MacNutt arrived in Chicago on August 8th. At ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s instructions, a feast was held on August 10, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. George Lesch, where the entire Chicago Bahá'í community was invited to be the guests of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. MacNutt delivered to the community ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s message of unity and love. The election was held the following day the 11th of August.

On Sunday evening, the 1rth of August, the Chicago Assembly selected a "Spiritual Meeling'' of nine, composed of men and women. whose service-according to the wish of Abdul-Ilahá -is, first, to propagate the teachings of the Revelation, and, second, to attend to other matters necessary lo the welfare of the assembly. [SoW Vol 3 No 9 20 August 1912 p16]

• To recapitulate His talk, `Abdu'l-Bahá emphasized the personal sacrifice of Northern whites for southern blacks in the course of the Civil War, and that African Americans (as the descendants of emancipated slaves) should therefore be grateful to whites in kind. In so saying, `Abdu'l-Bahá invoked history (or a certain view of it) in order to make history—by completing the unfinished work of the Emancipation Proclamation. ['Abdu'l-Bahá's 1912 Howard University Speech: A Civil War Myth for Interracial Emancipation by Dr Christopher Buck p134]
• See as well TMTW51.

As the ship that finally brought "'Abdu'l-Bahá to the shores of the American continent passed by the Statue of Liberty, He threw His arms wide open in greeting, saying "There is the new world's symbol of liberty and freedom. After being 40 years a prisoner I can tell you that freedom is not a matter of place. It is a condition. Unless one accept dire vicissitudes he will not attain. When one is released from the prison of self, that is indeed a release." ['Abdu'l-Bahá in Their Midst p.56; SYH54]

Shoghi Effendi's tribute is as follows:

"To ... President ... Woodrow Wilson, must be ascribed the unique honour, among the statesmen of any nation, whether of the East or of the West, of having voiced sentiments so akin to the principles animating the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, and of having more than any other world leader, contributed to the creation of the League of Nations—achievements which the pen of the Centre of God's Covenant acclaimed as signalizing the dawn of the Most Great Peace, whose sun, according to that same pen, must needs arise as the direct consequence of the enforcement of the laws of the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh." [CoF36]

• Talk given 2 May 1912 at the Chicago Plaza Hotel by Abdu'l-Bahá translated by John Walbridge
• Talk to Federation of Women's Clubs, Hotel La Salle, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP74]
• Talk at Bahá'í Women's Reception, Hotel La Salle, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP77]
• Talk at Hotel Plaza, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP78]
• Talk at Hotel Plaza, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP79]
• A funeral was held for Corrine True's son Davis. Two days later 'Abdu'l-Bahá went to the cemetery and prayed for Davis. [Luminous Journey 49:48, SYH67]

Mahmud has dated this visit to the Krug home at 14 July. [MD169-170]

He said in part:

When we review history from the beginning of human existence to the present age in which we live, it is evident all war and conflict, bloodshed and battle, every form of sedition has been due to some form of prejudice--whether religious, racial or national--to partisan bias and selfish prejudice of some sort. Even today we witness an upheaval in the Balkans, a war of religious prejudice. Some years ago when I was living in Rumelia, war broke out among the religious peoples. There was no attitude of justice or equity whatever amongst them. They pillaged the properties of each other, burning each others' homes and houses, slaughtering men, women and children, imagining that such warfare and bloodshed was the means of drawing near to God. This clearly proved that prejudice is a destroyer of the foundations of the world of humanity, whereas religion was meant to be the cause of fellowship and agreement. The Promulgation of Universal Peace p343

In this talk He made reference to the changing world order:
"Consider events in the Balkans today where a great conflagration of war is furiously raging and so much blood is being shed. Virtually the whole world of humanity is mourning and lamenting because of the revival of these calamitous conditions. Governments are in the process of change and transformation. The sovereignty of oriental nations is tottering; outcomes are wrapped in the greatest uncertainty."

'Abdu'l-Bahá visited the home of Miss Ethel Jenner Rosenberg for a Unity meeting at White Lodge, 8 Sunnyside, Wimbledon (since demolished). [ABL44-45, In the Footsteps of the Master p.9, SYH40]

• Three years prior she had spent 3 or 4 months (possibly 6 months) in 'Akka and Haifa gathering material for a book. During her stay she had the opportunity to observe both 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Bahá'í community at close quarters. The book, called Mountain of God, was published in 1911. World Order excerpted this book in a two-part serial in 1970. [Collins7.2476}
• She also wrote an article for the magazine Fortnightly Review. Excerpts from the article, impressions of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. can be found at the US Bahá'í site.

Juliet Thompson had been in Paris in 1899 and had been part of the nascent Bahá'í community there along with May Maxwell and Lua Getsinger. In addition, she had met 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 'Akká in 1909.

Given that the Balfour Declaration was not a unilateral document on behalf of the British but rather something which had been agreed upon privately by allied diplomats before it was issued, it is viewed as the beginning of a legal process, which involved the San Remo conference of 1920 where the Declaration was officially adopted by the allied powers and latter, the creation of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1922.

The implementation of the Declaration was not without its failings. It provided for the safeguarding of the rights of the residents of Palestine saying 'nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine'. In the run up to WWII that the British wanted to placate the Arab leadership in the Mandate. They issued a White Paper limiting Jewish immigration to the Mandate to fifteen thousand every year for five years, ultimately refusing entry to thousands of Jewish refugees from Europe, many of whom would tragically die in the Holocaust. [Wikipedia]