Baha'i Biography Notable Believers

This first symposium sponsored by the Wilmette Institute focuses on the early Bahá’í history of three states. Duane L Herrmann explores the beginnings of the Faith in Kansas, which had the second local Bahá’í community in the United States, in the town of Enterprise starting in 1897. While that community did not endure, members of it moved to other cities and remained active Bahá’ís. Behrad Majidi has explored the founding of the Faith in Missouri, beginning with the relocation of an Enterprise Bahá’í and Thornton Chase’s visit to a Bahá’í group in St. Louis in 1905. Newspapers in both states, however, published articles about the Faith in Persia as far back as 1846. Finally, Steve Kolins will describe the early history of the Faith in North Carolina, beginning with newspaper articles in the 1850s, Bahá’ís visiting the state by 1902-03, and the gradual building of a community that elected its first local Spiritual Assembly in 1943.

128 Symposium- The Beginnings Of The Bahá’í Faith In Kansas, Missouri, And North Carolina

“History is a powerful instrument. At its best, it provides a perspective on the past and casts a light on the future. It populates human consciousness with heroes, saints and martyrs whose example awakens in everyone touched by it capacities they had not imagined they possessed.”

Century of Light (pages 65-83)
This presentation highlights the teaching experiences of early African American Bahá’is with a special focus on the contributions of African American women. Drawing on oral histories and archival documents, this talk highlights African Americans’ courageous efforts and sacrifices in advancing the Cause of God in the U.S. and abroad. What can we learn from the relatively unknown history of black Baha’is to assist us in exploiting this “moment of historic portent”** for the good of mankind and the establishment of race unity?

126 African American Women In The Bahá’í Faith- Intersectionality, Myths And Restorative History

Dr. Richard St. Barbe Baker OBE (1889-1982) was arguably the first global conservationist, blazing a trail for contemporary environmental leaders such as Jane Goodall. He began his mission to save the world’s forests in 1922, when he started the first international NGO, Men of the Trees, in Kenya.

Baker was a visionary pioneer of concepts/practices such as sustainable development, agroforestry, agroecology, desert reclamation, fair trade, and ecotourism. Starting in 1931, he wrote thirty books about these ideas. A great adventurer, he travelled the world continuously from 1929-1982, networking with conservationists and lecturing on the need to plant trees to save the planet. In addition to kings and presidents, his extraordinary networks of contacts included leaders of thought, visionaries, and eminent scientists and artists. Starting in 1929, he worked with the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, to promote public discourse and social action on conservation.

He has been recognized as one of the outstanding figures of the conservation movement by environmental leaders such as Prince Charles, Jane Goodall, Wanjira Maathai (Green Belt Movement), Philippe Cousteau (EarthEcho International), Richard Leaky (International Centre for Research in Agroforestry), Sir Ghillian Prance (International Tree Foundation), Elizabeth Dowdeswell (Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, UN Under Secretary General, UNEP), and Peter Wohlleben (forester, author The Hidden Life of Trees). In 1969, The World Wildlife Fund appointed Baker its first Member of Honour.

124 The Man Of The Trees- Richard St. Barbe Baker | Paul Hanley

‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the son of the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh. Before His passing, Bahá'u'lláh wrote a document telling the Bahá'ís to turn to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and that He would inspire His son with whatever He needed to know.

Today we can’t meet ’Abdu’l-Bahá, but we can get to know more about Him  through the words of those who did meet Him. These stories are about the interactions of the pilgrims and visitors who met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, both in America and the Holy land, and the emotions of those encounters. They illustrate dramatically the spiritual powers and prescience of ’Abdu’l-Bahá. He would answer questions before they were asked, convert atheists into believers, know the thoughts of His visitors and read the reality of their hearts. For those with receptive hearts, He would guide and educate with profound and uplifting talks. The stories attempt to show a little of what it had been like to be in His Presence.

Presenters: Earl Redman and Sharon O'Toole have been traveling and telling stories from their books. They have done their story-telling in the United Kingdom, Israel, Ireland, Iceland, Poland, Germany, Finland, Tunisia, Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the US and Alaska.

