Georgia (U.S. state)
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Georgia |
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Georgia is a state of the United States of America.
History[edit]
The first Bahá’í in Georgia was likely Dr. James Charles Oakshette who became a Bahá’í in Chicago and moved to Atlanta in 1909,[1] and he was active in teaching the Faith hosting a weekly study class utilizing Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era.[2] Another early Bahá’í active in Georgia was Fred Mortensen who also moved to Atlanta in the fall of 1914 and remained there until the Spring of 1916.[3]
‘Abdu’l-Bahá referred to Georgia in one of the Tablets of the Divine Plan revealed on March 29, 1916, advising the Bahá’í community to more firmly establish a community in the state:
"In the Southern States of the United States, the friends are few, that is, in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Consequently you must either go yourselves or send a number of blessed souls to those states, so that they may guide the people to the Kingdom of Heaven.[4]
Teaching efforts continued to focus on Atlanta and in 1919 the cities Bahá’í community was officially recognized by the Bahá’í Temple Unity and sent a delegate to that years National Convention of American Bahá’ís.[5]
The Atlanta community was not large enough to form a Local Spiritual Assembly in the 1920's when Bahá’í Administration began to become formalized however in the late 1930's activity in Atlanta developed with Olga Finke, Doris Ebbert, and Terah Cowart Smith pioneering to the city and Louis Gregory visiting to deliver talks on the Faith.[6] As of October 1939 there were eleven Bahá’ís in Atlanta and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Atlanta was established in 1940.[7]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ World Order 2, Vol. 26, p 29
- ↑ World Order 2, Vol. 26, p 30
- ↑ World Order, Vol. 26(4), p 33
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan, US Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1993, pp 11-12
- ↑ Star of the West, Vol.11(9), p 148
- ↑ Baha'i News (1938). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 115, Pg(s) 19. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 130, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
