Ruth Moffett

Ruth J. Moffett
Born	January 19 1880 Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Died	July 5, 1978 Des Moines, Iowa
Works •  Media

Ruth Moffett (January 19, 1880 - July 5, 1978) was an American Bahá'í notable for her tours of America as a traveling speaker which assisted in the founding of Bahá'í communities.

After organizing a club in Eau Claire at which she gave talks in her youth, she began to give talks to society clubs as early as 1914 though infrequently. After joining the religion in 1919, her first known talk for the Faith was at a club at which she gave a talk on shrines around the world in January 1921. Talks were still sporadic and rare though they increased in pace after her November 1927 pilgrimage. But it seems that from about 1931 she devoted at least most months of the year to traveling on extended tours or concentrated stays in one locality or another giving long series of talks, sometimes with the occasional month off here or there. Among the approaches was also a positive pressure against the Jim Crow segregation when she toured in the South. Shoghi Effendi noticed her efforts and began to coordinate her work as did various teaching committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States. There was a hiatus of talks after the death of Shoghi Effendi but she returned to giving many talks, if perhaps somewhat a reduced pace with the illness and death of her husband in 1959. However she remained relatively active giving talks into the 1960s, albeit at an increasingly reduced load, until 1966 - the first year she is currently not known to have given any talks. There was a slight rebound of a few appearances but rare into the early 1970s. From 1974 through her death in 1978 there are no further public appearances known. Her major work was thus from around 1931 through 1959, with some efforts for the religion from 1921 through 1973 in terms of giving talks. Sometimes she appeared with her husband also giving talks, and other times she was part of a series with other speakers or copresenting with others, but the vast majority of this work was done by Ruth alone. She traveled from Canada to Venezuala, from California to Maine, across 28 years intensively and 52 years at some level of effort. She has definitely been identified in accounts of talks in 33 states of the US, plus 7 other countries she'd given talks in.

Ruth Jean Ellis Moffett was born January 19, 1880, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Her family on both parent's sides were among the founding families of the city. Her father J. F. Ellis, a Civil War veteran, had served in many civil positions in the city and was called the oldest practicing attorney in the state approaching the end of his life. Her mother, Cora Allen Ellis, had siblings that also served in the Civil War and were businessmen in the city. As a young teen she took notes from her church's minister's sermons. In high school Ellis and her brother JF Jr founded a newspaper and she was known for off-beat bible study classes. She went to Oberlin College though recalled home before finishing so that her brother could pursue engineering in college. She taught music and "physical culture" in the high school and lead at least one social club. She recalled seeing a 1907 article reviewing the Bahá'ís to which her "shocked orthodox trained mind rose in rebellion" which she felt was "either the greatest blasphemy or the greatest truth of the world today." But she couldn't get people around her to take it seriously in a club. In 1910 she married Robert Lee Moffett who at the time was a sales manager for a wholesale grocery and the couple moved to Chicago. The couple avidly explored religious ideas and Moffett recalled seeing one of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's talks. In 1914 Moffett gave her first known talk in Chicago society though it was about German musicians. Giving talks would soon be a strong factor in her life. In 1919 she encountered a Bahá'í doctor who gave her a personal avenue to investigate the religion. She joined the religion and began to give talks about the it and other subjects in the local Chicago area. Her father died in March 1927 and by November she was on Bahá'í pilgrimage along with Corinne True, and composing prayer poems on Mt. Carmel. She gained the name "Ruhaniyyih" from Bahiyyih Khánum.

Moffett was soon a local leader of women's clubs and associations in Chicago and she spoke of her pilgrimage and observing the attitudes of people in society, of their sense of national rivalries, but also of organizations striving for international cooperation. She also began to write for the Star of the West Bahá'í magazine. She was also a close friend of prominent Bahá'ís like Ellen Beecher known as "Mother Beecher" and then Dorothy Beecher Baker. In 1929 Moffett took a trip to Bahá'í and like-minded organization meetings in Washington, DC. In 1930 she was invited to present to a Bahá'í meeting in Lansing, Michigan, just before the founding of Louhelen Bahá'í School. In January-February 1931 she embarked on her first intentional tour of cities promoting the Bahá'í Faith - first to Milwaukee, then Hammond, Indiana, and other places that ultimately included Chicago and Urbana, Illinois, Racine, Wisconsin, and in New York state before colleges, women’s clubs and before religious groups. In April she undertook a different kind of trip this time spending 19 days in Denver, Colorado, alone. Then began other trips and tours sometimes with other people.

She and her husband undertook a long series of meetings and presentations in the first week of January 1932 in Racine, Wisconsin, amounting to 63 talks of various kinds and 150 people attended the ending reception given for them. It was reported 31 people joined the Faith during this series. This was her first extended use of charts and posters that would become a common format for her to use. She soon embarked on more trip-tours. Shoghi Effendi mentioned her work in a letter written in October, 1932. In March 1933 Moffett was in Los Angeles and nearby places and returned to Milwaukee in April. In the summer Moffett’s compilation The Dynamics of Prayer was approved for publishing and she was at Louhelen Bahá'í School, over to Lansing, and back. Most months of the year Moffett was now touring and giving talks and classes. And she published articles in World Order as did her husband. From May 1934 to April 1935 the Moffetts toured together for talks including 8 cities in Illinois and Wisconsin with 187 talks by Ruth and 34 by Robert. In October she was elected as one of the delegates to the national convention for the first time. Among other trips, from 1936, Moffett then traveled from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Fremont, Ohio, other multiple places, and to Green Bay again in May 1937. In 1938 she was in a wide tour including the South across 11 states - some of them were: New Orleans, Louisiana, Mobile, Fairhope, Birmingham, and Teladega, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, Chattanooga, Nashville, Tennessee, and Camner, Kentucky. Milwaukee and Racine were stops she would give series of talks in between and on leaving for and arriving from many tours. In August 1938 she spent time in Eagle River, Wisconsin, for a series of 42 talks, one study class of 25 people, following which they were in a position to elect their Assembly. Amidst many tours Shoghi Effendi had directed her attention to Iowa in May and June 1941 following which she went on to Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Deadwood, and Lead, South Dakota, and then on to her first appearance at Green Acre Bahá'í School.

Ruth (front, second from right) with Baha'is and friends in Louisville, Kentucky, late 1940s.

February 1942 she returned to the South when she went to Greensboro, North Carolina, and raised a community with pioneers in a position to elect the first spiritual assembly of the state in 1943 as part of the national campaign to raise one assembly in every state. Meanwhile she was back north and then deeper into the South like Alabama and, after more trips around, to Greenville to join Stanwood Cobb at a regional conference. In December 1942 Moffett went back to Wilmington, Delaware, Greensboro, North Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia, across some 2 months mediated by the National Teaching Committee among an additional 12 traveling teachers. By December 1945 the National Teaching Committee arranged for Moffett to go through multiple cities in New Jersey, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, then over to San Francisco, Reno, Nevada, and then returned to several cities in Missouri. Then came her first trip into Canada - from October 15 to February 15, 1946, Moffett gave 81 talks, 189 classes and 14 broadcasts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, then on to other cities in Canada, then back into the US from the north to the south. In the winter of 1948-9 and into the spring Moffett was among a small group to go to Cuba to promote the religion. By the end of January Moffett was back in Jackson, Mississippi. In May 1950 she was called a pioneer to Cuba and lived in Cienfuegos where she persevered through a hurricane in October - possibly Hurricane Easy or King. After a trip back to the US she went to Jamaica in February 1951 where she gave 45 lectures in Kingston across 4 weeks. In May she was in Venezuela, back to Jamaica, and then back to the States. She undertook a second pilgrimage May 17 - September 17, 1954, following which she included comments of her visit into her talks. The family moved to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1955. Following the death of the Guardian in November 1957 her speaking tours became more interrupted and months would pass without a public appearance followed by some level of activity. Ruth's husband Robert Lee Moffett died June 9, 1959. Though the pace of talks slowed still more she still spent multiple months of the year on trips and tours giving talks for the religion. This pattern of reduced speaking appearances deepened until in 1966 was the first known year without a single known mention of Moffett giving a talk anywhere. Across 1972 and 1973 she wrote an article for Bahá'í News, had reprints of her Dynamics of Prayer published and worked on the final versions of her famous chart and spoke at a few events. In 1975 Moffett was noted in Iowa Bahá'í history now with nine assemblies: Ames, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Iowa City, Marshalltown, Waterloo, and Des Moines, all of which she had visited multiple times. In 1977 her ideas about the Book of Revelation were published. Moffett died July 5, 1978, in Des Moines.

