The Bahá'í Faith in the Triad - Greensboro, NC

The Bahá'í Faith was founded in the 19th century in what was then called Persia. The simplest description might be what Bahá'ís call the "three onenesses":

The oneness of God - God is the one imperishable, uncreated Being with whom the heart of people is connected.
The oneness of humanity - "Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch."
The oneness of religion - Bahá'u'lláh, the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, claimed to be the most recent, but not the last, in a series of divine educators which include Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, and others, all as Messengers.

History

The beginning narrative history of the Bahá'í Faith begins in 1844, a time fraught with fervor and difficulty. Newspaper coverage begins the very next year - 1845 and progressively more widely in the 1850s working it's way from Europe to America and beyond. Echoes of the 1850 mentions occur in Raleigh and Wilmington.^(A)Indeed various early references exist.^(B) The first fuller expression of the beliefs of the religion arrived during the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 and the first United States citizen joined the religion just a couple years later –Thornton Chase. He was a Civil War Veteran who was second in command of Company K of the Twenty-sixth United States Colored Troops. The first black American Bahá'í was Robert Turner in 1898. In 1907 the Chicago Bahá'í Assembly incorporated, becoming the first local Bahá'í community in the world to acquire legal status. The American Bahá'í community, then numbering about a thousand members, began to build the first Bahá'í House of Worship in the West on the shores of Lake Michigan.⁽¹⁾

The first Bahá'ís related to North Carolina were women from multiple ethnic backgrounds - European and African descents - and each had direct contact with `Abdu'l-Bahá who was then head of the religion: Sarah Jane Farmer, Pauline Knobloch Hannen and Pocahontas Kay Grizzard Pope. The very first was probably Sarah Jane Farmer who wintered in NC in 1902-3 at her aunt's two years after she visited the Holy Land and became a Bahá'í.^(1a) She set up Green Acre for religions to meet and people to organize for peace. Another early contact was Pauline (Knobloch) Hannen, born in Washington DC and raised in Wilmington, she became a Bahá’í in DC in 1902, and was quickly followed by her family. Through them the DC community quickly became an interracial one starting with Pocahontas Pope who learned of the religion thanks to Pauline.⁽²⁾ Pope was from Halifax and her husband's family was from Raleigh. She and her husband left NC after some 15 years of service to rural black schools in the east of the State in 1898, became leading figures of black society in DC, and she joined the religion in 1906.^(2c) Meanwhile the son of a North Carolina man was the first Bahá'í in South Carolina - his name was Alfonzo Twine.⁽²⁾ He learned of the religion from Louis Gregory, who himself also learned of the religion from Pauline, during his brief sojourn as a teacher in Charleston SC in 1910. Twine passed in 1914.^(2e)And the third very early Bahá'í would have been Mary Brown Martin who was born in Raleigh in 1877 into freedom her parents had received only late in life. In 1883 her family moved to Cleveland Ohio. She visited `Abdu'l-Bahá when He was traveling in the United States in 1912 in Cleveland, Ohio. She joined the religion in 1913 and served long in public schools. In 1965 an elementary school was named for her in Cleveland.⁽³⁾ Her grandparents were from the Boylan Plantation in Raleigh.⁽⁴⁾ Her husband self taught until he could enroll in college, became a lawyer and was one of five blacks in the nation to be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in 1895. Martin's daughter, Sarah Martin Pereira, lived in Raleigh 1933 to 1940 or so teaching at Shaw University would go on to be a member of the Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly of the United States from 1961 to 1973, and one of five counsellors worldwide to serve on its Continental Board of Counsellors from 1973 to 1985 serving the Bahá'ís in North and South America before retiring to Charlotte where she continued to serve on the local assembly from 1985 to 1994. Pereira passed away in 1995.⁽⁵⁾Indeed of all the Bahá'ís that have ever lived in NC, like Sarah, and served in the highest levels of the religion, all were black.

