--Issue No. 1 December 1924:
For many years past, the Archives Committee has been collecting original copies of Tablets and other irreplaceable documents and souvenirs of the Cause, and keeping them properly safeguarded in bank vaults at Chicago.
For many years past, the Archives Committee has been collecting original copies of Tablets and other irreplaceable documents and souvenirs of the Cause, and keeping them properly safeguarded in bank vaults at Chicago.
All the beautiful messages from Abdu’l Baha made accessible
to us through the three printed volumes of Tablets were originally collected by
the Archives Committee. Had this work not been done, the publication of those
three volumes could never have been accomplished.
It will be remembered that Volume Three of the Tablets
appeared in 1915, while many of Abdu’l Baha’s most important communications to
individuals and groups in this country were received between 1915 and 1921, a
period which gave us the Tablets of the Divine Plan and likewise Abdu’l Baha’s
final messages of exhortation and of love.
To make possible in the near future a fourth and final
volume of authoritative Tablets, it is most essential that all believers and
Assemblies possessing original Tablets shall as soon as possible entrust them
(accompanied by the original signed translation, if possible) to the Archives
Committee. Otherwise, within the lapse of a few years, as the recipients
inevitably pass away, many priceless Tablets will be lost to the Cause, and the
task of collecting the other Tablets will be increased a hundredfold.
As it is precisely those final Tablets of which we all have need to ponder at this time, the National Spiritual Assembly joins with the Archives Committee in urging individual believers and Assemblies to lose no time in placing their Tablets at the disposal of all the friends by sending them to the Archives Committee. The secretary of this committee is Miss Gertrude Buikema, 1827 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago, Illinois. The official receipt of the Archives Committee will be forwarded to the sender without delay, and a detailed report of the work of this committee will be presented at the National Convention of 1925.
Under the experienced and capable editorship of Stanwood
Cobb, Mariam Haney and Jinabi Fadil, the Baha’i Magazine (Star of the West),
has since May been presenting the Message in a universal way that cannot fail
to attract the attention of interested people. With the expansion of the Cause
it has become necessary for the magazine to develop away from the point of view
of membership in a limited group toward a broad and fundamental interpretation
of current problems reflecting the spirit of the teachings rather than the
passing events of the Movement.
The Baha’i Magazine today should be regarded as a teacher in
the real sense of the word, and as such deserving of our cordial support not
merely to the extent of our own personal subscription, but by means of
additional subscriptions and copies to be passed on where they are likely to
accomplish the most good. Five months’ subscription to a new subscriber, one
dollar; yearly subscription, three dollars; two subscriptions to one address,
five dollars. Address Baha’i News Service, P.O. Box 283, Chicago, Illinois.
The work of the Library Committee has also been very rapidly
developing. This committee has placed Baha’i literature in hundreds of public
libraries throughout the country, and at the present time has nearly one
thousand libraries on its active list. Supported entirely from the National Fund,
the work of this committee is among the most far-reaching efforts being made to
serve the Cause in this country, and as the resources of the National Fund
permit, many thousands of additional volumes will be placed in public libraries
by this committee, thus bringing the Message within reach of a vast number of
people. Those desiring to assist the Library Committee should address the
secretary, Miss Elizabeth Hopper, 11.05 Park Road, N.W., Washington, D.C.
The Publishing Committee have recently issued a new catalog,
copies of which have been sent to all Assembly librarians on its list. Copies
can be obtained by addressing Baha’i Publishing Committee, 169 Christopher
Street, New York City.
The following new books can now be obtained: Shoghi Effendi’s
translation of the Hidden Words, 25c; The Book of Assurance (Ighan), $1.50;
Baha’u’llah and the New Era by Dr. Esslemont, $1.50; The Wisdom of Abdu’l Baha
(Paris Talks), 40c; Prayers and Tablets of Abdu’l Baha, translated by Shoghi
Effendi, 15c; Episodes in My Life, by Moneereh Khanum, translated by Ahmad
Sohrab, 35c; Abdu’l Baha’s First Days in America, from the diary of Juliet
Thompson, $1.00; Baha’u’llah and His Message, a pamphlet by Dr. Esslemont, 20c;
photo-engravings from photographs of Abdu’l Baha and also the Baha’i Temple,
10c each. A selection of the general letters of Shoghi Effendi will be
published within a few weeks, 15c.