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Bahá’í News

January 1983

Bahá’í Year 139

The Mother Temple
of the Indian Sub-continent

[Page 0]

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CRUEL SYSTEMATIC OPPRESSION LONG-SUFFERING IRANIAN FRIENDS HAS REACHED NEW LEVEL INTENSITY. DWINDLING SOURCES THEIR LIVELIHOOD FURTHER SEVERELY CURTAILED. DISMISSAL FROM JOBS, CANCELLATION TRADE LICENSES, CONFISCATION PRIVATE PROPERTIES UNABATED. HOMELESS THOUSANDS THROWN ON MERCY RELATIVES FRIENDS. DOORS SCHOOLS CLOSED TO INCREASING NUMBER CHILDREN. FRESH BLOOD WANTONLY SPILLED AFTER LULL EXECUTIONS.

WITH HEAVY HEARTS ANNOUNCE HABIBULLAH AWJI, ENTHUSIASTIC ACTIVE BELIEVER, HANGED SHIRAZ 16 NOVEMBER. RECENT EVIDENCE CONFIRMS MARTYRDOM SOME TIME AGO OF TWO STEADFAST UPHOLDERS CAUSE: YADULLAH SIPIHRARFA EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUAD TEHERAN. MANUCHIHR VAFA’I MURDERED IN HIS HOME TEHERAN BY UNKNOWN ASSAILANT WHO ATTACHED NOTE TO BODY GIVING AS REASON FOR DASTARDLY DEED INNOCENT VICTIM’S BAHÁ’Í BELIEF.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
NOVEMBER 18, 1982

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Bahá’í News

A report from the International Conference in Canberra, Australia	1
In Michigan, the newly rebuilt Louhelen Bahá’í School is opened	4
In South Carolina, the Louis Gregory Institute marks its 10th year	6
The first of a two-part series on the Hand of the Cause Dorothy Baker	8
Around the world: News from Bahá’í communities all over the globe	14

Bahá’í News is published monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community. Manuscripts submitted should be typewritten and double spaced throughout; any footnotes should appear at the end. The contributor should keep a carbon copy. Send materials to the Periodicals Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Changes of address should be reported to the Office of Membership and Records, Bahá’í National Center. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates: one year, $8 U.S.; two years, $15 U.S. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1983, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

[Page 1]

Canberra: Cementing the ‘spiritual axis’

More than 2,300 Bahá’ís from 45 countries were present in Canberra, Australia, September 2-5 for the largest Bahá’í International Conference ever held in the Pacific area.

The Universal House of Justice was represented at the historic gathering by the Hand of the Cause of God Ugo Giachery.

The Hand of the Cause of God H. Collis Featherstone also attended as did 15 members of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.

Among the participants were 45 from Japan, 35 from Tonga, 20 from Hawaii, 120 from New Zealand and several from Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.

As a result of the Conference, the Continental Pioneer Committee received 42 applications for overseas pioneering and 22 for international travel teaching.

Media interest in the Conference was extraordinary with unprecedented press coverage that included three presentations on national television of the “Roll Call of Nations” session, daily newspaper coverage, marvelous interviews with Conference speakers, and complete coverage of a special session open to the media and a Sunday service at the Bahá’í House of Worship near Sydney.

‘Unprecedented success’

This Conference, like the four others held in 1982 in various parts of the world, was dedicated to the memory of the Greatest Holy Leaf on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of her passing, and flowers were sent from the Conference to be placed at her monument on Mount Carmel in Haifa.

After the Conference Dr. Giachery cabled the World Centre, “Unprecedented success of any conference ever attended. Makes me highly hopeful of great, durable achievements all regions between poles axis within brief time.”

The Lakeside Motel in Canberra, Australia, the site last September 2-5 of the Bahá’í International Conference. More than 2,300 Bahá’ís from 45 countries attended the largest such gathering ever held in the Pacific area.

The gathering, which opened Thursday, September 2, at the Lakeside Hotel in the center of Australia’s capital city, was preceded by a “unity feast” whose participants included the two Hands of the Cause of God; Counsellor Anneliese Bopp, a member of the International Teaching Centre; and Dr. Janet Khan, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia.

The Thursday morning session was highlighted by the colorful “Roll Call of Nations” and the unfurling of a scroll 25 meters (nearly 83 feet) long signed by almost all of the Bahá’ís in the Philippines (the Canberra Conference was to have been held in Manila but was moved owing to unsettled political conditions in that country).

Also on Thursday, slides were shown of progress on construction of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice and the Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs in Samoa and India.

A special feature of the Conference was a session devoted to discussion of the “spiritual axis” between Japan and Australia spoken of by the beloved Guardian. Among those who spoke about the spiritual significance of the axis was Counsellor Peter Khan.

After hearing of the program, the Universal House of Justice wrote to the National Spiritual Assemblies of Japan and Australia expressing the hope that this would stimulate teaching in the Pacific:

[Page 2] Shown is a part of the audience at the Bahá’í International Conference last September 2-5 in Canberra, Australia. At left in the front row (hand on head) is the Hand of the Cause of God Ugo Giachery. Front row center are the Hand of the Cause Collis Featherstone and Mrs. Featherstone (to his right).

“The Universal House of Justice was very happy with the Spiritual Axis program at the Bahá’í International Conference in Canberra and has asked us to convey its warm commendation to you. It was particularly pleased to note the attractive brochure, issued jointly by your Assemblies, which brings to the attention of the friends quotations concerning the roles of Japan and Australia and the significance of the spiritual axis in the development of the Faith in the entire Pacific region.

“The large attendance of friends from Japan at this Conference was also a source of joy to the House of Justice.

The Hand of the Cause of God Ugo Giachery addresses the Conference.

“It is the ardent hope of the House of Justice that the friends from your communities, motivated by the high spirit generated at the Canberra Conference and continually encouraged by your institutions, will provide a constant stream of traveling teachers to those islands in need of assistance throughout the Pacific.”

The Friday evening program, whose theme was “The Bahá’í Faith in Action,” was an open meeting chaired by Dr. Peter Khan.

The speakers were Dr. Khan (“Bahá’í Perspectives”), Dr. Arthur Dahl (“Environment and Survival”), Mrs. Tinai Hancock (“Women in the Pacific”) and Judge Richard Benson (“World Order—An Imperative”).

Dr. Dahl’s talk was reported extensively in the Canberra Times.

On Saturday morning, the Conference was linked by telephone with the International Conference in Montreal, Canada. The call from Douglas Martin, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, was accepted by Mr. Featherstone and broadcast to the entire audience in Canberra.

That afternoon, Mrs. Lillian Alai of Samoa paid tribute to the Hands of the Cause, reserving special mention for Dr. Giachery who, she said, has a special place in the hearts of Samoans, as he was present when Malietoa Tanumafili II declared his belief in Bahá’u’lláh.

The final address was delivered by Dr. Giachery who spoke on the birth of the Administrative Order.

At least 200 youth gathered at the Academy of Science building for what was billed as an international youth meeting.

The session featured musical presentations interspersed with inspiring talks by Dr. Giachery; Mr. and Mrs. Featherstone; and David Chittleborough, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia.

A program for the more than 250 children at the Conference was held at the Australian National University and was efficiently run by Stan and Joyce Fox of South Australia.

Not a part of the Conference, but occurring because of it, were a musical program Saturday evening, a Sunday morning service at the House of Worship, and a Sunday evening public meeting in Sydney that attracted 50 seekers.

