July 22. On this date in 2000, "The Jamaica Gleaner" carried an article titled "Female leaders, a must," about the role of women in the Bahá'í Faith, with no mention of their prohibition from the Universal House of Justice.

July 22. On this date in 2000, "The Jamaica Gleaner" carried an article titled "Female leaders, a must," about the role of women in the Bahá'í Faith, with no mention of their prohibition from the Universal House of Justice.

March 3. On this date in 1935, Glenford Eckleton Mitchell was born in Jamaica. From 1968 to 1982 he served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, and from 1982 to 2008 he served as a member of the Universal House of Justice.

March 3. On this date in 1935, Glenford Eckleton Mitchell was born in Jamaica. From 1968 to 1982 he served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, and from 1982 to 2008 he served as a member of the Universal House of Justice.

Glenford Mitchell was born in Jamaica on March 3, 1935. From 1962 to 1963 he was assistant editorial director of Maryknoll Publications and executive secretary of the Maryknoll Book Club in New York. He later served as assistant editor of "Africa Report" magazine (1963-67) and as managing editor of "World Order Magazine" (1967-82). He was an instructor in English and journalism at Howard University (1966-67).

In 1967, while serving on the National Teaching Committee for the United States, the National Spiritual Assembly asked Glenford Mitchell to establish the National Youth Office. In 1968 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. That same year he became its secretary, a post he held until his election to the Universal House of Justice in 1982.

He is married to Bahia (Deloomy) Mitchell, who serves as a Human Resource Manager for the U.S. Department of State and serves as a Permanent Member of the Tahirih Justice Center and a member of the Board of Directors of SolHealth, both of which are described as "Bahá'í-inspired public charity organizations." The Mitchell's have one daughter, Tarissa Mitchell, who currently practices as a pediatrician in Jonesboro, Georgia. She previously served as chair of the Harvard-Radcliffe Baha'i Association, where she received her undergraduate degree in 1999, before going on to study medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine.

January 2. On this date in 1902, Julius Edwards, later named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for the Northern Territories Protectorate, was born in Jamaica.

January 2. On this date in 1902, Julius Edwards, later named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for the Northern Territories Protectorate, was born in Jamaica.

Julius was born in Cannon Hall District in St. Mary's, Jamaica, on January 2, 1902. He was active in the field of civil rights prior to becoming a Bahá’í, co-founding the Jamaica Economic-Socio Society, serving as chairman of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, acting as adviser to two Prime Ministers of Jamaica, and serving as Marcus Garvey's personal secretary. He became a Bahá’í after being introduced to the Faith by William Mitchell, and began actively teaching the Faith in Jamaica, especially in Spanishtown, and also abroad in neighboring El Salvador. In his career, he worked as a tailor.

In 1953, at the opening of the Ten Year Crusade, Julius answered Shoghi Effendi's call for pioneers to areas that had not yet been opened to the Faith departing Kingstown on August 29, 1953, and arriving in the Northern Territories Protectorate, within the British colony of the Gold Coast, on September 29, 1953. He lived in Tamale where he was able to convert three locals to the Faith, and also taught in Kumasi, but he was unable to secure permission to remain in the country for an extended time and pioneered to Liberia after only three months.

In 1956 he was honored with a certificate of decoration signed by the President of Liberia, William Tubman, appointing him Knight Official of the Liberian Humane Order of African Redemption, and Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga noted that the President had a favorable opinion of the Faith through his introduction by Edwards. In 1960 he married Vera Keens-Douglas of Grenada who he had introduced to the Faith in Monrovia, and she assisted him in teaching in Liberia.

In December 1979 the Edwards moved from Liberia for Grenada, arriving in February 1980, and they served the Grenada Bahá’í community. Vera died on November 19, 1981, and Julius died four years later, on March 17, 1985. The Universal House of Justice conveyed the following message after his death:

GRIEVED PASSING JULIUS A. G. EDWARDS EARLY BELIEVER JAMAICA KNIGHT BAHAULLAH NORTHERN TERRITORIES PROTECTORATE AND PIONEER TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS LIBERIA. HIS LONG RECORD SERVICES AFRICA CARIBBEAN HAVE ENRICHED ANNALS CAUSE. KINDLY CONVEY FAMILY CONDOLENCES ASSURANCE PRAYERS PROGRESS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.

