Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge
City in the United States
First Local Spiritual Assembly of Baton Rouge, 1959.
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History:
Firsts
 -  Local Assembly 1959 
How to contact:
 -  Phone (225) 369 5315 
 -  Email https://bahai-br.us/contact 
 -  Address 4270 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 
Official Website https://bahai-br.us/home
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Baton Rouge is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana.

History

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As of the late 1930's an initiative of the American Bahá’í community was the distribution of Bahá’í literature to libraries and in 1939 a librarian at the Southern University in Baton Rouge informed the Bahá’ís that there was an interest in Bahá’í materials at the Universities library.[1]

As of 1953 there were Bahá’ís living in the city and a goal for America in the Ten Year Crusade was the establishment of a Local Spiritual Assembly in Baton Rouge,[2] with Bahá’í Irving Hansen and his wife pioneering to the city by 1954 to assist in teaching efforts.[3] As of 1954 a formal Bahá’í Group of Baton Rouge had been established which began facilitating children's classes on the Bahá’í Faith.[4] By 1955 Bahá’ís of Gulfport, Mississippi, and Baton Rouge were collaborating on Bahá’í activity.[5]

In 1956 the Baton Rouge Bahá’ís hosted a panel discussion inviting members of the Christian and Jewish community to discuss the concept of religious liberty to commemorate World Religion Day,[6] and in 1958 the community secured permission to display a book display at a local library for the week of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh,[7] and the school board of the city granted permission for Bahá’í students to not attend school on Bahá’í Holy Days.[8]

In 1959 the largest Bahá’í organized meeting in Baton Rouge took place with twenty-eight people attending to hear a talk by Auxiliary Board member Florence Mayberry. During her visit to the city Mayberry also delivered the first talk by a Bahá’í at the Southern University and a talk to a Jewish Foundation at the Louisiana State University,[9] and on April 21, 1959, the Local Spiritual Assembly of Baton Rouge was established.[10]

References

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  1. ↑ Baha'i News (1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 128, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  2. ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 272, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  3. ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 276, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  4. ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 282, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
  5. ↑ Baha'i News (1955). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 294, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ Baha'i News (1956). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 301, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 323, Pg(s) 19. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 332, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 338, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 342, Pg(s) 17. View as PDF.

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