfill our obligations to the Seven Year Plan certain changes and adjustments are being made to reinforce some centers and enable us to make use of our pioneers who have already acquired a knowledge of Spanish, for the time is too short and the work too difficult to permit us to depend now on as many new pioneers as we would have liked to see in the field. By next month we shall have some further announcements to make but we hope that those who may be considering the Latin American field will not forsake the study of Spanish and Portuguese as the need will be very great after the war, with the beginning of the second century of Bahá’í Era.

NELLIE S. FRENCH, Secretary

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Assembly Roll 1943–1944

Alabama:

Birmingham, Miss Nina K. Howard,

2215 Ridge Park Avenue.

Arkansas:

Little Rock, Mrs. Lucy Hawkins, 2111

Louisiana Street.

Arizona:

Phoenix, Mrs. Miriam Bugbee, 1738

West Van Buren Street.

Phoenix (East Rural), Mrs. James

Harris, 4030 North 7th Street.

California:

Alhambra, Mrs. Jessie B. Kemper,

1717 S. Date Avenue.

Berkeley, Mrs. Helen B. Rutledge, 2828

Stuart Street.

Beverly Hills, Mrs. B. Cohen, 203 North

Almont Drive.

Burbank, Mrs. Zona D. Smith, 1014 E.

Angeline Avenue.

Burlingame, Mrs. Valera F. Allen, 831

Walnut Avenue.

Geyserville (Cloverdale Township),

Mrs. Mildred M. Brackett.

Glendale, Miss Dagmar Dole, 1330

Graynold Avenue.

Huntington Park, Mrs. Dorothy Stotts,

6731 Rugby Avenue.

Los Angeles, 5, Mr. Willard P. Hatch,

4367 West 8th Street.

Oakland, Mr. Elmer Dearborn, 385

Jayne Avenue

Egyptian Bahá’ís present on the occasion of the transfer of the Late Lua Getsinger to the new Bahá’í Cemetery in Cairo.

Pasadena, Miss Emmalu Wever, 248

North Madison Street.

Sacramento, Miss Elizabeth L. Duffy,

2223 E. Street.

San Diego, Mrs. Gladys Loudon, 1745

First Avenue.

San Francisco, Miss Nadeen G. Cooper,

748 Page Street, Apt. 7.

Santa Barbara, Mrs. Gertrude V. Seter.

1430½ Bath Street.

Canada:

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Miss Elizabeth

Brookes, P.O. Box 121.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Mrs. F.

Sherborne, P.O. Box 744.

Edmonton, Alberta, Miss Kathleen M.

Rimell, 11122—82nd Avenue.

Toronto, Ontario, Mrs. Victor Davis, 44

Chesnut Park Road, Rosedale.

Hamilton, Ontario, Miss Muriel Hutchings,

Mountain Sanatorium.

Montreal, P.Q., Mr. Ernest Sala, 423

Mayor Street.

St. Lambert, P. Q., Mrs. Prudence

George, 371 Notre Dame Avenue.

Moncton, New Brunswick, Mr. Irving

Geary, 32 Ralph Street.

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Mrs. Grenville

Wade, Pinehurst Apts., Prince Arthur

Street.

Colorado:

Colorado Springs, Mrs. Gladys Roberts,

915 N. Hancock Avenue.

Denver, Mrs. Nathaniel Clark, 2136

Columbine Street.

Connecticut:

New Haven, Miss Gertrude Duell, 561

Whalley Avenue.

West Haven, Mrs. Robert E. Bradley,

235 Thomas Street.

Washington, D.C.:

Mrs. Rexford C. Parmelee, 4700—47th

Street, N. W.

Delaware:

Wilmington, Mrs. A. K. Kalantar, 3100

Monroe Street.

Florida:

Jacksonville, Miss Kathryn L. Vernon,

707 Post Street.

Miami, Mrs. Maxwell E. Buffin, 49 S.E.

Sixth Street.

St. Augustine, Mrs. Frances A. Shaw,

139 Central Avenue.

Georgia:

Atlanta, Mrs. P. D. Cunningham, 1262

Euclid Avenue, N.E.

Hawaii:

Honolulu, Miss Henrietta From, 70 N.

Judd Street.

Sprecklesville, County of Maui, Mrs.

Mary T. Fantom.

Idaho:

Boise, Miss Elizabeth Adelmann, 906

E. State Street.

Illinois:

Chicago, Mrs. H. E. Walrath, 4639 Beacon

Street.

Danville, Mrs. Mary L. Schroeder, 1230

Wellington Street.

Evanston, Miss Virginia Russell, 2622

Prairie Avenue.

Maywood, Mrs. Gladys Amerson, 901

S. 7th Avenue.

Peoria, Mrs. Jacqueline Summers, 425

New York Avenue.

Springfield, Mrs. Gretchen Schultz,

1628 S. 16th Street.

Urbana, Mrs. H. A. Harding, 704 W.

Nevada Street.

Waukegan, Mrs. Louise Niblack, 11

Jefferson Avenue.

Wilmette, Miss Bertha Herklotz, 431

Greenleaf Avenue.

Winnetka, Mrs. Willis S. Hilpert, 455

Chestnut Street.

Indiana:

Ft. Wayne, Mrs. Maye Worthington,

2806 Winter Street.

Indianapolis, Mrs. Helen Patterson,

2725 Station Street.

South Bend, Mrs. Sarah Russell, 1031

Lincoln Highway West.

Iowa:

Cedar Rapids, Miss Charlotte Thornton,

219 Iowa Theatre Building.

Kansas:

Topeka, Miss Fern Latimer, 822 West

8th Street.

[Page 12]

Kentucky:

Louisville, Mrs. Sara Ellen Peake, 2001

Spring Drive.

Louisiana:

New Orleans, Miss Pearl Berk, 2805

Carondelet street.

Maine:

Eliot, Mrs. Dorothy Cress.

Maryland:

Baltimore, Mr. Albert E. Dorrida, P.O.

Box 855.

Bethesda–Chevy Chase, Miss Hanna

Lohse, 6 Quincy Street, Chevy Chase.

Cabin John, Mr. William B. Patzer,

P.O. Box 133.

Massachusetts:

Beverly, Miss Helen A. Miller, 15 Ives

Street.

Boston, Miss Alice N. Parker, Room

419, 25 Huntington Avenue.

Brookline, Mrs. Gertrude Ambrose,

1477 Beacon Street.

Springfield, Mrs. R. A. Bates, 99

Princeton Street.

Worcester, 3, Miss Fanny M. Holmes,

103 Webster Street.

Michigan:

Ann Arbor, Mrs. Jennie Smith, 115 N.

Seventh street.

Detroit, Mrs. Jessie B. Hall, 2387

Woodstock Drive.

Flint, Miss Mabel Kitchenmaster, 1123

S. Saginaw Street.

Grand Rapids, Miss Clara A. Edge,

1865 Plainfield Avenue, N.W.

Lansing, Mrs. Kittie A. Shetterly, 813

Fayette Street.

Musekgon, Mrs. Bernice Neal, 332

Jackson Avenue.

Minnesota:

Minneapolis, Miss Sina O. Olsen, 123 S.

11th Street, Apt. H.

St. Paul. Mr. Kenneth K. Kadrie, 864

Sims Street.

Mississippi:

Jackson, Miss Helen Yerger, 526 High

Street, Jackson (38), Miss.

Missouri:

Kansas City, Mrs. J. B. Becktel, 202 W.

