• `Abdu'l-Bahá prefers the slower S.S. Cedric to the Titanic, about to make her maiden voyage. [AB171]

• Shoghi Effendi is taken off the ship owing to an eye infection. [AB171–2]

• During His tour `Abdu'l-Bahá visits 32 cities and makes numerous addresses of which 185 are recorded. [SBBH1:110]
• For a chronological list of talks given by `Abdu'l-Bahá while in North America see PUP473–8.
• For details of His journey see AB171–339.
• Ward, 239 Days; Balyuzi, `Abdu'l-Bahá; The Diary of Juliet Thompson; many editions of Star of the West and numerous biographies of Bahá'ís of the time as well as other books carry information about `Abdu'l-Bahá travels and talks.
• Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney, 780 West End Avenue, New York. [PUP3]
• He was accompanied by:

  -Sayyid Asadu'lláh Qumí,

  -Dr Fareed Amin Ullah, He was a nephew of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and served as his translator during His tour of the West. Because of his disobedience he and his father were both expelled from the Faith.

  -Mírza Mahmúd-i Zarqání. He was a member of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's entourage for both the Western and European tours. He wrote an account of the travels in a book entitled Kitáb-i Badáyi'u'l-Át̲h̲ár and called "Mahmúd's Diary" in the English translation. [APD151]

  -Mirza Ahmad Sohrab. He had originally come to the West to assist Mírzá Abú'l-Fadl Gulpaygání in 1901. He remained and worked at the Iranian Consulate until 1912 and during this time he translated much of the correspondence between 'Abdu'l-Bahâ and the Western believers. After the American tour he returned to the Holy Land. After the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá he rejected the authority of Shoghi Effendi and was expelled. [APD155]

• Talk at Studio of Miss Phillips, 39 West Sixty-seventh Street, New York. [PUP7]

• Talk at Union Meeting of Advanced Thought Centers, Carnegie Lyceum, West Fifty-seventh Street, New York. [PUP14]

'Abdu'l-Bahá visits The Bowery accompanied by Edward Getsinger and Juliet Thompson as noted in her unpublished Diary. They arrived with two heavy bags of quarters to distribute to the poor. [OPOP165-168, PUP32]

• Talk at Orient-Occident-Unity Conference, Public Library Hall, Washington, D.C. [PUP35]

Talk at Universalist Church, Thirteenth and L Streets, Washington, D.C. [PUP39, APD16]

Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. [PUP46]

Talk to Bethel Literary Society, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, M Street, NW, Washington, D.C. [PUP49]

Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. [PUP56, APD37-45]

Message to Esperantists, Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. [PUP60]

Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. [PUP62, APD46-49]

• For His discourse on taxation see FWU38-43]

In the evening there is a grand reception for some 300 people in honour of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on behalf of the Orient-Occident Unity Society. Among the guests and dignitaries are General Adolphus Greely, Admiral Wainwright, a Washington judge, Admiral Peary, a bishop, the chargé d'affaires of Switzerland, a member of Congress, the head of the United States Patent Office, the General Consul, the President of the Peace Congress and others. [MD64-65]

`Abdu'l-Bahá leaves Washington for Chicago. [239D:46; AB184; SBR81]

`Abdu'l-Bahá arrives in Chicago. [239D:47]

• He had been deserted by most of his followers and is given a Muslim funeral. [BKG426; GPB233]
• Years later his sons and their relatives reconcile themselves to the authority of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [Ch237-238]

Talk at Hull House, Chicago, Illinois. Hull House was a community centre, one of the earliest in Chicago, founded by the National American Woman Suffrage Association [PUP67, MD70]

Talk at Fourth Annual Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Handel Hall, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP69, MD71]

• Talk at Dedication of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár Grounds. [PUP71]
• The cornerstone has been offered by Mrs Nettie Tobin. [AB186]
• `Abdu'l-Bahá asks delegates from the various Bahá'í communities and Bahá'ís from different backgrounds each to dig the earth to lay the stone. [AB186–7]

