Anthropology, Columbia University; Mr. James Welden Johnson, Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of the Colored People; Miss Jane Addams, the well-known social worker of Hull House, Chicago; Messrs. Roy C. Wilhelm, Horace Holley and Mountfort Mills were among the active workers and speakers for this event in the welfare history of New York. This convention demonstrated on a scientific and spiritual basis that there is no real basis for the belief in the superiority of one race over another. It was held in the spring of 1924.
Other organizations participating were the National Urban League, the committee on International Co-operation of the League of Women Voters and America’s Making. Other notable persons who lent hand and voice were Dr. Alain Locke, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Dr. Lobo, Taracknath Das, Ruth Morgan, John Finley, Lucius Porter and Stephen P . Duggan. In the words of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, printed on the program, the assembled audiences had before them the supreme joy that is possible of attainment through a united nation and a harmonious world.
Philadelphia, the “City of brotherly love,” as named by its Quaker founder, next entered the arena of great human service on the basis of spirituality. The Spiritual Assembly announced that it would hold a convention for amity between the white and colored races under Bahá’í auspices. Witherspoon Hall, a large and beautiful auditorium, situated in the heart of the city was selected as the place of meetings. Large and fine audiences which in spirit and appearance seemed to be the flower of the city, beautiful music, inspiring addresses by leaders of thought and opinion with the heavenly teachings and message given by those trained in Bahá’í ideals and methods of service constituted the program. One of the most notable addresses was made by former President Judge John M. Patterson of the Court of Common Pleas, who said in part:
"This convention upholds a standard: Let us take into life the ideals we learn here. Real democracy is putting into practice the things we teach. God put the other fellow on the earth as well as ourselves. We must not let our charity ever fail. Love does not know colors or creeds. We can carry out the spirit of this convention whether we call ourselves Christians or Bahá’ís."
Miss Agnes Tierney of the Society of Friends, Dr. Alain Locke, Dr. Zia M. Baghdádi, Messrs. Hooper Harris, Albert Vail and Horace Holley, all spoke, with voices whose spiritual power gave eloquent expression to the ideals of the new age under the inspiration of Bahá’u’lláh.
It is here worthy of note that the idea of a World Unity conference which took hold of a group of Bahá’ís and other religious liberals and humanitarians of San Francisco, in March, 1925, grew out of the suggestion of ‘Abdu’l-Baháfor harmony and understanding between the white and colored races in America. This great conference, held in a locality most favorable to the meeting of East and West, combined representatives of the Aryan, Negro, Malay, and Mongolian, besides many nationalities. This step inaugurated a series of world unity conferences which have widened the horizons of people in many cities. It was in connection with such a conference that the friends in Dayton, Ohio, planned a session especially for inter-racial amity on January 13, 1927.
The Glee Club of Wilberforce University, one of the oldest Negro colleges, furnished the music, a happy blending of classics with plantation songs popularly known as “Spirituals.” The fine and appreciative audience was about evenly divided in numbers between the two races. It happened that on this occasion the three speakers were followers of Bahá’u’lláh. Mr. Holley as chairman gave an historical review of the prejudices and hatreds which have made the world sick for many centuries and in an eloquent plea sought the expansion of human minds and hearts in service to humanity.