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Message to the Bahá’í Conference in Canberra from the Universal House of Justice

To the Friends Gathered in the Asian/Australian
Bahá’í Conference in Canberra

Dearly-loved Friends,

These are momentous times. The institutions of the old world order are crumbling and in disarray. Materialism, greed, corruption and conflict are infecting the social order with a grave malaise from which it is helpless to extricate itself. With every passing day it becomes more and more evident that no time must be lost in applying the remedy prescribed by Bahá’u’lláh, and it is to this task that Bahá’ís everywhere must bend their energies and commit their resources.

New conditions now present themselves making it easier to accomplish our purpose. Galvanized by the fires of fierce opposition and nurtured by the blood of the martyrs, the forces of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh are, at long last, emerging from obscurity. Never before in history has the Faith been the subject of such universal attention and comment. Eminent statesmen, parliamentarians, journalists, writers, educators, commentators, clergymen and other leaders of thought have raised their voices and set their pens to expressions of horror and revulsion at the persecutions of our brethren in Iran on the one hand, and to paeans of praise and admiration of the noble principles which motivate the followers of the Most Great Name on the other.

The five international conferences of the Seven Year Plan were called to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf, to discuss anew the present condition of the Faith in a turbulent world society, to examine the great opportunities for its future growth and development, and to focus attention on the unfulfilled goals of the Plan. We are certain that the contemplation of the gathered friends on the sterling qualities which distinguished the heroic life of the Greatest Holy Leaf will help them to persevere in their noble endeavors.

This particular Conference is unique in many ways. The geographical area of concern spans over half the globe, including within its purview all the vast continent of Asia as well as the water hemisphere which comprises all of Australasia. Within the continent of Asia is the “cradle of the principal religions of mankind ... above whose horizons in modern times, the suns of two independent revelations ... have successfully arisen ... on whose western extremity the Qiblih of the Bahá’í world has been definitely established ....” The first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the Bahá’í world was erected on this continent under the direction of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and now another is arising on the Indian sub-continent in the midst of the world’s largest Bahá’í community. In Australasia the Mother Temple of the Antipodes, dedicated to the Glory of God just two decades ago, looks out across the vast Pacific Ocean in whose “midmost heart” still another Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is being built on the mountain slope above Apia in the country of the first reigning monarch to embrace the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.

The population of Asia and Australasia is well over half the world population. The area includes Asiatic U.S.S.R. and mainland China accounting for more than one thousand million souls who are, for the most part, untouched by the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. Obviously present conditions in these areas call for the exercise of the utmost wisdom and circumspection. Yet this vast segment of humanity cannot be ignored.

Canberra, where you are now meeting, is at the southern pole of the spiritual axis referred to in the beloved Guardian’s last message to the Bahá’ís of Australia as “extending from the Antipodes to the northern islands of the Pacific Ocean ...” Referring to the National Spiritual Assemblies at the northern and southern poles of that axis, Shoghi Effendi went on to say:

“A responsibility, at once weighty and inescapable, must rest on the communities which occupy so privileged a position in so vast and turbulent an area of the globe. However great the distance that separates them; however much they may differ in race, language, custom, and religion; however active the political forces which tend to keep them apart and foster racial and political antagonisms, the close and continued association of these communities in their common, their peculiar and paramount task of raising up and consolidating the embryonic World Order of Bahá’u’lláh in those regions of the globe is a matter of vital and urgent importance which should receive on the part of the elected representatives of their communities a most earnest and prayerful consideration.”

These guidelines, penned a quarter of a century ago, are as valid today as when they were written, and can be taken to heart by all Bahá’í communities on either side of the axis.

We are approaching the midway point of the Seven Year Plan. As we review our accomplishments with respect to the goals of that Plan, it is essential that we fortify ourselves for the tasks ahead, and that we rededicate ourselves to that Cause for which our beloved martyrs rendered their last full measure of devotion. We can do no less!

We shall be with you in spirit during your important deliberations. Our prayers ascend at the Holy Threshold for the success of your Conference and the International Conference being held concurrently in Montreal. We shall ardently supplicate that the blessings and confirmations of Bahá’u’lláh will descend upon you and surround you wherever you go in service to His Faith.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

The Universal House of Justice
September 2, 1982

[Page 4]

The ‘new’ Louhelen School is reopened

Nearly 1,000 Bahá’ís from the Midwest and other areas of the United States were present October 29-31 to witness the long-awaited opening of the newly reconstructed Louhelen Bahá’í School near Davison, Michigan.

Among those attending the gala celebration were the Hand of the Cause of God Dhikru’lláh Khádem and the members of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly who held their regular meeting that weekend at the Louhelen School.

Also meeting at Louhelen were the National Teaching, National Education and Persian Affairs Committees.

The inaugural celebration included a Friday evening banquet that was attended by some 480 Bahá’ís including several whose memories of Louhelen stretched back to the early 1930s when the “Louhelen Ranch” was converted by its owners, Lou and Helen Eggleston, to a Bahá’í school that they hoped would one day become the standard by which all such schools are measured.

Sharing at the banquet their delightful reminiscences of the early days of the Louhelen Bahá’í School were Mrs. Florence Mattoon Zmeskal of Toledo, Ohio, and Mrs. Sylvia Paine Parmelee of Wilmette, Illinois.

About 700 were present for the Sunday program that included the official ribbon-cutting ceremony presided over by Dr. Geoffry W. Marks, Louhelen’s director of academic affairs, and Dr. William Diehl, director of administrative affairs.

Among the speakers Sunday afternoon were Judge James F. Nelson, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, and the National Assembly’s assistant secretary, Dr. Magdalene M. Carney.

The weekend’s events began Friday morning with a tour of the new facili-

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The session included remarks by the Hand of the Cause of God Mr. Khádem and by Mohammad Ali Faizí, the brother of the late Hand of the Cause of God in whose memory the Faizí Endowment has been established at Louhelen.

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ties, followed that afternoon by a program whose theme was “The Hand of the Cause of God Abu’l-Qásim Faizí, Educator of a New Race of Men.”

The session included remarks by the Hand of the Cause of God Mr. Khádem and by Mohammad Ali Faizí, the brother of the late Hand of the Cause of God in whose memory the Faizí Endowment has been established at Louhelen.

The banquet that evening was a festive and nostalgic occasion that combined warm and loving reminiscences of the school and its founders with good food and excellent entertainment by pianist Negin Mohtadi of Farmington, Michigan, and the Sterling Glenn Chorale from Detroit.

The Saturday morning session was built around “The History and Reconstruction of the Louhelen Bahá’í School” and included these presentations:

• “Lou and Helen Eggleston and the Early Years of the Louhelen School” by Robert Gaines of Rochester, Michigan, a longtime friend of the Egglestons and former member of the Louhelen School Council.
• “The Development of Plans to Reconstruct Louhelen” by the Louhelen Project Committee.
• “The Reconstruction Project” by Sirouss Binaei, general manager, NSA Properties Inc.
• “Louhelen as a Center of Bahá’í Learning” by Drs. Marks and Diehl.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday afternoon was followed by a recep-

Ground crews complete last minute decorating and clean-up chores before the arrival of guests for the Louhelen School’s reopening ceremony last October 29-31. Nearly 1,000 Bahá’ís attended the gala event.

[Page 5] tion and another tour of the school.

The $1.9-million reconstruction of Louhelen was completed in little more than a year, with ground having been broken September 6, 1981.

The reopening of the school marks the completion of the latest chapter in its 51-year history that began with its first modest classes on August 31, 1931.

Primarily responsible for organizing those first classes at the behest of the Egglestons were Mabel and Howard Colby Ives, and Grace and Harlan Ober.

Others who participated in that first historic session included Fanny Knobloch, Mary Collison, and many other friends.

They were heartily encouraged by the Guardian who said the school had the potential to “gradually develop into a true cultural and educational Bahá’í center.”