Pocahontas Pope is the one who received the following tablet from `Abdu'l-Bahá^(5a):

Render thanks to the Lord that among that race thou art the first believer, that thou hast engaged in spreading sweet-scented breezes, and hast arisen to guide others. … Although the pupil of the eye is black, it is the source of light. Thou shalt likewise be. The disposition should be bright, not the appearance. Therefore, with supreme confidence and certitude, say:

“O God!

Make me a radiant light, a shining lamp, and a brilliant star,

so that I may illumine the hearts with an effulgent ray from

Thy Kingdom of ‘Abhá.

After Joseph Hannen's visit, the two of the earliest Bahá'ís to visit North Carolina and on a far more extended basis are educator and writer Stanwood Cobb and lawyer Louis Gregory, again both having had direct contact with `Abdu'l-Bahá. Stanwood Cobb joined the religion in 1906, first visited `Abdu'l-Bahá in 1909, and was one of a number of people who gave talks on the occasion of Gregory's invitation to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.⁽⁶⁾ Louis Gregory joined the religion in 1909 and in 1910 undertook the first of very many trips to promote the religion across the South. North Carolina - Durham and other cities - were among his stops. In 1911 he was invited to go on pilgrimage and made the return trip in 1912.⁽⁷⁾ Cobb took several teaching positions and taught at Asheville School in Asheville in 1915-16.

The April 1925 Baha'i News refers to an unnamed woman, "who, for seven years" has been promoting the religion "under dire circumstances" in Wilmington.^(6f)This was probably Felice Sadgwar. She was the daughter of Frederick Cutlar Sadgwar, who was present in the Wilmington Insurrection violence, and, surviving that, built the "Sadgwar House" of Wilmington in 1889. It is known that Frederick followed his daughter and joined the religion in 1923 through other sources.

First Assembly in the North Carolina and developments

From the 1930s to 40s various Bahá'ís are known to visit or move to North Carolina. That first coverage in Greensboro newspapers was of Ruth Moffet coming in early March 1942 with scheduled talks at Richardson Memorial Center auditorium in the evenings and at the Colonial Inn in the afternoons.^[7] The next week Moffett's talks were scheduled through March 15. Moffett had talks in various places, a display of the Baha'i Temple, and radio broadcasts on WGBG, (later WKEW.) A study group formed of 17 people and three Bahá'ís. Muriel Stilson of Yonkers and Helen Inderlied of Binghamton NY moved to Greensboro. Others came through while on travels likeStanwood Cobb , and Virginia Camelon. Adrienne Ellis (later Reeves), grandchild of former slaves and first Bahá'í of her family, and Eva Lee Flack (later MacAllister) moved to Greensboro to help grow the religion in 1942. They helped elect the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Bahá'ís in Greensboro in 1943. The first in North Carolina - and the same day another Bahá'í was known in the religion - Hubert Parris.Assemblies are the defined administrative structure of the religion since there are no clergy, and are elected by secret ballot from the members of the community. This first assembly of North Carolina was majority women, and 30% black. Among its nine members were Louise H. Sawyer, then thought to be the first native Bahá'ís of North Carolina and still thought so of the Triad area,John A. and Alise R. Goodwin, Naomi Simmons, Adrienne Ellis Reeves, and Eva Lee Flack McAllister.

Helen T. Inderlied was the first able to sustain a period of visible activity in the newspapers from 1943 into the beginning of 1944 when several unnamed Bahá'ís attended the first Centenary program at Wilmette at the Bahá'í Temple. Eva McAllister, and Adrienne Ellis would be visible in late 1944 and early 1945. Adrienne Ellis in particular joined the staff of The Future Outlook African American Greensboro newspaper.

After a couple more talks by Bahá'ís and non-Bahá'ís a number of developments came in 1946: the community rented a Center at 235 1/2 North Green St where Margaret Ullrich gave the first known talk and sustained talks mentioned in the newspapers for several months. The Spiritual Assembly was named in the papers, and the first representative of the community to the newspapers was designated - Kay Whitmore. A few more talks are noted by Bahá'ís and some non-Bahá'ís - the next major speaker to come through was Margery McCormick, Harlan Ober in early 1947, and then Paul Haney.

