- 1909-03-22 —
On the same day as the interment of the sacred remains of the Báb on Mount Carmel the first American Bahá'í Convention opened in Chicago. [BFA2:XVII, 309; BW13:849; MBW142–3; SBBH1:146]
- It was held in the home of Corinne True. [CT82–3]
- It was attended by 39 delegates from 36 cities. [GPB262; SBBH1:146]
- The Convention established the 'Bahá'í Temple Unity', incorporated to hold title to the Temple property and to provide for its construction. A constitution was framed and an Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity elected. This body became the future National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada. [BBD39; BBRSM:106; BW10:179; GPB349; PP397; SBBH1:146] iiiii
- 1912-04-27 — The Bahá'í Temple Unity held the 4th annual meeting in Chicago. [SoW Vol 2 No 18 February 7, 1912 p8]
- 1912-04-30 —
Talk at Hull House, Chicago, Illinois where He spoke about racial unity. Hull House was a immigrant community centre, one of the earliest in Chicago, founded by Jane Addams of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. [PUP67, MD70; 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Historic Meeting with Jane Addams by Ruth Moffet]
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Talk at Fourth Annual Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Handel Hall, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP69, MD71]
- The NAACP's co-founder, writer and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois, was in correspondence with 'Abdu'l-Bahá and published His talk as well as His photo in the organization's magazine, The Crisis Vol. 4, No. 1 (May, 1912) pp14-16. [BWNS1310; Luminous Journey 45:04] iiiii
- The website for the current day on-line magazine and a collection can be found in the Smithsonian Museum.
- His talks in Chicago attracted such prominent Black people as Alain LeRoy Locke, Ida B. Wells and Robert Sengstacke Abbott, the founder of The Chicago Defender, the most influential Black newspaper. [Luminous Journey 45:26]
- See FMH152 for the story of Grace Ober inviting Dr. Du Bois and 60 others from an NAACP Convention in Pittsburg 6-10 July, 1931, to their tenement flat for tea.
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In the evening He greeted the closing session of the public meeting of the Bahá'í Temple Unity where more than a thousand people had gathered. After His address he donated 2,000 francs to the Temple Fund. The meeting was held in the Drill Hall, Masonic Temple, Chicago, Illinois.
[PUP65, SYH67]
- 1922-04-03 —
To the United States and Canada Shoghi Effendi sent a message to transform the 'Executive Board' into a legislative institution. [CB293; CT160; ER211-12; PP56]
- It had been functioning since 1909 concerned mostly with the construction of the Bahá'í House of Worship.
- This year the elected members of the Executive Board Bahá'í Temple Unity were: Mountfort Mills. Annie L. Parmerton. Bernard M. Jacobsen. Arthur S. Agnew. Corinne True. William H. Hoar. Joseph H. Hannen. Roy C. Wilhelm.
- He addressed his first letter to this body as the "National Spiritual Assembly of the United States" on December 23rd however in God Passes By pg333 he stated that the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States was not formed until 1925. [SETPE1p107, CT160, CoB293]
- 1922-04-25 —
A National Spiritual Assembly was elected in the United States to replace the Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity. [SBR94]
- The difference between this body and its forerunner was little more than a change in name. [DP122]
- The conversion of the Bahá'í Temple Unity into the National Spiritual Assembly took four years; it was not until 1925 that Shoghi Effendi recognized the American national body as a National Spiritual Assembly. [CT161; DP121-2; GPB333]
- The election procedures followed that were used this period were not the current Bahá'í procedure: there was electioneering and candidates were nominated with a straw poll taken to trim the number of eligible candidates. [CT160; DP122]
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