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Inter-America Committee

From Bahaipedia
Inter-America Committee
Location of Inter-America Committee
Location of Inter-America Committee
The Inter-America Committee in the mid-1940s.
Established 1936
 -  Disbanded 1951 

The Inter-America Committee, also known as the Inter-America Bahá’í Teaching Committee,[1] was a body formed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada to support Bahá’í activity in the countries of Central and South America.

Its responsibilities included planning and supervising projects to teach the Bahá’í Faith, encouraging the formation of Bahá’í groups, guiding their development, and supervising the translation of Bahá’í literature into Spanish, Portuguese, and other languages as required.[2]

History[edit]

On May 1, 1936, Shoghi Effendi sent a cable which contained the following to the National Convention of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada:

". . . Opportunities (of) present hour unimaginably precious. Would to God every State within American Republic and every Republic in American continent might ere termination (of) this glorious century embrace the light (of the) Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and establish structural basis of His World Order.” (Signed) Shoghi.[3]

The cable prompted the National Spiritual Assembly to budget $30,000 for the establishment of a special teaching fund and establish the Inter-America Committee that year.[3] In 1937 the First American Seven Year Plan was inaugurated by Shoghi Effendi which provided a framework for the functioning of the Committee.[4]

In his 1938 letter Advent of Divine Justice Shoghi Effendi wrote the following regarding the Committee:

The Inter-America Committee must, at such a stage, nay even before it is entered, rise to the level of its opportunities, and display a vigor, a consecration, and enterprise as will be commensurate with the responsibilities it has shouldered. It should not, for a moment, be forgotten that Central and Southern America embrace no less than twenty independent nations, constituting approximately one-third of the entire number of the world’s sovereign states, and are destined to play an increasingly important part in the shaping of the world’s future destiny. With the world contracting into a neighborhood, and the fortunes of its races, nations and peoples becoming inextricably interwoven, the remoteness of these states of the Western Hemisphere is vanishing, and the latent possibilities in each of them are becoming increasingly apparent.[5]

Around 1940 securing passports and transportation for countries in Central and South America became more difficult and the Committee, whose membership had changed by this time, had to assist pioneers in overcoming these obstacles.[6] In July 1940 the Inter-America Bulletin, a circular letter for pioneers in the Americas, began publication containing Spanish translations of the Writings and messages from the Guardian.[7]

In 1949 National Teaching Committees for Central and South America were formed which began organizing the teaching work in their respective regions,[8] and in 1951 the Regional Spiritual Assemblies of Central America and South America were formed and assumed responsibility for overseeing the teaching work on the continents resulting in the disbandment of the Inter-America Committee.[9]

Members[edit]

Name Served
Dudley Blakely 1936
Elsa R. Blakely 1936
Miguel Calderon 1936 - 1939
Isabelle Stebbins Dodge 1936
E. R. Cartwright 1936
Leonora Holsapple 1936
E. R. Mathews 1936 - ????
Loulie A. Matthews 1936 - 1941
Siegfried Schopflocher 1936
Frances Stewart 1936 - ????
Pedro Espinosa 1937 - ????[10]
Leroy Ioas 1937 - 1940[10]
Myrtle Dodge 1938 - 1940[11]
Helen Bishop 1939 - ????
Amelia Collins 1939 - ????
Sarah Kenny 1939 - ????
Dagmar Dole 1940 - ????[12]
Nellie French 1940 - 1944
Inga Illescas 1940 - ????[12]
1943 - ????[13]
Octavio Illescas 1940 - 1942[14][15]
Edna True 1940 - 1946[16]
Edward Bode 1941 - 1943[17][18]
Mary Bode 1941 - 1943[17][18]
Charles Wolcott 1942 - 1944[1]
Christine Lofstedt 1943 - ????[19]
Clyde Longyear 1943 - ????
Marion Longyear 1943 - ????
Elisabeth Cheney 1946 - 1951[20][21][22]
Charles Monroe Ioas 1947 - ????[23]
Mary Binda 1950 - 1951
Dorothy Baker ???? - ????
Gwen Bell ???? - ????
John Eichenauer ???? - ????
Evelyn Larson ???? - ????
Edwin W. Mattoon ???? - ????
Julie Regal ???? - ????
Gwenne Sholtis ???? - ????
H. J. Stanudigl ???? - ????
Valeria Thornton ???? - ????
Shirley Warde ???? - 1943[24]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 819. View as PDF.
  2. ↑ Baha'i News (July, 1942). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 154, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1945). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 9 (1940-1944), Pg(s) 187. View as PDF.
  4. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1945). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 9 (1940-1944), Pg(s) 189. View as PDF.
  5. ↑ Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice at Baha'i Reference Library
  6. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1945). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 9 (1940-1944), Pg(s) 194. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1945). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 9 (1940-1944), Pg(s) 195. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1949). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 221, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 915. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapman, Anita, Leroy Ioas: Hand of the Cause of God, 1998, George Ronald: Oxford, Chapter 14
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1938). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 120, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Baha'i News (1940). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 139, Pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Baha'i News (1943). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 160, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ Baha'i News (1940). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 138, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ Baha'i News (1942). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 155, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ Baha'i News (1989). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 694, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 460. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Baha'i News (1943). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 160, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ Baha'i News (1943). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 160, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ Baha'i News (1949). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 218, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF.
  21. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1970). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 13 (1954-1963), Pg(s) 956. View as PDF.
  22. ↑ Baha'i News (September, 1946). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 187, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  23. ↑ Obituary published in The American Baha'i, accessed online 26-7-2019
  24. ↑ Baha'i News (1943). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 160, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.

References[edit]

  • Members who served from 1936 to 1944: The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1945). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 9 (1940-1944), Pg(s) 198. View as PDF..
  • Committee for 1936 listed in The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1945). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. Wilmette, Ill. Volume 9 (1940-1944), Pg(s) 187. View as PDF. and Baha'i News (1937). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 109, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF..
  • Committee for 1937-38 listed in Baha'i News (1937). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 110, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF. and The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 7 (1936-1938), Pg(s) 562. View as PDF..
  • Committee for 1938-39 listed in Baha'i News (1938). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 118, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF..
  • Committee for 1939-40 listed in Baha'i News (July, 1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 127, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF..
  • Committee Revisions in 1939 listed in Baha'i News (1939). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 130, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF..
  • Committee for 1942-43 listed in Baha'i News (July, 1942). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 154, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF..
  • Committee for 1943-44 listed in Baha'i News (1943). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 164, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF..
  • Committee for 1948-49 listed in Baha'i News (1949). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 218, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF..
  • Committee for 1949-50 listed in Baha'i News (1950). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 230, Pg(s) 18. View as PDF..
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