1949 was the next year of several developments. In mid-January 1949 Terah Cowart Smith gave her first known talk mentioned in the Greensboro newspapers. Her first visible presence in the State was in 1938 and she would continue to live and serve in the state until her death in 1989. She was one of the few local Bahá'ís to appear in all the newspapers including the Outlook and appeared over 30 times in print most often for Bahá'í events and then UN appreciation events and did so in a broad period from the 1950s through the early 1970s. It was also 1949 when the state-wide convention of Bahá'ís to elect a delegate to the national convention first made the newspapers. The convention chair was Mrs. John A. Goodwin and secretary Mrs. S. B. Simmons, both of Greensboro. And lastly it was the first publicized mention of the community observing the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh.

From 1950 the observance of World Religion Day, followed by UN Day, World Peace Day and Race Amity Day, would become staples of published activities of the religion in the region. It was also the first published observance of the Martyrdom of the Báb. In 1951 national travelings teacher of the religion A. K. Kalantar came through and then a regional conference including naming Louise Sawyer, Bill Tucker, and others attending. Louis Gregory passed away in 1951. Then head of the religion, Shoghi Effendi, named him as a "Hand of the Cause", which, unlike the members of the elected institutions and other appointed institutions in the religion, signifies someone considered to have achieved an especially highly distinguished rank in service to the religion. Another regional conference took place in 1952. H. R. Broadhurst was a visible Bahá'í business man in High Point. In 1953 Hand of the Cause Shu'á'u'lláh `Alá'í visited, the first while serving as a Hand, but the articles were colored by concerns in America over the politics in Iran. 1954 opened with news of the death of Hand of the Cause Dorothy Beecher Baker - though it hadn't made the local news, Baker had actually spoke in Greensboro the year before Moffett. The first regional conference of the religion was held at the Blue Ridge Assembly in the mountains and Allen McDaniel's book The Spell of the Temple was printed out of High Point NC.^7a A rise in activity was noted in 1955 was noted following the first mention of the Declaration of the Báb in the newspapers with coverage of the 2nd Southeastern Bahá'í Conference at the Blue Ridge Assembly in the mountains.

Weekly meetings were held again under the assembly chairmanship of Pearl Easterbrook in 1955, with she herself, but primarily Kathryn Potter, and with various traveling and a few other local speakers. Potter continued this service into early 1956 and then the pace of meetings slowed while the diversity of people presenting increased though John M. Davis Jr lead the largest part of them. 1956 also saw profiles of Ludmila Van Sombeek and Terah Cowart-Smith published. But it was her sister that was the object the first public opposition to the religion locally published in the newspapers - Elah Cowart was let go (not automatically re-hired as most teachers are most years) as a 4th grade teacher from Rankin school for 1957-8 for being a Bahá'í - the complaint was lodged by Jack M. Davis Jr for the local assembly. It was observed that comments had been made that the “missionary activity” of Elah distributing materials for Bahá'í meetings on school grounds on her own time, and mimeographing these invitations on school equipment, “would have been ok if it was for Methodists or Baptists…" The article covering all this also noted the community was then 16 adults. From some points of view surely a small number, but from inside surely also a mark of progress, and the first obituary mentioning the religion was in the passing of Naomi Simmons. Meanwhile in 1957 the first Assembly of the Triangle was elected in Raleigh - was majority women, and 30% black. News across the state began to mention the Bahá'í. According to The Robesonian of Lumberton some traveling Bahá'ís met locals in 1950.⁽⁸⁾ As early as 1954 Dr. William Tucker was holding public meetings on the religion in Rocky Mount and some were heard on the radio too.⁽⁹⁾ Also in the 1950s several Cherokee peoples joined the religion following Ethel Murray pioneering in the mountains.^(9d)