129 Stories Of Abdul Baha | Earl Redman and Sharon O'Toole

The talk will start with a brief examination of the major sources used in researching the book "A Seed in Your Heart: The Life of Louise Mathew Gregory" by Janet Fleming . This will be followed by an overview of the life story of Louise Mathew Gregory, an English woman born in the Victorian era, whose marriage to Louis Gregory, an African American lawyer, is considered the first Bahá’í interracial marriage. Unusually for the time, she was an educated woman and worked as a teacher in Luxembourg and Paris before her marriage. Her later travels, over a 14-year period, took her to Hungary where she was the first to teach the Faith, and to Bulgaria and Yugoslavia where she acquired the distinction of being the first Bahá’í pioneer to those countries. Janet will expand and explore some features of the book including:

some aspects of Louise’s personality – was she shy? She was a modern independent woman – how did this affect her marriage?
some of the difficulties Louise and Louis had to face in their marriage
Louise’s husband Louis was an outstanding Bahá’í and later appointed a Hand of the Cause. Was she overshadowed by her brilliant husband and has she now begun to emerge from obscurity?

More resources:
https://wilmetteinstitute.org/louise-mathew-gregory-sowing-the-seeds-of-racial-harmony/

097 Louise Mathew Gregory- Sowing The Seeds Of Racial Harmony - Janet Fleming Rose

Hussein Ahdieh, 'The Life and Martyrdom of Vahíd, the Báb’s Best Known Follower'

The great Muslim cleric Siyyid Yahyá-i-Dárábí (known as Vahíd, which means ‘unique’ or ‘peerless’) converted to the Bábí Faith in 1846. He spent years traveling and teaching around Persia, and arrived in Nayriz in 1850 to bring the news of the new faith. In Nayriz he led an upheaval at Fort Khajih and gave his life for the Cause on the streets of the town.

Presenter:
Hussein Ahdieh
Dr. Hussein Ahdieh was born and raised in Nayriz, Iran, He is a sixth generation Bahá'í, his ancestors figuring among the first in Nayriz to accept the Bábi and later Bahá'í Faith. Hussein immigrated to the United States as a young man of 19. Like many immigrants seeking a better life in America, he worked and attended college in the New York area. Hussein eventually completed a Masters Degree in European Intellectual History and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Massachusetts. Dr.Ahdieh has had a distinguished career in education in New York. His proudest achievement is to have been one of the founders and Assistant Headmaster of the Harlem Preparatory School--a world renowned charter high school for disadvantaged students. The school is credited with helping numerous disadvantage young people to rise from poverty to a better life. Dr. Ahdieh also served as Director of Educational Programs at Fordham University. Hussein has been a resident of New York City for all of his adult life. He served as Treasurer of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York for many years and several times has represented his area at the U.S. Bahá'í National Convention. In addition to “Awakening. History of the Babi and Baha’i Faiths in Nayriz”, which has been translated into 6 languages, Dr. Ahdieh is the author of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York (translated into three languages), a concise, informative history of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's activities during his visits to the area; “A Way out of No Way: Harlem Prep –Transforming Dropouts into Scholars-1967-1977, a Baha’i inspired institute. His other book “The Calling” is comprehensive study about the life of Tahirih and her American contemporaries in English and Persian languages. His newest book: Foreigner: From an Iranian village to New York City tells the story of an Iranian Baha’i immigrant to the United States in a series of moving and humorous episodes set against the backdrop of a changing Iran, the plight of Baha’is there, the tumult of the 60’s and 70’s in the U.S. The book has been released by George Ronald Publisher. For more info visit: HusseinAhdieh.com

108 The Life And Martyrdom Of Vahíd, The Báb’s Best Known Follower- Hussein Ahdieh

Jan Jasion, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Other

This presentation is based on reflections on Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet of the Land of Bá and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement published in Paris Talks and His activities in America. ʻAbdu’l-Bahá met with people of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds and He delighted in doing so. The Bahá’ís are very proud of this, and justly so. Many scholars have investigated the travels of ʻAbdu’l-Bahá in America: Alan Ward, Hassan Balyuzi, Robert Stockman, Earl Redman, Steven Kolins, Amín Egea. The latter two concentrated their efforts on newspaper coverage. Yet despite their efforts and the efforts of more localized research there appears a void which in a real sense undermines the intentions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s efforts toward establishing the unity and dignity of all peoples. This void concerns the hundreds of non-English newspapers which existed at that time.

More resources: https://wilmetteinstitute.org/abdul-baha-and-the-other/
Firstly there are no articles from the newspapers of the groups whom He met in their venues: the Armenians, the Jews and the Japanese. Secondly there are very few articles, less than a score, from all the other diverse ethnic groups represented in the American Bahá’í community of that time: Syrian, French, Turkish, Norwegian, Polish, German, Swedish, Russian, Hungarian, Italian, etc. The importance of these other newspaper articles is based on the statement from Bahá’u’lláh, and their demise is a reflection of the perniciousness of the virus attacking the body politic.

This presentation will attempt to explore the causes of this situation and its consequences and possible restoration and utilization of these articles.

