Visalia, California

Visalia
City in the United States
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History:
Firsts
 -  Local Assembly 1921 
How to contact:
 -  Phone 559-734-1359 
 -  Email visaliabahais@gmail.com 
 -  State California
 -  Country United States
Official Website https://www.visaliabahais.org/
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Visalia is a city in the state of California. It is the county seat of Tulare County, one of the most productive agricultural counties in the United States. A Bahá’í community was established in the city in the 1920s.

History[edit]

Hyde Dunn visited Visalia in 1912 (or 1914). He taught the Faith to Mary Elizabeth Steuben (known as Mollie Burland). She moved to the Bay Area of California and became a member of the Baha'i coummunity there. In 1917 she organized a visit to Visalia of Isabella D. Brittingham, who deliver talk in Municipal Auditorium. Grace Holley attended and accepted that Baha'u'llah is the return of Christ that same night.

The first Bahá’ís to live in Visalia were Harry and Grace Holley who were both graduates of Stanford University who settled in Visalia around 1905. A Local Spiritual Assembly was established in 1921 but lapsed in the mid thirties.[1]

Howard MacNutt visited Visalia in 1925 during a teaching trip across California holding five meetings to teach the Faith while in the city,[2] and a Local Spiritual Assembly was re-established that year.[3] In 1926 the Visalia Assembly sent one delegate to the National Convention of the Bahá’ís of North America,[4] and Albert Vail visited the city to teach the Faith at the request of the Assembly.[5] As of 1927 the Visalia Assembly was focusing on teaching young people and had begun holding weekly study groups for three different age groups of youth,[6] and that year the Assembly also published a booklet of prayers.[7]

In 1928 Ruhi Afnan and Orcella Rexford made teaching trips to Visalia,[8][9] and by 1929 the Visalia Bahá’í community, particularly Grace Holley, were participating in social service work across the San Joaquin Valley.[10] In 1930 Visalia was unable to send a delegate to the Bahá’í National Convention with the Assembly lapsing,[11] however Bahá’í activities continued with Visalia Bahá’ís participating on an Inter-Racial Amity district committee formed that year,[12] and the Assembly re-forming in 1931.[13]

In 1986 the Visalia Bahá’í community collaborated with other neighboring Bahá’í communities to sponsor local television commercials proclaiming the Faith.[14] In 1992 the Visalia community requested pioneers to increase the diversity of the community which at that time was predominantly Persian, and noted that there was a high amount of interest in the Bahá’í Faith from the Hmong community of the city,[15] and by 1993 the Visalia Assembly had lapsed.[16] It was reformed in 1998 and continues to the present (2026).

References[edit]

  1. ↑ https://www.visaliabahais.org/about
  2. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (May-June, 1925). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 5, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  3. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (September, 1925). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 7, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  4. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (February, 1926). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 10, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
  5. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (September, 1926). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 13, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  6. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (1927). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 16, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (1927). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 19, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (1928). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 22, Pg(s) 2. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (1928). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 23, Pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (1929). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 35, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ Baha'i News Letter (1930). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 40, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ Baha'i News (1931). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 47, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ The American Bahá’í (1986). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 17, Issue 4, pg(s) 17. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ The American Bahá’í (1992). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 23, Issue 12, pg(s) 8. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ The American Bahá’í (1993). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 24, Issue 8, pg(s) 3. View as PDF.
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