Bahá’í News/Issue 155/Text
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| No. 155 | YEAR 99, BAHÁ’Í ERA | August, 1942 |
“Still More Compelling Manifestations of Valor”[edit]
Communication from Shoghi Effendi
(My) heart (is) aglow (with) pride (and) gratitude (for the) formation (of) ten Assemblies (in) Latin-America (and) establishment (of) fourteen additional Assemblies (in the) United States (and) Canada. However, much elated (I) refuse (to) believe (that the) stout-hearted, farsighted, sternly-resolved American Bahá’í community will be willing (to) rest, at so critical (a) juncture, (on the) laurels toilsomely, deservedly won. Spurred (by) newly achieved victories, roused (by) sight (of) progressive restriction (in) teaching field (in) Eastern Hemisphere, galvanized (by) ceaseless assaults (of) deluded adversaries, (the) dauntless defenders (of) Bahá’u’lláh’s (and) ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s indestructible Covenants (in the) New World must, will arise (to) insure further deployment (of) forces (on the) pioneer front extending (the) length (and) breadth (of the) Americas. Immediate unprecedented multiplication (of) pioneers (is) imperative. Extension (of) facilities (for) further encouragement by all administrative agencies (is) urgently required. Nothing short (of) prompt, wide, systematic, sustained dispersion can properly safeguard (the) fruits (of) past labors (and) sacrifices, can compensate (for the) disabilities afflicting (the) incapacitated communities (of) other Continents, can adequately fulfil (the) purpose for which entire administrative machinery (was) painstakingly fashioned, can conclusively confound machinations (of) contemptible enemies, can substantially reinforce impetus already imparted (to) pioneer activities (of) Oriental believers, can sufficiently empower (the) American Bahá’ís (to) discharge (their) paramount obligation (to) contribute (to) fulfilment (of) America’s spiritual destiny, or can precipitate (the) flow (of) spiritual energies enabling (the) soul (of the) community and individuals comprising it (to) draw nigh (to), imbibe (the) Spirit (of) Bahá’u’lláh, prove worthy (of the) untold blessings (of) ‘Abdul-Bahá, (and) hand down unimpaired (to) future generations (the) torch transmitted (to) them (by their) heroic spiritual predecessors (of) Persia. (I am) eagerly, prayerfully awaiting still more compelling manifestations (of the) invincible valor (of the) executors (of the) Divine Mandate now approaching (a) fateful milestone (in) Bahá’í history.
Received July 14, 1942.
Letters from the Guardian[edit]
The Guardian has already acknowledged the receipt, by cable, of the 100 photographs of the Temple, some of which were sent him air mail, and he has distributed a considerable number already amongst the believers of the Near East, and he feels sure so impressive a photograph of the exterior ornamentation will greatly stimulate the friends in their various activities in the service of the Cause.
He has been informed by the Bahá’ís in Egypt of the receipt of the sum cabled by your Assembly to them for its Memorial to Mírzá ‘Abu’l-Faḍl, and he deeply appreciates your prompt response to his request in this connection. The remains of that illustrious teacher have already been ceremoniously transferred to the new Bahá’í cemetery allocated by the Egyptian government to the Cairo Bahá’ís. The believers in other centers in Egypt are now negotiating with the authorities concerned for similar cemeteries to be established in their respective localities. The Guardian is sending you under separate cover a photograph of the ceremony in connection with the reinterment of Mírzá ‘Abu’l-Fadl’s remains, for publication in Bahá’í News.
Regarding the question of inserting
the names of the translators of
[Page 2]
Bahá’í sacred writings: the Guardian
feels there is no objection to
this. As to the manner in which the
names of the translators should appear
in a book such as “Bahá’í
Scriptures” he prefers to leave this
matter to the discretion of your Assembly.
The Guardian is cabling you today acknowledging the receipt of 96 copies of The Bahá’í World to date. He has already started distributing them to eminent sympathizers and friends of the Cause in various countries, who, he feels, cannot but be deeply impressed by the steady expansion of the institutions of the Faith in both the East and the West, as witnessed by this book. For such a publication to be brought out and distributed far and wide in time of war is in itself a remarkable testimony to the irresistible march of the Faith and the vitality of its indomitable spirit. He would suggest that three copies of this valuable biennial be sent to every National Spiritual Assembly. The copies for Persia should be sent through the N.S.A. of ‘Iráq.