36th Street.

Montana:

Helena, Mr. Charles M. Bryan, 507

Sixth Avenue.

Nevada:

Reno, Mr. Robert T. Imagire, 845

Aitken Street.

New Hampshire:

Portsmouth, Mr. Frank Ashton, 85

Austin Street.

New Jersey:

East Orange, Mrs. Paul H. Wright, 105

Leslie Street.

Montclair, Miss Anna E. Van Blarcum,

19 Walnut Crescent.

Newark, Mr. F. W. Clark, 21 Milford

Avenue.

Red Bank, Mrs. Stuart Sims, 19 Leroy

Place.

Teaneck, Mrs. Amy G. Raubitschek,

126 Evergreen Place, West Englewood.

New Mexico:

Albuquerque, Mrs. Kathryn Frankland,

123 S. Edith Street.

New York:

Binghamton, Miss Ida L. Noyes, 43

Davis Street.

Buffalo, Mrs. Calvin Pritchard, 215

Humboldt Parkway.

Geneva, Mrs. R. C. Collison, 681 Castle

Street.

Jamestown, Mrs. Ralph Emery, 81

Fairmount Avenue.

New York City, Miss Helen Campbell,

15 West 9th Street.

Rochester, 7, Miss Christine McKay,

201 Rutgers Street.

Syracuse, Mrs. E. B. Belcher, 909

Ackerman Avenue.

Yonkers, Mr. Samuel Newman, 59 Mulford

Gardens.

North Carolina:

Greensboro, Miss Evangeline Rickart,

1107½ Magnolia Street.

Ohio:

Cincinnati, Miss Hilda Stauss, 3640

Epworth Avenue, Westwood.

Cleveland, Mrs. Mary J. Elmore, 2325

95th Street.

Columbus, Mrs. Margarete Acebo, 658

Oak Street.

Dayton, Miss Hazel Volz, 2837 Wayland

Avenue.

East Cleveland, Prof. Wm. Sandoz,

1770 Delmont Avenue.

Lima, Mrs. Marie Kramer, 436 Kenilworth

Avenue.

Oklahoma:

Oklahoma City, Mrs. A. P. Entzminger,

734 N.W. 20th street.

Oregon:

Portland, Mr. J. W. Latimer, 1927

N. E. 40th Avenue.

PennsyIvania:

Philadelphia, Mr. Clarence W. Fisher,

7153 Bryan Street, Mt. Airy.

Scranton, Mrs. Ruth Little, 1413 Pennsylvania

Avenue.

West Chester, Mrs. Ashton B. T. Smith,

117 East Gay Street,

Puerto Rico:

San Juan, Mrs. Ayned McComb, P.O.

Box 2130.

Rhode Island:

Providence, Mr. William Doull, 57

Olney Street.

Tennessee:

Memphis, Miss Corilla Gray, 530 Linden

Avenue.

Nashville, Miss Nellie J. Roche, 703

Commerce Union Bank Building.

Texas:

Houston, Mrs. Donald L. Corbin, 3409

Mt. Vernon Street.

Utah:

Salt Lake City, Mrs. Florence Lilliendahl,

130 N.W. Temple Street.

Vermont:

Brattleboro, Mr. Oscar P. Stone, 24

Chapin Street.

Virginia:

Arlington, Mrs. Gretchen Bronwick,

1319 North Adams Street.

Washington:

Richmond Highlands, Mr. W. B.

Schneider, P.O. Box 15.

Seattle, Miss Elsa Nordquist, 4508 18th

Avenue, N.E.

Spokane, Mrs. E. L. Beasley 4615 N.

Madison Street.

West Virginia:

Charleston, Mrs. Marian C. Lippitt,

1312 MacCorkle Avenue.

Wisconsin:

Kenosha, Mr. Louis J. Voelz, 6108

Sheridan Road.

Madison, Mrs. Leon Griffin, 410 West

Shore Drive.

Milwaukee, Mrs. Claire Fricke, 1128

N. 21st Street.

Racine, Mr. Harold R. Olsen, 2007

Slauson Avenue.

Shorewood, Mrs. Oliver Nedden, 3514

N. Murray Avenue.

Wauwatosa, Mrs. Harry Nelson, 9615

Harding Boulevard.

Wyoming:

Laramie, Mrs. Valeria Thornton, 412½

S. 12th Street.

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NATIONAL COMMITTEES 1943–1944

American Memorial to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

To maintain in Evergreen Cabin, West Englewood, N. J., an exhibit of books and photographs commemorating the visit of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to North America in 1912; to recommend other appropriate activities such as meetings and lectures which will contribute to the Memorial in perpetuating the spiritual significance of the Master’s mission; to conduct the annual gathering commemorating the Unity Feast has given, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1912.

Mrs. Edith Inglis, Chairman, 474 West 238th Street, Fieldstone, N. Y.

Juliet Thompson, Curtis Kelsey, Roy C. Wilhelm, Philip Sprague, Mrs. Amy Raubitschek, Mrs. Agnes Tichenor, Mrs. Carrie Kinney.

Archives and History

To receive Tablets and other material suitable for the National Archives; to maintain the National Archives and organize its contents; to assist local Assemblies to develop local Archives; to obtain and organize historical data on special subjects as may be required from time to time.

Edwin W. Mattoon, Chairman, Mrs. May Scheffler, Secretary, 1821 Lincoln Street, Evanston, Illinois.

Bertha L. Herklotz, Hashim Hassan, Mrs. Doris Holley, Mrs. Mineola Hannen.

Assembly Development

To assist in the development of Assemblies by arranging for personal visits by members of the Committee [Page 13] or by selected teachers, in order to take up with the Assembly the essential matters on which its services to the Cause and the growth of the community depends.

Mrs. Dorothy Baker, Chairman, Louis G. Gregory, Secretary, Eliot, Maine.

Mrs. Amelia Collins.

Bahá’í Exhibits

To prepare material suitable for use in public exhibits; to supervise and conduct exhibits in state Fairs and regional or national Expositions.

Carl Scheffler, Chairman, 1821 Lincoln Street, Evanston, Illinois.

Betty Scheffler, Clarence Niss, Mrs. Doris Holley, Albert Windust.

Bahá’í News

To edit Bahá’í News for the National Spiritual Assembly.

Horace Holley, Secretary, 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, Illinois.

Mrs. Dorothy Baker, Louis G. Gregory.

Bahá’í Public Relations

To deal with issues arising in the public press, which tend to create misunderstanding or prejudice about the Bahá’í Faith; to advise local Assemblies in matters pertaining to such issues; to survey organizations and leaders associated with work for peace and post-war planning; to prepare statements for encyclopedias and the public press.

Horace Holley, Chairman, 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, Ill.

George O. Latimer, Allen B. McDaniel.

Bahá’í Centennial

To prepare the Centennial program for the meeting in Foundation Hall and all other related public meetings except the dedication meeting in the Temple auditorium.

Edna True, Chairman, 418 Forest Street, Wilmette, Ill.

Mrs. Margery McCormick, Horace Holley, Mrs. Sarah Walrath, Carl Scheffler, Albert Windust, Mrs. Nancy Bowditch, Philip G. Sprague, Allen B. McDaniel, Charles Mason Remey, Mrs. Loulie Mathews, Leroy Ioas, Max Greeven, Mrs. Sarah Kenney, Mrs. Lorol Schopflocher, Rowland Estall, Louis G. Gregory.

