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Mary Arch

From Bahaipedia
Mary Arch

Mary Arch (1870-1937) was the first Bahá’í known to have accepted the Faith in Durham, North Carolina.[1]

At the 1935 national Bahá’í convention, delegates consulting about race amity recommended a survey of "racial, religious, and ethnic backgrounds of American Bahá’ís."[2] Mary Arch was part of the Washington, D.C., Bahá’í community at that time. Individual believers who were known to local spiritual assemblies and groups were asked to fill out a Bahá’í Historical Record Card. By 1937, the survey produced an early, if incomplete, picture of the national community. Among the total 1,183 respondents, 99 believers identified themselves as black. Among those 99, five had learned of the Faith in the South.[3]. And of those five respondents, one—Mary Arch—reported finding the religion in Durham.[4][5]

On her card (which includes her photo), Mary noted that she had been born September 13, 1870, in Orange County, North Carolina, and accepted the Faith in January 1923 in nearby Durham. She described herself as being of "African" origin, "Colored," "Brown," married, and a former Baptist. She did not add details explaining how she found the faith. However, letters written to fellow Bahá’í Leonore Barnitz during her Washington years may help to convey the depth of her belief and of her connection to the community (see "Life as a Bahá’í" below.)[6][7]

Early Years[edit]

Mary was the daughter of Rosa Strayhorn,[8] an Orange County woman born into slavery in 1845. Her father is unknown.[9][10][11]A property tax record of 1860 indicates that "Rose" and her apparent sister Charity, brother Sandy, and mother Patsy were among family members given as property to various heirs of the John Strayhorn estate.*[12][13] Mary may have spent childhood years in the large household, headed by her grandparents, that had reunited formerly enslaved family members.[14] Unlike her mother, Mary attended school and learned to read and write.[15]

On September 28, 1892, a Mary Strayhorn, 22, and John Martin, 21, were married in Orange County by Baptist minister A. W. Atkins.[16] On August 12, 1895, Mary's eldest son (Willis) Sherwood L. Martin was born.[17] In 1897 and 1899, respectively, son Lee and daughter Augusta were born to Mary[18] and her second husband, who was surnamed Green (first name unknown, but described on Augusta's marriage certificate in 1917 as having passed away).[19]

By 1900, Mary and her three children were part of her mother's household, living on a rented farm property with Mary's sister Gatsey, 21, and brothers Adolphus and William. Mary and Rosa both worked as washer women.[20] Nearby (in the same census district, and listed on adjacent lines of the census report) was the farm owned by 54-year-old Stephen Archer, Jr. (of a family described more often in later records as Arch). Stephen was descended from a freeborn black family.[21] Living with him were his two unmarried sisters—Katie, 29, and Jane, 30—his 14-year-old nephew Toma (more often called Thomas Croker), and his own 23-year-old son Calvin (known more consistently in later records as Henry Calvin Arch, son of Nancy Shaw).[22]

By the time Mary was 38, she and Calvin had settled in to the marriage that would last the rest of their lives.[23] The 1910 census found the family living on rented farmland along Hillsboro & Durham Road in Eno Township, Orange County.[24][25][26] The household included Sherwood, 16; Lee, 13; Augusta, 11; Donell (Henry Donald) Arch, 5; Rosenelth (Rose) Arch, 3: and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Arch, 1. Cousin Thomas Croker, then 20 and employed as a day laborer, also lived there. The children all attended school and learned to read and write. It seems likely that the family attended nearby Piney Grove Missionary Baptist Church, organized in 1888 by the Rev. W.M. Ray, Alfred Pratt, and George Pratt[27] and still located in Hillsborough today.[28] Piney Grove was among the many new churches created in the area's black community after the end of the Civil War,[29] and both Calvin and his aunt Kate are buried in its cemetery.[30][31] [32]

Although the Arch homestead was on farmland, it lay close to urban development taking place in Durham while the children were growing up. If one started from the Orange County seat of Hillsborough, Eno Township lay to the east, bordering Durham. Two main rural roads ran east through the township. In the northeastern direction, St. Mary's Road led toward old plantation properties where more than 100 slaves had once labored. [33] In a more southeastern direction ran Hillsboro & Durham Road, roughly parallel to railroad lines that included a stop at nearby University Station.[34][35] In some places, their land bordered the property of tobacco and hydroelectric magnate B. N. Duke.[36] This placed their family close to Durham's tobacco mills and a growing business center including the entrepreneurial black business district of Hayti ("Black Wall Street").[37]

Mary's mother, Rosa, was granted some property as recorded in a property deed of August 8, 1910.[38] And in October 1914, Calvin and Mary also purchased about 7 acres of land.[39] The family experienced significant life events during World War I: In 1917, Augusta married C. Walter Edwards of Orange County.[40] On April 2, 1918, Sherwood, who was employed at some point by A.W. Gary in Washington, N.C. (but who noted his home contact as Mary Arch, University Station, on military records) enlisted for military service. He served in the European theatre from June 10, 1918, to Feb. 24, 1919[41][42]

