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Pocahontas Kay | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1864 Halifax County, North Carolina, USA |
| Died | November 11, 1938 Washington, D.C., USA |
| Resting place | National Harmony Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Citizenship | American |
| Spouse(s) | John Pope |
| Parents |
|
Pocahontas Pope (1864-1938) was the first African American Baha'i convert to reside in Washington, D.C.
Pocahontas was born in 1864 the daughter of John Kay and Mary Cha. Her parents married on January 11, 1861. She had three full-siblings: Willey "Billy", Roxanor, and Alexander Cha Kay. After John's death Mary remarried to Landy Grizzard on November 11, 1876. Pocahontas took her step-father's surname and she gained five step siblings Lindbel, Casy, Lessia, Ellick, and Mary Grizzard. [1]
Pocahontas married Rev. John Pope on December 26, 1883. John and Pocahontas worked as teachers in various schools aimed at educating black youth and spreading their strong Baptist faith to the community. [2]
The couple moved to Washington, D.C., in the summer of 1898. In 1906 Pocahontas was hired by Alma Knobloch (1864–1943) to do housework for her. There she met Alma's sister Pauline Hannen (1874-1939) who introduced her to the Baha'i faith. [3] [4] [1] Pocahontas was revered in the Baha'i community in Washington and held private meetings with African-American leaders including Alain LeRoy Locke, Coralie Franklin Cook, and Harriet Gibbs Marshall. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote praising her activism in Washington: [5]
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
John Pope died on March 30, 1918. The couple had no children together and Pocahontas never remarried. [8] [9] Pocahontas would later reside at 1500 1st St NW from 1920 to 1930; during this time she worked as a seamstress and lived with lodgers. [10] For the last two years of her life she was a patient in Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital. Pocahontas died on November 11, 1938. Pocahontas's exact burial place might be unknown since many African-American cemeteries had their headstones taken away and were used along the Potomac River to prevent erosion. [11] Her grave site in Maryland was discovered unmarked in 2017 and Baha’is raised money for a plaque which was placed on her grave in 2018. [12]
Salih, also spelled Saleh, is an Arab prophet mentioned in the Quran who prophesied to the tribe of Thamud in ancient Arabia, before the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. The story of Salih is linked to the story of the She-Camel of God, which was the gift given by God to the people of Thamud when they desired a miracle to confirm that Salih was truly a prophet.
Rúhíyyih Rabbání, born as Mary Sutherland Maxwell and best known by the title Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, was the wife of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith, from 1937 to 1957. In 1952, she was elevated to the office of Hand of the Cause of God, for which she attended to issues related to the expansion and protection of the Baháʼí Faith, and served an important role in the transfer of authority from 1957 to 1963.
The Baháʼí Faith formed in the late 19th century Middle East and soon gained converts in India, the Western world, and elsewhere. Travelling teachers played a significant role in spreading the religion into most countries and territories during the second half of the 20th century. The Baháʼí Faith is now recognized as the second-most geographically widespread religion after Christianity.
Unity of humanity is one of the central teachings of the Baháʼí Faith. The Baháʼí teachings state that since all humans have been created in the image of God, God does not make any distinction between people regardless of race or colour. Thus, because all humans have been created equal, they all require equal opportunities and treatment. Thus the Baháʼí view promotes the unity of humanity, and that people's vision should be world-embracing and that people should love the whole world rather than just their nation. The teaching, however, does not equate unity with uniformity, but instead the Baháʼí writings advocate for the principle of unity in diversity where the variety in the human race is valued.
Louis George Gregory was a prominent American member of the Baháʼí Faith who was devoted to its expansion in the United States and elsewhere. He traveled especially in the South to spread the word about it. In 1922 he was the first African American elected to the nine-member National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada. He was repeatedly re-elected to that position, leading a generation and more of followers. He also worked to prosyletize the faith to Central and South America.
Helen Elsie Austin, known as H. Elsie Austin as an adult, was an American attorney and civil rights activist from the Midwest. From 1960 to 1970, she served for 10 years with the United States Information Agency (USIA) on various cultural projects in Africa. The first African-American woman to graduate from the University of Cincinnati School of Law, Austin was appointed in 1937 as an assistant attorney general in Ohio. She was the first black and the first woman to hold this position.