Bahá’í News Service

To release articles suitable for publicity use by local Assemblies; to insert approved articles in the press; to provide information on publicity for Assemblies, groups and active teachers; to provide data and illustrations on special subjects.

Clarence Niss, Chairman, Virginia Russell, Secretary, 2622 Prairie Avenue, Evanston, Illinois.

Mrs. Hazel Rawitsch, Evelyn Erdman, Laurence W. LaRocque, William Henning.

Bahá’í World Editorial

To obtain material from all parts of the Bahá’í world community, including reports, articles, historical data and illustrations, suitable for use in the successive volumes of The Bahá’í World.

Garreta Busey, Chairman, Mrs. Mabel Paine, ‎Secertary Secretary‎, 606 Pennsylvania Avenue, Urbana, Illinois.

Mrs. Anna Kunz, Jessie E. Revell, Rexford Parmalee, Mrs. Marzieh Gail, Robert Gulick, Jr., Mrs. Bertha H. Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Margaret Ruhe, Virginia Orbison, Louis G. Gergory, Mrs. Victoria Bedikian, Photograph Editor.

Bahá’í Service for the Blind

To provide Bahá’í literature in Braille for the blind; to place Bahá’í Braille literature in libraries and other institutions; to encourage the formation of groups of Bahá’í workers to increase the supply of Braille transcriptions; and to provide other means for serving the blind.

Ella C. Quant, Chairman, 1089 Glenwood Boulevard, Schenectady, N.Y.

Hilda Stauss, Hilbert Dahl, Gertrude Schurgast, Zahrah Schoeny, Mrs. Mayme Jackson, Mrs. H. Engelder, Mrs. Mable Perry, Dale Cole, Mrs. Bessie Duckett, Mrs. Amédée Gibson, Mrs. Catherine Cole, Bahíyyíh Valentine, Alice Doolittle, Mrs. Doris Bolton, Mrs. Eula Fritz, Adolph Fehrer, Mrs. Carrie Turner.

Child Education

To compile the Bahá’í teachings on the subject of child education; to prepare lessons suitable for classes of children; to cooperate with child education activities maintained in local communities.

Harry E. Ford, Chairman, Mrs. Roberta Christian, Secretary, 959 Lancaster Avenue, Syracuse, N. Y.

Mrs. Margaret Ford, Mrs. A. B. Bevan, Mrs. Reva Belcher, Mrs. Mary McClennen.

Contacts

To teach selected lists of people with printed literature through correspondence.

Mrs. Marguerite True, Chairman, 132 Moran Road, Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

Ethel Revell, Lucy J. Marshall, Mrs. Florence Keemer, Mrs. Joy Earl, Mrs. Meta L. Dahl. Mrs. Evelyn Kemp, Mrs. Amine DeMille, Julia Goldman, Mrs. Audrey Roberts, Winifred Harvey.

Inter-America

To plan and supervise teaching activities throughout Central and South America; to assist the pioneers; to encourage the formation of local groups and guide their development in administrative practice; to supervise the translation of Bahá’í literature into Spanish, Portuguese and other languages as required.

Octavio Illescas, Chairman, Mrs. Nellie S. French, Secretary, 786 Chester Avenue, San Marino, 9, California.

Edna True, Mrs. Inga Illescas, Christine Lofstedt, Dr. Clyde Longyear, Mrs. Marion Longyear, Mrs. Gwen Staudigl, Mrs. Loulie Mathews, Mrs. Harriet Wolcott Charles Wolcott.

International Auxiliary Language

To develop and encourage the interest in the Bahá’í principle of an international auxiliary language; to make possible effective cooperation with other workers in the field of international language; to provide Bahá’í literature in Esperanto and other international languages.

Roan U. Orloff, Chairman, Hotel Canterbury, 14 Charlesgate, W., Boston, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Della Quinlan, Mrs. Luella Beecher, Hugh Rouse, Charles R. Witt, Mrs. Elsa Chaslon, Lucy J. Marshall, Mrs. Anna Kincaid, A. E. Regal, Mrs. Mabelle Davis, Josephine Kruka, Mrs. Mabel Vicary, Herbert Seidler.

Legal

To examine the incorporation papers prepared by local Assemblies; to provide information needed for local incorporation; to assist the National Assembly in meeting any other legal questions that might arise.

George O. Latimer, Chairman, Horace Holley, Secretary, 536 Sheridan Road, Willmette, Illinois.

Elsie Austin, Chester F. Barnett.

Library

To place literature in public and university libraries; to encourage local Assemblies to provide books for local libraries; to maintain a record of all Bahá’í literature in public libraries as far as can be determined.

Mrs. Ellen Sims, Chairman, 19 Leroy Place, Red Bank N. J.

Robert Gulick, Jr., Helen Reynolds.

Publishing

To print and sell the literature approved and authorized by the National Assembly.

Horace Holley, Chairman.

Harry E. Walrath, Carl Scheffler.

Staff: Clara R. Wood, Manager, 110

Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois.

J. T. Wood.

Race Unity

To compile the teachings on the subject of race unity; to prepare bulletins of information; to plan race unity activities and programs; to conduct special meetings; to cooperate with Assemblies in race unity activities; to bring the Bahá’í teachings to the minority groups in America, and to place race unity editorial material in the press.

Mrs. Dorothy Baker, Chairman, Mrs. Sarah Walrath, Secretary, 4639 Beacon Street, Chicago, Illinois.

[Page 14]

Louis G. Gregory, Mrs. Mary Stevison. Elizabeth Cheney, Clarence Niss.

Radio

To make available approved radio scripts on a variety of Bahá’í subjects; to conduct radio campaigns; to stimulate the use of radio for teaching.

Mrs. Florence Morton, Chairman, Mrs. Mildred Mottahedeh, Secretary, 103 E. 84th Street, New York, N. Y.

R. Y. Mottahedeh, Mrs. Alice Bacon, Glenn A. Shook, Mrs. Anna Smith, Mrs. Hazel Langrall, Mrs. Shirley Warde, William Sears, Mrs. Nina Matthiesen, Wendell E. Bacon.

Reviewing

To pass upon the accuracy of manuscripts submitted through the National Assembly; to examine manuscripts for literary quality and effectiveness and their usefulness as contributions to the published literature.

Mrs. Marion Mills, Chairman, 1 Chestnut Street, Waterloo, New York.

Mrs. Mary Collison, Mrs. Marguerite Firoozi, Gretchen Westervelt.

Bahá’í Schools

To provide instruction and study courses; to train teachers; to conduct the school program; to encourage attendance at the school.

Green Acre School

Lorna Tasker, Chairman, Roushan Wilkinson, Secretary, R.F.D. 190, North Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Louis G. Gregory, Harlan Ober, Glenn A. Shook, Rachel Small, Margaret Ford, Harry Ford.

Geyserville School

Mrs. Sylvia Ioas, Chairman, Gladyce Linfoot, Secretary, 156 Nova Drive, Piedmont, California.

Mrs. Amelia Bowman, John Bosch, Irvin Somerhalder, Mrs. Louise Groger, Mrs. Amelia Collins, Ted Groger, Mrs. Sarah Kenny, Ray Brackett.

Louhelen School

Edmund Miessler, Chairman, Mrs. Helen Eggleston, Secretary, Louhelen Ranch, Davison, Michigan; Phyllis Hall, Corresponding Secretary, 3208 State Road, Davison, Michigan.