Early Years

Ruth Jean Ellis Moffett (born January 19, 1880, Eau Claire, WI - died July 5, 1978, Des Moines, IA.) The obituary of her father, Joseph F. Moffett, usually "JF", says he was born in Jerusalem, Yates County, NY, June 5, 1843, and that his mother died at Lake Geneva when they arrived in Wisconsin and then the family moved to a farm near Rock Falls in the Chippewa Valley near the county line between Dunn and Eau Claire counties. The 1880 US Census marks Moffett's mother as Cora, born 1855, in Wisconsin and that JF’s father and mother were born in New York while Cora’s father was born in Canada and mother in Maine. Indeed the Ellis family was among earliest of Eau Claire settlers in 1855. Ruth’s maternal grandparents also were early settlers in Eau Claire; James Allen was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Ruth’s grandmother Emily S. Poud married James in 1842 in Maine. Allen grew to be a businessman among lumbermen in the area of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The Allens moved to Eau Claire September 1859. Cora had two well known brothers - Edward W. ("EW") Allen and Charles L. Allen. Sources conflict on details of what year and place EW was born - either 1843 in Calais, Maine, or 1847 in Barring, Maine, but agree the family came to Sheboygan in 1850. EW served in the Civil War in Company H of the 16th Wisconsin Infantry rising from private to second lieutenant and was in Sherman’s March to the Sea. EW sold furniture but later switched to running a music store and served as secretary of the local music association from 1894. CL was probably Cora's younger brother, the second son, born in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, north of Sheboygan along the shore of Lake Michigan, in 1858. Charles later practiced as an attorney, was involved in land development, served on the board of education, was known for “Christian work” in First Baptist Church and was a local leader in prohibition. Cora E. Ellis was born in Sheboygan. The last move to Eau Claire came from Two Rivers in the fall of 1859.

JF had siblings that by 1927 were in other states, mostly Michigan. He served in Civil War in Company E 5th Wisconsin Volunteers and in the Army of the Potomac. He was admitted to the Wisconsin bar shortly after the Civil War about 1866 but it is not said where he graduated from. He began practicing as a lawyer about 1870. The first advertisement of him as a lawyer has been found in July 1871. Ellis was soon active in gathering a number of associations and services, became superintendent of the schools of Eau Claire in November 1873, and undertook training teachers and giving them certificates and giving reports on the schools. JF married Cora in October, 1875, while a brother ran the family farm in Rock Creek. They married October 12, 1875, and over time they had three children - Ruth J. Moffett, Joseph F. Ellis Jr, and Grace Gertrude who died 1892 at age 8. In 1879 JF refused to run for district attorney, and Ruth was born the next year. They had a domestic servant Christina Lena Everson, born in 1858 who's parents were from Norway. However, while no longer the superintendent, in July JF was elected clerk of school district board. He continued to serve business interests, and survived a major fire in April 1882. He continued school service and business development, and joined the post-Civil War veteran organization of the Grand Army of the Republic. As a major public lawyer Ellis was himself sometimes sued and claimed to have major land holdings. Cora was among supporters of an orphanage in town in June 1889, and she and her kids wintered in Florida with her parents who had moved to DeLand, Florida.

Schooling and Interests

Moffett later described her home as a Christian home of an orthodox mother and unorthodox father and being much moved by Bible stories and dolls. She described herself at 12 years old being much impressed by Pastor A. C. Kempton, though a history of the First Baptist Church says he joined the church in 1894 when she was 14. Perhaps he visited the church before he was formally hired as the pastor or she got the dates alittle off. Ruth is noted as a member of the First Baptist Church Mission band in 1895.

High School

Cora read a paper to the AB Circle Club in April 1896, held a social reception at her home, and Kempton retired from the First Baptist Church in 1897. Moffett recalls an incident that he once mused it would have been nice to have a collection of his sermons and Moffett gave him her notes not only listing the sermons but how he had developed the themes. He died in 1900.

In 1897 JF ran for county judge, but lost. Instead he was appointed first as a court commissioner under the winning judge, but people began to call him a judge anyway. In 1898 Ellis ran unopposed for Justice of the Peace, and was reported in the newspaper as a judge in April. Cora served on two committees of First Baptist Church.

Eau Claire High School, 1900

That summer there was a physical brawl between Ruth's father and her maternal uncle Charles which was reported in the newspaper, over which a suite was filed.

Ruth seems to have started high school 1896. According to Moffett she and her brother attended the Eau Claire high school 3 and a half years and graduated in December. This seems to be December 1899. She also speaks of teaching a Sunday school class of students older than herself though “reproved by the 'higher ups’” for how she taught in unconventional ways that resonated to her and her students. She also loved sometimes including things she learned in high school reading books. She also recalls she and her brother establishing the school newspaper, The Kodak; the early editions are not available online but later ones are (see below.)

College

She then went to Oberlin College under John Henry Barrows, former president of Parliament of World Religions, Dr. Henry King and Dr. Edward Bosworth in Bible studies.

While away, Ruth's mother was noted hosting a Temperance Union meeting, and going to a regional Baptist conference. Her father commented on the Carnegie gift of funding a library in town.

After around 1902 Ruth's father about disappears from the newspaper record.

Ruth returned from Oberlin before graduating (as she remembered it) so that her 20 mths younger brother could go to the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “The sacrifice of that which meant so much to her, that another might have similar opportunities, was one of the most valuable lessons for her soul unfoldment." This was in 1903.

Living in Eau Claire

Ruth began teaching in Eau Claire in 1904, as remarked in an edition of the Eau Claire High School newspaper, The Kodak. She was living with parents still working as a teacher in 1905.

The Ellis' church was at location 105, and the high school three blocks north.

She had been a music and “physical culture” teacher.

Her autobiographical article says in 1907 she saw a Literary Digest article on Bahá’u’lláh: her "shocked orthodox trained mind rose in rebellion" perceiving the claims as "either the greatest blasphemy or the greatest truth of the world today." This was most probably the September 22, 1906 article "An exotic religion in New York" which begins "Some four hundred people are to be found in New York who believe that a Christ is now living on earth." It was a digest citing J. A. Dodson in The Broadway Magazine, September issue. While mentioning "Baha Ullah" most of the article is about "Abbas Effendi”, referred to as "Abdul Baha" once in the article. It outlines some positive impressions of the religion: "The Bahaists believe all revealed religions date from the Covenant of God with Abraham, and that all succeeding prophets, messengers, and Jesus were inspired by the one Spirit of God. For this reason they reject the Trinity,…" and goes on to say "They believe rather in the old prophetic school of religion, tho not as this has been corrupted by the priests of all nations." and, following the confusions of the day (see Howard MacNutt,) "It is believed by the Bahaists that the son, Abdul Baha, or Abbas Effendi, is here in the authority and office of Jesus; but while this is not denied by him, yet they are prohibited from stating this belief, because this would only tend to make a division between the Christian, Jewish, and Mohammedan Bahaists." The edition of Broadway Magazine is not online as of 2018. The Bahá'ís in Chicago took note of the article and sent a copy of School of the Prophets hoping for further coverage though none has been found. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá also refers to this Broadway Magazine article. However, though Ruth twice brought it up to the club she had founded, she recalled it not moving the audience much. This might have been the History and Travel Club she was a founder of.

She went on a tourist trip of 13 countries of Europe with college friends - she times it two years before her wedding. She returned August 1907 in Quebec from Glasgow, UK, registered from Eau Claire as a teacher, on the SS Sicilian. Two other teachers within a year of the same age and single are noted clustered with her on the registry of the ship on return.

There was mention of this trip to Europe in the Kodak high school newspaper. In April 1909 Ruth's mother fainted at church.

The 1910 US Census reported Ruth living with her parents in Eau Claire; also the year her father ran for municipal judge.