The Baháʼí Faith in South Africa began with the holding of Baháʼí meetings in the country in 1911. A small population of Baháʼís remained until 1950 when large numbers of international Baháʼí pioneers settled in South Africa. In 1956, after members of various tribes in South Africa became Baháʼís, a regional Baháʼí Assembly which included South Africa was elected. Later each of the constituent countries successively formed their own independent Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly. Then in 1995, after a prolonged period of growth and oppression during Apartheid and the homelands reuniting with South Africa, the Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly of South Africa was formed. In 2005 Baháʼís were estimated at about 240,100 adherents.
The Baháʼí Faith in Ukraine began during the policy of oppression of religion in the former Soviet Union. Before that time, Ukraine, as part of the Russian Empire, would have had indirect contact with the Baháʼí Faith as far back as 1847. Following the Ukrainian diasporas, succeeding generations of ethnic Ukrainians became Baháʼís and some have interacted with Ukraine previous to development of the religion in the country which began rising as the region approached the Dissolution of the Soviet Union. As of around 2008 there were around a thousand known Baháʼís in Ukraine according to the community's national governing body, in 13 communities. International data reviewer Association of Religion Data Archives(ARDA) listed 227 Bahá'ís in 2010, and in 2021 a study found 12 Bahá'í communities in the country, placing it at among the smallest minority religions in the country. National observances of Bahá'í Holy Days had occurred in recent years.
The Baháʼí Faith in Norway began with contact between traveling Scandinavians with early Persian believers of the Baháʼí Faith in the mid-to-late 19th century. Baháʼís first visited Scandinavia in the 1920s following ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's, then head of the religion, request outlining Norway among the countries Baháʼís should pioneer to and the first Baháʼí to settle in Norway was Johanna Schubartt. Following a period of more Baháʼí pioneers coming to the country, Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies spread across Norway while the national community eventually formed a Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly in 1962. The 2008 national census reported around 1,000 Baháʼís in the country however the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 2700 Baháʼís in 2010.
Though mentioned in German literature in the 19th century, the history of the Baháʼí Faith in Germany begins in the early 20th century when two emigrants to the United States returned on prolonged visits to Germany bringing their newfound religion. The first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly was established following the conversion of enough individuals to elect one in 1908. After the visit of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, and the establishing of many further assemblies across Germany despite the difficulties of World War I, elections were called for the first Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly in 1923. Banned for a time by the Nazi government and then in East Germany the religion re-organized and was soon given the task of building the first Baháʼí House of Worship for Europe. After German reunification the community multiplied its interests across a wide range of concerns earning the praise of German politicians. German Census data shows 5,600 registered Baháʼís in Germany in 2012. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 11,743 Baháʼís in 2005 and 12,356 Baháʼís in 2010. According to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany, the German Baha'i community consists of about 100 local communities and 6000 members, towards the end of 2019.
The Baháʼí Faith in Rwanda begins after 1916 with a mention by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, that Baháʼís should take the religion to the regions of Africa. The first specific mention of Rwanda was in May 1953 suggesting the expanding community of the Baháʼí Faith in Uganda look at sending pioneers to neighboring areas like Ruanda. The first settlers of the religion arrived in the region by July 1953 when Baháʼís from the United States and Malawi arrived. By 1963 there were three Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies in Burundi-Ruanda. Through succeeding organizations of the countries in the region, the National Spiritual Assembly of Rwanda was formed in 1972. Baháʼís, perhaps in the thousands, were among those who perished in the Rwandan genocide Following the disruption of the Rwandan Civil War the national assembly was reformed in 1997. The Baháʼís of Rwanda have continued to strive for inter-racial harmony, a teaching which Denyse Umutoni, an assistant director of Shake Hands with the Devil, mentions as among the reasons for her conversion to the religion. 2001 estimates place the Baháʼí population around 15000 while 2005 estimates from the same source shows just over 18900.
