September 1. On this date in 1921, the first Bahá'í public meeting was held in Seoul, with Agnes Alexander speaking. According to "Raising the Banner in Korea",
"She was very surprised at the size of the audience, about 900 men and
women sitting cross-legged on the matted floor listening intently."
On July 21, 1875, Agnes Baldwin Alexander,
born in Honolulu on July 21, 1875, to descendants of Christian
missionary families, the Baldwins and the Alexanders, who were among the
families of whom James A. Michener said, "They came to the islands to
do good, and they did right well."
She became a Bahá’í in 1900 while visiting Italy.
After returning in 1901, she remained in Hawaii for 12 years, and of her experiences there wrote Personal Recollections of a Bahai Life in the Hawaiian Islands. Upon 'Abdu’l-Baha's request, Agnes Baldwin Alexander
moved to Japan in 1914.
In 1921 she became the first to introduce the
religion to Korea. Except for extended vacations in Hawaii, Alexander
spent over thirty years in Japan. Also at the request of 'Abdu’l-Baha,
Alexander became an early advocate of Esperanto and used that new
international language to spread the Bahá’í teachings at meetings and
conferences. At Shoghi Effendi's request, Alexander wrote two histories:
Forty Years of the Bahá’í Cause in Hawaii: 1902-1942 and History of the Bahá’í Faith in Japan: 1914-1938.
Both of these volumes were published posthumously. In 1957, Shoghi
Effendi appointed her a Hand of the Cause of God.
In 1964, Alexander
represented the Universal House of Justice, at the election of Hawaii’s
first National Spiritual Assembly, which is distinct from the National
Spiritual Assembly of the United States. After suffering a broken hip in
1965, and spending two years in a Tokyo hospital, Alexander returned
home to Honolulu in 1967.
On January 1, 1971, Alexander died. She was
buried behind Kawaiahao Church with her missionary forebears.
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