Mrs. Beatrice Eardley, Harry Whang, L. W. Eggleston, Kenneth Christian, Mrs. Bertha H. Kirkpatrick, Paul Pettit, Clement Perry, Dick Suhm.

International School

To provide instruction for the training of Bahá’í teachers wishing to serve in other lands, especially, at present, in Central or South America; to stimulate Latin American contacts and activities by local Assemblies in North America.

Mrs. Loulie A. Mathews, Chairman. Mrs. Wanden La Farge, Secretary, Fountain, Colorado.

Mark Tobey, Max Greeven, Mrs. Inez Greeven, Mrs. Marion Little, George O. Latimer.

Study Outline

To compile outlines suitable for Bahá’í study classes; to examine and recommend outlines submitted to the committee; to encourage and promote the practice of organized Bahá’í study.

Dr. Genevieve L. Coy, Chairman, 10 Patchin Place, New York, N.Y.

Helen Campbell, Mrs. May Dyar.

Selective Service Advisory

To prepare bulletins assisting drafted believers to obtain recognition of their Bahá’í status under the Selective Service Act.

Allen B. McDaniel, P.O. Box 96, Waterford, Va.

Paul Haney.

Temple Guides

To conduct visitors through the House of Worship; to hold classes for training Temple guides.

Mrs. Mary Haggard, Chairman, 1229 Cleveland Street, Wilmette, Illinois.

Edwin W. Mattoon, Mrs. Mineola Hannen, Mrs. Harriet Hilpert, Edvard Lindstrom, Laurence LaRocque.

Temple Librarian and Sales

To conduct the sale of literature in Foundation Hall; to provide facilities for the sale of Bahá’í photographs, ringstones, display and exhibits, slides, and other Bahá’í material.

Harry E. Walrath, chairman, 4639 Beacon Street, Chicago, Ill., Mrs. Flora Ernst, Mrs. May Scheffler.

Temple Program

To conduct the weekly public meeting in Foundation Hall; to conduct such other devotional or public meetings as may be approved from time to time by the National Assembly.

Edna True, Chairman, John Haggard, Secretary, 1229 Cleveland Street, Wilmette, Illinois.

Monroe Ioas, Mrs. Janet Lindstrom, Dr. James Lewis, Mrs. Edna Coleman, Mrs. Harriet Hilpert.

Youth

To stimulate and coordinate activities of Bahá’í youth throughout the American Bahá’í community; to initiate worldwide Youth symposiums; to issue bulletins of suggestions, plans and news of youth activity; to provide study material.

Paul Pettit, Chairman, Clement Perry, Secretary, 10817 Earle Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

Robert Miessler, Margery Ullrich; Youth Advisor: Mrs. Margarite Ullrich.

World Order Magazine

To edit the American Bahá’í magazine.

Horace Holley, Chairman, Mrs. Alice S. Cox, Secretary, 1109 W. Gift Avenue, Peoria, Illinois.

Garreta Busey, Mrs. Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Gertrude Henning.

Institute of Bahá’í Education

To bring the Bahá’í Faith for the first time, in its universal aspects, to all American colleges, by lecture and literature; to provide a regular service of annual speakers to all colleges that would welcome it, by means of chapel platforms and classroom discussions; to continually deepen the interest of faculty members and students, arranging wherever possible, classes for regular study of the Faith and training for Bahá’í membership.

Mrs. Dorothy Baker, Chairman, 615 West Elm Street, Lima, Ohio.

Mrs. Marzieh Gail, William Kenneth Christian.

German Translation

To translate Bahá’í texts into German.

Siegfried Schopflocher, Chairman, 1102 University Street, Montreal, P.Q., Canada.

Mrs. Hanna Neumann, Karl Neumann, Mrs. Carol Hautz.

Pamphlet Literature

To gather manuscripts for a new series of pamphlets which will assist the smaller communities in their teaching work.

George O. Latimer, Secretary, 1927 N.E. 40th Avenue, Portland, Oregon.

Mrs. Dorothy Baker.

Teaching

To prepare plans for and assist the National Assembly in the execution of: nation-wide teaching projects; inter-regional teaching projects; preparation of information, material, plans and methods that will lead to more effective teaching. Supervision of Regional Teaching Committees; receipts of reports from them.

Leroy Ioas, Chairman, Charlotte M. Linfoot, Secretary, 156 Nova Drive, Piedmont, California.

George O. Latimer, Mrs. Amelia Collins, Mrs. Sarah Kenny, Marion Holley, Mrs. Amelia Bowman.

Regional Teaching

To coordinate inter-community conferences; to cooperate with local Assemblies in organizing teaching circuits; to route traveling teachers within the region; to assist groups and prepare them for the election of a Spiritual Assembly; to encourage and stimulate teaching activities of isolated believers; to extend the teaching work to areas within the region where no Assemblies or groups exist; to supervise the work of the Extension Teaching Committee of local Assemblies; to exercise initiative in the areas outside the jurisdiction of local Assemblies; to endorse applications for enrollment and transfer of isolated believers. The Regional [Page 15] Teaching Committee reports to the National Teaching Committee on all teaching matters and is under its supervision. On matters concerning enrollments and transfers it reports directly to the National Spiritual Assembly.

British Columbia, Alberta

Doris Skinner, Secretary, 303 Sixth Street, West Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Mrs. Katherine Moscrop, Mae McKenna, Austin Collin, Harold Moscrop, Ann McGee, Anita Ioas, Mrs. Evelyn Cliff Southwell, Clifford Gardner.

Manitoba, Saskatchewan

Rowland Estall, Secretary, P.O. Box 121, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Ernest Court, Lulu Barr, Elizabeth Brookes, Mrs. Jean Johnston, Blanche Mosher, Lauretta Voelz.

Ontario

John Robarts, Secretary, 4 Millbank Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.

Mrs. Laura Davis, Amy Putnam, Mrs. Ethel Priestley, Lloyd Gardner, George Spendlove, Mrs. Audrey Robarts.

Quebec, New Brunswick, Prints Edward Island, Nova Scotia

Mrs. Rosemary Sala, Secretary, 423 Riverside Drive, St. Lambert, P.Q.

Ragnar Mattson, Siegfried Schopflocher, Ernest Sala, Margaret Mosher, Winifred Harvey, Mrs. Beulah Proctor, Mrs. Agnes King, Mrs. Edna Maloney.

New England

Mrs. Hattie Chamberlin, Secretary, ll Maple Terrace, Three Rivers, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Florence Morton, Mrs. Helen Archambault, Roushan Wilkinson, Harlan Ober, Mrs. Elizabeth Ober, Ralph Bates, Carl Krug.

New York

Mrs. Ruth Hart, Secretary, “Knollwood” R.D. #3, Waterloo, N. Y.

Ralph Emery, Mrs. Della Emery, Mrs. Roberta Christian, Mrs. Helen Inderlied, William Kenneth Christian, Mrs. Gertrude Atkinson, Ida Noyes, Mrs. Mildred Mottahedeh.

New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania

Curtis Kelsey, Secretary, 502 Grenville Avenue, W. Englewood, N. J.

Archie J. Tichenor, Stuart H. Sims, Helen Reynolds, Mrs. Ida Huff, Jessie E. Revell, Francis H. Bent, Mrs. Ethel Crane, Mrs. Jean Sharpless, Reginald King, Bishop Brown, Mrs. Florence Zmeskal.

Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia

Mrs. Annamarie Honnold, Secretary, 902 S. Orme St., Arlington, Va.