Married, Chicago and the Bahá'í Faith

The wedding of Ruth Ellis and Robert Lee Moffett was announced in April, and they were married June 8, 1910. Their honeymoon was in Canada. Robert was born June 8, 1878, in Oxford, Iowa, By 1920 he was a sales manager for a wholesale grocery and Ruth was an independent private teacher.

They had two children; one died January 1912.

Moffett later refers to this time after her marriage as one where they studied a series of religions: “Christian Science first, Theosophy, New Thought, Psychology, Judaism, Buddhism, Muhammadanism, Mysticism, then the ancient religions …”. She found versions of great truths - and that they are echoed widely around the world. She included “Chinese, Hindu, Mohamad, Aztec, Christian, all bowing, kneeling or prostrating before an altar.”

Meanwhile her father's work was beginning to be mentioned in published recollections - from the Civil War, while he also continued his work as judge, and was also a school commissioner for one of the regions.

Meanwhile her husband Robert sent some letters to the editor of the Chicago Tribune.

Moffet much later recalled seeing `Abdu’l-Bahá in 1912 and attended one of His lectures, though she did not hint at the 1912 story of seeing `Abdu’l-Bahá in her 1931 autobiographical article.

Ruth's mother often wintered in Chicago and was members of many clubs. In 1914 Moffett gave a talks on German musicians and literature for, and was listed as a member of the Civics committee of, the Ken-More Club. Meanwhile her brother and family went to a position as an engineer in China. In 1917 there was a scandal of a Chicago church investment group named in relation to a burlesque theater.

In September 1918 Robert registered for the draft for WWI. In 1919 Robert again wrote some letters to the editor of the Chicago Tribune. Moffett was again visible in the newspapers now as an officer of the KenMore club and of club activities.

She later recalled that in 1919 an unnamed physician directly mentioned the Bahá'ís and she began to study the religion. The 1931 article also began to refer to discoveries in science - of Neanderthals “50,000 years ago”, that the world was “discarding worn out forms, traditions and methods…” and found Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings directly applicable. Moffett is marked as joining the religion in 1919.

Robert attended school some time since September 1, 1919, and they were renting an apartment at 4618 North Racine Ave, Chicago.

Talks, lectures and visits

Chicago

The first known talk by Moffett as a Bahá'í was in January 1921 at a meeting of a club at which she gave a talk on Shrines around the world. Her brother then also was back from China.

Moffett gave a talk at at a club meeting in January 1923. In August she visited her parents in Eau Claire, perhaps her first since joining the religion. She gave a talk again in November for the North End Club. In April 1924 Moffett hosted a musical program at their home. Her mother died in January 1925 while cared for by Moffett. In 1925 Ruth's father was recognized as one of the two original charter members of Eau Claire unit of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was part of an GAR group parade and camping meeting from which he returned in mid-June. A photograph of the group was published. Ruth and family visited him in August. Moffett was a teacher in public speaking. Her father was again in the newspapers as among early lawyers of Eau Claire. He wrote about his life work as well. In 1926 JF was administrator of an estate and a suite saw the testimony of Ruth. In September JF fell. In 1926 an early principal recalled JF's certificate to him as a teacher, and JF attended a Lincoln memorial program.

In April 1927 Moffett was pictured in the Chicago Tribune in an article on observing Easter for the Moffett School. In March JF was taken to the hospital. A year or two previous it was reported he presided over a court case from his bed at home while ill. He had just about recovered from pneumonia and had a heart attack and died. He was called oldest practicing attorney in the state - he had practiced law a continuous 61 years - and was credited with introducing “manual training” at the high school.

In 1927 Ellen Beecher, "Mother Beecher", joined Moffett in prayer that her granddaughter, Dorothy Beecher Baker, would become an active Bahá'í among her frequent Bahá'ís.

Pilgrimage

In November of 1927 Moffett was on Bahá'í pilgrimage and composed a poem on slopes of Mt. Carmel in November 1927. She gained the name "Ruhaniyyih" from Bahiyyih Khánum. She was noted returned via Southhampton, UK, December 12, 1927, on the SS Belgenland arriving in New York. She went with Dr. and Mrs. Slater and Corine True. Coverage upon her return summarized parts of her experience while over seas as well as her previous activities in the States. Moffett was a president of the Moffett School of Chicago, director of an educational forum in the Fine Arts building, a charter member of the League of Women Voters, as well as the Chicago Woman's Century Club, and president of the Ken-More Club. Commenting of her experience overseas, she observed "much of prejudice, hatred and distrust among the masses. They look upon the nations as rivals, rather than as people who could lend powerful assistance and cooperation." However she also found hope among the scholars that were expanding their reach of cooperation as well as that of youth. She had joined the International Students Union in Geneva and attended meetings of the League of Nations via Eric Drummond, 7th Earl of Perth's invitation as well as a guest of Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, published an open letter from about it. She also spoke at meetings of new endeavors of internationalism and broader engagements of previously national level organizations and presented an idealized view of the progress in America of inter-racial unity and respect across ethnicities still disunified across seas.

In April 1928 her brother was nominated for office in Eau Claire, and Moffett published her first work in the Bahá'í magazine, Star of the West in August. In July 1928 Moffett gave talks in Champaign, Illinois. By October she was a guest of Mrs Harlan Ober in Buffalo, New York, and a second poem of hers was published in Star of the West.

In late February 1929 Moffett may have been among those assisting at a Tea in DC, as she was in town for a World Unity Foundation meeting for which she was announced as field secretary for the interfaith organization. In April Moffett gave a talk for the World Unity Foundation on the situation overseas, as she saw it, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Moffett was included in a series of talks for race unity late in April in Hartford, Connecticut, as a guest of Mrs. Ralph Bates. A week and some days later, the April Springfield report of her return was echoed en-toto in an Eau Claire newspaper. A week later Moffett was again noted among officers of the World Unity Council while she visiting in Rochester, New York. In June the Moffetts celebrated their wedding anniversary with the Bahá'ís in Geneva, Switzerland.

In Star of the West Moffett began to writing about her stay in the Holy Land. She starts out not speaking of it as a pilgrimage perse but of being there: "We find in this little strip of land, no longer than from Albany to New York City, the Bridge of Sighs of history. It is the bridge between the north and the south, the connecting link between the east and west. It is the footstool of kings, the keynote of empires, the battlefield whose soil is stained with the blood of wars innumerable, and it is the home of outlaws, the shrine of martyrs, saints and Prophets by the score.” She marks the subjugation of Israel from 731BC to recent times. Several times she refers to the new British Mandate period improving things though mostly by each segregated people improving their own lots, save that of the Moslems. She draws out the pattern of Shrines and the religious impulse that tended towards separation, albeit by conservative and progressive tendencies. She mentions a conversation with the president of the Constantinople Woman’s College in a very progressive voice dismissing Islam and admiration to the people of the United States, but being rabidly against proselytizing. Then she turns her attention to the Sea of Galilee and Mt. Carmel. “When bathed in sunshine and inhaling the freedom of the pure open spaces, and with face turned heavenward, one instinctively replies ‘Yes, Lord, I will follow Thee too.’” For Mt. Carmel she draw out a history of repeated movements of religion and war and eventually the arrival of Bahá’u’lláh who “sat neath the clump of cedars on the mountain side, praying perhaps for peace and quickening of the world” and then turning to the Shrine of the Báb and that of 'Abdu’l-Bahá. She closes drawing an image of all being drawn to the Holy Land to form one river of humanity and the words of 'Abdu’l-Bahá and then Isaiah.

In October Moffett returned to Champaign, Illinois, for a talk on prejudice; racial prejudice, national prejudice, and prejudice of age, before the Urbana Woman's Club - also on the program was fellow Bahá'í Mrs. Jakob Kunz, wife of academic and inventor, Jakob Kunz. A few months later another article by her furthers the topic of prayer in "Dynamics of prayer" amidst remarks on Neanderthal religious practices and meeting Shoghi Effendi.

1930

As the Great Depression in the United States was beginning to unfold Moffett was among the speakers invited for a conference on assembly cooperation held in Lansing, Michigan, September 15 with 34 attending, just ahead of the October founding vision of Louhelen Bahá'í School. By November Moffett was home in Chicago and giving a talk at the Chrysolite Club.