After the Greensboro Assembly was asked to join the Greensboro Ministerial Fellowship in early 1958, the assembly was informed that each member was allotted time in an ongoing series on WFMY-TV. The Bahá'ís were given six fifteen minute programs on WFMY-TV and undertook highlighting the gardens on Mt. Carmel. The presentations were very warmly received. The TV channel was on the air since 1949 and this is the only time the show received mail. One show the guest presenter was Irma Haydne, chair of the Nashville Tennessee Assembly and having an integrated meeting on-air was notable. Davis seems to have been the first community member to go on Bahá'í pilgrimage in November 1958, at least to make the news doing so, followed by Frank Kimball Kinney and Terah Cowart-Smith in 1959. Meanwhile the Center, held since the mid1940s, was no longer mentioned in the newspapers since the latter 1950s. Instead Kathryn Potter's home at Oak Ct was the host of many activities into the early 1960s. The Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Greensboro incorporated in 1958 with particular mention of John M. Davis Jr, Frances Pearce and Frank Kimball Kinney, probably officers of the Assembly that year. First appearing earlier, Frank Kimball Kinney and David Jurney lead various aspects of public mention of the Faith the coming decade. In fact Jurney officiated at Kinney's wedding and Jurney's own wedding came in 1961 after his promotion to partner at a architectural firm. Indeed it was Mrs. Vedad Mansoori Jurney who was noted several times in the newspaper. Perhaps more than any other local Baha'i, her personal life was more visibly documented than any other - her pursuit of the nursing profession, citizenship, her Persian family most notably her mother who recalled seeing Bahá'u'lláh, her life before in Iran and since in America, the Jurney pilgrimage and slide shows, and introducing the Bahá'í New Year observance to the public in 1963 as one of her several talks mentioned in the newspaper.

Weekly events begun largely by Potter carried on by Kinney into 1962 and who was also visibly having some recognition for his work on WFMY-TV. Winston Evans came in the Fall of 1962 with a major series of advertisements for a few talks. 1963 opened with Bahá'ís holding a prayer service for persecuted Moroccan Bahá'ís and soon switched to noting the Centenary of the Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh and the first Bahá'í World Congress and named a list of who was going to London - - Mrs. Joseph J. Sawyer, David and Mrs. Jurney and 17 mth old son Nabil, Vedad’s brother and sister - Abe Mansoori and Mrs. Walter Arnold, Robert and Mrs. Berryhill, Terah Cowart-Smith, and Mrs. Robert Haith. Kinney followed up by being among the self-identified white men of Greensboro calling for integration in a whole-page piece in the newspaper.

In 1965 the Bahá'í wedding ceremony was recognized through State Law, followed by the CBS show "Lamp unto my feet” called “And his name shall be one”. Events began to take shape more often on college campuses and occasional Bahá'í Clubs were noted and A&T most often and in 1967 a gathering from all the local colleges most especially with second generation Bahá'ís Charmion Gordon, Joseph Sawyer, and Van Gilmer came together. Gilmer who would go onto leading national choirs of the Faith in America. Small personals carried on a series of daily mentions of the Faith from 1967 into 1968 and mentions of college activities continued into the 1970s. At the conference summary of the North Carolina community noted there were 30 localities with Baha'is, 6 assemblies, and High Point was a goal with 5 Baha'is in the city. Darian L. Smith had a letter to the editor promoting the religion in a letter to the editor of the Old Gold and Black, Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem.¹⁰ A film was produced in 1973 about the activities in South Carolina and going to Jamaica: Have You Heard the News. The growth of the religion was called "fast but thin" but coverage began to appear a community in Rockingham. Rafieh Mansoori, mother of Vedad Mansoori Jurney, died in High Point in 1974. The singular state District Convention of Bahá'í was broken into three regions in 1974 with the initial hosts being for Eastern (Raleigh), Central (Greensboro), and Western (Charlotte) NC. Hand of the Cause Rahmutu'llah Muhajir traveled across the South including North Carolina, such as the Cherokee Indian Reservation, after a tour of the West coast and North East.