Mrs. Hazel Langrall, Mildred Elmer, Mrs. J. E. Rice, Elsie Austin, Allen B. McDaniel, Mrs. Marjorie Haney, Paul Haney.

Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky

Mrs. Florence Reeb, Secretary, 2815 Sherwood Road, Apt. A. Columbus, Ohio.

Mrs. Mary Elmore, Charlotte Lindenberg, Lothar Schurgast, Mrs. Addie Miller, Arthur Patterson, Mrs. Helen Patterson, Mrs. Margarite Ullrich, Edmund Miessler.

Illinois, Michigan, Winconsin, Iowa

Mrs. Margery McCormick, Secretary, 503 Chestnut Street, Winnetka, Ill.

Clarence Niss, Charles Reimer, Mrs. Gertrude Struven, Mrs. Adelaide Duff, Dr. Katherine True, Monroe Ioas, Chris Leins, Mrs. Etta Catlin.

Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska

Mrs. Opal Winans, Secretary, 421 N. Spring St., Independence, Mo.

Mrs. Bertha Campbell, Mrs. May Brown, Mrs. Madelon Becktel, J. B. Becktel, N. Forsythe Ward, Mrs. Velma V. Sherrill, Nayan Hartfield, Mrs. Eunice Baker.

Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota

Elsa Steinmetz, Secretary, 1420 S. Spring Avenue, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

George Sulerud, Mrs. Marguerite Bruegger, Mrs. Marie Tetu, Maria Montana, Muriel Stilson, Edward Belcher.

North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia

Mrs. Terah Smith, Secretary, 572 Page Avenue, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia.

Mrs. Birdie Cunningham, Mrs. Esther Sego, Betty Shook, Doris Ebbert, Mrs. Luda Dabrowski, Mrs. Louise Sawyer, Mrs. Eva McAllister, Mrs. Christine Bidwell.

Florida

Mrs. Lucille Buffin, Secretary, 49 S. E. 6th St., Miami, Florida.

Mrs. Frances Guy, Winifred Richards, Kathryn Vernon, Esther Webster, Eugenia Meyer.

Tennessee, Alabama

Nellie J. Roche, Secretary, 703 Commerce Union Bank Building, Nashville, Tennessee.

Mrs. Elizabeth Walker, Martha Fettig, Mrs. Virginia Sims, Mrs. Clara Keller, Gertrude Gewertz, Dr. A. K. Kessler, Homer Dyer, Mrs. Edna Williams, Albert B. James, Jr.

Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas

Mrs. Marion Little, Secretary, P.O. Box 255, Covington, Louisiana.

Mrs. Dorothy Logelin, Mrs. Evelyn Bivins, Mrs. Margaret Ellis, Mrs. Anna Smith, Reszi Sunshine, Mrs. Dorothy Campbell, Mrs. Esther Klein Little, Mrs. Myrtle Barnes.

Oklahoma, Texas

Mrs. Doris Corbin, Secretary, 3409 Mt. Vernon St., Houston, Texas.

Mrs. Mary Edson, Leslie Hawthorn, Max Greeven, Albert Entzminger, Mrs. Lena Ittner, Mrs. Elizabeth Bailey, Charlotte Stirratt.

California, Nevada, Arizona

Robert Thiess, Secretary, 4575 Finley Avenue, Los Angeles, California.

Mrs. Sylvia Ioas, Mrs. Nancy Phillips,

Mrs. Sarah Witt, Mrs. Jessie Kemper,

Mrs. Valerie Allen, Ingenuus Bentzar,

Mrs. Helen Robinson, David Mayberry,

Mrs. Miriam Bugbee.

Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico

Artemus Lamb, Secretary, Lancaster Hotel, 1765 Sherman, Denver, Colorado.

Mrs. Gladys Roberts, Raphael Lillywhite, Mrs. Florence Lilliendahl, Mrs. Valeria Thornton, Mrs. Clair Gillespie, Dr. E. Lenore Morris, Mrs. Kathryn Frankland, Ruth Westgate, Mrs. Rita Wallace.

Montana, Idaho

Charles Adams, Secretary, 106 S. Main St., Helena, Montana.

Charles Bryan, Mrs. Betty Nelson, Mrs. Ethel Thompson, Farrukh Ioas, Sally Sanor, John Saunders, Mrs. Ruth Saunders.

Washington, Oregon

Mrs. Myrtle Campbell, Secretary, 1315 E. 47th Street, Seattle, Washington.

Mrs. Marjorie Taylor, Mrs. Louis Speno, Mrs. Clara Rainboth, Mrs. Hilda Wilks, Mrs. Lavina Sprau Walter, Levi Munson, Mrs. Marget Stange.

Alaska

Honor Kempton, Secretary. The Book Cache, Anchorage, Alaska.

Janet Whitenack, Betty Becker, Nina Lundquist, Mrs. Frances Wells.

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Bahá’í' Publications

Fundamentals of Bahá’í Membership — a teaching and study outline based on The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, by Shoghi Effendi. The outline was prepared by the Study Outline Committee in 1939-1940 and the present edition has been simplified. Ten pages, mimeographed text, per copy, $0.20.

In addition to increasing monthly enrollment of individual new World Order subscribers for the coming Bahá’í year, the editorial and business staffs hope that a substantial number of new subscriptions may be recorded for Organizations, University, College and Public Libraries.

Reflecting, as it does, the vital prophecies and teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, World Order Magazine is destined to experience growing popularity with library readers in search of enlightenment on the subject of world federation, unity of mankind and “The Most Great Peace” as foretold by Bahá’u’lláh nearly a century ago.

A powerful contributing factor towards attaining the much desired increase in library subscriptions for World Order lies in securing listing for the magazine in a publication called “Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature.” This publication [Page 16] is published for the benefit of librarians, as a reference covering information on periodicals, and listing therein is obtainable only through the votes of librarians, when they are invited by the publishers to vote on additional listings.

Any Bahá’í wishing to call on the librarians of their local College or Public Libraries for the purpose of interesting them in World Order and seeking their aid towards procuring listing in the “Reader’s Guide” will, on request, be supplied with sample copies, or, get-acquainted copies of World Order will be mailed for a few months to any librarian whose name and address are sent to the Business Manager, World Order, 110 Linden Ave., Wilmette, Ill.

L’Economie Mondiale De Bahá’u’lláh — French translation of this pamphlet is now available for teaching use in North and South America, reproduced from the second edition issued in Paris some years ago by the French believers.—32 pages, paper cover, per copy, $0.10.

The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, Study Outline prepared by Study Outline Committee. New, revised edition. An interesting and helpful outline for classes preparing students for enrollment or deepening the knowledge of confirmed believers. Eight mimeographed pages, with cover. Per copy, $0.15.

Selected Writings—the friends are reminded of the three pamphlets which present selections from the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, sold in sets of three pamphlets, at the low cost of $0.25 per set.

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Notice to Convention Delegates

Delegates unable to attend the Convention this year may obtain a copy of the Agenda with a reproduction of the Guardian’s Message of April 14 and the list of elected delegates, by sending a postcard request to the National Bahá’í Office, 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, Ill. Some extra copies are available, and perhaps delegates would like one to keep in their Bahá’í records.