During these years, the Great Migration (1910-1970) was well under way, as black residents of the South moved northward for jobs in the cities and to distance themselves from the harsh realities of the Jim Crow South (including particular financial hardship for black farmers at that time)[43]. The eruption of racial violence embodied by the Red Summer of 1919 caught the attention of black communities throughout the South.[44]

Mary and some of her family became part of the migration in 1926. Mary and Calvin visited a Washington, D.C., notary to sign paperwork on September 9, 1926, selling land at what seems to have been a much-reduced value.[45] In 1929 they would visit the notary again to sell Mary’s quarter share of a tract of land in Orange County, left to her and her siblings by her mother Rosa.[46] At that point, it may be that Calvin and Mary no longer owned property in North Carolina; his death certificate in Durham in 1936 indicated only RFD2, a rural farm designation.[47]

Life as a Bahá’í[edit]

Mary's Bahá’í life began somehow in Durham in January 1923.[48] That date falls after the earliest known visits to North Carolina by travel teachers like Louis Gregory but before a more robust round of visits and invited talks during the late 1920s, indicative of growing connections in intervening years with local black residents and organizations, as described in Baha'i News[49]:

During September [1928], Mr. Gregory traveled southward, stopping to lecture for the New York Assembly, Civic Club, Riverton, N. J., Philadelphia Assembly, Minor Normal School, Washington, D. C., Washington Assembly, and thence to Durham, N. C., where 540 High School students heard an address on “The Meaning of Bahá’i (Light)”. Other groups addressed by Mr. Gregory at Durham were Forum of North Carolina, Mutual Life Insurance Company, White Rock Baptist Church and Inter-Denominational Ministers’ Alliance. This latter address received powerful endorsement by two ministers already attracted. The faculty and students of North Carolina College for Negroes, an institution visited by Mr. Gregory on his first teaching journey to the South eighteen years ago, heard the Message on October 8. Lack of space prevents more than a brief summary of the further services rendered during recent months by this devoted servant of Bahá’u’lláh. The following groups were visited during October, November and December, 1928; Christian College, Franklynton, N. C., New Hope Baptist Association, The Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A., Shaw University, Inter-Denominational Ministers’ Union, Public School, St. Augustine College, Oberlin Public School, and Washington High School, Raleigh, N. C. Mr. Gregory had the pleasure of meeting several people who recalled the Bahá’i address delivered by Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler at the State Colored Teachers’ Association two years ago.

In the Washington Bahá’í community--home to teachers who traveled to the South--the year 1921 had been notable for its first Race Amity Conference, carried out with like-minded groups. Efforts to repeat that accomplishment foundered in the years immediately following, but saw a burst of new energy in 1927. Gayle Morrison writes[50]:

The year 1927 marked the beginning of a new stage of progress toward racial unity by the American Bahá’í community. Race was discussed at length and with unprecedented frankness at the Nineteenth Annual Convention held that April in Montreal. … Then a pilgrim recently returned from the Holy Land, Edwina Powell, spoke on the subject of race, as [Shoghi Effendi] had asked her to do. She reported that [he] had stressed that it was no longer enough to have meetings in public halls that were open to all races, for the homes of the Bahá’ís must be open as well. “It is our duty to recognize social equality as well as spiritual equality….” Shoghi Effendi’s message, as she sought to convey it, was that the elimination of racial prejudice was “of supreme importance at this time.

That was the same year Mary became a member of the Washington Bahá’í community, having taken up residence in the city with her daughters Rose and Lizzie, and to an extent unknown, Calvin.[51][52] It does not seem that any of Mary's immediate family followed her into the faith during her lifetime, as none are listed in the Washington, D.C., Bahá’í membership record.[53]

In 1927 the Washington Bahá’ís also offered a series of regular public talks on Bahá’í themes, publicized in the Evening Star and open to the public at the Playhouse on 1814 N Street NW, not far from the rooms where the Arch family stayed. In 1929, the community was part of another major interreligious peace event.[54]

From 1927 until 1933, Mary's daughters Rose and Lizzie were roomers along with their mother in a sequence of addresses that were categorized as "Colored Housing" in the Washington city directory. Mary worked as a maid or "domestic," Rose as laundress, stenographer, and typist; and Lizzie as laundress, waitress, and clerk. Their addresses changed often and included 716 Lamont NW in 1927, 3121 11th NW in 1930, and 1003 Lamont NW in 1931, among others.[55] Washington, D.C., had fewer Jim Crow laws than Southern cities; it drew many African Americans due to opportunities for federal jobs and its educational institutions; "However, segregation and racism were endemic."[56]