Forty-three years later, in 1974, the original Louhelen campus had to be closed because the buildings that had served their purpose so well could no longer be considered safe for occupancy.

With the approval of the Universal House of Justice, the National Spiritual Assembly made reconstruction of the Louhelen school a high priority item, and two years ago a drive was begun to raise the nearly $2 million in funds needed to carry out its plan.

Presiding over the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony during the Louhelen Bahá’í School’s reopening last October were Dr. William Diehl (left), the school’s director of administrative affairs, and its director of academic affairs, Dr. Geoffry Marks.

Speakers at the Louhelen School’s reopening ceremonies last October included Robert Gaines (left photo) and Sirouss Binaei, general manager of NSA Properties Inc. and overseer of the Louhelen Reconstruction Project.

Thanks to the generosity of many of the friends that fund drive was a resounding success, as anyone who has seen the splendid new facilities will attest.

Early in 1981 the Faizí Endowment was established at Louhelen to hasten construction and, provide for maintenance of the school.

Mr. Faizí, who died in November 1980, was a scholar and educator whose contributions over many years to the spiritual, intellectual and physical development of children and youth are incalculable.

The Louhelen school marked its 50th anniversary in August 1981. Then last June, the National Assembly announced the appointment of Dr. Marks as director of academic affairs and Dr. Diehl as director of administrative affairs.

Work at the school proceeded on schedule, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Binaei and his associates and the cooperation of the Louhelen Project Committee and Louhelen Council, and all was made ready in time for the inauguration ceremonies in October.

A week later, the school was host to its first full-fledged event, a regional Youth Conference, and on November 12-14 was the site of the first Midwestern Regional Conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies.

[Page 6]

Gregory Institute marks 10th anniversary

By DAVID E. OGRON

One hundred eighty-five people including 19 youth and 24 children attended a gala “Homecoming Conference” in Florence, South Carolina, October 22-24 that was held in connection with the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute near Hemingway.

Participants came from eight states stretching from Maine to Florida and from the District of Columbia.

Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, secretary of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly, addressed the approximately 160 people who gathered at the Gregory Institute on Sunday for the anniversary celebration that followed the Homecoming Conference.

Speakers at the Homecoming, which was held at the National Guard Armory in Florence, included Auxiliary Board members Albert James, Elizabeth Martin and Nat Rutstein; Dr. Alberta Deas, director of the Gregory Institute and secretary of the South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee; and Gail Curwin of the Regional Teaching Committee.

Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, secretary of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly, was one of the speakers at the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute’s 10th anniversary celebration last October.

Springboard

The conference theme, “South Carolina: Challenges of Growth,” served as a springboard for presentations by speakers on the challenges of growth for the individual, for Local Spiritual Assemblies, for Bahá’í communities, and for the Deep South as a whole.

At the suggestion of Mr. Rutstein, the entire conference was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Daniel C. Jordan, vice-chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, who was found murdered October 16 in Stamford, Connecticut.

Prayers were read at the conference at the time of Dr. Jordan’s funeral in Stamford, and the following message was sent to the friends gathered in Connecticut:

“Though grieved at the loss of dear Dan, we feel his gentle spirit in our midst. And that quickens our resolve to work for the unification of the human family.

“Our conference is dedicated in Dan’s memory. Our deepest love to Nancy and the children. (Signed) South Carolina Homecoming Conference.”

Dr. Deas reported on the progress of the goals for South Carolina in the three-year second phase of the Seven Year Plan that were adopted in August 1981 by the South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee.

The goals include helping Local Spiritual Assemblies to establish children’s classes, local Bahá’í Centers, and Bahá’í cemeteries.

The Regional Teaching Committee, she said, has appointed 10 “consolidation task forces” composed of eight to 10 members each.

After preparing themselves for the consolidation work, these task forces are sent to nearby Bahá’í communities on a regular basis.

Mary Gibson, the wife of the late member of the Universal House of Justice, Amoz Gibson, was a special guest at the Homecoming Conference.

Speaking candidly about her experiences during her husband’s illness, Mrs. Gibson said that she and her daughter had learned much from Mr. Gibson about death and the promise of an eternal happiness.

Mrs. Gibson indicated that she planned to remain in South Carolina after the conference to be of some assistance with the work of the Faith there.

Knowing that she will “have to face Amoz,” she said, “I would like to do

[Page 7] Shown speaking at the 10th anniversary celebration for the Louis Gregory Bahá’í Institute in South Carolina are Auxiliary Board members Albert James (left photo) and Elizabeth Martin.

Below: Among the entertainers at the Louis Gregory Bahá’í Institute’s 10th anniversary celebration was singer/guitarist Dave Rohling.

something that will make him happy to see me.”

Both Mrs. Martin and conference moderator George Frye of Charlotte, North Carolina, traced some of the history of the Faith’s growth in South Carolina.

Mr. Rutstein, in describing the “challenges of growth for the individual,” stressed the importance of every Bahá’í reading and meditating on the Creative Word each day in addition to daily prayer.

Stories and reminiscences of the Hand of the Cause of God Louis Gregory, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, were shared at the conference and anniversary celebration by Auxiliary Board member Albert James.

The 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Institute named in Mr. Gregory’s honor came shortly after the release by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust of his biography by Gayle Morrison, To Move the World.

Dr. Kazemzadeh, who emphasized the significance of the Gregory Institute and its vital role in preparing the friends to go out and win the spiritual battles that must be faced and overcome as the Faith develops, was observing a “homecoming” of his own.

As chairman of the National Assembly, Dr. Kazemzadeh was among the speakers when the Gregory Institute was dedicated in October 1972.

In a message read on that occasion, the Hand of the Cause of God William Sears had written: “There is nothing happening today in this entire hemisphere as significant or as important as the dedication of this Institute.”

Dr. Kazemzadeh likened the challenges that lie ahead to a military campaign.

“I see the Louis Gregory Institute as the training ground,” he said, “for those troops who will then go on the firing line and win the battle.”

Entertainment at the Homecoming Conference was provided by two groups of young Bahá’ís, the Darlington Singers from Darlington and Florence, South Carolina, and Navá, whose members are from various communities in North Carolina.

The anniversary program included vocals by Mary Beckman of Hemingway and by a singing group composed of area Bahá’ís.

A special award of appreciation was given by Dr. Deas on behalf of the Institute to William Schramm of Conway, South Carolina.

In presenting the plaque, Dr. Deas said that although Mr. Schramm is handicapped by a serious heart condition, he has volunteered his services for the past six years in helping to improve the Institute’s buildings and physical environment.

Refreshments were served during an informal reception that followed the conclusion of the anniversary program.

[Page 8]

The early years: a flame begins to glow

“Hearts grieved lamentable, untimely passing Dorothy Baker, distinguished Hand Cause, eloquent exponent its teachings, indefatigable supporter its institutions, valiant defender its precepts ...”

That cable from the beloved Guardian gave voice to the feelings of grief and dismay experienced by Bahá’ís all over the world following the airplane crash on January 10, 1954, that took the life of the Hand of the Cause of God Dorothy Beecher Baker who was greatly loved and deeply admired as an able administrator, teacher and tireless worker for the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.

Descended on her father’s side from a remarkable New England family that produced such luminaries as evangelists Lyman and Henry Ward Beecher and novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Dorothy Baker was greatly influenced by her grandmother, Ellen V. Beecher, a Bahá’í who was known affectionately as “Mother Beecher.” In 1912 Mother Beecher took her 13-year-old granddaughter to New York to see the Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

The rest of the story is told here by Margaret Holbrook Hildreth of Makanda, Illinois, assistant professor at Morris Library, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Mrs. Hildreth, a Bahá’í since 1946, has done extensive research on Dorothy Baker and the Beecher family for a work-in-progress entitled “Prairie Prophets: The Beechers and Illinois.” In these articles she has made extensive use of the recollections of Dorothy Baker’s daughter, Louise Baker Matthias.

