Dr. Susan Moody and the Tehran Girls' School

The early issues of the *Star of the West* in 1910 carried news from Persia, much of it about Dr. Susan I. Moody, an American physician who had gone to Tehran at the wish of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 1909, in her late fifties, to work among the Persian believers.

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The first issue, dated 21 March 1910, printed a letter from the maid-servants of God in Tehran to the maid-servants in Washington and other cities of the West. It described a reception for Dr. Moody in the house of Fareeza Khánum. The women had gathered in the morning to read Tablets and discuss spiritual matters with her. Dr. Moody gave them a photograph of an American believer, Henrietta Clark Wagner, sent for their hostess, and they kissed it many times.

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After lunch the girls of the Bahá'í school chanted a Tablet for them, and after tea Dr. Moody sang a prayer.

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The second issue, dated 9 April, carried extracts from Dr. Moody's own letters. In one, dated 11 January 1910, she described how secluded the women of Tehran were, and how much it meant that some of them had agreed to have their photograph sent to America. In another, dated 13 February 1910, she described a luncheon at which the Bahá'ís resolved to secure land for a Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Tehran and appointed a committee of nine. Then she added:

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> Yet one more piece of news: The girls' school is assured.

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The school would start with room for fifty pupils. It would cost only $1.50 a month to educate a girl, and many families were too poor to pay. She urged the American friends to help, and reminded them that since her arrival the Bahá'ís of Tehran had started a hospital, a girls' school and a Mashriqu'l-Adhkár. She ended: "Come over and help us. COME!"

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That same year the *Star* reported the launching in America of the Persian-American Educational Society, formed with the approval of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to help education in Persia. The Bahá'í schools of Persia continued until 1934, when the government closed them all.

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*A retelling based on **Star of the West**, Volume 1, Nos. 1 and 2 (March–April 1910), letters from Tehran. For the fuller account, see the original.*

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