Shoghi Effendi has been greatly heartened and cheered by the news of the splendid Convention held this year and its complete consecration to the unfinished tasks of the Seven Year Plan. The character of its sessions, the expansion of its subsidiary activities, the spirit which animated its deliberations and the number of delegates and friends that participated in its proceedings, are a befitting commencement for a year that must witness unprecedented victories in the national and intercontinental teaching fields, as well as the consummation of the thirty-year enterprise of the Temple of Bahá’u’lláh.
The newly elected National Assembly must, in the course of this crucial year, keep in the closest possible touch with the two major teaching committees on whom the prosecution of the twin teaching enterprises of the American believers directly devolves. In conjunction with them, the National representatives of the American Bahá’í community must, by every means in their power, insure an unprecedented increase in the number of pioneers and visiting teachers, both at home and in foreign fields, for this constitutes the bedrock on which the structure of these enterprises can
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Abdul Jalil Bey Saad, Abul-Fadl’s renowned disciple, foremost champion (of the) Faith (in) Egypt, outstanding Bahá’í administrator, brilliant author, indefatigable teacher, ascended (to) Abha Kingdom. Loss irreparable, hearts grief-stricken. Advise hold a befitting Memorial gathering (in) Temple to associate American believers (in the) universal mourning (for the) distinguished hand (of the) Cause (of) Bahá’u’lláh. SHOGHI RABBANI
Received June 28, 1942. |
alone rise and be firmly established.
The Guardian’s contribution of five
thousand dollars to finance five pioneers,
is designed to provide an incentive
to those who are in a position
to either providing the material
means or to arise themselves in
person for the furtherance of pioneer
activity in virgin territories.
In large rural areas such as exist in the State of Washington, recognized voting districts may be considered as units for the formation of Spiritual Assemblies. The National Assembly, the Guardian feels, may follow in such cases the election district divisions. The application of this principle he leaves to your Assembly.
- Haifa, May 26, 1942
He was happy to hear that the work on the Temple is going to be carried out without delay, and that at last we are in sight of our goal and have every assurance of its speedy accomplishment.
He feels that all concerned should exert their utmost endeavor to assure that the remaining faces and the circular staircase will be finished this year. This will not only free Bahá’í funds for the now all-important teaching work, but act as a tremendous advertisement of the Faith and its principles.
No channel should be left unexplored in the endeavor to exploit to the full the teaching and publicity value of our first western House of Worship. It has been so long in the building that the friends themselves are scarcely aware that their hour of triumph is at hand! Both they and the public at large should be stimulated into a fresh realization of what they have achieved. It is the tangible evidence of the power of the American Bahá’í Community, few in numbers, but mighty in the spirit they draw from their Faith.
(The Guardian’s postscript) Dear and valued co-worker: The completion of the Temple should, and I feel confident will, release tremendous and unprecedented forces of spiritual energy destined to be wholly consecrated to the teaching tasks now confronting the American believers. The concentrated, the sustained, and undivided attention of the individual believers and all Bahá’í agencies, local, regional, as well as national, should be directed to the attainment of this supreme, this shining goal. The increase in the number of pioneers, of every class, race, age and outlook is the vital need of the present hour. May the Beloved bless richly and continually this mighty and glorious endeavor.
(Signed) SHOGHI.
Haifa, June 17, 1942. (Addressed to Allen B. McDaniel)
Let Men of Action Seize Their Chance[edit]
Twenty-one months remain in which we, the followers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in the United States and Canada, can fulfill our spiritual opportunities of the Seven Year Plan. The Temple, resplendent in its radiant beauty, is nearing completion and is a glorious challenge to us believers individually and collectively to arise for renewed efforts and for greater sacrifice and service to settle the virgin areas in each and every state and province of the United States and Canada.
Functioning in some 100 organized Bahá’í communities, and as groups or isolated believers throughout this broad land, each and every believer has a part to play in achieving this important phase of the world mission entrusted by the Master to His disciples in the western hemisphere. To play his part every believer must strain every effort and concentrate every resource of time and energy and capacity on the task of teaching.
In our Assembly life and group
activities let us remember that the
administrative order is a means to
the achievement of our goal, and
not an opportunity for the clash of
personalities, a form of contentious
[Page 3]
dissension, or an arena for the display
of human ambitions and personal
advancement. Our Assembly
and group meetings, the Unity
Feasts and Committee meetings,
are the collective means provided
for us to work together toward our
spiritual objective. Only as each individual
in due humility and with
severance submerges the self in
harmonious and unified group activity
can progress be made and results
achieved. Our beloved Master
while referring to the establishment
of the local Assembly in this country,
declared that its members
should associate “like a flock of
doves” with amity and devotion.
