Martha Root

Martha Louise Root (born August 10, 1872 in Richwood , Ohio , † September 28, 1939 in Hawaii ) was an American travel teacher of the Bahá'í Faith in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Shoghi Effendi , Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith , called her "the leading travel teacher in the first Bahá'í century" and posthumously appointed her a Hand of the Cause . She was known for visiting heads of state and other public figures. Her contact with Queen Marie of Romania was of particular importance, as she is considered to be the first monarch to adopt the Bahá'í Faith.

Education and early years

Martha Root was born on August 10, 1872 to Timothy and Nancy Root in Richwood , Ohio . She had two older brothers, Clarence and Claude. Shortly after she was born, the family moved to Cambridge Springs , Pennsylvania , where her father ran a dairy farm. Martha was known as Mattie. She was more interested in books than in the usual domestic activities. At the age of 14 she was already making enough money writing to afford a trip to Niagara Falls . She excelled in high school and college, and attended Oberlin College . She then went to the University of Chicago , where she graduated in 1895. After completing her studies, she first started teaching at a school. However, she gave up to write for various newspapers. In the summer of 1900 she worked for the Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph as an editor in the corporate department and in the fall for the Pittsburgh Dispatch . After all, she wrote more and more about cars, which she u. a. brought to France for research.

In 1909 she met Roy C. Wilhelm, who gave her read the writings of the Bahá'í religion . While studying the religion for several months, she met several members of the local Bahá'í community in Chicago , including Thornton Chase and Arthur Agnew. In the same year she professed the teachings of the Bahá'ís. During this time she continued to write, including a. wrote a detailed article for the Pittsburgh Post on the history and teachings of the Bahá'í Faith in 1909. She also attended the first annual Bahá'í Convention, held in Chicago in 1911.

Traveling as a Bahá'í teacher

In 1911 and 1912, Abdu'l-Bahá , son of the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, visited the United States and Canada. Martha Root attended many of Abdu'l-Bahá's lectures and organized his speech in Pittsburgh. During this time Martha Root developed breast cancer , which went into remission for many years .

After meeting Abdu'l-Bahá, Martha Root went on a trip around the world to spread the teachings of the Bahá'í faith. She left the United States on January 30, 1915 , and after visiting some countries in Europe, she planned a trip to Palestine to visit the holy places of the Bahá'ís. Since the First World War thwarted this plan, she traveled to Egypt , stayed there for six months and wrote again newspaper articles. She then traveled to Bombay , Rangoon , Japan and Hawaii . On August 29, 1915, she met again in the United States, in San Francisco .

After another five years in the United States, she traveled to Canada in 1920 and visited Saint John , Montreal , London and Saint Thomas , where she organized teaching programs. She then traveled to Mexico and on to Guatemala , where she was to meet with the President. However, due to a political revolution, the meeting never took place.

By 1921, her breast cancer had spread and she was in frequent pain. Her father's health was also failing and her travel became more restricted.

After her father's death on November 3, 1922, Martha went on mission trips again to parts of the United States, Canada , Japan, and China . Then she went to Australia , New Zealand , Tasmania and Hong Kong to join the members of the Bahá'í community there. She made several radio broadcasts in South Africa . Martha Root also learned Esperanto and met Lidia Zamenhof , the daughter of Esperanto creator Ludwig Zamenhof , who later also became a Bahá'í.

Meeting with Queen Marie of Romania

In 1923 Martha Root arrived in Bucharest and sent the Queen a copy of the book Bahá'u'lláh and the New Age . Two days after receiving the book, the Queen granted Martha Root an audience at the palace. This first of eight consecutive meetings with Queen Marie of Romania took place in January 1926 in the Controceni Palace in Bucharest. Further audiences took place in 1927 in the Pelisor Palace in Sinaia , in January 1928 in the royal palace in Belgrade and in October 1929 in the summer palace of Queen "Tehna Yuva" in Balcic on the Black Sea. In August 1932 and February 1933 Martha Root was received in the apartment of Princess Ileana (then Archduchess of Austria) in Mödling near Vienna. In February 1934 and February 1936 audiences were held again in the Controceni Palace.

According to Bahá'í sources, Marie was the first member of a royal family to become Bahá'í. The biographer Hannah Pakula noted that Marie personally had an intense relationship with this religion, but that she “[...] continued to attend the Evangelical Church”, although she “was better at home with my Baha-u-llah books and Teaching 'prayed'. In 1976, William McElwee Miller published a book on the Bahá'í religion that contained a letter from Marie's daughter Ileana in 1970 denying her mother's conversion.

Visit to the Holy Land

In 1925 Martha Root traveled to Palestine, the holy land of the Bahá'ís, and met Bahíyyih Khánum and Shoghi Effendi . She then traveled to Great Britain , Germany , Greece , Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia to once again spread the Bahá'í teachings. Eventually she also went to Iran, despite Shoghi Effendi advising her not to do so. She hoped to meet the Shah Reza Khan Pahlavi , but it didn't come.

Late years

In 1930 she wanted to meet the Japanese Emperor Hirohito , but US officials refused to allow her to leave the country. Instead, she sent the emperor some Bahá'í books and other gifts. Despite her illness, Martha Root continued to work to spread the Bahá'í teachings by traveling to Hawaii , China, and India in 1937 . In 1938 she returned to Hawaii, where she died on September 28, 1939.

Works

• Martha Root: Tahirih the Pure. Kalimát Press, Los Angeles (USA) 1981, ISBN 1-890688-04-5

literature

• Jiling Yang: In Search of Martha Root. An American Baha'i Feminist and Peace Advocate in the Early Twentieth Century (Thesis). Institute for Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Georgia State University 2007
• MR Garis: Martha Root. Lioness at the Threshold. Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Wilmette (Illinois, USA) 1983, ISBN 0-87743-185-X .
• Kay Zinky (Ed.): Martha Root. Herald of the Kingdom. A compilation. Bahá'í Publishing Trust, New Delhi (India) 1983.
• Barron Harper: Lights of Fortitude. George Ronald, Oxford (Great Britain) 1997, ISBN 0-85398-413-1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hassel, Graham; Fazel, Seena (1998). "100 Years of the Bahá'í Faith in Europe". Bahá'í Studies Review. 8: 35-44.
2. ^ Hannah Pakula (1996). The Last Romantic: A Biography of Queen Marie of Roumania. Phoenix Giant. p. 337. ISBN 978-1-85799-816-0 .
3. ^ Miller, William McElwee (1974). The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings. Pasadena, Ca .: William Carey Library. pp. 304-05. ISBN 0-87808-137-2 .