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Green Acre History

Believers having any historical material concerning Miss Sarah Farmer, Green Acre, or William H. Randall are requested to send it to Mrs. Bahiyyih Randall Ford, Pilgrim Haven, Little Falls, N. Y. Letters written by Miss Farmer or Mr. Randall, programs, photographs, etc., will be greatly appreciated. This material is wanted for use in the preparation of some Bahá’í articles.

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Photographs for the Bahá’í World

Material is now being collected for The Bahá’í World, Volume X. Will all who have photographs illustrating (1) summer school activities, (2) pageants, (3) exhibitions, (4) activities of traveling teachers or any other events or institutions of the Cause within the two year period March 21, 1942-March 20, 1944, please send them in with name and date of each.

The Guardian is giving great emphasis to the importance of the volume of The Bahá’í World in which these photographs will appear, as it will be the volume representing the last two years of the first century of the Bahá’í era. As the volume will contain some surveys of the whole century older photographs which have not appeared in previous volumes are also desired. The committee will return your photographs if you request it.

Please send photographs to Mrs. Victoria Bedikian, Little Falls, New Jersey or to Mrs. Anna Kunz, 714 Iowa St., Urbana, Illinois. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated.

—THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

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Bahá’í Summer Conference

Moose Mountain Provincial Park Saskatchewan

PROGRAM

July 18, 8:00 P.M.

Welcome to the Conference; outline of purpose and procedure; introduction to courses; announcements.

July 19-23

1. Study Course on “DEEPENING THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.”

This is a course using the study outline of this title. The meetings will begin with prayers and suitable readings, followed by talks from various speakers and a discussion.

1. God’s Will for Man; The Purpose

of Creation; The Soul as Capacity

to Know and Love God.

2. Practice in Attainment of the

Spiritual Life.

3. Character; The Foundation of

Spiritual Effort.

4. True Self-Realization: The Principle

of Trustworthiness.

5. Social Personality: The Pillars

of Civilization.

2. Lecture Series on “THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH”.

This is a review of the “World Order” letters of the Guardian, using the book and study outline of this title, and intended to afford a comprehensive study of the distinguishing features and principal objectives of the Bahá’í Faith. The subjects will be presented by various teachers, followed by discussion.

1. The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh;

Further Considerations.

2. The Goal of a New World Order;

The Golden Age of the Cause of

Bahá’u’lláh.

3. The Unfoldment of World Civilization.

4. America and the Most Great

Peace; The Advent of Divine

Justice.

5. The Promised Day Is Come.

3. Teaching Forum on “PROCLAMATION OF THE FAITH”.

Round Table Discussions will be held for four evenings during the week. The following timely topics will be introduced briefly by various teachers, to be followed by full and open discussion.

1. Fulfillment of the Seven-Year

Plan.

2. Consolidation and Development

of New Assemblies.

3. Our Part in the nation-wide

Teaching Campaign.

4.Bahá’í Centennial Celebrations.

Make reservations through Row-land Estall, P. O. Box 121, Winnipeg, Manitoba. The rates for lodging ranging from $8.00 per week to $17.50 per double cabin. Meals at reasonable rates.

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Bahá’í Photographs

In addition to the photographs needed by The Bahá’í World Editorial Committee, or sent for reproduction in Bahá’í News, the National Spiritual Assembly wishes to develop a general collection of illustrations, and requests any believer who may have photographs of Bahá’í institutions, places or groups, to send copies to the National Office, 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, Ill.

[Page 17]

On Solicitation of Funds

The new friends are reminded of the protection afforded to Bahá’ís in relation to their expenditure of funds for Bahá’í purposes. The only authorized agencies of the Cause receiving donations for Bahá’í use are the Treasurers of National and local Assemblies. If conditions arise in which the question is one of meeting individual cases of need and distress, believers should make sure that any appeals for personal help actually come from Bahá’ís and not from persons claiming membership in the Faith for a material motive. Every traveling believer should have proper credentials. As for solicitation of funds for purposes which non-Bahá’ís claim are for similar ends as those of the Cause, such claims have no real foundation. Only the Bahá’í community can achieve the goals established in the Bahá’í teachings.

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Enrollments and Transfers

Enrollment of new believers reported by local Assemblies:

New York, two and two youth. Jamestown, one. Albuquerque, one. San Francisco, one. New Orleans, one. Berkeley, one. Miami, one. Indianapolis, one youth.

Enrollments by transfer reported by local Assemblies:

New York, four. Baltimore, one. Cleveland, one. Berkeley, one. Springfield, Ill., one.

Enrollment of isolated believers in May—ten.

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In Memoriam

“I testify, O my Lord, that Thou hast enjoined upon men to honor their guest, and he that hath ascended unto Thee hath verily reached Thee and attained Thy Presence. Deal with him then according to Thy grace and bounty!”

‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ

Miss Jean Anthony, New York.

Mrs. Lucy B. Price, Circleville, Ohio.

Mrs. Lillian James Price, Newark.

Mrs. Clark R. Thompson, South Gate, California.

Mrs. Agnes Kahlke, Benton Harbor, Michigan.

Mrs. Rebecca Dixon, Hillsboro, New Brunswick.

Mrs. Gertrude Walker Crowley, Salem, Michigan.

Miss Florence A. Riedle, Chicago.

Mrs. Lily Bow, Houston.

Mrs. Lucille Bates, Minneapolis.

Mrs. Mable Ives, Glenview, Illinois.

Bahá’í Calendar

Nineteen Day Feasts: Words, July 13; Perfection, August 1; Names, August 20.

Martyrdom of the Báb: July 9, at noon.

Summer School sessions: See announcements, June and July Bahá’í News.

Meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly: September 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.

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Addresses for Service Men

American believers now abroad, who may have the opportunity to call at Bahá’í Centers in Australia or New Zealand, will be interested in the following addresses. Though not recent addresses, information about the Bahá’í Centers can be obtained from:

Miss Hilda Brooks, Box 447 D, G. P. O., Adelaide, So. Australia.

Miss Dulcie Burns, P. O. Box 1906, Auckland, N. Z.

Miss Gladys Moody, 1st Floor, Piccadilly Arcade, Castlereagh St., Sydney, N. S. W.

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The End of Religious Schism

The sign of spiritual weakness in religion, marking the end of its ethical influence, has always been the appearance of schism—the division of the religious community into two or more independent bodies, each claiming equal authority and right. The history of the great religions makes it clear that such irretrievable breaks in the unity of faith do not occur until the faith has developed forms and practices outside and beyond the sacred text on which the religion is based.

Religious schism, that is, becomes possible only where there is honest ground for difference of opinion concerning vital truths, or justifiable conflict concerning the application of authority and power. Among the conditions which in the past have made for schism among followers of a Prophet are: the rise and undue development of a professional clergy; the substitution of attitudes toward the church for the fundamental revealed attitudes to God; the materialization of worship and its transformation from an inner spiritual experience into a form of economic exploitation; the seizure of power and authority by a class and the division of the community into privileged and unprivileged parties; the use of religious influence for the establishment of political policies; cruelty and immorality on the part of the professed leaders of the church; and unbridled personal ambition.

In the Bahá’í Faith we have religion established on a new and firm basis, which eliminates the conditions which make schism possible or inevitable. Bahá’u’lláh has extended the power of divine truth and will from the realm of pure worship or general truth into the realm of social action. He created the office of the Interpreter in the person of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and made obedience to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá equivalent to obedience to Himself. He provided for the expression of His Faith in human action by creating social institutions endowed with authority in relation to actions but specifically deprived of power to alter, amend or add to the sacred text or introduce any new forms of worship. Aside from these institutions and such persons as, like ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, were given unique power, the community of believers is composed of persons who are forever equal in their degree. No individual Bahá’í as such can ever claim authority over another.