Mary likely knew fellow African American Bahá’ís in the D.C. community who also had ties back to North Carolina. In 1928, Alice V. Ashton of the D.C. Bahá’í community married World War I veteran Hardie D. Green.[57] Hardie had been born in 1890 in the Durham area, and membership records of the D.C. Bahá’í community for 1934, 1938, and 1939 indicate that Hardie also joined the faith.[58][59] Another Green identified as African American and living in D.C. was Samuel Green,[60][61][62] who had been born in North Carolina and initially found the faith in 1922; Samuel's wife, Lydia, is also on the D.C. membership list.[63][64] Pocahontas Pope, who had grown up in Halifax, N.C., and in 1902 found the faith in Washington, D.C., also lived in D.C. during the years when Mary did.[65]

Mary's devotion to the faith, her awareness of its teachings and central figures, and her ties to the Bahá’í community are evident in letters and postcards she sent over the years to Washington Bahá’í Leonore Barnitz, which are part of the Leonore Barnitz Papers in the Bahá’í National Archives.[66]

A Christmas postcard signed "from a Bahá’í friend on His path" was mailed to Leonore from 1338-13th St. City by Mary (date stamp unclear). During a span of years when Guardian of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi, urged the white Bahá’ís to invite black Bahá’ís into their own homes as well as to the integrated public gatherings they had begun, it seems Mary had been invited to Leonore's home. The following letter of May [or August] 1929 indicates her connectedness to the community, the warmth of her friendship with Leonore, her awareness of activities, and an eagerness to learn more about the faith and to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land[67]:

Miss Bonet Dear friend yours to hand contents notice yes with Pleasure I will Be glad of the Pamplets and all the Litature you have to help this poor and week Servent of his to Better understand the Teachings

Dear sister I don’t think I will Be able to get over to your Place Sunday after meeting I wish I could would be glad to tell you just how I feel about the Cause and my hearts Desires for Sacrifice that is my Daily Praer and meditation I say for me oh I hope to here from the Holy land two Well your little Prear that was inclosed was Just the thing that my heart Desires I hope to Be able to commit it to memory soon Will find inclosed Postage asking you Please mail them out to me next week are as soon as you get time Please don’t fail to Suplicate the Master in my Behalves of Being a faithful Servent Sorry I could not get out to the feast I will Close Love to your mother and you also I Remain as Ever yours in his Service Mary Arch

My ad is 3121 – 11 – St NW City

Later that year she wrote again, expressing her wish to carry the message of the Faith, and wondering if anyone had yet communicated to the Holy Land about her wish to visit there[57]:

Miss Bonet

9/16-29 3121 11 St City

Miss Bonet

Dear friend while I was reading some of the words of the Master seems that you rested on my mind So I will write you a few words of love. I feel your Prayers are making me strong and I feel like at times that I just want to lay down everything and go out and carry the message. I feel like my time will soon Be here for me to go on my journey. Pray for me I am trying all I know to sever myself from all Save God the little Prayer I received in your letter has done me so much good I want to get myself just like it says Also the Master says he that rises to assist this Cause shall be Blessed. I am Praying for complete sacrifice from all else save God. You said in your letter you hope I would hear from the Holy Land some day has any of the friend [written to Shoghi Effendi about] my faith and Desires to carry the message. I feel like I want to write him. But if the friends has wrote him I will wait and see what he says. Blessed is those who wait on the Lord. I will close. Hope to hear from you again soon with love to all. And the Abha Greetings as ever in his Path

Mary Arch

Meanwhile, back in North Carolina, Augusta's family had grown by 1930 to include Charlie, Henry, Irine, Virginia, and Lucelle. The family lived in Chapel Hill while Walt worked cleaning fraternity houses at the University of North Carolina.

The photo Mary included with her Baha'i Historical Card[58] indicated eye problems that seem to have deterred her from reading from the Writings at a gathering, as she noted in the 1934 letter below. Finding that her own words could not describe the experience of finding the faith, she relied on the Bible, conveying the experience in mystical terms that may reflect her missionary Baptist background[68]:

1328 Corcoran St NW

April 11,1934 City

Miss Barnitz

Dear Bahai Sister while thinking of you this a.m. I thought I would drop you a line and So I am well hope you are also [T]his I am writing you to tell you why I don’t read not that I can’t read but my eye is so weak and the Dr says it contains both sights and sight at night makes one to see and the other one interupts So I am unable to see the letters plain. I was afraid you would not understand in the day I can see fine now you can see from this why I don’t attempt to read my heart is willing to do anything for the upbuilding of the Bahai Cause. I want to give you a little sketch of my spiritual birth you will find this in (over)

2/ Isaiah 6ch and 6vs then flew one of the Seraphims unto me having a live coal in hand which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar

7 vs

and he laid it upon my mouth and said Lo this hath touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and they sins purged

Read from the Bible and you can Better understand it I wish I could be able to tell you my experiences in becoming a Bahai and I ask your prayers that I may prove faithful to the Cause of God. Since that happened to me I only talk when the Spirit come in and burns out all self and take possession and the words that issues from my mouth then I know that it is true because it is from the Holy Spirit I am only a vail for the Spirit.

