J. Elmore Hays
J. Elmore Hays |
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James Elmore Hays (d. February 4, 1982) was the first Bahá’í of Atlanta, Georgia and helped establish a community in the city.
Biography[edit]
Hays was born in Georgia and lived in Atlanta. He was introduced to the Faith by Fred Mortensen between the fall of 1914 and 1915 and he was the first white Georgian to declare. He assisted Mortensen in teaching the Faith to both African American and white residents of Atlanta and in 1915 he accompanied Louis Gregory to several events when he visited the city to teach.[1]
In the late 1910's Hays spent some time in the West of the United States however in early 1920 he returned to Atlanta and resumed assisting with the teaching work.[2]
At some point he moved to Greenwood, South Carolina, where he passed away in 1982.[3]