The Guardian in his recent letter has issued a clarion call for believers to “scatter to sow the Divine seeds and gather the harvest.” The days of these remaining twenty-one months are swiftly and relentlessly passing. Soon it will be too late, unless we arise as one great soul in many bodies to do our Master’s work. “Let men of action, seize their chance ere the swiftly passing days place it irretrievably beyond their reach.”
Enrollment of Bahá’í Youth[edit]
The procedure under which a person of from 15 to 20 years of age is accepted and registered as a Bahá’í youth seems to require a little explanation. It is based upon the principle that the youth, while accepting the Cause, does not assert his or her qualifications for voting membership as does the adult applicant, but asserts the intention of applying for membership when he or she reaches the age of 21 years.
The Bahá’í youth, therefore, does not automatically become a member of the community when reaching the age of 21, but to become an adult voting member the youth fulfills his or her intention by applying for membership in the usual way.
Where the youth lives in an organized community, he or she appears before the local Assembly. Where isolated, the youth signs a new form of Youth Registration card and transmits it through the Regional Teaching Committee to the National Office. This new form of card is being printed, and copies when ready will be sent to the Regional Secretaries.
Race Unity Banquet held by National Race Unity Committee and Chicago Assembly
at Chicago Woman’s Club, April 29, 1942, preceding the Annual Convention.
Request to Committees[edit]
1. The National Spiritual Assembly requests each National Committee to report its definite recommendations and also to provide news items, but to discontinue the practice of sending copies of minutes of Committee meetings. Committees are urged to study their functions and their possibility of service continually, and to recommend such activities and projects as each Committee feels will enable it to render the utmost service to the Cause. What the National Assembly seeks is concentrated upon capacity to work and elimination of unnecessary detail and routine in this crucial time.
2. Wherever a Committee budget is voted or an activity permitted, the Committee carrying out the activity is requested to follow the activity through to a conclusion, and then make a report on the results; and in general Committees are requested to render an accounting of the activities each conducts with the specific approval of the NSA.
Youth Activity[edit]
Local Assemblies and Regional Teaching Committees are requested to encourage youth activity. News of youth is wanted for publication in Bahá’í News. No appointment of a National Youth Committee has been made this year, but the Committee will be resumed when the National Assembly has sufficient information about local and Regional groups, their needs, and trends in this important field. Youth groups are urged to study the Guardian’s references to their ideals and work in Advent of Divine Justice, in the first edition of Bahá’í Procedure and elsewhere as far as possible.
1942 Convention[edit]
Resolutions and Recommendation, With Action Taken by the
National Spiritual Assembly
1. That Assemblies endeavor to do pioneer work outside their community, carefully budget their funds, train new teachers, plan public lectures and select a place in which to establish the Faith.
The NSA is happy to record the fact that the general teaching programs in operation for a number of years have included this important item for local Assemblies.
2. That the Convention request the incoming National Spiritual Assembly to set up machinery in connection with the proper committees, which would expedite matters of emergency.
The National Assembly Cannot delegate its own authority and function.
3. That the NSA urge each newly elected Assembly to read and study Bahá’í Procedure.
This recommendation is brought to the attention of the friends.
4. That believers who are troublemakers in their local community should not be appointed as members of National committees.
In appointing the National Committees, the effort of the Assembly is to include only the believers who appear to be qualified by capacity and who fully conform to the principles of consultation.
5. That the NSA appoint Regional Race Unity Committees.
The race unity work is highly specialized. Every believer is expected to remember that this is a cardinal principle of his teaching effort.
6. That a list of Race Unity references be published in Bahá’í News.
Lists of race unity references have already been published in Bahá’í News and also made available by the Race Unity Committee in bulletins. See Bahá’í News for January, February and April, 1940, and elsewhere in the present issue.
7. That a press representative be engaged. (To work out Temple publicity when the construction work has been completed.)
Whenever technical experience is required, the Assembly will make suitable connections with professional press experts, but the organic function of preparing Bahá’í material can only be done by an experienced Bahá’í Committee. The Assembly has already appointed a special committee in its own body to deal with the press in important matters which cannot be referred to a committee in the usual way.
8. That a compilation of Teachings and Bahá’í principles be made, concerned with the subject of world development after the war, and that copies be made available to local Assemblies for distribution to representative persons in their locality.
The Assembly realizes the need for such a compilation and has the matter under advisement.
9. That the Convention go on record as endorsing a project to index the principal Bahá’í books of reference by subject or topic, the mechanics to be worked out and arranged in the immediate future.
