- 1904-10-28 —
Ali Kuli Khan married Florence Breed, the first marriage between a Persian and a Western Bahá'í. [BFA2:147]
- For details of this marriage see SUR223–20.
- When 'Abdu'l-Bahá heard the new of the marriage He said, 'This is the first sign of union between East and West.' Then He sent for candies to be brought and said, 'The event is so joyous that it must be celebrated!' And He distributed the candy to those present, as is the custom for the parents of the bridegroom to do at a Persian wedding banquet. [AY26]
- See AY51-53 for the history of the Breed name.
- See AY53-> for the relationship between Khan and the Hearst family.
- 1912-09-22 —
The marriage of Louis G. Gregory and Louisa ("Louise") A. M. Mathew, the first interracial Bahá'í couple, who met while on pilgrimage and whom 'Abdul-Bahá had encouraged to marry. They exchanged Bahá'í vows after the rites performed by Rev. Everard W. Daniel, curate of St. Philip's Protestant Episcopal Church, perhaps the most prestigious African American church in the country, in a private ceremony in his residence. In a "Tablet" (translated March 14, 1914). She was 46 and he was 8 years younger. [SYH73-75, 91]
- `Abdu'l-Bahá lauded the Gregorys' marriage as "an introduction to the accomplishment" of harmony between the races. [`ABDU'L-BAHÁ' S 1912 HOWARD UNIVERSITY
SPEECH: A CIVIL WAR MYTH FOR INTERRACIAL EMANCIPATION p117 by Dr Christopher Buck]
- See The Journey West.
- The prayer, "Verily, they are married in obedience to thy command. Cause them to become the signs of unity and harmony until the end of time..." was revealed for their wedding by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [FMH97]
- "Intermarriage is a good way to efface racial differences. It produces strong, beautiful offspring, clever and resourceful." [sYH7]
- [239D:169] reported this marriage took place on the 27th of September.
- At this time interracial marriage was legal in Washington but not socially acceptable. It was outlawed in 25 states. It wasn't until 1967 that legislation forbidding interracial marriages was henceforth illegal. In the Washington community at this time there were white Bahá'ís who did not yet understand the principle of racial unity. [SYH80, 85-86]
- "I made that marriage." 'Abdu'l-Bahá is reported having said to Mrs Parsons. "I wish the white and coloured races to marry"
- 1937-00-00 — The marriage of Ruth Browne and Ellsworth Blackwell in Chicago. Theirs was the second United States inter-racial Bahá'í marriage. [from White and Negro Alike. Stories of Baha'i Pioneers Ellsworth and Ruth Blackwell]
In a cablegram, in 1939, the Guardian asked American Bahá'ís, "White and Negro alike," to arise and move to foreign lands, especially to countries in the Caribbean and in Central America. Ellsworth and Ruth Blackwell volunteered to give up jobs and leave their home in Chicago and go where the need was greatest. In 1940, they were the first Bahá'í pioneers to move to Haiti, where they spent more than half of the next thirty-five years. Here are stories, many told in their own words, of the victories, as well as the challenges, they experienced in Haiti and in periods when they returned to Chicago between 1940 and 1975. - 1937-03-25 —
Shoghi Effendi married Mary Maxwell, Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum. [PP151; UD115; BN No107 April 1937 p1]]
- For a description of the simple wedding see GBF68–9 and PP151–2.
- Shoghi Effendi stressed that the marriage drew the Occident and the Orient closer together. [GBF69–70; PP153]
- The American Bahá'í community sent $19 from each of its 71 Assemblies as a wedding gift. [GBF70; PP153]
- An extension was built onto Shoghi Effendi's apartment on the roof of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's house in Haifa to accommodate the couple. [BBD107; DH152]
- See also MA89.
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