Talk to Federation of Women's Clubs, Hotel La Salle, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP74]

Talk at Bahá'í Women's Reception, Hotel La Salle, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP77]

Talk at Hotel Plaza, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP78]

Talk at Hotel Plaza, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP79]

Talk at Hotel Plaza, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP84]

Talk at Plymouth Congregational Church, 935 East Fiftieth Street, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP93]

Talk at All-Souls Church, Lincoln Center, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP97]

Talk at Euclid Hall, Cleveland, Ohio. [PUP101]

Talk at Sanatorium of Dr. C. M. Swingle, Cleveland, Ohio. [PUP104]

Talk at Hotel Schenley, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The hotel is now the University of Pittsburgh's Student Union building, known as the William Pitt Union. [PUP105, Schenley Hotel]

He and His entourage moves into the apartment of William P. Ripley who have vacated it for this purpose. [APD59-60]

In the morning Agnes Parsons takes 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the Capitol then to the Washington Monument where they take the elevator to the top.

He speaks to a small group in the Parsons' home in the afternoon and at the Studio Hall in the evening. [APD63-66]

In The Diary of Juliet Thompson p285 it is reported that 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been horrified by the prejudice He observed against Black people in Washington.

Talk at the Hudson Apartment House at 227 Riverside Drive, New York. [PUP111, DJT282]

`Abdu'l-Bahá travels to Jersey City to speak in the Unitarian Church, the Brotherhood Church, Bergen and Fairview Avenues, of which Howard Colby Ives is the pastor. [239D:70–1; AB194, PUP129] ]

Talk at Mount Morris Baptist Church, Fifth Avenue and 126th Street, New York. [PUP147]

Talk at Reception at Metropolitan Temple, Seventh Avenue and Fourteenth Street, New York. [PUP150]

Talk at Town Hall, Fanwood, New Jersey. [PUP161]

• He has His first sitting for the portrait painted by Juliet Thompson. [DJT299]

`Abdu'l-Bahá arrives in Philadelphia. [239D:88; AB209]

Talk at Baptist Temple, Broad and Berks Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [PUP176]

Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP183]

Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP186]

Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Howard MacNutt, 935 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York. [PUP194]

Talk at Central Congregational Church, Hancock Street, Brooklyn, New York. [PUP197]

• See 239D:92–3 and DJT311–17 for a description of this event.

• For pictures of this event see 239D:100–1.
• Some years later, in 1953, Curtis Kelsey helped to rebuild and enlarge Evergreen Cabin, built on the spot where 'Abdu'l-Baha was host at the first Unity Feast in America. [BW15p470]

• 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke on the subject of poverty and the alleviation of the discrepancy between the rich and the poor.

Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York. [PUP220]

On this occasion 'Abdu'l-Bahá assigned Howard the task of deepening a group of Chicago Bahá'ís on the importance of the Covenant and instructing them not to associate with Covenant-breakers. Howard failed to complete this task and continued correspondence with associates of Kheiralla. For more information see this date.

Talk at Hotel Victoria, corner of Newbury and Dartmouth Sts, Boston, Massachusetts. [PUP238]

• For an interesting story about Nancy Douglas Bowditch see Wikipedia.
• Also see The Artist's Daughter: Memoirs, 1890 - 1979 the autobiography of Nancy Douglas Bowditch.

`Abdu'l-Bahá leaves Boston, arriving in Dublin, New Hampshire, the same evening. [239D:117; AB233; SBR82, APD72-73]

Talk at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine. [PUP253]

• For `Abdu'l-Bahá's activities while in Green Acre see AB240–51.
• For the story of Fred Mortensen see 239D:126–9 and AB247–51.
• See also Green Acre on the Piscataqua.

