On National Race Amity Conference in June 2011: Baha'i-inspired

Background of the National Race Amity Conference

 

The National Race Amity Conference is inspired by the United States’
first race amity conference held in Washington, D.C. in 1921.  The
principal organizers of the original conference were Washington
socialite Agnes Parsons, whose great grandfather was Secretary of the
Navy under George Washington, and Louis Gregory, a Treasury Department
lawyer, whose father served in the first black Civil War regiment, the
South Carolina First Volunteer Colored Regiment.  The two, though from
very different backgrounds, worked together as co-religionists of the
Baha’i Faith and were advised and supported by Nebraska Senator Moses
Clapp.  They gathered others, mostly courageous women, to assist with
the conference preparations. On May 19, 1921, the National Race Amity
Convention assembled in Washington, D.C. at the First Congregational
Church, which was known for its opposition to racial prejudice. Over
1,500 diverse participants gathered for the opening day, a marked
contrast for the city in the wake of widespread racist rioting and
lynching in the Red Summer of 1919. The mission of the conference
adorned the front page of the event program:

The great work we have to do and for which this conference is called
is the establishment of amity between the white and colored people of
our land.  When we have put our own house in order, then we may be
trusted to carry the message of universal peace to all mankind.

 

Great find by Robert of the Northwest Bahai Library. An event uniting past, present, and future, initiated by historical Baha'i figures of renown. -gw 

http://raceamity.org/

National Race Amity Conference
Description: This national conference is organized around ten amity sectors, featuring key note speakers and breakout sessions.
Time: Opening Reception 7 PM, June 9 – Conference ends on June 12
Location: Wheelock College, Boston, MA

6/12/2011
National Race Amity Day
This uplifting and unifying experience includes invited guests Vice President Joseph Biden*, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Paul Simon*, Imani Winds, Matt Damon, Tierney Sutton, and local talent.
Time: 1 PM
Location: Rose Kennedy Greenway, Boston, MA

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