Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham | ||
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| City in the United States | ||
 Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Birmingham, Alabama, 1944.
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| Location of Birmingham
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| History: Firsts |
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| - | Local Assembly | 1943 |
| How to contact: | ||
| - | Birminghamlsa@gmail.com | |
| Official Website | https://www.birminghambahai.org/ | |
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Birmingham is a city in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the states second largest city by population and was the first to have a Local Spiritual Assembly.
History[edit]
In 1937 Walter H. Blakely pioneered to Birmingham. He initially planned to stay in the city to teach for a few months but established connections which allowed him to live in the city long-term.[1] As of 1938 he had established contact with several people interested in the Faith,[2] and in 1940 Martha Fettig visited the city to assist in teaching efforts.[3]
In 1943 the Local Spiritual Assembly of Birmingham was established becoming the first Assembly in Alabama,[4] and the body was incorporated in 1944.[5] The fledgling community received support from several travel teachers throughout the 1940s with Bahiyyih Ford visiting in April, 1945,[6] and Philip Marangella, Alvin, and Gertrude Blum visiting in 1946.[7][8]
The Birmingham community was active in proclaiming the Faith in the 1950's contributing a display to the Alabama State Fair in 1953 which allowed them to distribute a large amount of Bahá’í literature,[9] and in 1955 they hosted a meeting for the Bahá’ís of Alabama to study the message American Bahá’ís in the Time of World Peril and hosted a public meeting on Unity in collaboration with the National Bahá’í Inter-Racial Committee.[10] Auxiliary Board member Margery McCormick visited to support the Birmingham Bahá’ís in 1955.[11][12] In the mid-1950's the Birmingham Bahá’ís reflected that while they had been largely unsuccessful in selling Bahá’í literature Bahá’í items donated to local libraries were regularly being borrowed.[13]
In 1965 a Bahá’í State Convention for Alabama was held in Birmingham,[14] however the following year the Local Spiritual Assembly of Birmingham lapsed.[15] The community was quickly reconsolidated with the Assembly being re-established in 1969.[16]
In 1978 four Birmingham Bahá’ís were interviewed on the television station WBRC-TV with the segment being broadcast across northern Alabama,[17] and early the same year Auxiliary Board members Elizabeth Martin and Sam McClellan met with the Local Spiritual Assembly of Birmingham to consult on teaching efforts with the Birmingham Assembly sponsoring an Auxiliary Board team conference in Hoover the day after their discussions.[18] In 1980 a Regional Youth Conference attended by around one hundred youth was held in Birmingham which Sam McClellan delivered a speech at,[19] and the same year Bahá’í author Guy Murchie participated in a week long proclamation campaign in the city.[20]
References[edit]
- ↑ Baha'i News (1938). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 115, Pg(s) 18. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1938). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 116, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1940). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 133, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1943). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 163, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1944). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 172, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1945). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 178, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1946). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 183, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1946). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 185, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1953). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 274, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1955). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 287, Pg(s) 5-6. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1955). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 288, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1955). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 290, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1955). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 290, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1966). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 418, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
- ↑ U.S. Supplement, No. 113, p 6
- ↑ National Baha'i Review, 19, p 9
- ↑ The American Bahá’í (1978). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 9, Issue 4, pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
- ↑ The American Bahá’í (1978). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 9, Issue 7, pg(s) 17. View as PDF.
- ↑ The American Bahá’í (1980). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 11, Issue 8, pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
- ↑ The American Bahá’í (1980). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 11, Issue 8, pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