The matter of indexing Bahá’í books is indeed important at this time, and the Assembly is taking steps to appoint a committee to complete the indexing work going on over a number of years.
10. That in preparing the Agenda for the 1943 Convention, the NSA considers the introduction of all Committee chairmen to the Convention body on the opening day in order to
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The Temple Program Committee has announced that on August 16, at five pm., a memorial meeting will be conducted at Temple Foundation Hall in order to associate the American believers with Bahá’ís of other countries in mourning the passing of a distinguished Egyptian believer, Abdul Jalil Bey Saad. This meeting is held at the request of Shoghi Effendi as cabled to the National Spiritual Assembly on June 28. |
facilitate the work which the Committee
might accomplish by consultation
with the believers during the
Convention.
This matter will be considered when the Assembly prepares the Agenda for the next Convention.
11. That the NSA appoint a National committee of artists to pass upon photographs of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for reproduction and use by the believers.
The Assembly would like to mention the fact that it inquired of the Guardian some years ago, which of the photographs of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá should be preferred for general use among the friends. In reply he wrote, through his secretary, as follows: “In connection with the selection of particular photographs of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for circulation among the friends, the Guardian strongly feels that no definite ruling should be laid down establishing the superiority or distinction of any particular photograph. The friends should be left quite free to use their individual independent judgment in this matter.”—May 15, 1940.
12. That the NSA request the Inter-America Committee to write Assemblies, groups and pioneers in Central and South America to convey the love and greeting of the Convention delegates, and their wishes for success in the teaching work.
The Assembly will prepare a paragraph to be distributed by the Inter-America Committee in its Bulletin in order to give effect to this recommendation.
13. That (a) the delegates recommend that the NSA appoint the major committees now and not July 1, on account of the emergency conditions; (b) that the National Assembly ask the local Assemblies to appoint their committees now and start them working at once; (c) that committees be appointed on the basis of ability and expert action and that committee members be discharged who do not carry on the work; (d) that 3 advisers be appointed by the NSA to coordinate and intensify the work of the major National committees.
A. The NSA points out that the Committee term of office has been definitely established as from July 1 to June 30 of each year and each Committee is expected to continue its full functions up to the end of its term of office. B. The same principle applies here as in A above. C. The Assembly hopes that it will never be called upon to discharge a Bahá’í committee member for failure to serve the Cause. D. As stated in a previous paragraph above, the Assembly cannot delegate its own authority, but must exercise it as a body of nine members.
In reporting these Convention recommendations, the National Spiritual Assembly wishes to express its gratitude for the spiritual height attained by this Convention, the ardor of the delegates and their clear determination to make possible a complete response to the Guardian’s appeal for a successful consummation of the Seven Year Plan.
National and Regional Teaching Activities[edit]
Ever since the Convention, which opened the sixth and “crucial year” of our Seven Year Plan, the American community has experienced in the teaching field the impetus of that “tremendous and irresistible unfoldment” which is hurrying the Plan to “its triumphant consummation.” Stirred to a well-nigh unbearable impatience by the Guardian’s heart-moving words, and affected by the calls to teaching which he tells us are flowing from the Temple and our beloved Master, it is small wonder that our efforts everywhere are finding a new momentum and earning a rapidly-consolidating success.
Already since Convention some
twenty-one pioneers and resident
teachers have entered the field, or
will do so by September, and many
others are working out their plans
with the Committee. Yet these are
only the vanguard of that greater,
“far greater numbers of pioneers”
whom the Plan requires to “sow the
[Page 5]
Divine seeds and gather the harvest
into its gates.” May the early news
which is outlined here awaken an
army of believers to the wondrous
victories which await them in twenty-four
States and Provinces still unconquered
by the Faith!
Some of the most impregnable Provinces of Canada are soon to feel the redoubled efforts of Bahá’í pioneers. Evelyn Cliff of Vancouver has secured a teaching transfer to Calgary, Alberta; accompanied by Anne McGee, a member of the Vancouver youth group, these two will greatly strengthen Doris Skinner’s persistent work. Sylvia King will also concentrate on this center in October. The newly-formed Winnipeg Assembly, still further increased in numbers from May to July through a nine-lesson course on “The Power of Reconstruction,” is extending its interest to Regina, Saskatchewan. A Winnipeg believer, Ernest Court, will spend four months in that city, and frequent assistance will be sent him by his home community. The Maritime Provinces, which include the Virgin Prince Edward Island, will be visited by Harlan Ober in August, to supplement Doris and Willard McKay. The key city of Ottawa, where Winnifred Harvey has already attracted a large circle of friends, will be further developed by the help of Helen Gidden, who is moving from Toronto. Four Summer Conferences are scheduled throughout Canada in August, in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba; Rice Lake, Ontario; Quebec; and New Brunswick. May these gatherings open the doors for Prince Edward Island, the two other virgin Provinces, and the whole of this Dominion of great destiny!