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By MARGARET H. HILDRETH
First of two parts

Nellie Beecher arrived at the Ansonia Hotel in New York City on the morning of Friday, April 19, 1912. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá greeted her as she entered: “Dear Mother Beecher, dear Mother Beecher.”

Turning to Dr. Amínu’lláh Fareed, His interpreter, He added, “I expected Mother Beecher would be one of the first to greet me when I arrived here. I thought much about her. Some of the older Bahá’ís of this country have become well rooted; their roots have spread far out. They are the strong trees. You,” he said to Nellie, “are one of the strong trees. The new Bahá’ís have no roots yet. It remains to be seen whether their roots shall spread out and they become strong trees.”¹

Mother Beecher never forgot that meeting. In 1930 she would write to Henrietta Corrodi in reference to the event: “How I appreciated His Reality every time I met our Blessed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá or heard him speak. I can never forget the vibration of his voice when he spoke the name of ‘Mother Beecher.’ ” She added, of other such times, “It always made me weep and tremble for the Power in the voice was so searching and vibrant, but at the same time so full of love and tenderness.”²

‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent 79 days in New York City. He Who had been imprisoned or exiled for 40 years of His life now carried the banner of future civilization to the United States. Surrounded by crowds, He addressed the public, at Columbia University, at the Bowery Mission, at churches, synagogues, clubs, private homes, wherever He was asked to present the Bahá’í teachings. In the streets children clung to Him as He passed. Visitors filled His rooms.

One such visitor arrived in June from New Jersey. Mother Beecher had brought her 13-year-old granddaughter to meet the Master.

Dorothy Beecher was terrified. Normally a happy child, she was also psychic; events of extreme emotion caused her to tremble. Her parents, Louella and Henry Beecher, were not Bahá’ís, and young Dorothy knew little of her grandmother’s faith—yet she sensed that something of a tremendous nature was about to occur.

As she and Nellie entered the room, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá greeted Mother Beecher but made no overture to Dorothy other than to motion for her to sit on a footstool at His feet, facing the audience.

As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke Dorothy turned slightly on her stool, peering at Him from the corners of her eyes. The longer He spoke, the more she turned until, toward the end of the talk, she was gazing at Him in adoration. There was, however, no verbal communication between them.

Several days later Dorothy told her grandmother, “I want to write to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.”

“Well, I think you should,” Mother Beecher replied.

‘My daughter’

Shortly afterward a note arrived. In tiny handwriting it said, “Oh, dearest child. I will pray that your great desire may be fulfilled and that you serve this Cause.”

Mother Beecher became ill a day or two later, but received word that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wished to see her. Hurrying from her sick-bed, she asked, “What have I done?”

“I called you,” the Master said, “to tell you that your granddaughter is my own daughter. You must train her for me.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá remained in the U.S.

[Page 9] for eight months, traveling from New York City to Washington, D.C., then to Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts, back to New York, to Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, across the prairie to Nebraska, to the mountains of Colorado and Utah, then onward to California—to 41 cities and towns before returning to New York. On December 5 he bade farewell to America and sailed for England.

Mother Beecher’s life was dedicated to the Bahá’í Faith and to her granddaughter; she was conscientious in training the girl in the teachings, especially during the summers at the Green Acre School in Maine. On or about her 15th birthday Dorothy declared her acceptance of the Word of Bahá’u’lláh.

Educated at the Montclair Normal College in her home state of New Jersey, Dorothy was graduated in 1918 and accepted a position in the Newark public school system. At Green Acre in the summer of 1920, a time to which she referred as a “confirming experience,” she wrote to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, asking that He “please pray for the adorable children I teach.” She never made known His answer, if any.

Rooming in East Orange and teaching in Newark, the lovely Dorothy Beecher, tall and slender, succumbed to the attentions of a young lawyer. But for no particular reason, she could not bring herself to set a definite wedding date. Over and over she postponed the marriage and continued teaching.

One September evening in 1920 two motherless neighborhood children came to dinner at the boarding house; their father was away from town on business. Soon their father came to dinner too. His name was Frank Baker. A very nice middle-aged man, Dorothy thought.

In October Dorothy began to pray for guidance on the subject of marriage. A thought came to her: “When you marry, you take a step that will affect your whole life. Ask for God’s first choice.”

And so she prayed: “What is Your first choice for me? God willing, grant this.” And Frank Baker came into her mind.

Startled, Dorothy stopped praying. “Why, he’s an old man of 30!” Again she prayed for God’s first choice, and again Frank Baker appeared in her mind. Three times this happened.

“I can’t imagine marrying Frank Baker,” she said to herself. “But I can’t marry ____ ______ either.”

Dorothy’s fiancé was waiting for her under her window, signaling with pebbles as he often did. He waited. Dorothy did not appear. Never again did he return. Frank Baker, however, did.

The Hand of the Cause of God Dorothy Beecher Baker.

“How would you like to have dinner with me and go to a show Saturday night?” he asked. Dorothy looked at him. He was a heavily-built man, but not fat, and had great spiritual qualities.

“I'd be delighted,” she answered.

That Saturday evening Dorothy and Frank watched the sun set while she told him about the Bahá’í Faith. “My family are Lutherans,” he said. “I was brought up Lutheran. Seems to me that all the prophecies are coming to pass in this age.”

In March, Frank Baker proposed marriage and Dorothy accepted. As he drove her home, his car caught fire.

On June 21, 1921, Frank Albert Baker and Dorothy King Beecher were married at Budd Lake, New Jersey. Dorothy not only had a husband, she was now the mother of two young children, Conrad and Sally. Discipline was difficult: “You’re not our mother,” they would complain. Before long it would be, “Oh, mother, I love you so.”

Henry and Louella Beecher visited often at the Bakers’ home in Newark. Dorothy held Bahá’í meetings and Mother Beecher did the teaching. Dorothy learned to play bridge, and the Bakers maintained an active social life whenever Frank was in town. Dorothy spoke of “wasting my life,” and though an active Bahá’í, was not yet dedicated to the Faith. Their daughter Winifred Louise was born on May 24, 1922, and within the year the family moved to Buffalo, New York, where William King Baker was born on November 26, 1923.

Sense of desolation

For the Bahá’ís, the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on November 28, 1921, had brought immediate grief and a sense of desolation. As messages of consolation poured into Haifa from world leaders, the American Bahá’ís read again His last words addressed especially to them only two weeks before:

“In America, in these days, severe winds have surrounded the Lamp of the Covenant, hoping that this brilliant Light may be extinguished, and this Tree of Life may be uprooted. Certain weak, capricious, malicious and ignorant souls have been shaken by the earthquake of hatred, of animosity, have striven to efface the Divine Covenant and Testament, and render the clear water muddy so that in it they might fish. They have arisen against the Centre of the Covenant like the people of the Bayán who attacked the Blessed Beauty and every moment uttered a calumny. Every day they seek a pretext and secretly arouse doubts, so that the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh may be completely annihilated in America.