Well I will close this But my heart is not closed I am yours in his Service

Mrs. M. Arch

Later Years[edit]

In January of 1936, Mary wrote to Leonore Barnitz, telling about a dream she had about teaching the faith[69]:

Received Jan 7th 1936

To Leone Baritz 527 Morton St NW City

Dear Friend Yours Rec found me well hope you are family are well and Had a Happy Christmas also hope you all a prosperous new year I want to thank you kindly for the nice prayer you sent me it seems to reach a tender place in my heart I read it most every day and concentrate on those blessed words revealed by the master also I want to share with you a vision I had New Years Night.

2 Between 12 and one oclock I was in a strange country and all around me was people of all colors and nationalities and I was giving the mesage to them Later all disapeared and left me all alone. So I waited a few minutes and a few of them came back asking me to please tell them of the message and I did so and when I woke I was so happy that I had been able to meet someone that really wanted to hear the message. So I am asking your prayers that I may be strong and obedient to the command of God. Excuse bad spelling

yours in his Service Mary Arch

The next month, Calvin died at Lincoln Hospital in Durham. According to the death certificate, Calvin had not worked in his occupation as laborer for three years when, on Feb. 6, 1936, he was hospitalized with gangrene of both feet (noted as a complication from frostbite damage). Augusta, noted as Gussie Edwards, is listed as “informant” on his behalf. The certificate described his current address only by a rural mail delivery number, RFD2, Hillsboro Township.

Mary herself passed away in Washington the next year, at age 67 after a brief illness. Her ardent wish to visit the Holy Land had apparently never come to fruition. The Evening Star published her obituary on Sept. 19, 1937[70]:

Departed this life Thursday, September 16, 1937, after a brief illness, MARY C. ARCH, the beloved wife of the late Henry Arch. She leaves to mourn their loss three daughters, four sons, one brother and one sister. Remains resting with L. E. Murray & Son, 12th and V sts. n. w. Funeral Monday, September 20, at 1 p.m. Interment in Woodlawn Cemetery.

In a letter written the next month, the Washington Bahai community reported her passing to the National Spiritual Assembly, who in turn shared an In Memoriam item in the national publication, Bahá’í News[71]:

The Local Spiritual Assembly regrects to inform you that on Thursday, September 16[,1937], Mrs. Mary Arch departed this world for the Abha Kingdom. She was much beloved by the friends here. It is suggested that an announcement be carried in the 'In Memoriam' column of the the next number of Bahá’í News. In His Service, George D. Miller, Secretary[72]

The city-to-city connections that Calvin and Mary had helped create within the family continued after their passing. Some of their children stayed in the South, while others stayed in Washington. The latter included Henry Donald ("Donell") Arch. Donell was registered for the draft on February 16, 1942, at the time of World War II (birthdate Jan. 22, 1904), then living at 1545 Columbia St. NW in Washington, DC.[73] One of his sisters must have remained in DC, too, at 1443 T NW, as Donell referred the military to his sister there as someone who would always know where he was. At the time Donnell was working at Dupont Laundry Company.[74]

Since Mary had learned of the faith in 1923, many visits had been made by traveling teachers and the roots had taken hold among families across the state. And, as described on the current Triangle Bahá’í website[75]:

From its earliest days in North Carolina, the Bahá’í Faith has appealed to the diverse peoples in the state, just as it has to people across the country and the world. Throughout the Faith’s long history in North Carolina, Bahá’ís have repeatedly crossed the color line, as evidenced by family histories and community building from Wilmington to Asheville.

Although there were isolated Bahá’ís in various communities in the 1940s, a notable event occurred in 1955 when a prominent Bahá’í (a North Carolina native who had been living in Boston) spoke at an integrated meeting in a white couple’s home in Durham.

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Raleigh was formed first in 1957, followed by Durham in 1962. The Durham Bahá’í Community held a Race Amity Day in the summer of 1964, highlighting “race unity” as the most challenging issue facing America, and the community continues to observe this as Race Unity Day every year. Chapel Hill followed by organizing an Assembly in 1971.

A Bahá’í club was created on the campus of North Carolina Central University in Durham in 1964, followed by clubs on other campuses in the area.

With Bahá’í centers already established in Durham, Raleigh, and Efland, the Triangle area also became home in 2022 to a first-of-its-kind regional Bahá’í institute, located about 12 miles from the University Station area where Mary and Calvin had raised their family.