Pioneers and Regional Committee of New England are concentrating on study Classes in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Mrs. Harry Ford of Portsmouth and Mr. and Mrs. Ober in Rutland and Providence have assisted their work. A campaign to re-establish the Assembly of Brookline is planned for Ruth Moffett, and the Teaching Committee is anticipating the valued help of Dorothy Baker for Vermont and Rhode Island in the near future.
The Southern States are the focus of almost unbelievable confirmations. Greensboro, N. C., was opened to the Faith by Ruth Moffett in
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Winnipeg, newly established April 21, 1942.
March and April, through a series of lectures inaugurated during “the worst blizzard of the year.” Lectures in colleges, a Temple display, radio broadcasts every other day for a month on Station WGBG, all contributed to develop a study group of seventeen with three believers. Muriel Stilson of Yonkers will move to Greensboro to continue this work. In October two outstanding Bahá’í youths, Eva Lee Flack of Los Angeles and Adrienne Ellis of Phoenix, are planning to settle in Asheville, N. C., the former home of Miss Flack. Many Bahá’í contacts were made in Durham, N. C., in June by Joy Earl, who spoke to eighty teachers attending the “Workshop.” Mrs. Earl also spoke with students and faculty of Fiske University, Nashville, and Tennessee State Teachers College, where she addressed 500 teachers at summer session.
The Group in Jackson, Miss., is preparing for Assembly status next spring with the aid of Margaret Ellis of Covington, La. Intensive teaching is going forward in Birmingham, Ala., where Virginia Camelon is spending several months to supplement the resident pioneers. A teaching circuit is bringing regular assistance to Arkansas, including Ruth Cornell, Dorothy Logelin, Pearl Berk, and Esther Klein, while Reszi Sunshine is remaining this summer to cooperate with the circuit and strengthen the work.
Now that Texas has an Assembly, Kathryn Frankland is moving to Albuquerque, N. M., where the Assembly must be re-established. Other plans for the South this year include teaching campaigns in Louisville, Ky., Huntington, W. Va., Delaware, and Knoxville, Tenn.
The Faith’s momentum in the South may be measured by the report from the Teaching Conference at Cheaha Park, Alabama, that forty-nine participated, “twice as many as had ever attended Vogel Park conferences.” “Our general theme for the study was ‘Some Steps Toward Permanent Peace’; the first part, ‘The Divine Plan,’ was given by Mrs. Moffett, and the second part, ‘Building the Consciousness for the New Day,’ was presented by Miss Virginia Camelon . . . At Cheaha we were on the mountain top. . . Twice we had prayers at the Tower . . . which marks the highest spot in Alabama. It is also higher than any other place in Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, or Florida.”
Our Regional Committee assures us that Iowa will form its first Assembly next April, as teaching has been steadily carried on by Annie Romer in Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, and Davenport for some months. Great impetus was given the Bahá’ís of St. Louis, Mo., and Topeka, Kan., after Convention by the visit of Ruth Moffett, whose lectures resulted in new study classes and the enrollment of three believers in and around Topeka.
Supplementary pioneers are adding
great strength in the Western
[Page 6]
States. Ruth Westgate and Mildred
Hiatt of San Francisco have just
moved to Denver, Colo., and Artemus
Lamb also plans to live there,
thus centering the Regional Committee
in this area. Both disbanded Assemblies
of Denver and Colorado
Springs were much stimulated by
contact with Mark Tobey this summer,
and Mr. Tobey reports that
Colorado Springs now has enough
believers to re-organize. Laramie,
Wyo., has received many visiting
teachers of late, and Valeria Thornton
and her mother, Mollie Young,
have established residence there. In
Boise, Idaho, an extended teaching
campaign was conducted this spring
by Alta Krueger of Portland, yielding
three new believers and a study
class. Two Bahá’í youths of San Francisco,
Farrukh Ioas and Sally Sanor,
have become resident pioneers in
Boise, bringing the Group with six
members; they will be assisted for
several months by Mr. and Mrs.
Harry Munson. Supplementary
teaching has been added in Reno,
Nevada, where Eleanor Adler will
stay for three months. In California
the disbanded Santa Rosa Assembly
has attracted four resident teachers,
Mr. and Mrs. William Sears, and
Roan Carter and Ella Duffield of
Los Angeles.
