History of the Faith in Worcester

Many Baha'is have lived in our cluster throughout the years.  Some of them have had international, national, regional or local impact in the development of the faith.  Remarkable people like Florence Morton, the Struven Family, and Amelia Collins have honored our cluster at some time in their lives.

'Abdu'l-Bahá's visit to Worcester

But before an y Bahá'í lived in the city of Worcester, in 1912,  a visionary Clark University professor, Dr. George Blakeslee, chair of the History Dept, had the wisdom to invite the son of the founder of the Faith, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, while he was touring the USA at the moment.  He had heard about him and his religion, as well as the persecutions of the followers of the faith in its native land of Persia.  And on May 23, 1912 Blakeslee drove in his car to the city of Boston, where 'Abdu'l-Bahá was giving a talk, and brought the Master and his entourage to Worcester to a full house presentation at the gymnasium of the university.  More details about this event, as well as the text of the talk given at the ocassion is presented in the page about "Abdu'l-Bahá in Worcester".

1924 National Convention

It was the year 1924 and the Baha'i community in North America was growing steadily.  Thanks to the influence of some early local Baha'is, like Florence Morton and Amelia Collins (see their pages, below), the sixteenth national convention of the faith was held in the city of Worcester. Read the report about this event in this article.

Florence Morton and Amelia Collins

At the same time that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was in Worcester,  thoughts of spiritual awakening were stirring in the mind of a young woman,  living in Princeton, MA (north of Worcester).  This woman was Florence Morton, one of Worcester's first Bahá'ís.  While she got a glimpse of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Boston, she didn't have the opportunity of attending his presentation in Worcester. To learn more about this remarkable woman and her contribution to the Faith in Worcester and the whole of North America, visit her own page. 

Florence Morton learned about the Faith from Sarah Farmer in Green Acre and later studied with the Struvens from Worcester, MA (see below) and Amelia Collins in Princeton, MA.  We don't know much about Amelia Collins activities around here, but she surely had an impact in the worldwide development of the Faith (see her linked biography for more info about her).  Very little record exists of her presence in Central Massachusetts.  All we know so far is that she studied the faith with Florence, and that in the1926 National Convention of the National Spiritual Assembly of North America, held in Sand Francisco, CA, she was elected as a member (along with Florence as treasurer).  The "DECLARATION OF TRUST" by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United Stated and Canada lists Florence Morton of Worcester, Mass. and Amelia Collins of Princeton, Mass. within its members (The Bahá'í World: Volume 12. 1950-1954. P393).

The Struven family

During World War I, a young couple, with a very young boy, moved from Baltimore, Maryland to Worcester.  They were Howard C. and Hebe Struven and their son Howard Douglas.  Visit the Struven Family page for more information about Worcester's primordial family.

 

 

Other early Bahá'ís

In addition to the previously mentioned friends, there were many "earlier" Bahá'ís in Worcester since the mid 1920's to the present.  Information about these is being compiled and will be available in the Early Bahá'ís page.

 

This is a work in progress. As more information becomes available it will be posted here.  If you have more information to supplement or correct what is here, please contact us.

Acknowledgements:

Many thanks to the following institutions who contributed to the making of these historical pages about the early history of the Faith in Worcester and about some of its early Bahá'ís:

Baltimore LSA, Eliot LSA, Worcester LSA, National Baha'i Archives of the U.S., Clark University, Office of Communications @ Baha'i National Center, Ocean

And to the following individuals that supported this effort by providing information, images, and assisting in the revision/edition process:

Esta Struven, Shirley Mather, Ellen Riley, Divine Kebulu, Rob Shamey, Jacquie Sullivan, Nancy Reimer, Kristen Graham, Deb Richt, Shelley Tennant, Deb Clark Vance, Frances McCune, Mark Griffin, Anne Perry, Rosanne Adams, Ardith Tennant, Don Tennant, Ramona Gil, Joel Nizin, Paul Ropp, Jack Foley, Fordyce Williams, David Hunt, Farhad Naderi, Chad Jones, Nasim Mansuri, ....

Last update: 2/26/2019