Research about the early spread of the Faith in North Carolina is an ongoing project of Bahá’í historian Steven Kolins, whose work (which led to finding Mary Arch) can be followed online through bahaipedia.org, bahaiteachings.org, and in presentations prepared for the Wilmette Institute.[76][77]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ Steven Kolins (May 16, 2021). Robert Stockman (ed.). "A North Carolina Bahá'í history 1850 – 2021". Symposium: The beginnings of the Bahá’í Faith in Kansas, Missouri, and North Carolina. Wilmette Institute.
  2. ↑ Morrison, Gayle (1982). To Move the World: Louis G. Gregory and the Advancement of Racial Unity in America. Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. p. 202. ISBN 0-87743-171-X.
  3. ↑ A list of African American Baha’is documented in Washington DC from a survey taken around 1934 nationwide. The Survey developed included historical information of the respondent - the date and place they were born, the date and place they joined the religion, and where they were living at the time of the Survey as well as their national and religious background.[1]:p66 The Survey was widespread by the summer of 1935.[1]:p37 https://bahaipedia.org/African-Americans_identified_from_the_Bahá’%C3%AD_Historical_Record_Survey
  4. ↑ Morrison, Gayle (1982). To Move the World: Louis G. Gregory and the Advancement of Racial Unity in America.' ' Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. p. 202. ISBN 0-87743-171-X. p. 208.
  5. ↑ Bahá’í Historical Record Survey. https://bahaipedia.org/Bahá%C3%AD_Historical_Record_Survey. Accessed April 8, 2023.
  6. ↑ Mary Arch Bahá’í Historical Record Card, 1935. Archive of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Washington, D.C.
  7. ↑ Letters of Mary Arch to Leonore Barnitz. The Leonore Barnitz Papers, National Bahá’í Archives.
  8. ↑ 1910 Census
  9. ↑ Note: Mary’s father is unknown (as described both on her marriage certificate of 1909 and on the 1901 marriage certificate of her younger sister, Gatsey).
  10. ↑ North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011. Accessed at https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/11225841:60548
  11. ↑ North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011, for Getsie Strayhorn; Orange Marriage Licenses (1809-1962). Accessed at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/60548/images/42091_338772-01181?pld=11226822
  12. ↑ Orange County Deed Book 36/287 (28 Aug 1860). Orange County NC Slave Records database. http://ocncslaverecords.blogspot.com/2019/09/new-and-improved-slave-records-of.html
  13. ↑ ODB 36/287 John Strayhorn estate by commissioners to Susan Strayhorn & Sidney G Strayhorn & Willie N Strayhorn & Malitha Ann Borland & D G Strayhorn & Egbert H Strayhorn, 28 Aug 1860, No 1 to Susan Strayhorn, slaves Patsy, Clara & Isaac; No 2 to Sidney G Strayhorn, slave Mary; No 3 to Willie N Strayhorn, slave Mary & Henry; No 4 to Malitha Ann Borland, slaves Fanny, Dilcy & Sandy; No 5 to D G Strayhorn, Negro March Blacksmith; No 6 to Egbert H strayhorn, slaves Rose & Charity.
  14. ↑ 1880 U.S. Federal Census, North Carolina, Orange, Hillsboro Township, dwelling number 103; the household of Strayhorn and Patsy Strayhorn includes Isaac, 18; married daughter Charity Pitt, 22, and son-inlaw Lewis Pitt, 25; daughter Jane, 17; Son Henry 13; son Reuben 13; son Sandy 23; daughter Rose 20/24; grandson Richard Strayhorn, 3; daughter Clara Strayhorn 21; Granddaughter Adeline 12; granddaughter Margaret 9.
  15. ↑ 1930 U.S. Federal Census record. Washington, D.C., for Mary Arch. Family Search wiki: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, United States, District 305, Sheet Letter B, Sheet Number 1, Record Number 30968.
  16. ↑ North Carolina, Durham, Marriage Register (1882 - 1975): 28 Sep 1892; Mary Strayhorn, 22, to John Martin, 21; A.W. Atkins, Baptist Minister, officiating, at home of Presley Strayhorn. Witnesses: GW Sillmond, Jas Green, Dottie Davis. Accessed at https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/11225841:60548
  17. ↑ North Carolina World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919. Draft Registration Card of April 2, 1918 for Willis Sherwood[Sheruml] Martin (316 Vanmarten, Washington, NC; birthdate August 12, 1895, in Orange County, NC; employer A.W. Gary of Washington, NC).
  18. ↑ Lee Green 1910 Census Record on ancestry.com: Lee Grun [Lee Green], birthdate 1897 [1897], birthplace NC; home in 1910 Eno, Orange, NC, US; Street Hillsboro & Durham Road