Talk at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine. [PUP263]

Talk at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine. [PUP264]

Talk at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine. [PUP270]

• He stays in Montreal for ten days, living for four nights at the Maxwell residence. [239D:132]
• See also `Abdu'l-Bahá in Canada.

Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. William Sutherland Maxwell, 716 Pine Avenue West, (now 1548 avenue des Pins, ouest) Montreal, Canada. [PUP302]

Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. William Sutherland Maxwell, 716 Pine Avenue West, (now 1548 avenue des Pins, ouest) Montreal, Canada. [PUP306]

• He stays at the home of Corinne True. [239D:142; AB266]

• He misses His train and tells the Bahá'ís not to be concerned over this, as there is a good reason for it; travelling on the next train they come across the wreckage of the first, which has been in a collision. [239D:145; AB267]

`Abdu'l-Bahá leaves Chicago for Minneapolis, arriving the same night. [239D:146; AB273]

Talk at Home of Dr. and Mrs. Clement Woolson, 870 Laurel Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota. [PUP329]

`Abdu'l-Bahá leaves Minneapolis for Omaha, Nebraska, arriving the same night. [239D:20]

• AB279 says this was 21 September.

• Photos of the grave of Thornton Chase in Inglewood Park Cemetery.

• There are two thousand in the audience. [AB288]

• She is estranged from the Faith because one or two individuals had tried to extort money from her but her invitation is sincere. AB307–8]

• The purpose of His journey to Los Angeles is to visit the grave of Thornton Chase. [AB309]

Talk at Hotel Sacramento, Sacramento, California. [PUP370]

`Abdu'l-Bahá leaves Sacramento for Denver. [239D:172; AB316]

Talk at Hotel Plaza, Chicago, Illinois. [PUP381]

`Abdu'l-Bahá leaves Cincinnati for Washington DC. [239D:179]

Talk at Universalist Church, Thirteenth and L Streets, NW, Washington, D.C. [PUP390]

Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D. C. [PUP400]

Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D. C .[PUP415]

Talk at Bahá'í Banquet, Rauscher's Hall, Washington, D. C. [PUP418]

Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hannen 1252 Eighth Street, NW, Washington, D. C. .[PUP425]

Talk at 1901 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D. C. [PUP428]

• At noon He speaks at the chapel of the Unitarian Church on the unity of religions and the oneness of God. The chapel is packed with Johns Hopkins University faculty members and many local professional men.
• After the address he shares lunch at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Struven with more than 50 people.
• He leaves Baltimore about 3PM and on his return to New York He passes through Philadelphia, where He meets the Bahá'ís on the train platform. ['Abdu'l-Bahá in Baltimore by Allison Vaccaro and Edward E. Bartlett]

Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank K. Moxey, 575 Riverside Drive, New York. [PUP422]

• The hotel does not allow the black Bahá'ís to attend. [239D:187]

Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney, 780 West End Avenue, New York. [PUP453]

Talk to Mr. Kinney's Bible Class, 780 West End Avenue, New York. [PUP458]

Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney, 780 West End Avenue, New York. [PUP460]

• For `Abdu'l-Bahá's final words to the Bahá'ís, spoken while on board ship, see PUP468.
• For Ahmad Sohrab's account of the sea crossing see SW3, 16:2.

• He made comments on the character of the American people.
• In the afternoon He spoke to a large gathering at Caxton Hall in Westminster. [SoW Vol III no 19 2Mar1913 p3-4, ABTM276-277]

Ḥájí Abu'l-Ḥasan-i-Ardakání (Ḥájí Amín) arrives in London from Paris with three young Persian. He spoke neither English nor French and had had some difficulty in getting from Paris to London. He crossed the English Channel and then found himself back in Paris. His second attempt was successful. [SoW Vol III no19 2Mar1913 p4, AB346–7, ABTM278]

He discussed the question of "spiritual communication" and gave the prerequisites. [SoW Vol III no 19 2Mar1913 p6]