Although Alaska is surrounded by difficulty, Honor Kempton reports that the Faith is forging ahead and two friends have recently enrolled. Miss Kempton, who had to come “Outside” for medical aid, hopes to return to Anchorage in the Fall.
Dear friends, confronted by these exemplars of devotion to the goals of our Seven Year Plan, how can we resist the incessant call to join them at the front lines of our expanding, conquering Faith? On this call and the priceless opportunities it spreads before us, the Guardian himself reminds us: “The time in which to respond to it is relentlessly shortening. Let men of action, seize their chance ere the swiftly passing days place it irretrievably beyond their reach.”
Inter-America News[edit]
Peru
Letters from Miss Nicklin are evidence of her happiness and success in her work in Lima. Beside her little school, which is now very comfortable located, she is teaching in the finest hospital in Peru, in Bea Vista. Her class in English consists of 22 nurses. It is a French Catholic Hospital and provides many interesting contacts, but the work of establishing a study group has still not been successful. Her income in the various activities brings in a good living and she feels that there is more work there than she can undertake. Peru would therefore be a good opening if it were possible now to secure passports. This, however, is becoming more and more difficult as the flood of travel, especially since the air ways are the only means, is tremendous and therefore permission is rarely granted except to those who are assured of employment before going.
Guatemala
Johnny Eichenauer is now located in Guatemala City, has a fine position with the Pan American Airways Construction Co. and has also been appointed Prof. of English in the Government Orphan Institution, which appointment came to him from the Governor himself. John has a “way with him” which procures for him the cordial relations with people of prominence and especially with the Press. There is a fine study group in Guatemala, large enough now to form an Assembly and by April 21st will no doubt be a record breaker.
Nicaragua
Mathew Kaszab has been given permission to return home for rest and change. His future plans are uncertain, but he has had a strenuous time in Nicaragua, where he has served faithfully and well.
Cuba
Miss Kruka has sent some very interesting photographs and one especially is noteworthy; it shows the Perez family, the first Bahá’í family in Cuba, of which Perfecto Perez is the first believer to have accepted the Faith in Cuba. The history of the family is very interesting. The grandfather was a very spiritual man and because of his unusual powers he was accused of witchcraft and put in prison. While a prisoner, he was offered a cup of poison with which to end his life but he told the authorities that his faith was such that he was sure if he took the poison he would not die. He drank it and sank to his knees in prayer, was spared and thus was released from prison and never troubled again. The young brother of Perfecto is the greatest assistance to Miss Kruka in teaching the children in her Bahá’í class.
Honduras
The new Spiritual Assembly is functioning splendidly and we learn of a new registrant. Also Sra. Maria Teresa Tuells is leaving for Mexico City and another member of the Spiritual Assembly has been elected to fill her place.
Ecuador
News from Quito is always brief, but always very reassuring. The two companions of John Stearns are working with him in furthering the Faith.
Venezuela
Miss Priscilla Rhoads has been quite ill, but we have heard indirectly that she is much better. We are hoping soon to send another pioneer to Caracas to help her, but here again we shall not be certain until we receive a favorable report upon the passport.
Haiti
After the successful formation of a Spiritual Assembly the Blackwells have offered to remain until the community is enlarged and strengthened.
San Domingo
Miss Lentz has employment in Trujillo and is working on translations for the committee during the time that her Bahá’í students are enjoying their vacation from the University.
Jamaica
Dr. Malcolm King of Milwaukee is returning to his native home in Jamaica to reside permanently. He proposes to devote his time to teaching the Faith.
Bolivia
Radiant letters from Miss Hottes. She has found a truly Bahá’í welcome among the friends whom Mrs. Adler left in La Paz and they are earnestly studying and teaching all the time.
San Salvador
Clarence Iverson is enjoying having
his mother with him and he is
[Page 7]
working steadily for the promotion
of the Faith and has a fine position.
Costa Rica
The two Assemblies in Costa Rica, at San José and Puntarenas, and the two in Mexico, Mexico City and Puebla, are thus far in the lead towards a National Spiritual Assembly. But the knowledge of the Cause is widely spread in the Argentine and in Chile and if we can strengthen the Centers in all of the Republics, we shall certainly attain the goal of a Spiritual Assembly in each of the countries by the expiration of the Seven Year Plan. This is our goal. This must succeed. We must not disappoint the Guardian for only he can tell how serious the consequences would be if we were to fail.