“O friends of God! Be awake; be vigilant, be vigilant ...”³

The Bahá’í world was not, however, bereft. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had left His Will and Testament, a document written during the seven years of incarceration in ‘Akká,⁴ which formed the basis of an administrative order and provided continuity in the Cause. Exhorting Bahá’ís to protect the true Faith of God and to preserve His Law, safeguard

[Page 10] His Cause and serve His Word, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá instructed them to follow in the footsteps of the disciples of Christ in spreading the Gospel: “The most important of all things is the guidance of the nations and peoples of the world.” Referring to the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh as the “Twin Holy Trees,” He added, “Turn unto Shoghi Effendi ... as he is the sign of God, the chosen branch, the guardian of the Cause of God ...”⁵ Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, eldest grandson of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, born in the prison-city of ‘Akká in 1897, raised in the Master’s household, educated at the Collège des Frères in Haifa, the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut, Lebanon, and at Oxford University in England, was now Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith.

In July 1926, the year Dorothy was elected to serve on the Spiritual Assembly of Buffalo, her stepdaughter Sally became ill: “Muzz, I feel tired.” The doctor offered no encouragement. Sally had leukemia and would live no longer than three weeks. Dr. ‘Alí Kúlí-Khán, translator of the works of Bahá’u’lláh, spoke to young Conrad and Sally and read them The Seven Valleys as Sally wept. “Muzz, whatever happens,” she said, “I want you to know I am a Bahá’í.” The acute stage of Sally’s illness lasted but 10 days.

In 1927, Frank Baker resolved to own his own business. There was a promising bakery in Lima, Ohio. Dorothy was less than ecstatic: “But Frank,” she pleaded, “where will I shop?” Nevertheless, the move to Ohio was made, and Dorothy’s social life continued in Lima where she organized a Parent-Teacher Association and for two years entertained Bahá’ís as they stopped on their way to or from Wilmette, telling stories, playing bridge. In 1928 Mother Beecher, now 88 years old, came to visit. Unhappy, she accepted the Bakers’ urging and invitation and moved in with them.

Dorothy was obviously not in good health, living mostly on nervous energy. “If only I could get up to 110 pounds,” she moaned. A visit to her doctor confirmed that she had tuberculosis. Further, she discovered a lump in her breast, a fact that she kept from the doctor as well as from Frank. Furious and frustrated by this turn of events, she wondered, “What have I done with my life?”

It was April 1929. “Frank, let’s go to Convention,” she suggested. But her husband could not leave his business. “You go,” he urged. Dorothy agreed, and left soon afterward for Wilmette, staying at an Evanston hotel with Doris McKay and Ruth Hawthorn, friends from New York state.

The Bahá’í House of Worship was not yet completed. “A big black-covered hole,” some Wilmette resi-

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She ... left to walk alone along the lake shore. Doris McKay joined her. Distraught, Dorothy said, ‘Doris, I am a spiritual criminal. I have lived uncommitted. I have done nothing with my life. How could I have done this? What should I do?’

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dents called it. An informal application to begin construction had been made to the village on December 27, 1920, and, due to some opposition from the village board, a formal application was made on January 7, 1921. It was refused for lack of a presentation of building plans. On March 19 of that year a building permit was finally approved, and during the summer the nine caisson foundations were completed, requiring wells of 120-foot depth that extended 90 feet below the level of Lake Michigan and a nearby drainage canal.

The basement structure and first floor were completed in the fall of 1922 although the completion of the basement floor and subdivision and finishing of the space was not carried out until later as further work on the architectural drawings was required. Since construction of the building depended upon contributions from Bahá’ís only, it could proceed only as quickly as funds were available. By 1929 the building of the superstructure was about to begin.

The annual Convention, therefore, took place in what was—and still is—called Foundation Hall. It was here that Dorothy Baker sat in the front row on May 2 listening to the reports of the past year’s Bahá’í activities. She felt ill and more than a little upset. Leaving the hall, she walked out to the cornerstone, the limestone rock that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself had placed in the ground some 17 years before.

Albert Vail, a Bahá’í from Evanston, spoke to her: “Dorothy, you won’t be here next year, will you?”

“No, I won’t be here.”

“How about your husband?” he asked.

“He’ll be able to handle it,” she replied. “The children will have a Bahá’í education.”

“Dorothy,” he said, “are you willing to leave this world without having rendered some great service to this Faith?”

She began to shake, and left to walk alone along the lake shore. Doris McKay joined her. Distraught, Dorothy said, “Doris, I am a spiritual criminal. I have lived uncommitted. I have done nothing with my life. How could I have done this? What should I do?”

“Go ahead and teach,” her friend answered. “Dedicate your life. Be committed. Do something!”

Her mind racing, Dorothy returned to the cornerstone. Later, she confided in Doris: “I’ll never forget those moments at the cornerstone. I think it was then that I laid my heart at the feet of my Beloved.”

Returning to Foundation Hall, she remained standing at the rear of the room. George Lattimer, the chairman of the Convention, noticed her and announced, “There is someone here I think we should hear from, and that is Mother Beecher’s granddaughter, Dorothy Baker.” With that he called her forward, and a radiant Dorothy Baker walked down the aisle to address the Convention. She would remember nothing of what she said.

Back in Lima, Dorothy immersed herself in learning more about the teachings, studying the words of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with Mother Beecher for an hour or more each day as her grandmother put all her energies into this pleasant task. “We met each morning,” Dorothy wrote, “which gave us inspiration for the day.”⁶

As 1930 began Mother Beecher was dying, suffering from what she termed a “state of prostration,” days when she “had to be stimulated to keep alive.” She continued to worry about Dorothy’s health: “She has been going

[Page 11] through a real siege which has robbed her of her usual pep and ambition ... I am not sure that she will be able to do half of the things which are laid upon her to do. But she is so deeply interested in the lessons that she insists she will go on with them, and we pray that strength may be given her.” Dorothy, meanwhile, had been in Columbus with Frank: “From all reports D. did a great work there. She is so on fire in spirit but so frail in body. If her life is spared she will become a great teacher, as well as writer, for she is a chosen instrument without doubt.”⁷

Intolerable heat

As Mother Beecher became more feeble, the summer heat became intolerable for her. In an effort to make her more comfortable, Frank and Dorothy cleaned out a corner of the cool cellar for her, furnishing it with a Persian rug, a cot, chairs, a table, lamp, and Nellie’s favorite rocker. Not immediately pleased, Mother Beecher was convinced that this was an attempt to get rid of her, an opinion that was soon reversed as she reveled in that cool retreat, a spot all her own. As the Bakers planned to attend the annual Bahá’í Convention, Mother Beecher looked forward to the visitors who would stop to see her either going to or coming from Wilmette.

Soon, however, Mother Beecher began to weaken—“losing nerve force,” she called it. “Have no pain, nor symptoms of any disease, but am just tired! ... Guess old age has come for sure.”⁸ She remained, for the most part, bedridden in Lima until that night in 1932 when Dorothy awoke at 1:55 a.m. and knew for certain that her grandmother was gone. A week before her death, Nellie had told her granddaughter, “My Lord has accepted me.”⁹

The Bakers began holding informal meetings in their home about a month after Mother Beecher’s passing in August 1932, meetings at which Dorothy gave one-hour talks that were followed by question-and-answer sessions with as many as 40 people seeking to learn more about this Faith of theirs. By the following spring more than 20 had become Bahá’ís, and two others were so close to accepting the Faith that they indeed thought they were Bahá’ís. Then their Lutheran fathers, both preachers, arrived in Lima, greatly agitated.

“What is this cult you are bowing to?” they demanded. “This is anti-Christ!”

So Ed and Elma Miessler agreed not to study with Dorothy Baker. “We will study the Bible. We will go to church.” A further parental demand to “burn those Bahá’í books” brought a negative reaction. The young couple refused. “We will read the Bahá’í books, but we will study the Bible too.”