  19. ↑ Marriage Certificate State of North Carolina, County of Orange, Office of Register of Deeds; No. 2115 To any ordained minister of any religious denomination of any Justice of the Peace of said County Hillsboro NC April 16, 1917, TJ Edwards having applied to me for a license for the marriage of C. Walter Edwards of Orange, age 25 years, color Col; the son of T.J. Edwards and --- Edwards the father now living, the mother living resident of Orange Co. and Augusta Green of Orange, age 18 years, color Col; the daughter of —— and Mary Arch the father now dead, the mother living resident of Orange, Mrs. HC Arch, the mother of the said and the witness consent.
  20. ↑ United States Federal Census. Year: 1900; Census Place: Hillsboro, Orange, North Carolina; Roll: 1210; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0070; FHL microfilm: 124120. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4117838_00214?pld=57499844
  21. ↑ His father was Stephen Archer, Sr., and his grandfather was Jesse Archer: Archer, Jesse 11-201 Orange Co. Book A pg 420. https://www.freeafricanamericans.com/1820NCa.htm.
  22. ↑ United States Federal Census. Year: 1900; Census Place:, South Hillsboro Township, Orange, North Carolina; Roll: 1210; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0070; FHL microfilm: 124120. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4117838_00214?pld=57499838
  23. ↑ Justice of the peace document Family Search, https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/GZ3N-26R
  24. ↑ 1910 Census;: Mary Arch: District 138, Female, 38, Married, Black, Father’s and Mother’s birthplace North Carolina, Sheet A, Sheet number 10, Record number 23421, Wife to Record Holder; Mary Arch’s Spouses and Children: Calvin Arch, Head of Household, Husband, M, Black, 30, North Carolina; Census 1910, Eno/Orange/NC/US, District 38, Male , Sheet Letter A, Sheet Number 10, Record 23420, Estimated Birth 1880, Parents born in NC; Donell, son, age 5, Male, Est. Born 1905, Record 23422; Rosenelth, daughter, Black, age 3, F, Est. Born 1907, Record 23423
  25. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLS2-PX4 "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLS2-PX4 : accessed 2 December 2022), Mary Arch in household of Calvin Arch, Eno, Orange, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 138, sheet 10A, family 199, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1126; FHL microfilm 1,375,139.
  26. ↑ 1900 United States Federal Census. Year: 1900; Census Place: Hillsboro, Orange, North Carolina; Roll: 1210; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0070; FHL microfilm: 1241210. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/4449914_00488?pld=178891930 or https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/GZ3N-26R
  27. ↑ https://ncgenweb.us/orange/church-history/
  28. ↑ https://www.pineygrove-mbc.org
  29. ↑ Orange County, NCGenWeb: Church History. Excerpted from Orange County, edited by Hugh Lefler and Paul Wager, 1952; Chapter XVII, “The Churches of Orange County” by L. J. Phipps. At https://ncgenweb.us/orange/church-history/.
  30. ↑ Kate Arch. https://cemeterycensus.com/nc/orng/cem196.htm
  31. ↑ North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976. death certificate Calvin
  32. ↑ It is also among the member churches of New Hope Missionary Baptist Association, which was addressed by Louis Gregory on his trip in the late 1920s and is still in existence today, including churches that seem possibly associated with the Arch/Strayhorn/Green families (White Rock, Piney Grove, Mount Sinai, Mount Gilead, etc) and with Gregory’s visit was apparently founded in part by the Coles.
  33. ↑ https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/historic-preservation-office/survey-and-national-register/surveyreports/DurhamCountySurvey-1991.pdf
  34. ↑ Per Orange County Registrar of Deeds Mark Chilton, coauthor of Original Land Grants of Orange, NC, by Mark Chilton & A.B. Markham, with major contributions from Stewart Dunaway, David Southern & Edward Johnson; in response to December 2022 query. Orange County Register of Deeds. Hillsborough, NC.
  35. ↑ See maps and history at https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~orangecountync/history/places/fcoms/UniversityStation/usta.html: "In February 1880, surveying of the rail line between University Station and Chapel Hill began by Captains Fry and Williamson. The terminus point in (or near) Chapel Hill hadn’t yet been decided, but construction from University Station began by March 1880, utilizing mostly convict labor. By late November 1881, the line had been constructed over half the way to Chapel Hill (to New Hope Creek). By early February 1882 the rail line was completed."