Contributors
Jan Jasion

Jan Teofil Jasion is a retired librarian. He was born in Canada of Polish parents. His varied career included working as a roofer in housing construction and as a labourer at an iron-ore smelter, as a librarian in a remote Labrador town, a library technician at the National Library of Canada, at the Library of the University of New Brunswick and later at a college in Cardiff, Wales; as an economic journalist and translator in Warsaw, Poland, as an acquisitions and periodicals librarian at the Bahá’í World Centre Library, as an editor at the Department of Philosophy, Warsaw University; and as a cataloguer for a library vendor in England. He was educated at universities in Ontario, Newfoundland, England and Poland. His Bahá’í activities include pioneering to Labrador (1967-70) and Poland (1970-72; 1992-1999), and service on numerous national committees and local assemblies and lately as an editor at Librarie bahá’íe, Paris, France. He currently lives with his wife Annie-Joëlle in a southern suburb of Paris. Jan has published over 35 articles in journals in Canada, USA, UK, France, Poland and Pakistan in the field of library studies, economics, human rights, biography, corporate structures and bio-bibliography.  He has authored and edited a dozen monographs including An International Guide to Legal Deposit (2nd ed. 2019); Never Be Afraid to Dare (George Ronald, 2001), ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in France (English 2016 and French 2017); ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the West (English 2012 and French 2015); Táhirih In History (2004). His latest article was a bio-bibliography of John E. Esslemont for The Book Collector (2020).

118 Abdu’l - Bahá And The Other - Jan Jasion

A four-part interview with Jena Khodadad, daughter of Hand of the Cause of God Zikru'llah Khadem. The interview explores Mr Khadem's early life and passion for the Baha'i Faith, which "could not be contained," and the inspiration his life of devotion and service provided to his family. In Part 4, Dr Khodadad explains some of the scientific principles featured in her new book, The Dynamics of Growth: Scientific Principles at Work in the Worldwide Advancement of the Baha'i Faith.

Jena Khadem 4 Dynamics of Growth

Zikru'llah Khadem by Jena Khadem 3 Family Inspiration

Zikru'llah Khadem by Jena Khadem 2 He Could Not Be Contained

Zikru'llah Khadem by Jena Khadem 1 Early Life and Passion

Baha’is in South Carolina, like Baha’is around the world, are working to make the world a better and more peaceful place in which to live. Through the publication of “Trudy and the Baha’is’ Spiritual Path in South Carolina,” Annette Reynolds hopes readers will realize that everyone can work together to build peaceful spiritual communities no matter what belief and background one comes from.  This recording covers most of the Question and Answer session from Annette's Wilmette Institute Web Talk of Sunday, 22 January, 2017.

Trudy and The Baha'is: Q and A with Annette Reynolds

This presentation traces the development of Louis Gregory, an African American lawyer, and outstanding early adherent of the Bahá’í Faith, from his early years through his role in the black community in Washington, D.C. prior to his becoming a Baha’i and his subsequent work promoting the Bahá’í Faith and race unity, as inspired by his interactions in Egypt and the United States with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the head of the Faith. The talk also places the role of Mr. Gregory in the context of race relations, the development and contributions of African American lawyers from 1844 to the present, including in the raising of the Bahá’í administrative order, and their contributions towards social justice in the larger society.

Anthony Vance is Director of the U.S. Bahá’í Office of Public Affairs (OPA) based in Washington, D.C. He joined the office in 2010 after spending four years at the Bahá’í World Center in Haifa, Israel, representing it to the diplomatic community, civil society, and parts of the host government. A lawyer by training, he spent twenty-one years in the U.S. Agency for International Development in legal and managerial positions in Washington, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Botswana, and Egypt. Anthony holds a B.A. in Economics, an MBA, and a J.D., all from Harvard University.

049 Louis Gregory and the Development of the African American Lawyer | Anthony Vance

A great granddaughter of Pauline and Joseph Hannen, Judy Hannen Moe has written a book which tells of the unique and various contributions these early Washington DC believers made to the Bahá’í world, as they grew in their devotion to Bahá’u’lláh. She writes about their frequent encounters with ’Abdu’l-Bahá and how that shaped their lives, as well as the many ways they served the Faith both locally and nationally. She also shares much about the work they did teaching in the African American Community at a time when that was a great challenge to do in our country. They are given credit for teaching the Faith to Louis Gregory, who was a Nationally known speaker and promoter of the Faith and the first African American to serve on the National Baha’i Assembly. Stories of their close relationship are throughout the book.

