Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix
City in the United States
Bahá’í Institute held in Phoenix, 1948.
Loading map...
Click the map to see nearby articles
Statistics:
Number of Bahá'ís
 -  Bahá'í source 900[1] 
 -  Non-Bahá'í source
History:
Firsts
 -  Local Assembly 1931 
How to contact:
 -  Phone 602/516-5375 
 -  Email mailto 
 -  Address P.O. Box 9961
Phoenix, AZ 85068 
 -  State Arizona
 -  Country United States
Official Website Bahá'ís of Phoenix
Related media

Phoenix is a city of the U.S. State of Arizona.

The Bahá’í Faith was first present in the city in 1917 and a Bahá’í community was firmly established in the 1930s, with a Local Spiritual Assembly being established in 1931 and a Bahá’í Center being opened in 1934. The Phoenix Bahá’ís began to sponsor and support Bahá’í teaching activities in other cities across Arizona in the 1930s and the community remains active to the present day, notably hosting the Grand Canyon Bahá’í Conference annually.

History[edit]

In 1917 Isabella D. Brittingham visited Phoenix during a teaching trip and visited some Christian Scientists, had dinner with the Governor of Arizona, and conducted a fireside which was attended by the Governor's wife and private secretary.[2] The same year Edward Ruppers and his wife Amanda pioneered to the city becoming its first permanent Bahá’í residents,[3] and the following year they began hosting travel teachers to Phoenix in their home and a Bahá’í study group was formed.[4][5]

As of 1920 there was a Bahá’í community in Phoenix and John Wilson Gift who had pioneered to the city was sent as a delegate to the National Convention that year however the community was not large enough to establish a Local Spiritual Assembly when administration of the Faith became formalized in the 1920's.[6] In 1920 Charles Q. Adams who had pioneered to Phoenix received a Tablet from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá while living in the city.[7]

During the 1920's Phoenix was visited by several Bahá’ís on teaching trips including Corinne True and her daughters Edna and Katherine, Gayne Gregory, Orcella Rexford, Edwina Powell, John Bosch, and George O. Latimer. Stalwarts of the community in this period were Josephine Nelson, who taught by conducting an Esperanto class at a local High School, and Edward Ruppers and his family who continued to host many travelling Bahá’ís and facilitate their Bahá’í study group.[4]

In late 1929 Elizabeth Greenleaf pioneered to the city and in December it was visited by Leroy and Sylvia Ioas who assisted with teaching work,[4] and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Phoenix was established in 1931.[8] The fledgling Assembly received support from visiting Bahá’ís with Louise Waite visiting from Los Angeles in February, 1932, to conduct a twelve lesson deepening course,[9] living in the city for a month to assist the Assembly,[10] and Leroy and Sylvia Ioas visiting again the same year.[11]

In 1934 Margarita Orlova visited Phoenix and delivered talks at many local organizations and also several meetings held in homes and her visit resulted in many declarations and study classes being established with Anthony Yuen Seto of San Francisco agreeing to visit Phoenix to facilitate the classes. The level of activity caused by Orlova's visit prompted the Phoenix Bahá’ís to rent a property and open a local Bahá’í Center.[12]

In 1936 the Phoenix Bahá’í community began undertaking efforts to establish a Bahá’í community in Glendale,[13] and in January, 1937, an Inter-Community Bahá’í Conference for Arizona and Southern California was held in Phoenix which aimed to promote teaching activity from Bahá’í communities and isolated Bahá’ís in the region.[14] In 1938 the Phoenix Bahá’ís assisted isolated Bahá’í Laura Robarts in holding public meetings in Coolidge which resulted in a study class being established.[15]

Beatrice Irwin visited Phoenix in 1940 during a teaching tour of the Southwestern States and she addressed four public meeting and also delivered a talk at the Phoenix Junior College. She also met with prominent members of the Phoenix community including the Dean of the college, a Rabbi, the manager of Phoenix Town Hall, and an Episcopalian Dean. To coincide with her visit the Phoenix Bahá’ís arranged for a model of the Wilmette Bahá’í House of Worship to be displayed.[16] By 1942 a Bahá’í Youth Group for Phoenix had been established which was chaired by Adrienne Ellis.[17] In 1944 Mason Remey visited Phoenix during a travel teaching tour,[18] and in 1947 Persian Bahá’í students studying in America Firuz Kazemzadeh, Shidan Fat'he-Aazam, and Amín Banání visited Phoenix with their visit receiving radio and newspaper press coverage and they assisted with teaching efforts in the city delivering talks and being interviewed by the press.[19]

In 1951 the Bahá’ís of Phoenix established the first Bahá’í children's class in the city.[20] In 1954 the newspaper The Arizona Republic published an article about the Bahá’í Faith covering the activities of the Phoenix Bahá’í community and the basic teachings of the Faith.[21] Also in 1954 a Bahá’í Teaching Conference held to consult on teaching in the State of Arizona was held in the city,[22] and in 1955 a Bahá’í Youth Conference for Arizona was held in Phoenix.[23] A conference held to consult on the progress of the Ten Year Crusade was held in Phoenix in 1957 chaired by Charlotte Linfoot,[24] and in 1958 a conference on Bahá’í children's classes was held.[25] Also in 1958 Ugo Giachery visited Phoenix and delivered a talk alongside other religious leaders at an interfaith event sponsored by the Phoenix Assembly.[26]

In 1985 the Grand Canyon Bahá’í Conference was established as an annual event in Phoenix which continues to be held to this day.[27][28]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ History
  2. ↑ Star of the West (March 21, 1917). Bahai News Service. Volume 8, Issue 1. Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  3. ↑ https://bahaisofphoenix.org/history/
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Baha'i News (September, 1930). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 44, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  5. ↑ Baha'i News (1931). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 50, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ Star of the West (September 27, 1920). Bahai News Service. Volume 11, Issue 11. Pg(s) 175. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ Star of the West (October 16, 1921). Bahai News Service. Volume 12, Issue 12. Pg(s) 200. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1931). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 49, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Baha'i News (1932). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 60, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News (1932). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 62, Pg(s) 20. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Baha'i News (1932). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 62, Pg(s) 21. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ Baha'i News (1934). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 81, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ Baha'i News (1936). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 98, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ Baha'i News (1937). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 105, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ Baha'i News (1941). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 142, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ Baha'i News (1942). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 153, Pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ Baha'i News (1945). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 174, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ Baha'i News (1947). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 192, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 333, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  21. ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 279, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  22. ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 285, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  23. ↑ Baha'i News (1955). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 291, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  24. ↑ Baha'i News (1957). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 318, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  25. ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 333, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  26. ↑ Baha'i News (1958). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 330, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.
  27. ↑ "About the Conference". Grand Canyon Baha'i Conference. n.d. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  28. ↑ The American Bahá’í (1990). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 21, Issue 12, pg(s) 12. View as PDF.
Retrieved from "https://bahaipedia.org/index.php?title=Phoenix,_Arizona&oldid=150305"

Table Of Contents