1931 tour

In mid-January 1931 Moffett was noted giving a talk "I go to the Father that He may come" while guest of Mrs. Helen Raab, at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Milwaukee. This was followed by another in early February in Hammond, Indiana, where her talk was mentioned amidst a review of the program - "forces working for disharmony to bring on future wars” vs forces like the League of Nations and the World Court - at the Hammond High School Woman’s Club meeting. Bahá'í reports show these two were part of a larger tour including talks in Milwaukee, Chicago, Urbana, Racine and in New York state and among these places her talks were in colleges, women’s clubs and before religious groups. In April a series of speakers went to Denver and the surrounding area - Moffett followed Mrs. Beaula Lewis with a 19 day stay giving classes and open talks. Denver, like other some of these other cities in the US, had had a long history in the Faith. The idea of an intensive series of presentations was apparently pioneered first by Orcella Rexford as early as 1927 and the term "teaching campaign" eventually was used. In mid-June newspaper coverage of a talk of hers in Racine mentioned her first talk on the Sphinx. She was noted again in later June at a meeting on principles. By early July Moffett was with Corrine True and Esther Harding giving talks in Racine. In late July Moffett was in Madison giving a talk on "Architecture and Symbols of Great Temples", which she gave again a couple days later in Eau Claire amidst a short series of talks, while coverage of her talk in Madison was catching up.

An autobiographical article was published in Star of the West in August, followed by her appearance again in Eau Claire and again on the Sphinx, introduced by Laura Olsen, followed by a talk on success. In September a poem of Moffett's was published in Star of the West. After leaving Eau Claire somewhere in August by late September she was in Cincinnati, Ohio, again starting her series of talks with the Sphinx and the "Cause of the Rise and Fall of Civilizations" and efforts there generally energized the Bahá'í community.

In November Moffett was back in Chicago and visible hosting a meeting of the Ken-More club, while in late November Moffett gave another talk in Racine: “Can human nature change?" She was also among speakers at Kenosha for a series of public meetings.

Racine early 1932

In early January Moffett returned to Racine giving a talk on “Religion of Tomorrow", and this series of talks that were mentioned in local newspapers amidst the worsening Depression: “Poverty amidst plenty and its solution" "Mussolini and the Vatican" again on the Sphinx, ”New proofs of life after death" and "What is the meaning of the baptism of Christ?" and then amidst birthday parties she was a guest of Drs. A. L. and E. L. Morris for her talks on the “New Scientific study of the body filled with light" and "Exoteric and Esoteric values". Then her topics continued "How to think" and "Seven churches of Revelation" and then she was invited to spend two more weeks continuing her series of talks. They began with ”The relationship of body, mind, soul, and spirit", "The coming of the Glory of God", “Scientific thinking and how to develop capacity", "What it means to be a Baha'i", "What is the truth and was is reality", and then a reception with Robert was offered by Mrs. Irving Hanson at which Moffett offered two more talks now in early February: "What the Bahai (sic) movement means to the world …", "The meaning of the Trinity, followed by another reception a couple days later with more talks “On the magic carpet from the Holy Land to the Universal House of Worship", "The economic problem", "New demands of religion", followed by both Ruth and Robert giving talks on the "Last Will of Abdu'l-Baha" and on "The economic problem" on radio WRJN. 150 people attended the last reception for the Moffetts. It was reported 31 people joined the Faith during this series. Coverage in Eau Claire related that she had had 63 talks as part of the series, went back home to Chicago, and that she had begun using charts and laying out an interpretation of the Book of Revelation and the relationship of the body, mind, soul, and spirit.

1932 away and back to Racine

About a week later Moffett was in Cincinnati again and gave an initial talk again on the "Mysteries of the Sphinx and Pyramids". After three weeks it was publicized that Moffett spoke as part of an Inter-Racial Amity meeting entitled ‘The Great New Mosaic" held by the Bahá'ís in Chicago, just after she was in Champaign again. A week later Moffett brought that talk back to Racine in mid-April, along with others: "Are you fair mined", "What can regenerate mankind…", "What is the cause of our difficulties", "Nine great laws of life" "Proof of the prophethood of Baha'u'llah", and "Outlook on the present economic problem", during which she was again a guest of Drs. A. L. and E. L. Morris. During reports for the national convention in later April Moffett praised using charts as a visual aid when presenting the religion.

In mid-June Moffett began a series of talks and meetings in Milwaukee starting with the Sphinx, and was summarized referring to religious figures Adam, Buddha, Christ, Mohammed, and Melchizedek. July opened with a series of titles listed as - “Is there wisdom in our calamities?”, ”What is the origin of man?”, “Is there a prophet for the new day?”, “Can the problem of unemployment be solved?”. A week later there were more with a story hour, and in another week another.

In mid-July Moffett officiated at the Bahá'í wedding of Grace Johnsen and Albert Terpoorter in Milwaukee which made news in town as well as farther places in the state. Meanwhile news was spreading on the death of Bahíyyih Khánum July 15, 1932. A letter by Shoghi Effendi referring to Moffett's work in Milwaukee and noted the period of memorial efforts of the Bahá'ís in her name. Moffett was visible a week later in Milwaukee.

During 1932 Moffett was among a list of speakers at the House of Worship, Moffett's next visibility so far identified in newspapers was of an illustrated talk on the Holy Land in August in Milwaukee. After that the next known was in late October in Racine on the problems of the world. Then a few days later titles of talks she gave in Racine were "The mystic road to God", "The new interpretation of the parable of the prodigal son", then "Have the outstanding prophecies of the world been fulfilled?", "After death, what?", and more talks mid-November, such as on "The Oath of Mohammad to the followers of the Nazarene" and "What it means to be an apostle of Baha'u'llah" and then joined by Zia Baghdadi in giving a talk.. A couple days later Moffett was on radio WRJN talking on "Lessons from my trip to the Holy Land", “Feed both body and mind", and "Can science and religion be harmonized?", which seems to have closed out the year's efforts.

California, Arizona, Missouri and back

Then Moffett embarked on a wider tour. In late February Moffett was in Ann Arbor, Michigan for a presentation "How can one destinguish the real teacher of humanity". In mid-March 1933 she was in Los Angeles for a series of talks. Among the titles were “New model of the universe" and "Diving art of living", a title of a compilation published independently a decade later, The early content originally appeared in successive issues of World Order magazine from April 1940 to September 1941 and was then reprinted and revised in a single volume in many times, In April a play Moffett wrote was of someone visiting the Bahá'í House of Worship and published in Star of the West. Meanwhile she continued her talk series in Los Angeles, and moved on to San Diego at the studio of Mary Bell Williams with a talk "Practicability of Universal Peace". News of her work in Los Angeles was attractive to the assembly in Phoenix who tried to get her to come out, which she did in April, and on radio KTAR. By the end of April she was back in Milwaukee with a talk "The Prophet of a new Day and His new principles to the world".

More than a month later, by later June, Moffett was again in the news in Milwaukee with a talk, and again in July with one entitled “Christianity fulfilled”. In September Moffet’s compilation on prayer was approved for publishing. In October Moffett gave sessions at the Summer Louhelen School with her charts. Moffett's talk "History of the world written in the heavens" was held at the Kansas City Athenaeum in Missouri in early November, followed by the reception and talk "The Bahai(sic) Temple, America's most unique Architecture". A month later in mid-December Moffett offered a talk in Milwaukee based on her book "The Dynamics of Prayer".