July 22. On this date in 2000, "The Jamaica Gleaner" carried an article titled "Female leaders, a must," about the role of women in the Bahá'í Faith, with no mention of their prohibition from the Universal House of Justice.

July 22. On this date in 2000, "The Jamaica Gleaner" carried an article titled "Female leaders, a must," about the role of women in the Bahá'í Faith, with no mention of their prohibition from the Universal House of Justice.

March 3. On this date in 1935, Glenford Eckleton Mitchell was born in Jamaica. From 1968 to 1982 he served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, and from 1982 to 2008 he served as a member of the Universal House of Justice.

March 3. On this date in 1935, Glenford Eckleton Mitchell was born in Jamaica. From 1968 to 1982 he served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, and from 1982 to 2008 he served as a member of the Universal House of Justice.

Glenford Mitchell was born in Jamaica on March 3, 1935. From 1962 to 1963 he was assistant editorial director of Maryknoll Publications and executive secretary of the Maryknoll Book Club in New York. He later served as assistant editor of "Africa Report" magazine (1963-67) and as managing editor of "World Order Magazine" (1967-82). He was an instructor in English and journalism at Howard University (1966-67).

In 1967, while serving on the National Teaching Committee for the United States, the National Spiritual Assembly asked Glenford Mitchell to establish the National Youth Office. In 1968 he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. That same year he became its secretary, a post he held until his election to the Universal House of Justice in 1982.

He is married to Bahia (Deloomy) Mitchell, who serves as a Human Resource Manager for the U.S. Department of State and serves as a Permanent Member of the Tahirih Justice Center and a member of the Board of Directors of SolHealth, both of which are described as "Bahá'í-inspired public charity organizations." The Mitchell's have one daughter, Tarissa Mitchell, who currently practices as a pediatrician in Jonesboro, Georgia. She previously served as chair of the Harvard-Radcliffe Baha'i Association, where she received her undergraduate degree in 1999, before going on to study medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine.

October 19. On this date in 1966, Malcolm King, who had been named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for British Guiana, died in Jamaica.

October 19. On this date in 1966, Malcolm King, who had been named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for British Guiana, died in Jamaica.

Malcolm King became a Bahá’í in March 1931 and was elected a member of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on April 20, 1931 and served on that board for nine years

He left Milwaukee to pioneer in the first Seven Year Plan set forth by Shoghi Effendi (1937-1944), and he remained a pioneer for the rest of his life, serving also in the Second Seven Year Plan, the World Crusade and the Nine Year Plan.

Malcolm King pioneered to Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Antigua, British Guiana and Jamaica. Shoghi Effendi appointed him a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh in October 1953 when he set out for British Guiana at the beginning of the World Crusade.

In 1961 Jamaica became his last pioneering post, where he died at approximately eighty-one years of age on October 19, 1966.

What has always struck me about the designation of Knights of Bahá'u'lláh is the arbitrariness with which the "virgin territories" were defined. For example, the Cook Islands and Tonga Island, both part of the Realm of New Zealand have distinct sets of Knights, while Niue and the Chatham Islands, also part of the Realm of New Zealand, are Knightless.

Several islands off the coast of Alaska have distinct Knights, like Baranof Island , Kodiak Island, and the Aleutian Islands. Yet other Alaskan islands, like the Pribilof Islands are Knightless.

The Brazilian state of Amapá has its own Knights (for Portuguese Guiana), while the other Brazilian states are Knightless.

Crete and Rhodes have Knights distinct from the Knights of mainland Greece, yet other Greek islands, like Santorini and Samos, are Knightless.

Key West has its own Knight, yet the other Florida Keys are Knightless.

Tiny islands, like Great Manan, have their own Knights. St. Thomas Island has its own Knight, yet the remaining Leeward Islands have one set of Knights, representing numerous politically and geographically independent islands. Similarly, the Windward Islands have one set of Knights, representing numerous politically and geographically independent islands.

July 22. On this date in 2000, "The Jamaica Gleaner" carried an article titled "Female leaders, a must," about the role of women in the Bahá'í Faith, with no mention of their prohibition from the Universal House of Justice.

July 22. On this date in 2000, "The Jamaica Gleaner" carried an article titled "Female leaders, a must," about the role of women in the Bahá'í Faith, with no mention of their prohibition from the Universal House of Justice.