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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
15 stories in the library.
During 'Abdu'l-Bahá's visit to segregated Washington, D.C., He shocked white socialites by insisting that Louis Gregory, an African-American Bahá'í and lawyer, be seated next to Him at a society luncheon, and He asked the Bahá'ís to hold integrated meetings.
In his pilgrimage journal of 1911, Louis Gregory recalls a vision he had soon after accepting the Faith and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s explanation of it as four classes of people.
Louis Gregory, a Black lawyer from Charleston whose parents had been enslaved, became a Bahá'í in 1909. 'Abdu'l-Bahá seated him in the place of honor at a Washington luncheon, and he spent his life working for unity between the races.
Louis Gregory had not been invited to a luncheon for 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Washington, but 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked for him and gave him the seat of honor beside Himself.
Near the end of Louis Gregory’s pilgrimage, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá expressed the wish that he and Louisa Mathew, a white English pilgrim, should marry. They did, and their marriage endured many pressures as a symbol of the unity of the races.
On April 23, 1912, at a Washington luncheon given in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's honor by Ali-Kuli Khan, the Master asked for Louis Gregory, who had not been invited, and gave him the seat of honor at His right.
At a luncheon in segregated Washington, D.C., 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent for Louis Gregory, who had not been invited, gave him the seat of honor at His right, and spoke on the oneness of mankind.
When Agnes Parsons made her pilgrimage in 1920, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked her to arrange a convention in Washington for amity between the white and colored races. It met in May 1921, and Mountfort Mills read a message from the Master to it.
Louis Gregory, an African American lawyer, and Louisa Mathew, an Englishwoman, met as pilgrims in 1911. 'Abdu'l-Bahá expressed the wish that they marry, and on 27 September 1912 they became the first interracial Bahá'í couple in America.
At 'Abdu'l-Bahá's instruction, Agnes Parsons organized a convention for amity between the white and colored races, held in Washington in May 1921. There Mountfort Mills read the Master's message to the gathering.
On pilgrimage in 1911 Louis Gregory heard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá urge the races to intermarry; the next year the Master encouraged his marriage to Louisa Mathew, the first marriage between a Black and a white Bahá’í.
Writing in Chicago in 1912, Mírzá Maḥmúd recorded that Dr. Zia Bagdadi was told to leave his home for inviting Louis Gregory, and that black and white Bahá’ís still associated as brothers and sisters.
At a Washington luncheon held in His honour in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked for Louis Gregory, who had not been on the guest list, and seated him at His right hand before the meal began.
On April 30, 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told an NAACP conference in Chicago that color is of no importance. That evening, across the road, a tied Bahá’í election ended with Louis Gregory joining the governing board of Bahá’í Temple Unity.
Near Lake Dublin, New Hampshire, in August 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to a gathering of Black people about unity between Black and white, and told them of the coming marriage of Louisa Mathew and Louis Gregory.