The áʼíBaháʼí Faith in Greater Boston, a combined statistical area, has had glimpses of the religion in the 19th century arising to its first community of religionists at the turn of the century. Early newspaper accounts of events were followed by papers on the precursor Bábí religion by Dr. Rev. Austin H. Wright were noted, materials donated, and lost, and then other scholars began to write about the religion. The community began to coalesce being near to Green Acre, founded by Sarah Farmer, who publicly espoused the religion from 1901. From then on, the institution would progressively be associated with Baháʼís - a place where both locals and people from afar came to learn of the religion, and who officially took over controlling interest from 1913. Leaders rising to national prominence with a national level of organization soon arose after ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, traveled through the area for about 40 days and across the United States for some 239 days. Most prominent were Harlan Ober, William Henry Randall, and Alfred E. Lunt, who served in events in the Boston area, Green Acre boards, and national institutions of the religion. In addition to national leaders in the religion, a number of notable individuals joined the religion and were increasingly visible - such as Urbain Ledoux, Sadie and Marby Oglesby, James Ferdinand Morton Jr., Nancy Bowditch, and Guy Murchie. The community moved from beginning to host public meetings to systematically support a presence in a Center in Boston with services and presentations on the religion as well as a racially integrated community since 1935. Starting about the 1950s and broadening into the 1960s, there was wider recognition of the Baháʼís themselves. Sometimes this took the form of noting their persecution in Morocco and then Iran and other times noting local concerts and fairs with their participation. The modern community, albeit a tiny fraction of the wider population, is present in some concentrations and thin areas throughout the greater Boston area. Over the last couple of decades, it has been systematically pursuing programs of neighborhood community-building activities of study circles, children's classes, junior youth groups, and devotional meetings among the activities and observances of the religion.
Firsts
Mention of Bábí period
The first mention related to the history of the Baháʼí Faith known in Massachusetts concerns news of Bábism in Qajar Persia, which Baháʼís hold as a direct precursor akin to the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus. This was a newspaper article printed in the Boston Courier December 29, 1845, reporting on events from the previous June. It is an echo of the original published in the London Times Nov 1, 1845. This Boston mention repeated January 1846 in the Boston Evening Transcript, the Christian Witness and Church Advocate, In February in the Christian Journal out of Exeter, New Hampshire, and then again later in June 1847. In Baháʼí records this event is reported in The Dawn-Breakers following Quddús' arrival in Shiraz after the pilgrimage of the Báb. The next newspaper reference to events of this period was in November 1850, echoing newspaper articles as early as the previous July.
Austin Wright
The first "paper" on events of this period is a letter written to the American Oriental Society which was holding its meeting in Boston, and the library of materials was held at the Boston Athenæum. The letter was originally published as part of the minutes of the Society in The Literary World of June 14, 1851, as an untitled entry whose first quote is "notice of a singular character, who has for some years past played a prominent part on the stage of Persian life" dated February 10, 1851, by Dr. Rev. Austin H. Wright. It is considered the first paper to give an account on Bábism, though it makes mistakes typical of the period. See also Josephus on Jesus. It was subsequently also published in a Vermont newspaper June 26, 1851, and a translation was published in a German newspaper. Wright, father of Lucy Myers Wright Mitchell and John Henry Wright, was a medical missionary from New England to Persia among the Nestorian Christians.