Louise Aurora Getsinger, known as Lua, was one of the first Western members of the Baháʼí Faith, recognized as joining the religion on May 21, 1897, just two years after Thornton Chase. Born into the rural countryside of western New York state and initially with a heterodox understanding of the teachings of the religion, by her fervor she corrected many understandings and grew to become a prominent disciple of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá with an international reputation, being named “Herald of the Covenant” and "Mother of the believers" by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, head of the religion 1892-1921, and “mother teacher of the American Bahá‘í Community, herald of the dawn of the Day of the Covenant" by Shoghi Effendi in 1942, head of the religion 1921–1957. Nevertheless, she faced trials of reputation among the Bahá'ís in America during a period of time when rumors were spread if a woman traveled with a man other than her husband which she did as she took part in promotional tours across multiple regions of America, into Canada and Mexico, and it became such that her husband grew doubtful, their relationship changed, and he sought a divorce. She was defended by the leadership of the religion and her reputation expanded after her sudden death in Egypt. A number of later leaders of the religion were directly affected by her, including members of the high office of the religion, the Hands of the Cause, Louis George Gregory, and John Henry Hyde Dunn, as well as May Maxwell, another prominent woman of the religion and mother of another Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Khánum, who had her own direct effect on Agnes Alexander, William Sutherland Maxwell, and Mason Remey and thus had an effect on the promulgation of the religion in America, England, France, Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina, in addition to her own direct contact with many thousands of people all before the completion of the first World War.
The Baháʼí Faith in Mozambique begins after the mention of Africa in Baháʼí literature when ʻAbdu'l-Bahá suggested it as a place to take the religion to in 1916. The first known Baháʼí to enter the region was in 1951–52 at Beira when a British pioneer came through on the way to what was then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The Mozambique Baháʼí community participated in successive stages of regional organization across southern Africa from 1956 through the election of its first Mozambique Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly in 1957 and on to its own National Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1985. Since 1984 the Baháʼís have begun to hold development projects. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated just over 2,800 Baháʼís in 2005.
Baháʼu'lláh (1817–1892) was the prophet-founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was born in Iran to an aristocratic family, and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Bábí Faith. In 1863, in Iraq, he first announced his claim to a revelation from God, and spent the rest of his life in further imprisonment in the Ottoman Empire. His teachings revolved around the principles of unity and religious renewal, ranging from moral and spiritual progress to world governance.
The history of the Baháʼí Faith in Africa dates back to the lifetimes of the three individual heads of the religion, Baháʼu'lláh, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi, each of who was in Africa at least once. The Association of Religion Data Archives lists many large and smaller populations in Africa with Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa and Zambia among the top ten numerical populations of Baháʼís in the world in 2005, and Mauritius highest in terms of percentage of the national population.
The Baháʼí Faith affirms the existence of life after death while not defining everything about it. The soul on death is said to recognize the value of its deeds and begin a new phase of a conscious relationship with God though negative experiences are possible.
The Baháʼí Faith in Botswana begins after ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, then leader of the Baháʼí Faith, wrote letters encouraging taking the religion to Africa in 1916. The first Baháʼí pioneers arrived in Botswana about October 1954, where they befriended many Africans. The first election of Botswana's Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly was in 1970. The 2001 national census counts approximately 700 Baháʼís. However, the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 16,500 Baháʼís in Botswana as of 2010.
The Baháʼí Faith in South Carolina begins in the transition from Jim Crow to the Civil Rights Movement but defines another approach to the problem, and proceeded according to its teachings. The first mention in relation to the history of the religion came in the 1860s in a newspaper article. Following this the first individual from South Carolina to find the religion was Louis Gregory in 1909, followed by individuals inside the state. Communities of Baháʼís were soon operating in North Augusta, Columbia and Greenville struggled with segregation culture through the 1950s externally and internally. However, in the 1969-1973 period, a very remarkable and somewhat unsustainable period of conversions to the religion on the basis of a meeting of Christian and Baháʼí religious ideas established a basis of community across several counties - notably Marion, Williamsburg, and Dillon, served by the Louis Gregory Institute and its radio station WLGI but also across the wider area. That community continues and has gathered news coverage as part of the second largest religion in South Carolina.
Robert Chaittle Turner was the first African American Bahá’í and one of the nineteen Disciples of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Clara Hyde Dunn was an Irish-Canadian nurse who became a Baháʼí in 1907 in Walla Walla, Washington. In 1920, she moved to Australia with her husband John Henry Hyde Dunn, where they played a key role in establishing the Baháʼí communities of Australia and New Zealand, remaining until her death in 1960 in Sydney.
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