Robert McLaughlin

Robert W. McLaughlin
Born	June 24, 1900 Kalamzoo, Michigan
Died	November 30, 1989
NSA member	USA 1953 - 1957
Spouse(s)	Katherine McLaughlin
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Robert William McLaughlin (June 24, 1900 - November 30, 1989) was an American Bahá'í who served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States of America. In his career he was an architect, and he assisted in the management of the Bahá'í properties on Mount Carmel and served as architectural consultant to the Universal House of Justice, assisting in inspecting plans for the Houses of Worship for Panama and Samoa.

Biography

Robert was born in Kalamzoo, Michigan, but was raised in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a Congregational minister and author and he had three sisters. He studied at Princeton University completing a bachelor's degree in 1921. He planned to undertake graduate studies in architecture, but had to postpone his studies due to suffering tuberculosis. He completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in architecture at Princeton in 1926, and he worked as an architect throughout the 1930's and 40's. In 1931 he married Katherine Lockwood Thurber, and they settled in Bedford Village, New York. They went on to have two children, Meredith and Robert.

In 1944 Robert and Katherine became disillusioned with their Christian community and began investigating other religions and they were introduced to the Bahá'í Faith by Peter and Rene Walsh. Robert declared in October 1944 and Katherine declared in summer 1945, and they attended Green Acre Summer School for the first time. They were both appointed to the New York Regional Teaching Committee in November 1945. In 1946 Robert was appointed to the Southern New York Election Committee, and in 1947 he was appointed to a Technical Advisory Board for the construction of the interior of the Wilmette Temple. In 1947 he chaired a public meeting on the Faith attended by over 300 people in New York City.

In 1948 the McLaughlin's moved from Bedford Village, where they had been isolated believers, to Greenwich which allowed for a Local Spiritual Assembly of Greenwich to be formed in accordance with an emergency appeal from Shoghi Effendi. As of 1948 Robert was secretary of the Regional Teaching Committee. In 1951 he was appointed to a Temple Landscape Committee which was to manage the surroundings of the Wilmette Temple.

Green Acre Development Committee, 1952. Robert is in centre.

In 1952 McLaughlin was appointed as Director of the School of Architecture at Princeton University. He felt that the position would reduce his service to the Faith and asked for guidance from Shoghi Effendi, who cabled his approval of Robert accepting the position. Also in 1952 Robert was appointed to the Green Acre Development Committee. In 1953 Robert was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States at a by-election held due to several Assembly members retiring to pioneer. He was re-elected every year up until 1956, when he was re-elected but was not present at the National Convention due to the passing of his mother and he retired from the Assembly in mid-1957 due to other commitments, but prior to retiring he visited Panama City in June 1957 to represent the United States National Assembly at the formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of Central America and Mexico. His wife Katherine also went to Panama representing the Auxiliary Board. Arthur Dahl was elected to fill the vacancy on the Assembly left by Robert's retirement.

In 1962 the International Bahá'í Council requested Robert's assistance in protecting the Bahá'í properties on Mount Carmel from having new roads built through them by the local government. In 1964 he advised the Universal House of Justice on soliciting design proposals for the House of Worship to be constructed in Panama. Also in 1964 the Universal House of Justice requested that a long-term plan for the construction on Mount Carmel to be produced which could be used to prevent development of roads and McLaughlin submitted a master plan in 1965. He also met with local authorities of Haifa to explain the plans for Mount Carmel.

Robert retired from Princeton University in 1965 and he and Katherine moved to a farmhouse he had restored in York, Maine, near Green Acre from which they held many Bahá'í activities. In 1970 the Local Spiritual Assembly of York was established. Robert continued to serve as architectural consultant to the Universal House of Justice into the 1970's, often visiting Haifa to serve. From 1966 to 1972 he assisted the architect of the Panama House of Worship in carrying out the Universal House of Justice's wishes, often visiting the Temple Site during construction. In the early 1970's he helped prepare for the selection of a design for the Seat of the Universal House of Justice and the Universal House of Justice noted his services in a 1972 cable:

MOVED PAY TRIBUTE EXPRESS HEARTFELT GRATITUDE OUTSTANDING SERVICES ROBERT MCLAUGHLIN IN PREPARATION FOR THIS HISTORIC UNDERTAKING

In 1977 he evaluated several designs for the House of Worship of Samoa.

Robert McLaughlin at Bermuda National Center, Feb 1979.

When not assisting in Haifa Robert taught at the Green Acre Summer School and served on the Green Acre Council. In February 1979 he visited Bermuda and with Katherine and presented a deepening at the Bahá'í National Center. In 1980 he was awarded the Reimer Award by the Green Acre Council for services to the school. In his later years he wrote an analysis of a passage which appears three times in the Writings which was published in 1982 under the title These Perspicuous Verses.

He passed away in 1989. The Universal House of Justice cabled the following:

DEEPLY DEPLORE LOSS STEADFAST OUTSTANDING SERVANT BAHA'U'LLAH ROBERT W. MCLAUGHLIN. GENTLENESS, DILIGENCE CHARACTERIZED HIS UNSTINTING SERVICES CAUSE OF GOD OVER PERIOD MANY YEARS, DISTINGUISHED BY EXPERTISE WHICH AS ARCHITECTURAL CONSULTANT HE LENT TO MANY BAHA'I PROJECTS INCLUDING TEMPLES WILMETTE, PANAMA CITY, APIA AND WHICH INVOLVED HIM PROMINENTLY IN CREATION PRELIMINARY PLANS TOWARDS REALIZATION CONCEPT FOR DEVELOPMENT SACRED PROPERTIES MOUNT CARMEL. HIS MEMBERSHIP NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY UNITED STATES AND ACTIVITIES CONNECTED WITH GREEN ACRE SCHOOL AND AS TRAVELING TEACHER GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGED ARDENTLY PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. OUR LOVING SYMPATHY SURROUNDS DEAR KATHERINE AND FAMILY FOR WHOSE CONSOLATION AND WELL-BEING PRAYERS ARE ALSO BEING OFFERED.

Publications

• 1950 - Architecture of the Temple Interior, article published in Bahá'í News, No. 228, pp 6-7
• 1967 - The Bahá'í World Center, article published in U.S. Supplement to Bahá'í News, No. 118. Re-published in Bahá'í News, No. 491, pp 3-4
• 1977 - Words about the Word, compilation of passages from the Writings, informally circulated.
• 1982 - These Perspicuous Verses

References

• Obituary published in Bahá'í World, Vol. 20, pp 950-53