Dorothy Baker kept her distance, as the parents had demanded, while continuing to supply the two with each new publication as it appeared, including the Bahá’í News. One issue stressed the importance of attendance by Bahá’ís at the Nineteen Day Feasts and the stipulation by the Guardian that attendance was obligatory for every Bahá’í unless absent from the community or ill. Ed and Elma Miessler read the announcement: “But we are Bahá’ís and we’d love to go to the Feasts.” They appeared at the next Feast, then reported to their pastor, “We are Bahá’ís.” They were promptly excommunicated from the church with great fanfare. In 1934 the group of Bahá’ís in Lima prepared to form a Local Spiritual Assembly but did not feel that they were quite ready for this new responsibility, so they formed what was called a Local Spiritual Community. Ed and Elma Miessler were among that group.

As one after another of the Bakers’ fireside group became Bahá’ís, Dorothy worried about one of their number, the only holdout, and prayed for the young woman: “Oh, Bahá’u’lláh, if You were to appear to Virginia in a vision and assure her You are the Promised One, she would become a Bahá’í. She couldn’t resist that!” The following morning there was a knock at her door. It was Virginia. “Dorothy, you’ll never guess what happened,” she said. “I dreamed last night that Bahá’u’lláh came to me and told me He was the Promised One!” Dorothy’s happiness over the announcement was short-lived. Virginia continued, “Dorothy, that was very unsportsmanlike of Him. Christ would never have done such a thing! I could never accept Bahá’u’lláh.” And so another lesson was learned, one that Dorothy never forgot: One does not tell Bahá’u’lláh what to do; when one prays, it must always be for God’s first choice.

Her life now dedicated to teaching

Shown are delegates to the annual Bahá’í Convention for Central America, held April 22-25, 1952, in San Jose, Costa Rica. Dorothy Baker, who represented the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly at the Convention, is seated fourth from the left in the front row.

[Page 12] her Faith, Dorothy Beecher Baker was by 1933 a member of the Central States Bahá’í Summer School Committee. For the initial three years of summer teaching at the Louhelen Ranch near Davison, Michigan, adults and youth had participated in one joint session. But by the second year the youth had begun to lobby for a separate session, an attitude that increased in strength by the third summer. Consequently, in 1934, Dorothy Baker responded by directing a separate session for youth, one that, as the word spread, brought young people from great distances to the only existing Bahá’í school for young people.

On May 3, 1936, Dorothy addressed the 28th annual Convention in Wilmette on “Assurance,” the spiritual assurance born of the Word of God, “that which Jesus gave to the pure in heart, and Moses gave to the captives ... the assurance that life has an eternal goal.” Earlier that year she had written in “The Path to God”:

The lettered Jews sprang from the spiritual genius of Moses; the glory of ancient Persia reflects the fire of Zoroaster; unfolding Europe lifts her spires in homage to the glorious Nazarene; the mathematics of the Arabs of Cordova, the architecture, astronomy and poetic genious of the Muhammedan world in the middle centuries bespeak in like manner the gift of Muhammad ...

Revelation, the open door to paradise, is indissolubly linked with the Messenger. With one gracious gesture God bestows upon the world a divine physician, an infallible law-giver, a perfect pattern of His holy attributes, and a point of union of man with his God ... The soul ... finds itself on the ancient, eternal path. To tread that path with dignity and joy is the birthright of every man ...

Bahá’u’lláh writes, “Ye are the fruits of one tree, the leaves of one branch. Deal ye with one another with the utmost love and harmony.”¹¹

Dorothy continued to attend summer sessions at Green Acre, conducting study courses on “Spiritual Development and Law” for adults, and, in August 1936, a session on “The Bahá’í Life” for younger people. These sessions were popular and well-attended. After one such course had gone especially well, everyone was more than pleased, including Dorothy Baker herself. A crowd had surrounded her after each meeting, saying, “Oh, Dorothy, that was so wonderful. That was so beautiful, and it touched my heart,” and many other complimentary remarks. Among the attendees one day was Louis Gregory, one of the early black adherents of the Faith, a lawyer and humanitarian. After the meeting, when the last person had departed after

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‘... To dare reasonably to hope for religious unity rests not alone on full acknowledgment of the likenesses of religions past, but also upon recognition of the Word revealed today in its full power to succeed where men have failed.’

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telling Dorothy how wonderful she was, Mr. Gregory approached her and said, “Dorothy, that was a very beautiful, very wonderful course you gave.”

“Why, thank you, Louis,” Dorothy responded, smiling.

“You thought so too, didn’t you?” he continued. The question was followed by a long silence. “Dorothy,” he said, “you must always remember that the moment you think it is Dorothy Baker who is accomplishing this, your service to God is over.”

It was a lesson Dorothy never forgot. “Louis Gregory always kept my feet on the ground,” she said.

In 1937 Dorothy Baker was elected to the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly, became a member of the Inter-America Committee, and spoke out on religious unity. “The first great adventure of America,” she wrote, “was her escape from spiritual tyranny.”

If our forefathers had one high resolve in common above all others it was that they might worship in freedom. Our anxious pendulum swung to a strange extreme and demanded rigorous conformity to the new. We passed through days of expulsion, blue laws and Salem witchcraft and attained a new high in bigotry and intolerance. Then came the reaction. Robert Ingersoll rebelled and preached agnostically because he could not truthfully endorse the ecclesiastical absurdities of his day. Wild fire does not spread faster than did his doctrine, but all did not go the way of the agnostic. The spiritually sensitive reached out and caught the spirit of a new age and translated it according to their type and kind ....- Then the churches and philosophies alike divided and subdivided until at last our very freedom become a nightmare.”¹²

The lack of unity in the Christian world she noted in the repeated question, “If Jesus came into the world today, which Christian group would He endorse?” Similarly, among the older faiths, “To what sect of Islam would Muḥammad subscribe? To which school of Jewish faith would Moses profess loyalty?” We are still asking, she wrote, “Is unity of faiths possible?”

Revealed religion is truth restated according to new needs and evolving capacities. The source of faith is the Word of God or Logos, which appears as rhythmically as the spring season ... To dare reasonably to hope for religious unity rests not alone on full acknowledgment of the likenesses of religions past, but also upon recognition of the Word revealed today in its full power to succeed where men have failed. No force less than the Spirit of God can now effect a healing for our disintegration.¹³

To a Bahá’í there is undoubtedly nothing so transcendant as a pilgrimage to Haifa. For most it happens but once, this opportunity to visit the Holy Land, the Bahá’í World Centre, and the shrines on Mount Carmel and at Bahjí; the prison-city of ‘Akká; the garden of Riḍván; the house of Abbúd; the mansion of Mazra’ih. Dorothy had written in 1920 for permission to go on pilgrimage but was turned down. Again in 1936 she had written to the Guardian for permission to come. His answer had been negative: “The state of the Bahá’í Fund is so pitiful ... I would prefer that you would give a part of what you were going to spend to the National Fund to bring down the terrible load of debt.”

Dorothy had inherited $2,000 from an aunt, money she planned to use for her trip to Haifa. She remembered the words of Bahá’u’lláh: “To undertake journeys for the sake of visiting the

[Page 13] tombs of the dead is not necessary. If those who have means and wealth should give to the House of Justice the amount which would otherwise be expended on such journeys, this would be acceptable and agreeable before God. Happy are those who practice!” Obediently, Dorothy sent the entire sum to Wilmette and wrote to the Guardian, telling him of her action. His reply was one of deep appreciation.

In 1937 she wrote to Shoghi Effendi a third time, asking for pilgrimage, and from Haifa came his reply: “I am waiting to welcome you in Haifa with Mrs. Margery McCormick and Mrs. Amelia Collins.” Dorothy’s happiness knew no limits as she purchased her steamship ticket, new clothes, a trunk. As her excitement mounted in anticipation of the trip, local persecution of the Bahá’ís appeared. From the pulpits of the three principal churches in Lima came diatribes against the Bahá’ís and orders to boycott Frank Baker’s bakery.