In January 1934 Moffett was back in Milwaukee, and then a talk at the funeral of Henry Blankenbicker was held a couple days later. In late January a talk by Moffett was advertised in the African-American Chicago Defender. The community reported on Moffett's work in Milwaukee as the Bahá'í year drew to a close. Nevertheless Moffett returned for a talk "The new meaning of Easter" at the end of March. In June Moffett gave a talk "The source of spiritual power in the world today". and her compilation was released for sale in July. That July she was thanked for a tour she did covering Kansas City, Topeka, and South Bend, Kansas. By the time that came out she was in Lansing, Michigan, for talks entitled "The Holy Land of today" and "The new outlook on world affairs". Though the dates remain uncertain, it is stated that Moffett had also visited Springfield, Illinois by 1934. Then Moffett was part of a series of talks in Milwaukee in August, and an article "Lessons from the Baha'i Temple" was published in World Order in August. She continued in Milwaukee in September,

Publishing articles then tours

The Moffetts then began a campaign of writing articles that would appear in World Order. Robert contributed an article in December, and Ruth wrote "Through the eyes of a great sculptor" in January, 1935. That was followed by another about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's meeting with Jane Addams. While the last of the articles was being published Moffett gave talks at the Bahá'í Temple in March. and was at the national convention. In May Moffett gave the talk "What will be the new world order?” in Milwaukee, then July, and again in August. From May 1934 to April 1935 the Moffetts had toured for talks including 8 cities in Illinois and Wisconsin, with 187 by Ruth and 34 by Robert, and the efforts were reported to the national teaching committee. Moffett's talks in Milwaukee returned in September. In December Moffett spoke at Hotel Schroeder.

1936-7

Moffett returned to Racine in January 1936 with a talk “The Greater Sovereign" and the published profile noted she had run a school for 26 years. The next published event was for a talk "The coming world state" in February. Moffett's talk “New spiritual renaissance" in Racine was noted along with a longer profile of her being a secretary of an international relations committee of the Federation of Women's Clubs for 1930-1933, while in another in mid-March noted she had been a student of Oberlin College, attended the University of Geneva, Chicago's Northwestern University, and that she was going to be on radio WRJN. Moffett's talk “What is the outlook…" and being quoted some in the newspaper was published in later March, followed by a return to radio WRJN in Racine. She mentioned meeting Amelia Earhart. Earhart was in Madison very recently. Moffett gave a talk on the non-partisan and international issues perspectives of the religion for League of Women Voters in early April in Racine. Then she appeared on radio WEMP. She gave the talk "the key to world unity" at a church, and then again at the Bahá'í Center in Racine. Moffett was again visible a week later appearing with Carl Scheffler, and again on her own in May.

In later May Moffett offered a talk mentioned in the Chicago Defender. Then Moffett embarked in a new direction - going north to Green Bay, Wisconsin, in June, which was the beginning of a series - her next talk was "Power behind this changing world", followed by "Life after Death". and a talk about the House of Worship, while Robert graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelors of Science in dentistry. By this time Moffett had decided on a pattern of a week or two of intensive presentations, a break for folks to settle how to do things of their own accord, and then return to galvanize further action. After a break in July Moffett was giving a talk with old friend Dr E. L. Morris at a picnic in Milwaukee in August, and then again on "Governmental unfoldment of world civilization". In September Moffett offered a talk advertised in the Chicago Defender. At the end of September Moffett's series resumed in Green Bay, which continued into October. Her talk “World of tomorrow" was briefly profiled, And on return home Moffett was elected as one of 8 delegates from the Chicago community to following national convention. The activity around Green Bay with Margaret Reimer was centered on a then single isolated Bahá'í but through this period a study class of 20 students had formed.

That December Moffett began in Fremont, Ohio, where she was a guest of Mrs. W. B. Cooper and gave her talk on the pyramids. A couple weeks later she was in Racine for the talk "New spirit of Christmas" and mentioning her European travels. In January 1937 Moffett was giving a talk "Peace, religion, and the new world order" in Kansas City that was part of a tour across Kansas and Missouri for 24 days with study groups formed in Springfield and radio talks. By March Moffett was in Columbus, Ohio, and then in Milwaukee in April. In May she was in Racine for a talk "The world embracing scope of Bahai(sic) Revelation", and "The fountain of joy". Very quickly she was then back in Green Bay hosted by Otto and Mrs. Hayden. Moffett's article about 'Abdu'l-Bahá meeting Jane Addams was reprinted in the 1937 edition of Bahá'í World. Baker also largely wrote the text The Path to God while visiting Moffett and published in 1937.

Coverage of her talk in Maywood, Illinois, in early September mentioned she had attended the School of Foreign Affairs at Geneva. She continued in the area giving further talks into mid-September. In early October she was in Milwaukee with the talk "The path to perfection", and was in Racine a week later. By October Moffett felt that her particular niche of intensive teaching programs was best suited to educated or intellectually-minded people. That being said, in early November Moffett had still planned to go to Wyoming amidst two small towns. However she had to cancel a week of talks in Laramie because of illness. By December she also contributed a recorded talk that could be used for radio broadcasts "How to overcome our difficulties”.

West and South and back

Moffett returned to Maywood, Illinois, in January 1938 for a talk "The New year and its opportunities…" followed by Monroe Ioas, and was remembered for her previous trip in September. In February Moffet began a month in Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming, resulting in study group in Laramie and a series of talks in Cheyenne. By mid-March Moffett was back in Milwaukee for the talk "The new world order: what will it be?" and a series of talks, and on radio WEMP. She presented again a week later. Across April Moffett was giving talks among 11 states and 50 cities and 25 universities across the South - some of them were: New Orleans, Louisiana, Mobile, Fairhope, Birmingham, and Teladega, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, Chattanooga, Nashville, Tennessee, and Camner, Kentucky. She was back in Milwaukee in early May with the talk "The world has a guardian", and "From self to God" in later May. After another break in coverage for June Moffett was visible back in Milwaukee for a talk at a picnic in late July.

In August Moffett was in Eagle River, Wisconsin, for a series of 42 talks, one study class of 25 people, and then went on to other talks in Ohio and Pennsylvania in October with 5 study groups. In Eagle River they were set to form an Assembly. Then she was on to the Ohio-Pennsylvania area where give study groups formed. Moffett was back in Green Bay by early December. This was, of course, part of a series with talks like ”From Chaos to Cosmos", "The new authentic interpretation of the Book of Revelation", and "Mysteries of the Sphinx and Great Pyramid". Approaching mid-December there were two study groups coordinated by four local Bahá'ís.

Itinerant

After not being visible in January, Moffett gave the talk "Pattern for New World Order" in Detroit, Michigan, approaching mid-February. A study group of 22 was started in Independence, Iowa, with Moffett's help before April, where the Moffetts were listed as homefront pioneering. By mid-April Moffett gave the talk “The exalted Easter" in Milwaukee. and then "The King of kings - the Lord of hosts". Robert had earned a degree from the College of Medicine in Maywood., while Moffett under took a trip after the national convention to spend 3 days in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in May from which a 19 member study group formed. Then she was 9 days in Danville, Illinois, in June with 19 lectures and 2 study groups forming. Then she was in Kalamazoo, Michigan, for 17 days for 33 lectures and a picnic with 10 Bahá'ís and 24 others, and 15 of which joined in a study class. Then she was 3 days in Grand Rapids in early June. After July, Moffett was next visible in Des Mouise, Iowa, in early August, including a talk "The Greater Holy Land" at a YMCA. By September she was back to Eagle River for a youth group of 12, and then giving talks in Independence, Waterloo, and Des Moines, Iowa. In mid-September Moffett donated a copy of John Esslemont's book “Baha'u'llah and the New Era" to the Rhinelander, Wisconsin, Library. After a break in October her next newspaper coverage was in Milwaukee for a talk "The divine plan for a confused world", and then was back in Maywood by later November. Back in Independence, Iowa, Moffet was opposed by two ministers, and then she traveled to Waterloo with radio broadcasts and talks at Cedar Falls at the State College. In December Moffett gave classes in Des Moines, Iowa.

In late January 1940 Moffett was in Racine, with a Mr. Reimer and joined William and Margarite Sears in Salt Lake City February 18 to March 28 with 57 talks, a Temple display, radio presentations via Sears, forming a study class of 25 people and enrolled at least 9 into the religion plus a youth group. With Moffett’s work, there was also a declarant in Independence, Iowa, reaching 6, plus the Worthingtons of Fort Wayne, Indiana. In early April she was in Omaha, Nebraska, giving a talk on the Bahá'í Temple. The 1940 Census done in April has Ruth noted she had gone to college 4 years, while Robert had gone 2. They were listed living in Chicago where he was employed as a salesman for an educational course working every week of the year in 1939, and in particular 70 hrs in the final week of March, 1940. She was not employed as such. No children were living with them in 1940. In later July Moffett was in Milwaukee. In September Moffett was part of a team with Horace Holly, Virginia Camelon, Dorothy Baker, and Louis Gregory for a meeting in Milwaukee. Moffett was mentioned again in Milwaukee two weeks later. In October Moffett was set to give a talk in Lima, Ohio, called "Patterns for a New World" at the Men's club and successively each Wednesday in the Bahá'í Center. In November she was in Antioch, Illinois, at the American Legion Hall. And in December she was in Champaign, and then Maywood. By January 1941 Moffett had enlisted Mabel Ives in the method of intensive campaign with a nightly series of talks and classes.