Uruguay
An enthusiastic letter from Mr. Barton states that there are now thirteen registered members in Montevideo. They have almost completed the translation of the thirty–six lessons on the Foundations of World Unity, which when completed and reviewed will, we hope, be found approved and recommended for publication. Mr. Barton tells of three of their members who have embarked upon the translation of the “Dawn-Breakers” with immense enthusiasm. This is indeed a gigantic task which will greatly increase the knowledge of the Faith and the growth of the translators.
Spanish Translations
Our authorized translator, Mrs. Clotilde Arias of New York, now has in hand the compilation made by Mrs. Mathews and Mrs. Bishop of excerpts from all the Writings which will provide for our Spanish believers a book much the same as our Scriptures was for us in the beginning.
Committee List[edit]
ADDITIONS AND REVISIONS
Reviewing: Mrs. Marion Mills added.
Bahá’í News Service: Clarence Niss appointed Chairman.
Inter-America: Mrs. Octavio Illescas unable to serve.
Regional Teaching Committees: Ontario—George Spendlove added. California and Nevada—Virginia Orbison
Monument at the grave of the late Dr. Susan I. Moody, Ṭihrán, Persia.
unable to serve on account
of plans to go as a pioneer teacher to
Chile. Dr. Clyde Longyear added.
New England—Mrs. Harlan Ober
added. North and South Carolina,
Georgia—correction in spelling of
name of Mrs. Mary Ann Lefler. New
York—Mr. and Mrs. Roland Hughes
and John Woolston added. Mrs. Marguerite
Firoozi and R. C. Collison
unable to serve. New Jersey, Delaware
and Pennsylvania—Mrs. Jean
Sharpless, Mrs. Ethel Crane and
Mrs. Harriet Kelsey added.
Publishing Announcement[edit]
Selected Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Selected Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selected Writings of Shoghi Effendi: a compilation of the fundamental Bahá’í teachings in the form of three pamphlets sold only in the set of three and not by the individual pamphlet. 48 pages each, bound in strong paper covers. The price for the set of three pamphlets, postpaid, $0.25.
Study Outline, Muhammad and the Founding of Islám, prepared by Study Outline Committee. This is a mimeographed booklet containing 53 pages. The Outline is based on Bahá’í literature. There are five sections and an Introduction which explains how the Outline is to be used and giving titles of the essential Bahá’í books needed for reference. References are also in the Qur’an. This Outline follows and supplements the Outline of Introduction to the Qur’an announces a few months ago, and the two together offer American believers a thorough grounding in Islám. Muhammad and the Founding of Islám, per copy. $0.60.
Race Unity[edit]
An Up-to-date Bibliography
GENERAL READING
Francis J. Brown and J. S. Roucek, Our Racial and National Minorities, 1937.
Louis Adamic, From Many Lands, 1940.
The Atlantic presents We Americans, 1939. (Statements are from such leaders as Franz Boas, Edward P. Cheney, Frank H. Hankins, Alfred H. Holt, E. A. Hooton, Ales Hrdlicka, Julian Huxley, and James Weldon Johnson.)
THE ESKIMO
W. B. Van Valin, Eskimo Land Speaks, 1941.
THE NEGRO
Alain Locke and Bernhart J. Stern (co-ed.), When Peoples Meet, 1942.
W. E. Burghardt Du Bois, Dusk of Dawn, 1940; also, Black Folk, Then and Now, 1939.
Horace R. Cayton, Black Workers and the New Unions, 1939.
Walter A. Adams, Buford H. Junker, and W. Lloyd Warner, Color and Human Nature, (Negro Personality Development in a Northern City), 1941.
Alexander (Will W.), “The Color Line Cracks a Little,” The New Republic, September 22, 1941.
Pearl S. Buck, “The Asiatic Problem,” Vital Speeches, March 1, 1942; and “The Heart of Democracy,” Vital Speeches, April 15, 1942.
THE JEW
Gerhart Saenger, Today’s Refugees, Tomorrow’s Citizens, 1941.
Isaque Graeber, and S. H. Britt, (eds.), Jews in a Gentile World, 1942.
J. W. Parkes, Jewish Question, 1941. Conference on Jewish Relations. Essays on Antisemitism, 1942.
B. A. Rosenblat, Federated Palestine and the Jewish Commonwealth, 1941.
I. Unterman, Jewish Youth in America, 1941.
R. B. Gittlesohn, Modern Jewish Problems, 1941.
Samuel W. McCall (and others), For the Honor of the Nation, 1939.