Soon there was coverage of the persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran, in various talks, in repeating testimony films at the US Congress and in the news of further executions, settlement of refugees and memorials. A number of "Faith of the week" advertisements appeared profiling the religion and more occasional advertisements on the TV listings page, and a TV show from WPTF out of Durham channel 28 “Spiritual Revolution - Bahai(sic) Faith”. The Asheville community produced a 1hr program that has been airing since January 1983 with members of the Asheville and Buncombe county communities interviewed and a radio drama "Fireside Playhouse" was aired with primary audience of the Asheville radio station for the program is African-American residents of western North Carolina. Communities in the state that had a high consistency in supporting the national fund in 1988 were: Asheville, Buncombe County, Durham, Greensboro, Mount Airy, Orange County, Raleigh, Watauga County, (and the registered group of Yadkinville.) In 1989 an article on a Bahá'í bi-racial couple started on page 1 about the Brenda Root family. Their daughter was registering for Page High School and she refused to identify her race. Brenda then was quoted with the Bahá'í statement “There is only one race, and that’s the human race” but that they aren’t on a crusade. They had moved to the US from Nigeria in 1985. Faith of the Week for mid-September had the large review of the religion with pictures. It noted that there was a 30 min program on Cable TV channel 8 and there were books at all the libraries as well as a Club at UNCG. Nov 1 the obit of Terah Cowart Smith was posted with a reception at the Jurney home. Burial was at the Floral Garden Park Cemetery in High Point. Jim Turpin was noted Fairview and Baha'is were noted supporting the The National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution (NCPCR) called "Community in Conflict," in 1991, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the three regional conventions to elect delegates to the Bahá'í national convention was split into 6. In 1992 the Bahá'ís held their second World Congress - videos of which are posted in youtube. In 2001 the Bahá'í Gardens had finished being developed and a grand opening was held.

More recent develpments

Activity at Wake Forest University picked up again in the 1990s and into the 2000s. In 2003 Layli Miller-Muro, attorney and founder of the Tahirih Justice Center was profiled on the front page. Rosita Najmi was named Senior of the year there in December 2003. She was profiled in an article noting the tradition back to 1975 of naming outstanding students. Her family escaped Iran shortly after the 1979 revolution. She was named to an all-USA academic team her senior year. She went on to continue visible work in the world most recently an online magazine Development Finance, A profile of the religion was done on page 2 of the March 2004 edition of the Old Gold and Black. It noted the Bahá'í Club was formed and celebrated Naw Ruz with the One Human Family Workshop gospel Choir from Durham, Fort Tabarsi from New York, and the local Sisterhood of Universal Love all performing and the club holding an international buffet. The article also noted the four members of the club were the largest number of Bahá'ís at one time on campus and that there were some 80 Bahá'ís in the greater Winston-Salem community. Names mentioned include Kara Johnson as president of the club, who was pursuing a religion major, and Anis Ragland. Another event was held in 2004 attracting hundreds. In 2016 the Bahá'ís held the official dedication of the Bahá'í House of Worship in Santiago, Chile.

2017-2019 is a special period for Bahá'ís - the twin pivots figures of the religion were born in 1817 and 1819 and there have been an will be events around the Triangle during the period about this.

Demographics of Bahá'í communities in NC

Third party data from 2010 indicates the entire state has 24 organized communities and just over 5,800 adherents of the religion.⁽¹⁷⁾ The Triangle area is the largest density of Bahá'ís in NC a total approaching 1200, with Charlotte (Mecklenberg) noted at 819 Bahá'ís and for the Triad with about 530 Bahá'ís.

Contacts

You can reach the Bahá'ís a number of ways. There is a national phone number at 1-800-22-UNITE (1-800-228-6483) which will take your contact information and get you in touch with Bahá'ís or you can go to Request Information. Locally there are various places one can go or call or find online:

The Greensboro Bahá'í Community has a Facebook page.
The High Point Bahá'í community has a Facebook page.
Winston-Salem Bahá'ís have a Facebook page.
Asheboro Bahá'ís have a Blog.

