# Baha'is in the West *Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.* --- > Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Peter Smith, Baha'is in the West, Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 2004, bahai-library.com. > ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── > > , , > ' > > Studies in the Babi and Baha'i Religions > > V<)l.111\11,14 > > Edited by Peter Smith, l'h.l>. > Copyright© 2004 by Kalimat Press > All Rights Reserved > > First Edition > > Manufactured in the United States of Am.erica > > Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data > > Baha'is in the West/ edited by Peter Smith.--lst ed. > p. cm. - (Studies in the Babi and Baha'i religions ; v. 14) > > ISBN 1-890688-1 l-8 (pbk.) > l. Bahai Faith--History. I. Smith, Peter, 1947 Nov. 27- II. Series. > BP320.S78 vol. 14 > [BP330] > 297 .9 s-dc22 > 297.9/3/0918 2003023195 > > Kalimat Press > 1600 Sawtelle Boulevard, Suite 310 > Los Angeles, California 90025 > > www.kalimat.com > kalimatp@aol.com > > Copyr g'1tedma 1al > Contents > Foreword > Peter Smith > • > IX > > Surveys > The Baha.~iFaith in the West A Survey > Peter Smith > Esslemont's Survey of the Baha'i World. 1919-1920 > Moojan Mon1en > > Episodes > •Abdu'I-Bahain Budapest > GyorgyLederer > 10.2 > '"'ABit of ExtraneousMatter'': > The 1910Bahai Temple Unity Convention > and the Downfall of Henry ClaytonThompson > Jackson Armstrong-[11grartl > 1.22 > The Plans of Unified Action > Lani Bramson > ill > > Beginnings > Outpost of a WorldReligion: > The Baha'i Faith in Australia, 192()..1947 > Graham Hassall > The Circle, the Brotherhood,and the EcclesiasticalBody: > The Baha'i Faith in Denmark, 1925-1987 > Margit Warburg > The Baha'i Communityin E Jsn1aelValesco > > Copyrighted material > Foreword > ALL RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS emerge within a particular socio-cultural > context. For the most part, they remain within the social environment > of their birth. They grow or decline in proportion to their success in ar- > ticulating the cultural concerns of the society in which they are situ- > ated and in creating and channeling the enthusiasm of their adherents. > Some religious movements, however, transcend their culture of origin, > attracting followers from a variety of cultural backgrounds and per- > haps eventually establishing ftrm roots in a number of societies. The > resulting diversity entails a double existence for the religion in ques- > tion. If it is truly multicultural, it exists in a number of distinct local > cultural forms. At the same time, insofar as it retains its unity, it re- > mains a single transcultural movement. > The Baha'i Faith illustrates this multiple existence. Originating > within the context of nineteenth-century Iranian Shi'is~ it has long > since succeeded in transcending its culture of origin. Not only has it > gained a worldwide following, but it has developed in culturally di- > verse forms. Thus, in the most general terms, we may refer to Baba 'f > expansion as having taken place in three cultural-historical ''worlds": > the predominantly Iranian Shi'i world of the religion's origin; the > Western world (the subject of the present volume); and the Baha'i > ''Third World," from which most of its contemporary adherents are > drawn. Eacb of these three worlds has had its own distinctive forms > and chronologies of Baha'i expansion. > > Copyr g'1tedma 1al > x Foreword > > n > THERErsGOODREASONto see the multiform developmentof the Baha'i > Faith in the West as a single process. The West, here defined as Europe > and the culturally cognate territories of North America and the Pacific, > is an area of considerable cultural and historical unity. This is > grounded in part on the common inheritance of Judeo-Christian and > Greco-Roman culture and in part on more recent historical develop- > ments, such as European imperialism, industrial capitalism, and con- > sumer culture. Withinthis area, Baha'i expansionhas followed its own > distinctive pattern. Western Baha'i communities have come to share > many cultural characteristics with each other, both by dint of shared > patterns of Baha'i activity and by their common participation in the > Western-dominatedculture of modernity. > > III > > RECENT YEARS HAVE SEEN an impressive development in the academic > study of the Babi and Baha'i religions.As much of this work has been > by Western Baha'is, academic study itself represents an important as- > pect of Western Baha'i development. Important though this work has > been, there is still evidently much to be done in relation to the West. > We now have several excellent studies of the early American Baha'i > community. Apart from these studies, the period of 'Abdu'l-Baha's > visits to the West, and some very specific topics-such as the cultural > aspects of recent Baha'i conversions in the southern United States, > there is very little materialon the history and culture of the Baha'i Faith > in America. There are now detailed studies of only five other coun- > tries: Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, and New Zealand.As with > the American studies, much of this work remains unpublished. There > is next to nothing written about any other Westerncountry. In addition > to general historical studies, there are a number of biographies of > prominent Western Baha'is, but only a few of these are scholarly in > tone, and only a few leading WesternBaha'is have received serious at- > tention. > One general tendency in much of the work that has been produced > so far has been a concentrationon Western