There was a comment that Shoghi Effendi had directed her attention to Iowa in May and June 1941 - she went to Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, and Independence. This was part of a coordinated work with followup after Moffett by Annie Romer and then Mabel Ives by October 1942. After that Moffett was in South Dakota - Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Deadwood, and Lead, giving radio talks and public lectures. In June she was making dire predictions of 1957 when interviewed for a newspaper story in Waterloo. General talk about prophecies followed in August in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and at Green Acre. In September Moffett was in Yonkers, New York, and a couple days later in Wilmington, Delaware. At the end of that there was given a reception and send-off for her going to Washington DC in early October, though just days later she stopped in Champaign, on her way to Dayton, Ohio, where her talk “The Destiny of America" was given. The next month Moffett was scheduled in Davenport, Iowa, where she was across the latter half of November.

In January 1942 Moffett gave a four lecture series at the Hotel Allison in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In the February 1942 edition of Baha'i Youth Moffett wrote an article on "The Guardian”.

The Carolinas and beyond

On her second foray into the South Moffett began appearing in Greensboro, North Carolina, in March 1942, though according to her report of activities she arrived in February. Moffett's arrival mid-February including mention of a blizzard which happened March 2-3. March 6 Moffet spoke on Guilford College campus, and the series of talks carried on through much of March. March 18 in the afternoon Moffett talked at the HBCU the Palmer Memorial Institute and her talk was summarized along the lines of stating we are on the threshold of a new era when war and discrimination would be eliminated and freedom to explore our talents. The architectural symbolism of the Bahá'í Temple was also reviewed. Moffett was introduced by Amy Bailey and the glee club sang "Follow the Gleam". There was a trip to Columbia, South Carolina, around March 21. Locals Louise H. and Joseph J. Sawyer hosted a reception at their home for Moffett on her return on March 29. There Moffett spoke to an audience of 14 on “Looking at prayers through the windows of science”. Again there were many talks and radio presentations this time on radio WGBG and a study group of 17 formed. After the national convention Moffett went to St. Louis, Missouri, Topeka, Kansas, and a conference in Cheaha Park, Alabama, with 49 participants - twice the earlier Vodel Park conference (see Terah Cowart Smith) - with Virginia Camelon perhaps in May or July. Meanwhile Moffett was an alternate delegate for the 1942 national convention representing the Ken-More club for Federated Women's Club of Illinois. Moffett then went back to Greensboro, North Carolina, and Wilmington, Delaware, in the summer of 1942 among 16 other places being coordinated by the National Teaching Committee. The committee was trying to de-emphasize the reliance on a few people for intensive campaigns and encouraged homefront pioneers however maintaining placements for a few years was a challenge. From August 24 to September 4 Moffett offered a class "Essentials of the Baha'i Faith" at Green Acre followed by "Prophecy Fulfilled in this day." Then in September she stopped in Brattleboro, Vermont, and started a study class and went on to Wilmington, Delaware, in October. There she gave the talk "Unity of the Nations" for a Quota Club and others. From there Moffett went to a regional conference in Greenville, South Carolina, joining Stanwood Cobb and also was on radio WFBC, and gave a review of the House of Worship. Some felt that the forward mention of integration over the local Jim Crow laws by Moffett drove some whites away and may have attracted the attention of the FBI. In December Moffett went back to Wilmington, Delaware, Greensboro, North Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia, across some 2 months mediated by the National Teaching Committee among an additional 12 traveling teachers. She was in Augusta, Georgia, from late November through early February 1943. She was among 22 other traveling teachers being coordinated across US by spring 1943 and continued in the Augusta area in March.

Back north

Moffett offered an illustrated talk at an auditorium in Washington DC in April 1943, which began a series of monthly appearances save June. Then in later September she appeared in Green Bay, and nearby Oshkosh, before returning to Milwaukee in early October, and then in Racine, back to Milwaukee, Madison, and back to Green Bay in early November. In late November she appeared in Waterloo, Iowa, and in mid-December she was in Detroit.

Apparently taking a break in January, in February 1944 she gave the talk "Trends towards world unity" as part of a series in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. and donated books to the local library.

After another break in coverage in March, in early April Moffett gave a talk in Wilmington, Delaware, and Milwaukee in June after quiet in May. She probably attended the centennial conference of the Americas for the Declaration of the Bab and the national convention. The following late August to September class offered by Moffett was "The Oneness of Mankind" at Green Acre. Probably near then but of uncertain date, Moffett was noted in Brattleboro, Vermont, for a week of meetings in the afternoon and the evening plus on radio WKNE. In September Moffett spoke in Boston, and back to Green Acre by mid-September. In late September she was in Greenfield, Maine. Closing out the year from later October Moffett was in Omaha, Nebraska, and then across November in towns of Ohio - Toledo, Findlay, Urbana, and Lakewood - and back to Milwaukee in later November.

Moffett's article on the appreciations by leaders of thought on the Bahá'í Faith was published in The Baha’i World volume 8. A poem she wrote while on pilgrimage was published in 1945 in volume 9 of The Bahá'í World. In April she gave the talk “Aspects in social living" in New York city. In later spring/early summer 1944 Moffett spent 10 days in Madison, Wisconsin, at meetings and on the radio, at the university and sometime during the year at Wauwatosa. Many months pass by before she was specifically heard of again - in mid-May she was giving a talk in Milwaukee, and again in mid-September. In between she spent some two weeks of July at the Geyserville Bahá'í School.

In later October Moffett was back in Augusta, Georgia, with a Bahá'í study class and talks and observing the Birth of the Báb.

In the spring the National Teaching Committee arranged for Moffett to go through nine New Jersey cities. Then she was sent to Michigan, Iowa, and Missouri, and then over to San Francisco and back to Reno, Nevada, and then returned to several cities in Missouri. She was in Missouri again in later May, 1945. On this return to St. Louis logistics for a speaking Hall fell through and a room was rented in a Studio Building in June which resulted in the first "Bahá'í Library" of St. Louis.

Canada and back

After a seeming break for the summer, and facing resistance on Prince Edward Island, Canada, the national assembly sent Ruth Moffett there. From October 15 to February 15, 1946, Moffett gave 81 talks, 189 classes and 14 broadcasts in Charlottetown, where she often spoke to students at the Prince of Wales College. In Charlottetown she led classed under the local assembly and weekly meetings in the Queen Hotel and in homes, general radio programs and a special Naw Ruz event. Though her work was praised it did not yield many local converts and it was commented that the island's inhabitants were "singularly insular—conservative to the last degree". Between and among these meeting Moffett was also in Moncton, Canada to the west, February 16 to March 6 for 19 lectures, 24 class meetings and 3 broadcasts plus other meetings. The Moncton community had been established circa 1937-8. Then from March 9 to 25 Moffett gave 33 lectures and classes and 2 broadcasts in Halifax, Nova Scotia with that Naw Ruz event back in Charlottetown. Moffett then returned to Charlottetown March 25 to April 5. After apparently being away from giving talks in April through May, in late June Moffet was giving a talk back to Milwaukee. In July Moffett reached Manchester and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After a break in known talks for August and September, in mid-October she was at a Federated Women's Clubs meeting in Council Bluffs, Iowa and Omaha, Nebraska the few couple weeks, and then appeared in late December in Racine.