In the evening He was driven to Westminster for a meeting at the Palace Hotel, His first public talk since returning to London. [SoW Vol III no 19 2Mar1913 p6, [SoW Vol III no 17 19Jan1913 p510]

• He is reported to have said, perhaps on another occasion, "The stage will be the pulpit of the future". [Quoted by Loulie Mathews in The Magazine of the Children of the Kingdom, Vol 4, No. 3 (June 1923, p69]
• Star of the West, Vol. 19 no. 11 Feb1929, p.341 quotes 'Abdu'l-Bahá as saying: "drama is of the utmost importance. It has been a great educational power in the past; it will be so again,". [BW1994-1995p255]

That evening He visited the Salvation Army Shelter in Westminster. That night there were 1,000 men present. After His talk He departed but not before leaving twenty gold sovereigns and many handfuls of silver with Col Spencer for a similar dinner to be held on New Year's Eve. [ABTM282-283]

In the afternoon He spoke at the home of Miss Annie Gamble. [SoW Vol. 9 No 2 9Apr1918 p 24]

In the evening He gave a talk at the King's Weigh House Methodist Church hosted by Rev E W Lewis. [SoW Vol. 4 No 17 19Jan1914 p284-285]

• For biographical information see a paper by Crawford Howell Toy entitled Thomas Kelly Cheyne.
• See Hurqalya Publications for a translation by Stephen Lambden of a Tablet to Dr Cheyne as well as the address to Manchester College.
• After the visit of 'Abdu'l-Bahá the elderly and infirmed professor, who was unable to walk and had difficulty speaking, went on to write the book, The Reconciliation of Races and Religions.
• A paper by Judy Greenway, a grand neice of Elizabeth Gibson entitled "From the Wilderness to the Beloved City: Elizabeth Gibson Cheyne" pays tribute to the woman whom 'Abdul'-Bahá lauded. This paper was given at the invitation of the Oxford Bahá'í Community in December 2012, as part of the celebration of the centenary of Abdu'l-Bahá's visit to Oxford.

• Elizabeth Herrick lived in London with Mrs Thornburgh-Cropper and authored Unity Triumphant:The Call of the Kingdom. London: The Unity Press, 1925. She owned and operated a hat shop under the name Madame Corelli at 137a High Street in Kensington. [Ahmad Sohrab's Diary, Edinburgh, 1913]

On the train He told the story of Miss Wardlaw-Ramsay of the Church Missionary Society who was a missionary in 'Acca for some 40 years. She was antagonistic to the Cause but the Master showed her all manner of kindness because she was very faithful to her Christ. When she left Akka and returned to Scotland He gave a party for her. [Ahmad Sohrab's Diary, Edinburgh, 1913 p5]

Upon arrival He is taken to the home of Mrs Jane Elizabeth Whyte (neé Barbour) (1857-1944) at 7 Charlotte Square. She had met 'Abdu'l-Bahá before. She and her friend, Mrs Thornburgh-Cropper, had been invited to visit her sister who was on an extended stay in Egypt during the winter of 1905-6. In March they made a visit to 'Akká. By 1912 she had become a member of the "Council" established to promote the Faith in Britain. The Whytes, along with the Theosophical Society, had been instrumental in arranging Abdu'l-Bahá's visit to Edinburgh.

Mrs Whyte's account of her meeting in 1906 is in her book Seven Candles of Unity, pp 47-49. and in her book entitled Seven Candles of Unity: the Story of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Edinburgh (London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1991). [Scottish Women: A Documentary History, 1780-1914 by Esther Breitenbach and Linda Fleming p.213]

Her husband, Mr Alexander Whyte (1837-1921) was a Scottish divine; a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, he became colleague and successor of Dr R S Candlish at Free St Georges (now St George's West, 58 Shandwick Place), and then principal and professor of New Testament literature at New College, Edinburgh. [AB355, 363–8; SBR26]

Miss Isobel Fraser served as the advance publicity agent for the visit.