Ruhi Institute Study Circles and prayer meetings are a means for public engagement in learning about the religion and serving humanity. These are being held in most places Bahá'ís reside.

For a review of the Triangle Bahá'ís see The Bahá'í Faith in the Triangle.

References

(some citations are links in the text, some are noted below, some newspapers were accessed through commercial websites which may alter the original page numbering, some free and linked)

^{A. A new religious sect… The Tri-Weekly Commercial (Wilmington, North Carolina)20 Aug 1850, Tue • Page 2
A new religious sect… The Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, North Carolina)15 Sep 1850, Sun • Page 3}

^{B. Various early related mentions occur. See for example:

• An army of women Tarboro' Press (Tarboro, North Carolina)11 Jan 1851, Sat • Page 1

•The colored normal school The Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, North Carolina)1 Apr 1877, Sun • Page 1

• Go and enjoy yourself The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, North Carolina)12 Feb 1888, Sun • Page 8

• Persian heretics Mecklenburg Times (Charlotte, North Carolina)8 Apr 1892, Fri • Page 7

• (?)… Babism The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, North Carolina)6 Nov 1900, Tue • Page 2

• Gregory Normal Institute The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, North Carolina)23 May 1902, Fri • Page 4

• School building burned The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, North Carolina)10 Feb 1904, Wed • Page 4

• Miss Barney gives up her art to devote her life to new religion Asheville Citizen-Times (Asheville, North Carolina)17 Oct 1910, Mon • Page 1}

^{1.Baha'i History Duke Baha'i Club, US Baha’i Office of Communications}

^{1a. South Eliot, The Portsmouth Herald, (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 1 December 1902 • Page 1}

^{2. "Most great reconstruction: The Baha'i faith in Jim Crow South Carolina, 1898-1965", PhD dissertation by Venters III, Louis E., Colleges of Arts and Sciences University of South Carolina, 2010, isbn through BiblioBazaar as 9781243741752, UMI Number: 3402846, pages = 19–31, 35-50, 118}

^2c. ^{Do We Have Spiritual Ancestors? Meet Pocahontas Pope, by Christopher Buck • September 15, 2016}

^{2e. Find-a-grave for Alfonzo Twine.}

^{3.Lights of the spirit: historical portraits of Black Bahá'ís in North America, 1898-2004, editors: Gwendolyn Etter-Lewis, Richard Thomas, Richard Walter Thomas, Baha'i Publishing Trust, 2006, ISBN=9781931847261.}

^{4. "4 Languages and One Message", by Rhonda Y. Williams, The Charlotte Observer, Aug. 23, 1989}

^{5. "Mecklenburg County Deaths", The Charlotte Observer, April 6, 1995}

^{5a. The Black Pupil of the Eye: The Source of Light, by Christopher Buck and Nahzy Abadi Buck • September 16, 2016}

^{6a.* " … Babism; … universal faith", The Charlotte Observer, (Charlotte, North Carolina,) Tuesday, November 6, 1900, p. 2, (fr. NY Sun)}

^{* Clippings from Boston Transcript… Massacres, The Wilmington Messenger, (Wilmington, North Carolina), 7 August 1903 • Page 6

* Persian Prophet will have Chicago Temple, Daily Industrial News, (Greensboro, North Carolina), 12 November 1908 • Page 5

* Temple for the Bahais, The Concord Times, (Concord, North Carolina), 26 April 1909 • Page 4

* Religious life of the country, North Carolina Christian Advocate, (Greensboro, North Carolina), 22 September 1910 • Page 8

* In Exile for 50 years Bahai Leader comes to New York to urge world peace, The Raleigh Times(Raleigh, North Carolina), 13 April 1912 • Page 5

*Non-Christian Faiths in America, by Elizabeth B. Vermilye, North Carolina Christian Advocate, (Greensboro, North Carolina), 2 January 1913 • Page 4