In providing the truths, principles and institutions necessary for a World Faith, Bahá’u’lláh closed the door forever to any schismatic movement. No Bahá’í can ever pose as the apostle of freedom or the hero of justice in this religious community. The relation of the individual to mankind has been permanently defined, and no disturbance of an emotional nature or eruption of private conscience can produce the equivalent to those universal laws which Bahá’u’lláh Himself revealed.

The would-be schismatic is prevented from operating in any area of darkness where the observer could be unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood, integrity and dishonor. The Bahá’í Faith has no realm of uncertainty and confusion where the schemer can lurk undetected, and no field of action where the rebel can foment disunity without involving the application of a final authority which every Bahá’í unhesitatingly recognizes and obeys.

The student who wishes to trace this truth throughout its historic Bahá’í pattern can turn to the writings of Bahá’u’lláh in which He condemns the schismatic and denier in His mission; and can turn to the [Page 18] writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and see the same condition reenacted after Bahá’u’lláh had ascended. All these deniers and falsifiers have used the same specious arguments, and in refuting the Arch-Violator, who opposed Him, Bahá’u’lláh refuted every schismatic who has arisen since that time.

It is possible that in ages past, when organized religion had become a tyranny, the movement of rebellion was an effort to return to religious first principles and rid the church of the enemies of religion within. At the present time, in relation to the Bahá’í Faith, the status of the violater involves a degree of ethical corruption which prevents such movements from accomplishing anything save the early ruin and extinction of those who instigate them. The mind, the conscience, the heart and the soul of man are safe and protected when they are true to divine will and law. Outside that will man can not exist in any degree above the level of the criminal, the perverse and the sinner.

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY

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The Bahá’í World Community

News of the activities of the Bahá’ís in India is very encouraging and reflects a great loyalty and devotion to the Cause of God. The following excerpts are quoted from a letter addressed to the Guardian by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India and Burma and dated May 25, 1942.

“As regards the progress of the Six-Year Plan two new Assemblies were elected on the 21 of April—in Hyderabád (Deccan) and in Kotah. In addition to Mr. Saroosh F. Yagangi and Mrs. Firoza Saroosh, who have settled in Bangalore, Mr. Isfandiar F. Yagangi from Poona and Mr. Rustom M. Soheili from Bombay have gone with their families and settled in Panjgani. The two families have formed a group there and they hold meetings to which they invite others also.

“Dr. M. E. Lukmani has gone to Sholapur and has opened a homeopathic dispensary there. Attached to the dispensary he has a Bahá’í library where he invites people and holds talks with them.

“Dr. M. Jan from Calcutta has migrated from Calcutta and settled in Chapra, a town in Bihar. He has started a homeopathic dispensary and teaches the Divine Faith to the people.

“Messrs. Mihrban Jamshedi and Shah Bahram Mazkoori have gone from Karachi to Multan for settlement. They have opened a business there and attached to it, they have a Bahá’í library where they invite people and give them the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.

“We have a very wide and, we hope, an effective teaching scheme for next year. Mr. Ilmi is to be temporarily relieved of his editor’s duties and he may visit the places where new Assemblies and groups have been formed so that he may help them in consolidating and teaching the Faith in their respective localities.

“Mr. Abdullah Fazil who has gathered a group of educated Europeans and Indians around him in Bangalore may go to Kashmir and then to Punjab and Lucknow.

“Mr. Samadani may go on tour in Punjab, Sindh and other places. Mr. Abul ‘Abbas Rizvi may stay at Lahore where he will try to evolve the group into a spiritual Assembly. He will also visit the Mofassil towns in the Punjab.

“We hope these proposals will be approved and these teachers will soon start on their respective missions. . .

“We have also received with pleasure the Bahá’í News Letter of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India and Burma, dated April, 1942. The following is a gist or its contents: Youth Activities. The Bahá’í youth of India and Burma held their Symposium this year on the 22 of February 1942, at different centers in the country. These centers were Bombay, Karachi, Poona, Calcutta, Kotah and Surat.”

The program of the Symposium was suggested and prepared by the National Youth Committee and consisted of the following items:

1. Seventh Bahá’í Youth Day on

February 22, 1942.

2. General Theme: “The Ideals

of Bahá’í Youth.”

(a) World Order.

(b) The Most Great Peace.

(c) An Economic Solution.

(d) Human Solidarity.

(e) The Renewal of Religion.

The following two telegrams were exchanged between the National Youth Committee and the Guardian:

“Bahá’í Youth offers love loyal devotion, holding seventh Annual Symposium supplicate prayers confirmation.”

“Assure Bahá’í Youth deepest appreciation praying success Symposium admire perseverance.”

As an example of unity in diversity it is interesting to note that Bahá’í addresses were delivered in no less than five different languages. Here is an illustration: A talk on “The Most Great Peace” was delivered in Gujrati, “The New World Order” in Persian, “Universal Peace” in Urdu, “Renewal of Religion” in Bengali and “An Economic Solution” in English.

The leading local papers in Bombay, Karachi and Poona published notices about the Symposium and appreciative notes and comments about the Bahá’í Faith. The Bombay Sentinel wrote about a column under the headline “Follow Bahá’u’lláh —Avert War” and the “Sunday Standard” (of Bombay) gave a summary of the speeches under the heading “The Bahá’í Idea.”

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Annual Reports of Local Assemblies

A number of the local Assemblies have sent in brief but general surveys of their community activities during the year ended April 21, and excerpts from these will be issued in Bahá’í News through successive months.

Assemblies which have not yet made their annual report are requested to submit one at their early convenience.

COLUMBUS, OHIO

The Assembly sponsored 7 public meetings. Among the guest speakers were Mrs. Bolles, Miss Bolles and Mrs. Powell, who returned from the Convention: later Prince Nwafor Orizu of Nigeria, Mrs. Della C. Quinlan of New York and Dayton, Mr. Schurgast of Cincinnati, O. The 3 other public meetings were held in the homes of believers and local friends took part in the program.

The Teaching Committee was responsible for open meetings during the Intercalary Days, when each day a meeting was held. Those days were looked forward to by the believers each year bringing a closer unity among the friends and a deeper understanding of the Teachings. A regular weekly study class was held, mostly attended by believers only. For a while a followup class was held, also an Administration class, but because of lack of attendance was discontinued. A Sunday-morning-prayer-meeting was held during last summer and fall, and those attending expressed their spiritual as well as material refreshments they had received from the gatherings. For several months a public-speaking class was held under [Page 19] the guidance and assistance of the Regional Teaching Committee’s secretary. This class was most stimulating and students regretted that each meeting had a closing time.

KENOSHA, WISCONSIN

Every Sunday evening our public service is held at Bahá’í Hall and an out-of-town speaker, when available, gives the address.

Occasionally mid-week lectures are held when we can secure some prominent out-of-town Bahá’í teacher. A series of five talks (one each week) brought many visitors to our Hall. Louis Gregory was here also and many came to hear him.

Our Extension Teaching Committee sponsored a series of Temple talks with slides in nearby towns, namely: Salem, Union Grove, Lake Geneva and Burlington. Racine Assembly cooperated in this and Mr. Ed Struven gave the talks.