  36. ↑ From Open site, Historic Structures: “An 1891 article by D. Irvin Craig (written in 1886) documents the history of the New Hope area and the geneaology of the Strayhorn family; he states that Gilbert Strayhorn's "old homestead is now owned by his direct descendant, William G. Strayhorn ... the site of the old place is on the south side of the public road leading from Hillsboro to Durham and just opposite the present settlement." He also states that the property the house was built on was purchased in 1755, on lands adjoining John Craig's. The structure is shown on the 1916 B.N. Duke Farm map and listed as being owned by W.G. Strayhorn (the old road from Hillsborough and the Hillsboro-Durham/Raleigh road is also shown), and also on the 1918 soil map of Orange County – but not on the 1891 Tate map. The area was known as "Strayhorn's" into the twentieth century.”
  37. ↑ Black Wall Street (Durham, North Carolina). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Wall_Street_(Durham,_North_Carolina)#History
  38. ↑ Anderson Craig to Rosa Strayhorn, Orange County Deed Book 62:443, Doc 00027127
  39. ↑ Orange County Deed Book 68, Page 406. North Carolina Orange County, 12th day of October 1914: William A. and Emma Burroughs to H.C. Arch and Mary Arch and their heirs of Orange County.
  40. ↑ Marrriage Certificate State of North Carolina, County of Orange, Office of Register of Deeds; No. 2115. C Walter Edwards, Male, 25, Est. birth year 1892; Father T J Edwards, Mother's Name Irma Edwards; Augusta Green Spouse; 18; Birth Year (Estimated) 1899; Spouse's Mother's Name Mary Arch; Marriage Date 21 Apr 1917; Marriage Place: Hillsborough, Orange, North Carolina, United States; Marriage Place (Original) Hillsboro; Augusta Green, stepdaughter
  41. ↑ First 500 in Beaufort County Summoned to Report for Exemination[sic] Under Selective Draft. Washington Progress (Washington, North Carolina). 2 Aug 1917;Page 4. Clipped from newspapers.com Feb. 1, 2023, by Steven Kolins
  42. ↑ add other military record.
  43. ↑ Duke Sanford|World Food Policy Center. "Durham Food History: Sharecropping, Black Land Acquisition, and White Supremacy (1868-1900)." https://wfpc.sanford.duke.edu/north-carolina/durham-food-history/sharecropping-black-land-acquisition-and-white-supremacy-1868-1900/
  44. ↑ https://U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. "African American Heritage: Racial Violence and the Red Summer." www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/wwi/red-summer. Accessed May 10, 2023.
  45. ↑ H.C. Arch and Mary Arch to EF Faucette, Deed Book 88 p. 126, State of North Carolina-Orange County, 3 Sept 1926. Signed in District of Columbia 9 Sept 1926. Filed in Orange County Register of Deeds 29 Sept 1926
  46. ↑ Arch to Hazell. June 9, 1929. Deed Book 91, Page 481. State of North Carolina—Orange County. Notarized in the District of Columbia. Margaret A. Humphreys, 14 June 1929, with Clerk of Superior Court in Washington DC. Filed with Register of Deeds Orange County Deeds June 17, 1929
  47. ↑ North Carolina State Board of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics. Standard Certificate of Date. Durham, NC. Certificate No. 217 for Calvin Arch, R.F.D. 2, Hillsboro, NC. Died at Lincoln Hospital. February 25, 1936. Cause of death: bilateral gangrene resulting from frostbite. Informant: Gussie Edwards, Chapel Hill. Burial place: Piney Grove Baptist Church.
  48. ↑ Bahá’í Historical Record Survey. Accessed April 8, 2023.
  49. ↑ bahai.works/Baha%27i_News_Letter/Issue_30/Text
  50. ↑ Morrison, Gayle (1982). To Move the World: Louis G. Gregory and the Advancement of Racial Unity in America. Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. p. 202. ISBN 0-87743-171-X.
  51. ↑ Washington, DC, Directory for the year 1931. 1003 Lamont shows Mary as "(wid Calvin)" in error.
  52. ↑ In the city directory of 1928, there is a listing for “HC (Mary) Archer laborer 915 Columbia rd nw”, but it has abbreviation h915, not an r (h=householder).
  53. ↑ "Early DC Membership for Historical Purposes." Archives of the LSA of Washington, D.C. Provided by Asst. to the Secretary in April 2023.
  54. ↑ Threefold Movement Peace Meeting Among Religions Planned for Next Day in DC." Evening Star. Washington, District of Columbia. 12 May 1929, Sun. Page 90.
  55. ↑ U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 for Mary Arch District of Columbia, Washington. 1927 to 1937. Accessed at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/15871218?pId=1025928511