I. Goldstein, Toward a Solution, 1940.
L. W. Schwartz, Where Hope Lies, 1940.
S. Goldman, Undefeated, 1941.
THE INDIAN
Clark Wissler, Indians of the United States, 1940.
L. B. Priest, Uncle Sam’s Step Children, 1942.
G. D. Harmon, Sixty Years of Indian Affairs, 1941.
Honolulu Bahá’ís Dedicate New Center[edit]
On October 20, 1941, the Anniversary of the Birth of the Báb, the Herald and Inaugurator of the Bahá’í Dispensation, the Honolulu Bahá’í Center was dedicated.
Alter the prayer of, “God testifieth that there is none other God but Him . . .” from Prayers and Meditations, offered by the chairman, the ceremony of embedding a box containing important data on the history of the Bahá’í Cause in the Hawaiian Islands took place.
The chairman then welcomed all present and gave a special message to the children of the Bahá’í Children’s Classes and their parents (the parents are not Bahá’ís) and then dedicated in simple impressive words the Honolulu Bahá’í Center in the service of God and Mankind.
Our deeply appreciated messages and greetings from our Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, our National Spiritual Assembly as well as greetings from the Assemblies of San Francisco and Maui were then read. It was a great joy to us to know that these Friends were united with us
Beginning of construction of Házíratu’l-Quds by the N.S.A. of the Bahá’ís of Egypt and the Sudan at Cairo.
in our prayers that God would accept
and bless our dedication in the
service of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
Miss Agnes B. Alexander, who forty years ago was the first to bring the Bahá’í Message to the Hawaiian Islands, reads a dedicatory prayer from Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh.
Mr. A. Y. Seto as guest speaker from San Francisco, prefaced his address by a tribute to the early Christian missionaries to the Islands. “A new missionary work is needed now,” he said, “needed for the education of the people toward a new way at living and thinking to prevent future wars, a new way that will lead to World Unity and Cooperation.”
Mr. Seto spoke of the Báb, the Herald and Inaugurator of the Faith, and explained the Bahá’í understanding of the oneness of Humanity and the oneness of all the Prophets of God.
The Program ended with a prayer by Mrs. S. A. Baldwin, who represented the Maui Bahá’í Assembly and Community.
A social hour with refreshments served in the library concluded our happy ceremony.*
• A photograph or the Honolulu Bahá’í Center was reproduced in Bahá’í News, June, 1942.
Tenth Theosophical Fraternization Convention[edit]
An invitation was given the National Spiritual Assembly to provide a Bahá’í speaker for the program of the Symposium concluding the sessions of the Tenth Theosophical Fraternization Convention in Toronto.
F. St. George Spendlove was requested to represent the Bahá’ís, and reports received indicate a public meeting of considerable interest. The Symposium session, held Sunday evening, May 31 at the Roof Garden of Royal York Hotel, included the representatives of Buddhism and of Theosophy as well as Bahá’í.
The pages of Promulgation of Universal Peace record the many occasions on which the Master spoke as guests of Theosophists.
Latin-American Assemblies[edit]
Last month there were listed eight Assemblies whose election had been reported from Central and South America. Since then, reports have been received from the Spiritual Assemblies at San Jose, Costa Rica, and Buenos Aires, Argentine Republic.
A fervent welcome, and loving best wishes, is extended to these stalwart new co-workers by the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada.
In Memoriam[edit]
Grant, O my Lord, that they who have ascended unto Thee may repair unto Him Who is the most exalted Companion, and abide beneath the shadow of the Tabernacle of Thy majesty and the Sanctuary of Thy Glory.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
Mr. Benjamin Taylor, Cincinnati.
Mr. Emil De Litz, Racine.
Mr. Ferdinand Peterson, Racine.
Mr. Howard Russell Hurlbut, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Mrs. Lillian Viehstadt, East Cleveland.
Mr. Harry Mory, Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Mr. Hildore Jellsett, Seattle.
Mrs. Harriet Cline, Verdugo City, California.
Enrollments and Transfers[edit]
Washington, four. New Orleans, two. Chicago, two. Richmond Highlands, one. Winnipeg, one. San Francisco, one. Springfield, Ill., one.
Bahá’í Calendar[edit]
Nineteen Day Feasts: Names, August 20; Might, September 8: Will, September 27.
Memorial Gathering in honor of Abdul Jalil Bey Saad, Temple Foundation Hall. August 16, at 5.00 P.M.
Summer School Sessions: see programs published in June issue.
Meeting of National Spiritual Assembly: September 11, 12, 13, 14, at Wilmette.