* Abdul Baha, The Charlotte News, (Charlotte, North Carolina), 28 September 1913 • Page 17}

^{List of donors to Trinity College Library - Oct 1, 1916 to Oct 1, 1917, The Trinity Chronicle, vol. 13, no. 4 (Wednesday, October 3, 1917), p. 1}

^{6c. chapter "Race Amity in America; An historical perspective", by Louis Gregory, in Lights of the Spirit: Historical Portraits of Black Bahá'ís in North America 1898-2004, edited by Gwendolyn Etter-Lewis, Richard Thomas, Richard Walter Thomas, Baha'i Publishing Trust, 2006, p. 198}

^6d. ^{Annual committee reports 1936-1937 (continued), Baha'i News, June 1937, p. 5}

^{6f. News of the Cause, Baha'i News, April 1925, p 4}

^{7. Coverage of the Bahá'í Faith in Greensboro, NC, newspapers, Bahaikipedia, Sep, 2017}

^{7a. North Carolina in the Baha'i News Bahaikipedia.org, Sep, 2017}

^{8. Travelers enroute to Cuba visit here The Robesonian (Lumberton, North Carolina)14 Feb 1950, Tue • Page 7}

^{9. "Dr. William Tucker on Final Program", The Evening Telegram, Rocky Mount, NC, July 12, 1954, p. 9}

^{9d In the hollow of His hand: the story of Ethel Murray}^{", Western North Carolina Bahá'í Center, Mar 8, 2007}

^{10b. Baha'i group to hold meet at "Rec" Center, The Carolina Times, vol 30, no 34, April 23, 1955, p. 1}

^{10. Coverage of the Baha'i Faith in the Old Gold and Black, Wake Forest University, Bahaikipedia.org, Sep 2017}

^{10c.Bahai Faith seeks to establish peace by Universal Religion, The Duke Chronicle, vol. 57, no. 26 (Friday, December 15, 1961), p. 1}

^{10d. Baha'is hear Hammarskjold's voice on UN Day, The Carolina Times. November 4, 1961, p. 9}

^{10e.First Durham Baha'i Assembly established, The Carolina Times, Durham, NC, June 16, 1962, p. 10}

^{10f. Durhamites at Baha'i confab, The Carolina Times, Durham, NC, August 4, 1962, p. 9}

^10g^{NC Municipalities enter power fight, The Daily Independent, (Kannapolis, North Carolina), 31 March 1965 • Page 6}

^{11. "An Invitation", by Betty Golding, The Twig, Nov 21, 1968, p. 2.}

^{11a. Chapel Hill Baha'is elect their first Local Spiritual Assembly, The Carolina Times, Durham NC, May 15, 1971, page 3A}

^{12. "ASU's Yosef Specialized in Boosting School Spirit", Statesville Record and Landmark, Dec. 5, 1974, p. 29.}

^{13. "Bahai Conference set for St. Pauls", The Robesonian, Feb 11, 1976, p. 9}

^{14. Parkwood welcomes Muslims, by Flo Johnston, The Durham News, May 19, 2010.}

^{15. "Student to test 11 religions in one year", by Yonat Shimron, Raleigh News and Observer, Jan 20, 2011}

^{17. ARDA State Membership Report - North Carolina, 2010.}

Comments

This article emphasizes third party and or academically published references to convey a sense of reliability and fairness. It does not officially represent a Bahá'í view. For example Bahá'ís are not used to consulting external sources for noting how large the community is. A more connected sense of the history can be achieved by asking Bahá'ís for their stories but as they have not been published that is for individuals to pursue. Bahá'ís will know of many more events but finding references sometimes limits what can be mentioned and this article focuses on the Triangle area while briefly mentioning developments elsewhere.

Also a note on accent marks. The official spelling of many Bahá'í words uses accents and that has been followed in the article except in quotes if absent or as used in references. Dropping the accents it typical in informal or semi-formal writing. Additionally, as the internet urls don't like it often many websites will drop the accents while others will keep them. So don't be too concerned about accent marks.

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