Arizona
Arizona |
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 Bahá’í Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, 1960.
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| Location of Arizona
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| Statistics: | ||
| Number of Bahá'ís | ||
| - | Bahá'í source | |
| - | Non-Bahá'í source | 8,234[1] |
| History: Firsts |
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| - | Pioneers | 1900, Nellie French |
| - | Local Assembly | 1931, Phoenix |
Arizona is a state of the United States of America.
History[edit]
In 1900 Nellie French, who had attended the earliest Bahá’í classes held in the United States in Chicago in 1896 and accepted the religion, moved to Bisbee in Arizona.[2] In 1904 French moved to Douglas.[3] Bahá’ís living in Tombstone and Morenci, Arizona, made contributions to the American Bahá’í fund between 1911 and 1912.[4]
‘Abdu’l-Bahá mentioned Arizona in one of the Tablets of the Divine Plan revealed on April 1, 1916, which was sent to Helen Goodall and instructed the Bahá’ís to more firmly establish the Faith in the state:
. . . in the states of New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and Nevada, the lamp of the love of God is not ignited in a befitting and behooving manner, and the call of the Kingdom of God has not been raised. Now, if it is possible, show ye an effort in this direction. Either travel yourselves, personally, throughout those states or choose others and send them, so that they may teach the souls.[5]
As of September 1916 a lady who had studied under Hyde Dunn made a teaching trip to Arizona,[6] and in October Helen Goodall's address was published in Star of the West so that she could coordinate efforts to teach the Faith in Arizona and the other states mentioned in the Tablet she received.[7]
In early 1917 Ella Bailey visited Douglas, Arizona, and met with Nellie French. Isabella D. Brittingham then visited Douglas for two weeks and the local Bahá’ís arranged several meetings for her which resulted in a community being established in the city. From Douglas she went to Phoenix where she was able to attend several events including a dinner with the Governor of Arizona. She proclaimed the Faith to approximately 150 people during her time in the State.[8] The same year Edward Ruppers pioneered to Phoenix with his family becoming the first Bahá’ís to live in the city.[9][10]
In 1918 residents of Phoenix, Ruppers and and his sister-in-law Josephine Nelson, began hosting Bahá’í travel teachers and holding Bahá’í events in their home which allowed for a Bahá’í study group to form.[11][12] In 1920 the Phoenix community sent a delegate to the annual Bahá’í Convention for North America,[13] and that year the Bahá’í Temple Unity recognized a community which had been formed in Bisbee allowing it to send a delegate to the Convention.[14]
Throughout the 1920's teaching efforts in the state focused on Phoenix with many travel teachers visiting the city including Charles Q. Adams, Stuart French, Corinne True, Edna True, Katherine True, John Wilson Gift, Maye Harvey Gift, Louis Gregory, Gayne Gregory, Orcella Rexford, Edwina Powell, John Bosch, George Latimer, and Leroy Ioas,[15] and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Phoenix was established in 1931.[16]
In 1934 Margarita Orlova made a teaching trip to the state which resulted in study classes and a Bahá’í Center being established in Phoenix and she also taught in Glendale.[17] The Phoenix Bahá’ís sponsored efforts to establish the Faith in Glendale which resulted in the establishment of the Glendale Local Spiritual Assembly in 1938,[18] and in 1939 the Glendale Assembly sponsored teaching efforts in Mesa,[19] however the Glendale community was unable to sustain itself with its Assembly disbanding by 1941.[20]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Arizona - State Membership Report (2020)
- ↑ Maureen M. Thur, The History of the Baha'i Faith in Arizona, self-published, p 1
- ↑ Maureen M. Thur, The History of the Baha'i Faith in Arizona, self-published, p 3
- ↑ Star of the West, Vol. 3(5), p 5
- ↑ https://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/TDP/tdp-4.html.utf8 'Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of the Divine Plan, p 21]
- ↑ Star of the West, Vol. 7, p 102
- ↑ Star of the West, Vol. 7, p 112
- ↑ Star of the West, Vol. 8, p 10
- ↑ https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/bah%C3%A1%C3%ADs-4312/
- ↑ https://bahaisofphoenix.org/history/
- ↑ Baha'i News (September, 1930). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 44, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1931). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 50, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
- ↑ Star of the West, Vol. 11, p 175
- ↑ Star of the West, Vol. 11, p 172
- ↑ Baha'i News (September, 1930). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 44, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1931). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 49, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1934). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 81, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1938). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 117, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 122, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1941). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 145, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