Baha'i history and culture > in its own context. This leaves a double lacunae. First, there is as yet > > Copyr g te Foreword xJ > > little research on the relationship between the Baba' i movem.ent in the > West and its environing societies and cultures. Nor is there any sys- > tematic study comparing Baha'i formation with other religious devel- > opments in the West. Second~ the relationship between the Baha 'is in > the West and the Baha'i Faith as a whole bas yet to be adequately stud- > ied. Clearly, Western Baha'is have played a major role in the diffusion > of the Faith outside the West, in the development of Baha'i adminis- > tration, and in the formulation of frameworks of belief and practice, > but the details of this role have yet to be delineated. > > IV > > Gooo SCHOLARSlirP INVOLVES both individual effort and a collective > endeavor. The progress of any scholarly field depends upon these two > elements. We are fortunate, then1 that both within the Baha'i commu- > nity (through the activities of the Association of Baha'i Studies, origi- > nally the Canadian Association for Studies on the Baha'i Faith > [1974-1981]) and independently (through the work of those associated > with the Lancaster (1977-1980], Cambridge (1978-1979), and Los An- > geles [1983-1985] Baha'i Studies seminars and their successors), a > growing network of scholarly communication and debate has devel- > oped. The appearance of publications such as the Studies in the Babi > and Baha'{ Religio,is series reflects this growth. This present volume > is a further contribution to the ongoing process of communication and > debate. > As to the papers themselves, the first essay provides a general > survey of Western Baha'i history as a whole (Peter Smith), and the sec- > ond essay studiesthe Baha'i world from 1919-1920 (J.E. Esslemont's > survey, edited by Moojan Momen). Studies of particular episodes in > the history of the Baha'i Faith in the West follow: Gyorgy Lederer ex- > amines the newspaper reports of 'Abdu'l-Baha's visit to Budapest in > 19J 3; Jackson Armstrong-Ingram looks at the Henry Clayton Thomp- > son episode of 19l O;and Loni Bramson studies the development of the > American "Plans of Unified Action." The final essays in the volume > investigate the beginnings of three national Baha'i communities: in > Denmark (Margit Warburg), in Australia (Graham Hassell), and in > Scotland (Ismael Valesco). > > Copyr g te xU Foreword > > V > > THE GESTATIONPERIOD of this book has been unduly long. Most of the > essays in this book were prepared for publication in 1988, but the proj- > ect was delayed. A few editorial changes have been made to the origi- > nal essays, but they remain essentially unchanged. I hope that readers > will find them relevant even after this lengthy passage of time. I would > like to thank the authors for their patience and cooperation in the > preparation of th.is work. My thanks are also due to the organizers of > the Los Angeles Baha'i History Conferences, at which several of the > following papers were ftrSt presented, and to K.alimat Press for its hard > work on the production of this volume. My thanks to Anthony A. Lee > for all his encouragement and perseverance during these years of wait• > ing, and most particularly to Ismael Velasco for his help in preparing > the book for final publication. > > PETER SMITH > Bangkok > January 2004 > > PETER SMITH,PH.D. is chairman of the Social Science Division and former > Deputy-Director for Academic Affairs at Mahidol University International > College. He teaches courses in World History, Social Theory, and Anthropology. > His publications include: The Babi and Baha'i Religions: From Messianic > Shi 'ism to a World Religion (Cambridge University Press, 1987) and A Concise > Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith (Oneworld, 2000). > ' ' > 'IS IN THE > n ground-breaking essays. eight scholars probe the early > I history of the Baha'i Faith in the West. In each case. this > original research widens and changes our 11nderstandingof > tl1osecrucial early years of development. > Peter Smith, in his sociological survey of the con- > ten1porary Baha'i ,vorld, undertakes an analysis of Baha'i > growth and expansion in Western countries. Moojan Momen > uncovers a similar analysis of the spread of the Faith written > by John Esslemont in 1920. Together tl1e two surveys > den1onstra1e the astonishing development of the Baha'i > comn1unityin the twe11tiethcentury. > Uncovering important episodes in early Baha'i history, > Gy0rgy Lederer i11vestigates 'Abdu'I-Baha's visit to > Budapest ( 1913). Jackson Armstro11g-lngraintakes a second > look at '"extraneous'' events at an American 11ationalBal1a'i > convention ( 1910), and Loni Bra111sondiscusses tl1e first > plans of Unified Action undertaken in the Baha'i ,vorld > ( 1926-1934). > The first acade111ictreatments of tl1e begi11ningsof the > Ba.ha'i Faith in three nations are also included: Graha,n > !·Iassail writes on Australia ( 1920-1947), Margit Warburg > researches the Denmark Baha' is ( I 925-1987), and lsn1ael > Valesco discusses the first Baha'i community in Scotland > ( 1946-1950). > Together these scholarly investigations provide us witl1 > new information and new visions to deepen our under- > standing of Baha'i history. > > CoverDesign:JudithLiggett > Cover Photo:EvaWcbs1crRussell,c. I 905, Chicago > Kalin1UtPress ISBN 1-890688-11-8 > 90000 > 1600 Sa\YtelleBoule,·ard.Suite3 I 0 > Los Angeles, Califom1a 90025 > \lv\\'\v.kal > imat.com > ISBN: 1-890688-l t-R > > — *Baha'is in the West (Used by permission of the curator)*