Threatened with bankruptcy, Frank reluctantly told his wife that he might no longer be able to pay her travel expenses to National Assembly meetings, which were held alternately at the homes of the nine members—in New York, California, Wilmette, Knoxville, Lima or wherever. “Dorothy, it’s probably going to be all right,” he said. “I think I can skin through, but things are getting pretty desperate and I may go bankrupt.”

Travel expenses

Dorothy wrote to the Guardian, informing him that her travel expenses henceforth might have to come from the National Fund, a suggestion that brought a quick reply that she was not to endanger the Fund but should give up her trip to Haifa at this time. “Wait and come another time,” he counseled.

Despite Frank’s forebodings, his business did not go under, and Dorothy continued to attend to her duties as a member of the National Assembly, chairman of the Child Education Committee, and member of the Inter-America Committee, and wrote “Hear, O Israel,” a brief overview of the teachings of Abraham and Moses toward progressive revelation, which, she maintained, was contained in the revelations appearing in the Torah, the Gospels, and the Qur’án:

“Spiritual unity can come only out of Revelation ... Bahá’u’lláh calls the world from clan to super-state, from sect to spiritual solidarity. This is a challenge to Israel, the champion of God ... Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is One!”¹⁴

Dorothy Beecher Baker’s life was spent in living her faith in God and Bahá’u’lláh, a faith that was apparent in all her contacts. There was always time for those who needed her help. Responding to a plea from a friend in spiritual need, she wrote, “Look not to the creature, let your heart be supremely attached to our Beloved, then you can serve all His children with detachment and joy, and never fail them no matter what they do. When people make mistakes you are only seeing moments that are hookups between states of consciousness. It does not matter.

“Make a joyous thing of the little services, because you can never tell which is little and which is big in God’s sight .... Know this, that the March is all that matters .... When the MARCH is over, through all the worlds of God the miracle of it will be continuously unfolding before us, and there will be no separation.”¹⁵

Next: The Hand of the Cause of God Dorothy Beecher Baker.

Notes

All quotations not attributed in the preceding text or in the following notes have been taken from a tape recording of a talk by Louise Baker Matthias about her mother, Dorothy Beecher Baker, in Wilmette, Illinois, on August 31, 1977, and used with her permission.

1. Ellen V. Beecher, from notes in possession of Rex Collison, Geyserville, California.
2. Ellen V. Beecher to Henrietta Corrodi, February 1, 1930.
3. Quoted in H.M. Balyúzí, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pp. 450-51.
4. 1901 to 1908.
5. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament, pp. 12-13.
6. Ellen V. Beecher to Henrietta Corrodi, November 4, 1929.
7. Ellen V. Beecher to Rex and Mary Collison, January 18, 1930.
8. Ellen V. Beecher to an unnamed “beloved & faithful old friend,” May 27, 1931.
9. Dorothy Baker, “Evolution of a Bahá’í,” in Star of the West magazine, Vol. 24, p. 377.
10. Dorothy Baker, “Assurance,” in World Order magazine, Vol. 2 (1936-37), pp. 330-34.
11. Dorothy Baker, “The Path to God,” in World Order magazine, Vol. 2, pp. 111-17.
12. Dorothy Baker, “Unity in Religion,” in World Order magazine, Vol. 2, pp. 413-17.
13. Ibid.
14. Dorothy Baker, “Hear, O Israel,” in The Bahá’í World, Vol. VII, pp. 754-56.
15. Dorothy Baker to Elizabeth Cheney, June 13, 1937.

[Page 14]

The world

Norwegian television mentions Faith

The first mention of the Faith on television in Norway occurred last May 19 in the form of a four-minute report on the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran.

The report was carried on an evening news program that is seen throughout the country.

A radio program on the persecutions was broadcast May 3 and repeated June 23. The 20-minute program included comments by Gerald Knight, the Bahá’í International Community’s alternate representative to the United Nations.

____________

The persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran was a topic of discussion in the Norwegian Parliament last February 24 and again on May 26.

A press release on the same subject was issued last February by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The press release described the human rights situation in Iran as “a cause for growing concern and unrest,” adding that “The latest reports that representatives of the non-violent religious Bahá’í community have been executed provide even further grounds for reacting.”

During a parliamentary debate last May 26, Rep. Liv Aasen again brought the subject of the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran to the attention of the foreign minister with this question:

“The reports from Iran relate new persecutions and executions of the members of the Bahá’í community. Can Norway take the initiative and together with other countries protest to the officials in Iran against these serious transgressions of human rights?”

In his reply, Foreign Minister Svenn Stray referred to the Norwegian presentations to the UN Human Rights Commission and the UN Economic and Social Council.

“The persecution of the Bahá’ís is such a blatant transgression of human rights,” he said, “that we cannot cease following this matter, even if our initiative so far has been without effect ...”

Upper Volta

Bahá’ís in Upper Volta were surprised and delighted last June 1 to see a documentary film on the Faith presented on the Voltaic National Television network.

The film, made by a French television network and distributed to some of the French-speaking countries in Africa, deals with the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran, features Mrs. Christine Hakim Samandarí answering questions about her book, Victory Over Violence, and gives a general commentary about the Faith.

Papua New Guinea

Shown are Bahá’ís who attended two of the regional Bahá’í institutes in Papua New Guinea that were arranged by the Regional and National Teaching Committees to fulfill one of the country’s goals of the Seven Year Plan. Above are participants in the institute at Kwikila; below are those at the institute in Tabunomu, in the Rigo area of Papua New Guinea. When isolated believers in Karaikomana, Rigo, learned that an institute would be held in their village, they wept for joy. They made elaborate preparations, and on the day of the institute invited the entire village to meet the Bahá’ís.

United States

The first Regional Hispanic Teaching Conference for the Western States was held August 20-22 in San Fernando, California.

The historic event was hosted by the Regional Spanish Teaching Committee and the Bahá’í community of San Fernando.

It marked the first time that such a gathering was planned and presented by a majority of Hispanic participants.

On July 24-25, more than 300 people, the majority of them Asians, attended the first Regional Asian Teaching Conference for the Western States in Monterey Park, California.

The keynote speaker at that conference was Mrs. Soo Fouts, a member of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly.

Also participating in the conference were three members of the Auxiliary Board and the chairman of the National Teaching Committee.

[Page 15]

Malaysia

One hundred-six people of all ages from Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak attended the fifth Malaysian Bahá’í Summer School held last July 23-25 in Sabah, one of the two states of East Malaysia.

Speakers included Counsellor John Fozdar and Auxiliary Board member Chin Kah Thing.

Fund-raising was one of the more successful aspects of the school, with contributions and pledges from participants’ home communities to the National Fund.

Three people were enrolled in the Faith, and on the last day of the school 19 Bahá’ís set out to carry the Message throughout Sabah.

____________

The Bahá’í marriage last August 1 of Dr. S.R. Janardhanan of Perak, Malaysia, and Toyako Nakai of Japan marked the first Malaysian-Japanese marriage under the new provisions for Bahá’í marriages in Malaysia.

The wedding took place at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

Canada

A scholarly analysis of the persecution of Iranian Bahá’ís under the Pahlavi regime, prepared by Douglas Martin, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, was the lead article in the March issue of Focus, a Canadian journal of contemporary Middle Eastern affairs.

The Toronto-based organization that publishes the journal has, on its own initiative, arranged a lecture tour for Mr. Martin. He will address faculty groups at three Canadian universities, in Montreal and in London and Hamilton, Ontario.