In late January 26 to February 6 1947 Moffett was in Toledo, Ohio. Though the date is not stated, Baker attributed to Moffett introducing the religion to Findlay, Ohio, to the south in 1947 as well. She went on to Columbia, South Carolina in March. In earlier March Moffett gave a presentation in Columbia, South Carolina about the Bahá'í Temple, though overall her work lasted four weeks, which generated interest of a few people to sustained study. In Mid-April a talk of Moffett's in Montreal was profiled in the local news, then she was in Milwaukee mid-May, Kansas City, Missouri, in mid-June, and back in Moncton Canada, before July. In mid-July Moffett was in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a Bahá'í conference she directed, and then was part of an interracial meeting and panel. In August Moffett was in Omaha, Nebraska, and in Waterloo in later October. and then interviewed in Iowa City, Iowa, and back to Waterlook mid-November. 1947 closes out with Moffett giving a talk in early December in Louisville, Kentucky.

1948 opens with Moffett giving a talk in Cleveland, Ohio, and then back in Louisville, Kentucky, in early February where she gave some two weeks of talks. Less than a week later Moffett was giving a talk "God's new Witness" in Milwaukee.

Louisville, Kentucky and back

In late February Moffett was Racine. The National Teaching Committee then sent Moffett “on one of the most difficult assignments, [back] to Louisville, Kentucky.” January 9 to February 18. Along with three pioneers and a few local Bahá'ís they held a seminar in the Brown Hotel - 63 lectures, 54 classes, 36 interviews, 18 luncheons and teas including 9 non-Bahá'í organizations and one at the "negro" YMCA - a first in interracial meeting for many who attended. There was radio coverage on WGRC. Following the general work Moffett arranged for a study course to July. The local assembly was elected. Moffett's picture was published in Bahá'í News in April 1948,

In early June Moffett was in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and visited Eau Claire in mid-June. The rest of the summer and fall are unknown until mid-December when Moffett is known to be with Sarah Pereira in Cleveland, Ohio. Some of that missing record of events Moffet may have spent in Charleston, West Virginia, Jackson, Mississippi, and Augusta, Georgia.

Cuba and back

Roughly the winter of 1948-9 and into the spring Moffett was among a small group to go to Cuba to promote the religion. This was during the Batista constitutional era. By the end of January Moffett was back in Jackson, Mississippi, which series of events continued into early February. In late March Moffett was speaking at the Hotel Richmond in Augusta, Georgia, which carried into early April. In early May Moffett was then in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Next Moffett was visible in early July after a break in coverage in June in Battle Creek, Michigan. and then in early September she was in Madison, Wisconsin, with a quick trip back to Chicago for a talk at the House of Worship in mid-September, before coming back where she was for an additional 12 days from September 21 on the University of Wisconsin campus at Madison. In later October Moffett talked in Milwaukee. By mid-November Moffett was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with a series that went on into early December.

There were plans for Moffett to go back to Cuba in 1950, and by May she was called a pioneer to Cuba. She came home briefly mid-May with a talk in Maywood, but was in Panama City among the many teachers to contribute to the first Latin American Institute. Moffett was living in Cienfuegos, Cuba, and persevered through a hurricane in October - possibly Hurricane Easy, or Hurricane King. It was her second extended visit to the area. Moffett returned to Madison and meetings were held on campus by December.

Latin America to Canada and back

By February 1951 Moffett was in Jamaica assisting Bahá'í meetings there. Around then she had a roommate while in Port Antonio, Kathleen Gale Bond, who was then a new Bahá'í. She gave 45 lectures in Kingston across 4 weeks coordinated and assisted by the local assembly. By May Moffett was working in Caracas, Venezuela, and Jamaica. Beyond Jamaica Moffett was also known in Colon, Panama, and Costa Rica and returning to Cuba and Jamaica by the end of August.

In early January 1952 Moffett spoke in Milwaukee, and in mid-January in Detroit for World Religion Day and a few other meetings. In early May Moffett again spoke in Milwaukee. In July a letter to youth by Moffett was shared at Louhelen Bahá'í School. Sometime in 1952 Moffett hosted Kathleen Gale Bond on her return to the States from Jamaica with whom they decided to visit the Bahá'í Temple and unexpectedly encountered her love interest at the entrance of the House of Worship and married him next year. In September Moffett was in Montreal.

In May, 1953, Moffett gave a talk in Maywood, on WTMJ in Milwaukee, and back to Maywood, where she returned in mid-September. In October Moffett was profiled as part of her talks and meetings in Maywood. In later October she was in Des Moines, one of the goal cities of raising the number of assemblies to 300 inside the US during the [{Ten Year Crusadde]]. In early November Moffett was in Williamsburg, Iowa, and then Iowa City, in late November. Between the Fall of 1953 and 1954 Christian Scientist Margaret Quance learned of the religion and Moffett's home was among those she frequented and enjoyed an interracial atmosphere before she joined the religion in October 1954.

In February, 1954, Moffett was back in Green Bay concluding a talk series, following which she was in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in mid-March through the end of March, both of which were on the list goal cities during the plan.

Second pilgrimage and more tours

Moffett wrote of her May 17 - September 17, 1954, pilgrimage which was published informally in Hawaii in the 1970s. She and Robert left from Chicago, flew to Europe stopping in Brussels, Belgium, then Athens and then finally Jappa outside of Tel-Aviv which she reported took 39 hours. She took a taxi the next day to Haifa where she joined with other pilgrims as the last pilgrim of the season according to her and joined in a reception being given by Ruhiyyih Khanum and Amelia Collins assisted by the pilgrims on May 20 for guests that included a governor, mayor, ambassadors, a number of Israeli officials and individuals from various walks of life. She compared the sight with her first pilgrimage: "Then there were barren rocks and thorny bushes, and only the beginnings of the nine terraced gardens, and the simple, unornamented, stone Shrine of the Bab, resting on the ninth terrace. Today, however, these gardens have been transformed into a fairyland of rare beauty," (which now included the golden-domed Shrine.) She visited other locations in Israel as well - the Weizmann Scientific Institute, and religious sites in Jerusalem. She observed the Declaration of the Báb and the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh before and after these trips. The Ascension observance was an all-night affair. She took notes of comments of Shoghi Effendi and others through June 1. She reported that her name she gained from Ruhiyyih Khanum had come at the suggestion of the Guardian and detailed that Robert, who had gone with Ruth, was given the name Habib. From June 2 she traveled through islands of the Mediterranean to Greece, on to Rome, to the island of Elba, then north to Switzerland in time for the Moffett's wedding anniversary, on to Zurich and other cities in Germany and Austria, connecting with Bahá'ís and communities along the way and catching the Solar eclipse of June 30, 1954, then Belgium and flying to London and a similar tour of Britain and joined in summer schools held there and also began to give talks. They visited Ireland and Scotland, and back via Canada, New York, other places, until returning to Chicago. During the years after the 1950s when the pilgrim notes were considered for publication, and not released until the early 1970s, there came to be unfiltered, uncited, inclusions of other's pilgrim notes in the resulting work.

Moffett rendered a chart of her understanding of world civilizations and prophets in 1954 which has been preserved. Des Moines was still on the list of goals to raise to assembly status in June.In November Moffett spoke about her world trip & pilgrimage in DeKalb, Illinois.

In January 1955 Moffett spoke in Kokomo, Indiana and a few events. In later February Moffett was with Ellsworth Blackwell for talks in Milwaukee, and then again on her own in St. Louis, Missouri, in mid-March. The Moffetts hosted the observance of the Martyrdom of the Báb in their home in July in Des Moines, In August Moffett spoke at Louhelen School, and in later September Moffett was back home in Des Moines. Moffett held a series of events in Quincy, Illinois, and an unnamed city, perhaps Hickory Grove, having 17 lectures, plus radio and tv coverage. In later November Moffett showed films and gave talks in St Cloud, Minnesota. January 1956 the Moffetts hosted World Religion Day at their home, and she spoked in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in later February. before going on to Fargo. But she was back in Sioux Falls again only to leave by early April. Moffett was mentioned next in Des Moines in later April going to the national convention. In a May review of the Davenport, Iowa, community Moffett was mentioned coming through in 1955-6 leading to the founding of the first spiritual assembly. In later June Moffett gave a talk in her home in Des Moines. In early December Moffett and Hugh Chance were elected delegates for the Des Moines area to the national Bahá'í convention. In February 1957 Moffett contributed to an adult and youth conference in Lakewood, Colorado. In March Moffett was back in Phoenix, and on to Tucson in late March, before going off to the national convention in later April. In August/early September Moffett spoke in Milwaukee. Moffett substituted for Robert Gaines giving a public program at Louhelen School during a homecoming weekend session overseen by the Africa Teaching Committee. In September 1957 Do’á: On Wings of Prayer, another Moffett compilation on prayer, was allowed to go out of print and not be available. In later October Moffett spoke for UN Day in Des Moines.