Judy also writes about other people Pauline and Joseph taught about Bahá’u’lláh, including their parents and Pauline’s famous sisters, Alma Knobloch—who helped to open the Faith to Germany—and Fanny Knobloch who brought the Faith to South Africa and who taught the Message of Bahá’u’lláh in many states. Judy uses mostly first source manuscripts and personal letters, which she researched in the National Bahá’í Archives and the Bahá’í Archives of Washington DC. She also had the unique opportunity to interview five of Pauline and Joseph’s six grandchildren before they passed on to the spirit world.



The book, Aflame with Devotion: the Hannen and Knobloch families and the early days of the Bahá’í Faith in America is thoroughly reviewed by the Bahá’í World Center and the National Baha’i Review Committee, and is edited and published by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust in Wilmette, IL. Judy has put together a power point presentation which summarizes the book and tells about the various areas of service in which the Hannens and Knoblochs were key players. It also explains how she went about doing the research for the book.

Judy Hannen Moe has been active in the Baha’i Faith her whole life and in her community of Rockford, IL for 45 years where she lives with her husband Bruce. She is very involved in various community activities involving social justice and interfaith work. She brings this experience to the discussion of the early believers as well as current issues in our world. Judy is a retired teacher of English as a second language.

058 Pauline And Joseph Hannen Book Summary: "Aflame With Devotion" | Judy Hannen Moe

A person participating in this webinar will not only learn many of the central features of the Bahá’í Faith, but, more importantly, a person participating in the webinar will be inspired by the extraordinary things that can happen to an ordinary person, once they embrace the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh

This webinar will cover the remarkable events in the life of John David Bosch. Those events include John Bosch’s presence at the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, his participation in hoisting the Master’s coffin to His temporary resting place on Mount Carmel, and his presence at the public reading of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament. Most striking in the story of John Bosch is the moment when the Guardian entrusted a portion of the Will and Testament into the hands of John Bosch so that he deliver it to the National Bahá’í Convention in April of 1922. The webinar will also touch on John and Louise Bosch’s establishment of a permanent Bahá’í school with race unity as its focus. In addition to these extraordinary experiences, this webinar will also tell of John and Louise’s encounters with so many Bahá’ís who later would be regarded as heroes, martyrs, and saints. 

Angelina Diliberto Allen
Angelina completed her undergraduate degree in English and she earned a bilingual teaching credential. She has a graduate degree in Writing in Rhetoric from UC San Diego. In the late 1980’s, Angelina and her husband co-directed the Bosch Bahá’í School Youth Academy with Edward Diliberto, Margie and Gary Bulkin, and Traci Rucker and Larry Gholar. The program ran until 2011, serving hundreds of youth every summer, guiding them through a program that included intensive study of the Bahá’í Writings, as well as participation in the early stages of a long-term forestry management program of the 68 acres of Redwood Forest at the Bosch Bahá’í school campus. Angelina has recently retired from 33 years of teaching high school, teaching a course called “Advanced Placement English Literature” to high school seniors. Writing this biography had been a long-held wish for her, as she believes the story of his life is a lesson in the extraordinary things that can happen to an ordinary person.

072 John David Bosch In The Vanguard Of Heroes, Martyrs, And Saints - Angelina Diliberto Allen

Topic
Mírzá Mihdí: The Purest Branch
Description
This presentation familiarizes participants with the short life of Mírzá Mihdí whose sacrifice was raised by Bahá’u’lláh to the same station as the great sacrifices of humanity's religious history. He was the youngest son of Bahá’u’lláh and Asíyih Khánum. Born in Tehran in 1848, Mírzá Mihdí was separated from his parents when they were exiled to Baghdad in 1852. He joined his parents in Baghdad in 1860 and then suffered three successive exiles with his Father over the next ten years to finally be imprisoned in the city-prison of ‘Akká in 1868.

When Mírzá Mihdí fell from a skylight in the roof of the prison where he, his family and many Bahá'ís were imprisoned with the Manifestation of God, he was severely injured and likely to die from his injuries. When offered his life by his father, he chose instead to sacrifice it so that the doors of the prison might open and those who longed to see Bahá'u'lláh attain their desire.

Presenter: Dr Boris Handal is a Professor of Education at the University of Notre Dame Australia. His publications comprises over 100 conference and journal papers, books and book chapters published in Australia, the United States of America, Europe, Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Dr Handal has also published several books in the field of 19th Century Persian history and culture.

084 Mirza Mihdi The Purest Branch -Boris Handal

The Wilmette Institute was founded in 1995 to provide basic and advanced courses on the Bahá’í Faith. In 1998, the Wilmette Institute moved to a largely online study approach in order to provide educational classes to a broader student body. It now offers more than 50 unique courses on the web to an average of 30 students per course.