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Abdu'l-Baha in America

© Lloyd Madansky

Abdu'l-Baha traveled to America in 1912. He came via England, after traveling several months in Europe. The ship he sailed on was the Cedric. Many Baha'is in Europe had collected enough for Him to sail on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, but Abdu'l-Baha had told them that it was not wise to sail on the Titanic. As the Cedric entered New York harbor, Abdu'l-Baha saw the skyscrapers of Wall Street and commented, "Those are the minarets of the West."

It is with this insight that Abdu'l-Baha started His visit to the United States and Canada. This stay in North America lasted from April 11 through December 5, a total of 239 days. Throughout His journey, Abdu'l-Baha gave talks about the Baha'i Faith in such varied places as temples, churches, synagogues, peace societies, New Thought centers and people's homes. He stated his purpose for this visit on the day of His arrival in New York: "It is my purpose to set forth in America the fundamental principles of the revelation and teachings of Baha'u'llah. It will then become the duty of the Baha'is of this country to give these principles unfoldment and application in the minds, hearts and lives of the people." Many of these talks can be found in the book The Promulgation of Universal Peace". While not considered scripture, this compilation does provide an insight into the teachings of the Baha'i Faith and how Abdu'l-Baha exemplified those teachings.

As can be expected, there are many stories about His visit. One of those to publish some personal stories about their family's meeting Abdu'l-Baha is Reginald Grant Barrow, Jr. A visit to his site, http://www.worldmerge.com/stories/INTRO.... contains some of these stories that were passed on to him by his mother.

Among those that have written about their experiences with Abdu'l-Baha was an American believer, Juliet Thompson. In her book, , she recounts her life during the many meetings with Abdu'l-Baha, from her pilgrimage to Akka in 1909 through His visit to America in 1912. A visit to http://www.ee.pdx.edu/~pamela/gibran/ind... will take you to a site that recounts the meeting between Abdu'l-Baha and Kahlil Gibran, as told by Juliet.

One of my favorite stories, also told by Juliet Thompson, is the following from her diary (since many Baha'is wanted pictures of Abdu'l-Baha, a photographer, Mrs. Kasebier, was commissioned to photograph Him. - editor): I showed Him the proofs of the pictures, then spoke of Mrs. Kasebier - how she had seen Him only once, when she photographed Him. "She said she would like to live near You, my Lord."