With the death of the Guardian in early November and for the rest of the year there is no sign of Moffett giving talks.

After the passing of the Guardian

After this hiatus Moffett gave a series of talks from early February through early March in El Paso, Texas. After a silence of activity in April, Mrs. Edward Darby was hosted by the Moffetts in Des Moines in late May. There was little of activity on the part of Moffett reported in the available newspapers for June into November of 1958. A question of the validity of the steps of prayer communicated from Shoghi Effendi to Moffett was vindicated and published in a supplement to the Baha'i News. Moffett was profiled in November's Oberlin College Alumni Magazine. Also in November Moffett gave talks for a local couple of associations: League of Women Voters, and the Soroptimist Club. In 1959 Moffett continued a much reduced presence at events. In mid-January 1959 Moffett talked at a World Religion Day observance in Waterloo. Ruth's husband Robert Lee Moffett died June 9. In August Moffett and Ellsworth Blackwell were among the faculty for the Southwestern Baha'i School held in Dallas, Texas. In February 1960 Moffett spoke of seeing the signing of the UN charter and her pilgrimages in Austin, Texas, and attended the national Bahá'í convention as a delegate with Hugh Chance. The 1960 edition of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine again had a brief listing of Moffett. Moffett talked in Nashua, New Hampshire, in August, and in Port Huron, Michigan, with a talk "The Baha'i Faith and the space age" in early September.

There is a gap in mentions of activity for Moffett from September through to June 1961. In later June Moffett was on a tour of Wisconsin when stopping in Eau Claire. She returned to Nashua in later August. From earlier November 1961 into 1952 Moffett's visible talks pick up activity though still with some gaps. In earlier November she was interviewed in Montreal. In January 1962 Moffett gave a series of talks in Fargo, North Dakota. In February Moffett was in Fort Myers, Florida, and then in Reno, Nevada, in mid-March. In April Moffett and Ruth Munson were delegates to the national convention. In later May into early June Moffett gave a series of talks in Milwaukee. including a talk for Race Unity Day. After a gap in July in early August Moffett gave a talk at the Bahá'í school in Frogmore, South Carolina, and in Greensboro. After a gap in September, Moffett gave a talk in Waupun, Wisconsin, entitled "Christ's great mission to mankind" in November.

The rest of the 1960s

January 1963 Moffett spoke in Lincoln, Nebraska, however after the recent burst of activity there is a gap in available events until October when Moffett was at the International Days at School of Mines in Rapid City, South Dakota. There is again a gap through the end of 1963. However the Des Moines community did reach assembly status during the Ten Year Crusade, and remains a functioning community as of 2022.

January, 1964, Moffett wrote a letter to the editor in Des Moines about the situation of the Bahá'ís in Morocco. A couple weeks later she was in Phoenix giving a talk for World Religion Day. A few months later in June she was back in Sioux Falls. The rest of 1964 is so far silent in the available record.

This limited appearances was also in 1965 - in late spring Moffett went through New Mexico, Arizona and Texas and amidst the trips spend some time with the Navajo Nation during which time 8 adults and a couple youth joined the religion. August 29 Moffett spoke in New Boston, New Hampshire, for the Gravity Research Foundation Institute.

There are no known appearances of Moffett in 1966.

January 1967 opened with Moffett giving a talk for the World Religion Day observance in Sioux City. She also had attended that national convention. It was not until July the Moffett next appeared when she gave a talk at the Milwaukee Bahá'í Center. Again skipping a few months it was in mid-October Moffett offered the talk “The turning point in world history" in Des Moines. The year closed with talks by Moffett reported in Sheboygan.

It was not until May 1968 Moffet next appears as part of a panel on human rights as part of the New Year observance in Des Moines. A following appearance for talks was in Muscatine, Iowa, the next week. Several months later in August Moffett was visible giving a talk in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. In later November Moffett was part of a Bahá'í delegation to offer the Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh to Mayor Thomas Urban in Des Moines. The year closed with Moffett contributing to the Winter School held in Fort Valley, Georgia.

January 1969 opened with Moffett giving presentations in Altanta, Georgia. In February Moffett gave a talk at USC Currell College. In May Moffett was part of some 15-ish Iowans attended the national Bahá'í convention, but she went as a delegate along with Richard Snyder. In July Moffett was part of a summer school meeting in Marietta, Georgia. In August Moffett gave some talks in Des Moines for Proclamation Week. In November Moffett was in Marshalltown, Iowa, for a Birth of Bahá'u'lláh observance with a film and talk.

The last several years

January 1970 opened with Moffett continuing her recent string of appearances this time in New Orleans, Louisiana, giving a talk for World Religion Day. In early February Moffett continued talks in Baton Rouge. After a few months Moffet appeared in June where she aided giving four days of meetings in Alamogordo, New Mexico. She was also part of the Bahá'í Caribbean Oceanic Conference.

From later 1971 Moffet began to only rarely make appearances - indeed initially she only appeared via an article she wrote called “'Abdu’l-Bahá’s Rose Bush” for the Baha’i News published in December 1971. She tells the story of the Baltimore Bahá'ís being disappointed about a visit planned for Him there and instead He sent a bouquet of roses that had been set out for Him to them from His talk in DC. Some kept them as pressed flowers but one Bahá'í planted four of them. One flower survived. Moffett learned of this from that Bahá'í in June 1945 and was given four cuttings of the bush and took one of them to her sister-in-law’s in Villa Park, Illinois, and it bloomed a few weeks later and it survived. After a time it grew and could be divided. It survived to the contribute to the 1953 International Conference for the dedication of the Bahá'í Temple. In April 1958 a cutting of the bush was planted at the Bahá'í Temple on the north side by a flowering crab apple. The talk 'Abdu’l-Bahá had given upon that occasion of sending the roses was roses are known by their qualities, and the quality of the love of God was in grades - that some stand at the gate and look, others come in an inhale but pass out, when a few remain and tend the garden.

In 1972 a copy of Moffett's chart of civilizations and prophets was shared to a few people and ultimately more widely shared. This was followed in 1973 with a republication of her Dynamics of Prayer. In January she spoked for the World Religion Day observance in Iowa City, Iowa. In September Moffett spoke at a national observance of the anniversary of the first mention of the words of Bahá’u'lláh in America as part of a week of activities referring to the Jessup presentation at the 1893 Congress of World Religions. From there she went to Las Cruces, New Mexico, for a presentation.

Presently there are no mentions of appearances of Moffett in 1974 through her death in 1978.

In 1977 Moffett's idea on the Book of Revelation was published as New keys to the Book of Revelation. In May Moffett was recalled among those who came back to the Kenosha community after 1925.

Moffett died July 5, 1978, in Des Moines.

Memorializations and review

In 1975 Moffet was noted in Iowa Bahá'í history now with nine assemblies: Ames, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Iowa City, Marshalltown, Waterloo, and Des Moines.

In December 1979 her activity in Cuba was remembered. In 1987 Moffett article on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visiting Hull House and Jane Addams was republished in Bahá'í News.

Moffet was listed as one of a few women who "single-handedly" established new communities by giving public lectures on then-popular topics and then inviting people to attend a series of classes on the religion.

Moffett's New Keys to the Book of Revelation, talks of hers relating to it dating at least from 1949, though considered an individual's point of view and one denying approaches like interpreting according to our understanding of the hearers/readers of the period or that say that the text was only symbolic, allowing contradictions, was a leading cause of a wave of interest in the Apocalypse among Bahá'ís. There was a subsequent reprinting of New Keys… in 1980 extending the sense of its popularity, if also marginal to the community in general. Moffett's class on these ideas directly inspired Roger Riggs on the subject, and it has been picked up by others. However New Keys... picked up at least some ideas based on poor translations.

In 1984 Du'a, on wings of prayer, Moffett's compilation and review of guidance about prayer, was reworked and published with the assistance of Kevin Brown.

See also

• Coverage of North Carolina in Bulletins of Regional Teaching Committees