Bahamas

Topics related to the Faith have been presented and received warmly in recent months at three different clubs in the Bahamas.

Two Bahá’ís spoke at the Anchor Club of St. Augustine Girls’ School, at a Kiwanis Club meeting, and at the Toastmistress Club. The Bahá’ís were invited to return to each of these clubs in the future.

Australia

Three Bahá’ís from Japan examine a book about Newcastle, Australia, during their visit to Newcastle in September following the Bahá’í International Conference in Canberra. They are (left to right) Hiroko Najajima of Tokyo, Kiyoshi Nishimura and Michael Higgins of Ube City. Their visit to Newcastle was part of the developing ‘spiritual axis’ between Japan and Australia spoken of by the beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi.

Three Bahá’ís from Japan visited Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, last September following the Bahá’í International Conference in Canberra.

Contact had been made with the Spiritual Assembly of Ube, Japan, before the Conference to confirm the visit of Japanese Bahá’ís as a part of the developing “spiritual axis” between the two countries spoken of by the beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi.

During their visit, Kiyoshi Nishimura and Michael Higgins of Ube and Hiroko Najajima of Tokyo were received by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Joy Cummings, who said the world needs a peaceful and united religion to be an umbrella for the existing religions. The Bahá’í Faith, she added, is going to be that religion.

Members of the Bahá’í community of Newcastle presented the Lord Mayor with mementos of the Bahá’í International Conference and explained its purposes.

The Faith and the Conference were mentioned again during interviews of the Japanese Bahá’ís by reporters from a local radio station and two newspapers.

The visitors also discussed the Faith with two professors on the University of Newcastle’s faculty of Japanese studies.

The visitors from Japan met with five members of the Australia-Japan Society, and presented pamphlets about the Faith in Japanese to society members. The Spiritual Assembly of Newcastle has now become a member of that society.

At the Feast of ‘Izzat, the Bahá’ís from Japan exchanged gifts with the friends from Newcastle and played a tape recording made for the occasion by members of the Spiritual Assembly of Ube.

[Page 16]

Kenya

Shown are some of the more than 550 Bahá’ís from 12 countries who attended a Satellite Conference last October 15-17 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Hand of the Cause of God William Sears can be seen two rows below and to the left of the banner. Mr. Sears, who brought greetings from the Universal House of Justice, addressed the conference on four occasions.

More than 550 Bahá’ís from 12 African countries attended the Satellite Conference held last October 15-17 in Nairobi, Kenya. Most of those attending were Bahá’ís from rural villages in Kenya.

The Hand of the Cause of God William Sears, who was completing a five-week journey that took him to each of Africa’s five Satellite Conferences, spoke on four occasions.

Mr. Sears brought loving greetings from the Universal House of Justice and added his own special inspiration to the gathering.

Other speakers included Counsellors Peter Vuyiya and Isobel Sabri.

Mr. Sears spoke of the Guardian’s love for Africa and offered encouragement for the teaching and consolidation work. Other speakers focused on the Greatest Holy Leaf, in whose memory the conference was dedicated; the challenges for Bahá’í youth; the role of women in the Faith, and the education of children.

Several pioneers took charge of planning and conducting a special program for the 100 children who attended. The children prepared a 30-minute skit that was presented to the entire conference.

Of special importance was the topic of the role of women in the Faith, since women are at the heart of the development of rural Bahá’í communities.

The subject was addressed by the Hon. Mrs. Justice Effie Owour, the first woman justice in Kenya who was recently appointed to the country’s highest court. Mrs. Owour is a long-time friend of the Faith.

The conference generated widespread publicity on the state-controlled radio and television stations and in two of the country’s four major national newspapers.

Several interviews with Bahá’ís were recorded, aired and repeated on the Voice of Kenya’s radio and TV stations during the weeks prior to and following the conference.

Among the 150 people who attended a public meeting held two days after the conference to observe the anniversary of the Birth of the Báb were four representatives from the Voice of Kenya and a reporter from the nation’s largest newspaper.

These media people attended the program at the Baha’ National Center because of their personal interest and not in their professional capacity.

[Page 17]

Nigeria

Thirty Bahá’í adults and children from two localities in Anambra State and two localities in Benue State, Nigeria, attended an historic deepening institute November 7 on the campus of the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, Anambra State.

Speakers at the one-day institute on Bahá’í consultation included Auxiliary Board member Mas’ud Samadi from Enugu, Nigeria, and Don Addison, an assistant to the Auxiliary Board who is on the faculty of the University of Nigeria.

The main sessions on consultation were led by a pioneer from Cameroon, another from Sierra Leone, and a former school teacher from Nsukka.

A group of nine Bahá’ís from nearby Idoma village recited Bahá’í prayers they had memorized and entertained the friends with Bahá’í songs they had composed in English and Idoma. It was the first Bahá’í meeting they had attended outside their own village.

The interracial group at the institute attracted considerable attention, leading to several positive comments about the Faith.

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Abdu’l Kadiri, a third year law student at Ife University and a Bahá’í, has been elected secretary of the university’s society for law students.

Mr. Kadiri represented the society at the annual convention of the Nigerian Association of Law Students held February 24-28 in Jos, where he discussed the Faith and presented a proclamation booklet to the president of the association.

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Some of the participants in the Bahá’í National Convention of Nigeria, held in Benin City, are shown in this photo. Counsellor Thelma Khelghati is seated in the center of the photo (third row from front). Mrs. Khelghati traveled to Nigeria from Togo to be present at the Convention, which the friends in Nigeria described as the largest ever held there.

Bahá’ís from six countries joined Nigerian Bahá’ís for border teaching activities last July and August in the northwestern Sokoto State of Nigeria.

The focus was on the towns of Sokoto and Bunza where firesides, field teaching, social gatherings and deepening sessions were held.

The international make-up of the traveling teachers was an asset, while the ability of the Nigerian believers to converse in the local language helped in reaching the indigenous people of this highly traditional area.

In Nigeria, a new locality, Bama, has been opened to the Faith with the enrollment there of three secondary school teachers.

One of the new Bahá’ís is a teacher of religion who uses his class hours to teach his students the principles of progressive revelation and other Teachings of the Faith.

Costa Rica

Bahá’ís Honorio Cabrera and his son, Mario, who volunteered during the most recent Bahá’í Convention in Costa Rica to become homefront pioneers, have raised up a community of 11 Bahá’ís in Convento.

Securing Bahá’í books from the National Teaching Committee, the Cabreras moved to Convento where they began holding meetings that were attended by up to 40 seekers.

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During Ayyám-i-Há, members of the Bahá’í community of Turrialba, Costa Rica, made decorations for the bare walls of an older people’s home. They held a celebration that made the residents happy and greatly pleased the nuns who are in charge of the home.

Pakistan

Auxiliary Board member Shamsheer Ali explained features of the Seven Year Plan at a teaching conference for the Karachi District last July 25 at the Bahá’í Center in Karachi.

The secretary of the National Teaching Committee explained Pakistan’s teaching plan for the current year, and several younger Bahá’ís volunteered to make teaching trips to Sind Province.

Bahá’ís who had made earlier trips to Sind reported proclamation activities among high officials and prominent citizens of the province and positive contacts with many people there.

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Counsellor Ṣábir Áfáqí spent 10 days last August visiting Bahá’í communities in Pakistan’s Baluchistan Province.

Dr. Áfáqí met with members of the Spiritual Assemblies of Quetta and Quetta Cantt., with the Regional Teaching Committee of Baluchistan, and with that province’s Ladies and Youth Committee.

The Counsellor also visited Mastung where he met with members of the Spiritual Assembly and with other members of the Bahá’í community before leaving for Rawalpindi.

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