  56. ↑ “By 1900 Washington had the largest percentage of African Americans of any city in the nation. Many came because of opportunities for federal jobs. Others were attracted to the myriad educational institutions...At the dawn of the 20th century, African Americans had created a cultural and intellectual capital. Washington had relatively few "Jim Crow" laws. However, segregation and racism were endemic. The few existing laws mandated segregation in the public schools and recreation facilities but not in the streetcars and public libraries. ... In 1948 the Supreme Court declared racially restrictive housing covenants were unconstitutional in the local Hurd v. Hodge case.” *Reprinted from Marya Annette McQuirter, African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC (Washington: Cultural Tourism DC, 2003).
  57. ↑ Washington, D.C., U.S., Marriage Records, 1810-1953, Washington, D.C., U.S., Marriage Records, 1810-1953; Name: Alice V Ashton; Gender: Female; Age: 26; Birth Date: abt 1902; Marriage Date: 21 Nov 1928; Marriage Place: District of Columbia, USA; Spouse: Hardie D. Green
  58. ↑ "Early DC Membership for Historical Purposes." Archives of the LSA of Washington, D.C. Provided by Asst. to the Secretary in April 2023.
  59. ↑ Both Hardie and Alice are buried at Arlington National Cemetery in honor of his military service.
  60. ↑ Venters 2010, pp. 43–63.
  61. ↑ Hollinger 2023, pp. 43–84, The Spread of the Baha'i Faith among African Americans, 1898-1925.
  62. ↑ Hollinger 2023, pp. 267–301, Appendix: African Americans Associated with the American Baha'i Community, 1898-1925.
  63. ↑ 1920 U.S. Federal Census record for Samuel Green. Washington, Washington, District of Columbia. Age: 47; Birth Year: abt 1873; Birthplace: North Carolina; Home in 1920: Washington, D.C., 1457 Corcoran St (Rented); Black; Male; Head of House; Married to Lydia Green; Father's and Mother's Birthplaces: North Carolina; Occupation: Porter in Railroad Industry; Able to read and write.
  64. ↑ As reported in the "Evening Star" in March 1924, Samuel Green was a speaker at the Playhouse series of talks on the Faith. See Coverage of the Bahá'í Faith in Washington, DC.
  65. ↑ http://bahaiteachings.org/spiritual-ancestors-pocahontas-pope, Do We Have Spiritual Ancestors? Meet Pocahontas Pope, by Christopher Buck, bahaiteachings.org, Sep 15, 2016.
  66. ↑ Per bahaipedia, "the Bahá'ís of DC, via Leona Barnitz, requested information on the history of Agnes Parsons in 1935 on her service and properties to the Faith. Leona Barnitz had served as Parson’s secretary in the late 1910s to 1920s. Parsons had made alternations to her diary anticipating it might be made public. Parsons' Dublin home did become a Bahá'í property in trust by 1936. Barnitz contributed 51 Tablets to Parsons from her papers to the national archives plus original translations and a further 6 to other members of her family. From Abdu’l-Bahá in America: Agnes Parsons' Diary by Agnes Parsons, edited by Richard Hollinger. The Path Toward Spirituality: Sacred Duties and Practices of the Baha'i. 14 August 2022."
  67. ↑ September 1929 Letter of Mary Arch to Leonore Barnitz. Leonore Barnitz Papers, National Bahá'í Archive. Note. On the postcard from Mary Arch to Leonore Barnitz, Leonore Barnitz Papers, National Bahá'í Archives: Names are jotted on the back: Josephine Pattison, Mrs. Beaver and Mrs. Smith; dove McCeney - photogrpahs; Grene Pattern Haywood; Margit; Laura Dreyfus-Barney; Minever and others.
  68. ↑ Letter of April 11, 1934, from Mary Arch to Leonore Barnitz. Leonore Barnitz Papers, National Bahá'í Archive
  69. ↑ Jan. 7, 1936, Letter of Mary Arch to Leonore Barnitz. Leonore Barnitz Papers, US Bahá'í Archives.
  70. ↑ Evening Star. Sept. 19, 1937. newspapers.com.
  71. ↑ In Memoriam published in Bahá’í News, no. 112, December 1937, p. 2; Leone Barnitz Papers.
  72. ↑ Letter dated Oct. 28, 1937, Office of the Secretary, LSA Files, 1930-1939, Washington DC Spiritual Assembly.
  73. ↑ U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949. ARCH, Henry. U.S.S. Gandy, 31st day of January 1946.
  74. ↑ Note: Henry Donald Arch was registered for the draft on February 16, 1942, at the time of World War II (birthdate Jan. 22, 1904), then living at 1545 Columbia St. NW in Washington, DC.[73] One of his sisters must have remained in DC, too, at 1443 T NW, as Donell referred the military to his sister there as someone who would always know where he was. At the time Donnell was working at Dupont Laundry Company.
  75. ↑ The Bahá’í Community: Triangle, North Carolina. triangle.bahais.us. Accessed February 2023.
  76. ↑ https://bahai-library.com/presentations/k/kolins_brief_history_bahai_nc.pdf
  77. ↑ Of a series on the detailed history of the Bahá’í Faith in North Carolina. Part 1 - Forgotten, remembered. By Steven Kolins with assistance from others. https://bahai-library.com/nc-seminar/2018-08/kolins_series_part1_1850-1931.pdf

References[edit]

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