In the late morning they had a tour of Outlook Tower, 549 Castlehill, Edinburgh EH1 2ND. Outlook Tower was an educational institution which taught astronomy, natural geography, cartology etc. The tour guide was Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) who was a Scottish biologist and botanist, known also as an innovative thinker in the fields of urban planning and education; as a town-planner in Palestine he had involvement in the cypress avenue leading up to the Shrine of the Báb, and he also planned a Bahá'í House of Worship in India. [AB447, Leroy Ioas, p218]

In the evening 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to the Esperanto Society at Freemason's Hall, 96 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 3DH. There were 1,000 people in the hall and some 300 outside. This was His first public address in Scotland. [ABTM294, Ahmad Sohrab's Diary, Edinburgh, 1913]

In the afternoon He spoke to a capacity attendance at Rainy Hall, New College, the Mound, Edinburgh EH1 2LX.

'Abdu'l-Bahá attended a charity performance of Handel's Messiah at St Giles Cathedral. (Royal Mile, Edinburgh EH1 1RE) St. Giles was also known as the High Kirk of Edinburgh. It was Edinburgh's religious focal point for at least 900 years.

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 40:5) [Ahmad Sohrab's Diary, Edinburgh, 1913, ABTM297]

'Abdu'l-Bahá visited the painter, John Duncan, (1866 Dundee-1945) a foremost Celtic revivalist painter, on the Management Board of the College of Arts, who was guided along by Patrick Geddes. He married Christine Allen in 1912 and immediately moved to 29 Bernard's Crescent as his home and studio, where this visit took place. Both were members of the Theosophical Society. Christine Duncan née Allen (c1886-) was a spiritualist with connections to Wellesley Tudor Pole and Alice Buckton.

He was driven north of the city to see the Forth Railway Bridge, Edinburgh EH30 9TB. This engineering marvel, stretching 2.5 km from South to North Queensferry opened on the 4th of March 1890 and has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. [UNESCO]

'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at the Theosophical Society meeting at 28 Great King Street, Edinburgh EH3 6QN. "Several hundred" attended. [Ahmad Sohrab's Diary, Edinburgh, 1913 p.14]

• 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at Caxton Hall in Westminster and after entertained a small crowd of people at His residence where He recounted stories of Bahá'ulláh's suffering. [AB368, ABTM299]

• Note ABTM303 reports that this event took place on the 17th of January.
• Dr. Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner (1840–1899) was the builder of the Oriental Institute, founded to train Asians living in Europe for the learned professions, to the study of linguistics and culture, and for the teaching of languages to Europeans who wished to travel to the East. To cater for the spiritual needs of students of all major faiths and to provide for any who lived within reach, Dr. Leitner intended to build a synagogue, a church, a temple and a mosque. Only the Shah Jehan Mosque was completed. (Oct-Nov 1889). The Institute relied too heavily upon Dr. Leitner's personal enthusiasm and wealth and it did not survive his early death in March of 1899. The Mosque was closed and practically empty between 1899 and 1912. Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, a prominent Kashmiri lawyer and founder of the Woking Muslim Mission, worked to repair and re-open the Mosque in 1913. It was the first formal place of Islamic worship in England and became a centre of Islam in the UK. [Dr. Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner]
• For a photo of the gathering see BW3p280 or BWNS818.

'Abdu'l-Bahá was the guest of a Rajput prince who gave a dinner party for Him.

In the evening He spoke at the Higher Thought Centre, His last engagement in London. [AB371]

• The visit to Paris lasts several weeks. [AB372; SBR220]

• Pasteur Henri Monnier (b. 1871) was the "Professor á la Faculté libre de théologie protestante de Paris", Vice-president of the Protestant Federation of France and Pastor of the Etoile Church [from International Who's Who, 1st ed.]