A very inspiring Sunrise Prayer meeting was enjoyed by all present, on the shores of Lake Michigan, after which breakfast was served while the sun was coming up.

Our annual picnic was held at Brown’s Lake, near Burlington and many were in attendance.

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA

The Teaching Committee held weekly meetings during the early part of the summer and began a formal series of study classes in October, commencing with a public meeting in the Marlborough Hotel. The latter was attended by about 30 people and about 12 people came at various times in the continuing weekly study course held in the 203 Paris Building. The Assembly undertook the rental of this room as a central location easily accessible during the winter months. In addition to a steady attendance of our own members an average of four non-Bahá’ís came to this study class consistently. This group gave opportunity to all the Bahá’ís to take part in preparation and presentation of material in the class.

The Youth Group beginning with an informal fireside group at the home of Mrs. Jean Johnston evolved into a study class in Bahá’í Principles and is now undertaking a special research along Race Unity lines. A public symposium, planned to coincide with the Annual Bahá’í Youth Day throughout the World, was held in room 203 Paris Building and was attended by 23 people including the Bahá’ís. This group has attracted upwards of 15 young people. Most of them are making a sympathetic and practical approach to Bahá’í principles.

The Children’s Committee began a weekly class activity which has been consistently attended by three and four children at the home of Miss Stella Pollexfen.

The Race Unity Committee made preliminary contacts with the Canadian Unity Council, which may be of value in developing race unity work next year.

The community strengthened its connection with larger fields of Bahá’í work outside the community by the participation of eight of its members in the Summer Conference at Clear Lake last summer, arranged by the Regional Teaching Committee for Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It also undertook financial support for the Regina Teaching Project of Mrs. Ruby China. During the year we welcomed Anne McGee and Evelyn Cliff of Vancouver, Ruby China of West Vancouver, Lauretta Voelz of Kenosha, Wis., and Lulu Barr of Saskatoon, all of whom paid us brief visits and contributed their share to our knowledge of and connection with other Bahá’í communities.

HELENA, MONTANA

There was no Radio broadcast this year. The Local Radio Company are not permitted to sell time to Religious Organizations and we were refused anytime of the “Religious hour” conducted by the Ministerial Association.

Good newspaper publicity has been had during the year; about thirty news and publicity items were given us in both the local newspapers.

Two new members were gained this year; our methods in increasing the community apparently are slow, but those that have been added are of capacity and firmness.

Two youths have declared their intention to become Bahá’ís upon reaching the necessary age.

Many contacts have been made with the Negro and Chinese people of Helena, and literature has been given them, but no fruits have appeared.

PORTLAND, OREGON

All the public meetings were held at Hall 210A, Studio Building, 919 S.W. Taylor Street. A series of printed programs was prepared and distributed. The local Bahá’í speakers who took part in one or more programs were Levi Munson, Lucien B. Nash, Dr. Henry Dake, George Latimer, Cinita Taylor, Alice Robertson, Rachel Porter, Dr. Chester Easter, Florence Campbell, Solvig Corbit and Ella and Lillie Meissner. Visiting speakers were Mr. Leroy Ioas of San Francisco, Mark Tobey of Seattle, Mrs. Ruth Stephenson and Dr. Harry Taylor, who gave several fine lectures during the year. Due to the severe storm in January several meetings had to be given up.

Several special meetings were held during the year. A social gathering to interest new friends was held at the Easter home on May 21st, with as many guests as believers and Mark Tobey gave a fine talk on “Oneness”. The friends enjoyed an evening at the Stephenson home as their guests and a special meeting was arranged at the Young home to meet Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Kelsey of West Englewood, New Jersey. Mr. Kelsey showed his colored pictures of Haifa and the Temple and moving pictures of the various Trustee properties were also shown and a delightful evening was passed.

The community was host to a meeting of the Regional Teaching Committee of Washington and Oregon at the Feast on September 5, 1942 held in the Young home. In the absence of Leroy Ioas, George Latimer of the National Teaching Committee, led the interesting discussion on our local and national teaching problems. Visiting believers to this conference were: Marjorie Taylor of Tacoma, Mr. and Mrs. Wilks and their daughter, Myrtle Campbell, Hazel Stauter and Mrs. Clifton of Seattle, Lorrol Luther of Everett, Mrs. Ethel Edell of Pasadena and Mr. and Mrs. John Cliffers of Corvallis. Alta Krueger a member of the RTC took an active part in the discussion. Levi Munson is the other member from our community on this Committee and has attended meetings in Seattle. The Latimer family attended the Fall Conference of the RTC of British Columbia and Alberta in Chilliwack and reported on the activities of this group. The need for more group and fire-side teaching meetings and a larger attendance to our public meetings appear to be the need for the coming year.

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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Special emphasis having been placed in the past year, both by the Guardian and the National Spiritual Assembly, for the need of pioneers in other areas, we are happy to report the following members of this community answered this urgent call. Miss Eve Cliff obtained an exchange of school for one year and journeyed to Calgary. Mrs. Anne McGee also resigned her position here and left for Calgary. Mrs. Moscrop returned to Regina and way points. Her stay helped to keep the Faith in the minds of the contacts she had made previously. Miss Muriel Warnicker spent several months in Edmonton and presented the Bahá’í Faith to many people. During her visit, she was ably assisted by Mrs. Marcia Atwater, and their work is now showing great results. Mr. Cliff Gardner, who was a member of this Community for a time and who later left for Chilliwack, returned to Vancouver for his marriage, which was held under the auspices of the Bahá’ís, and then left to pioneer in Calgary also. This exodus to Calgary we anticipate will bring forth great results.

A Conference held in Chilliwack was attended by several Vancouver members and their friends, also visitors from Portland, Vernon, Calgary and Armstrong. This Conference was extremely invigorating.

During the year we were privileged to receive visits from Mrs. Marcia Atwater, who met the Bahá’ís on her trip to Edmonton and spoke at a semi-public meeting on her return, We were intensely interested to hear of her work in Chile and Edmonton. Mr. and Mrs. Latimer and Mr. George Latimer paid us one of their valuable visits after attending the Conference at Chilliwack. A public meeting was arranged and Mr. George Latimer gave one of his enlightening talks. Miss Doris Skinner of Calgary also visited Vancouver after the Chilliwack Conference. She attended the Public Meeting and also spoke at other meetings while here.

Two other visitors were entertained from Portland during the summer of 1942. Mr. Rowland Estall of Winnipeg paid us a short visit and gave us an interesting insight into the valuable work being done by the friends in Winnipeg. He also stressed the need for pioneers in Regina and Mrs. China of West Vancouver has recently answered this call.

The Teaching Committee arranged most interesting programs during the year and weekly meetings are still being carried on. A most interesting evening was spent when a large number of members met the Hon: Dr. Shih, Chinese Consul General of Canada, when he, as guest speaker, gave an interesting talk on the religions of China. He expressed his great interest in the gathering and stated he would be happy to meet with us again. A book was presented to him as a token of appreciation for his kindness in speaking to the Group. Another evening was well attended by Bahá’ís and friends when Mrs. Steeves gave a talk on Russia, which brought forth some interesting lights showing the changes which have taken place in that vast country. In addition to these two members carried on Fireside Groups in their homes.

An Esperanto class, held in the Bahá’í Room, has been sponsored by this Assembly, and as well as learning this International Language it is felt many contacts may be attracted to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh through this medium. Some students have already attended some weekly meetings and others are asking questions and reading literature.

(To be continued)