Baháʼí Faith in Haiti
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The Baháʼí Faith in Haiti began in 1916 when ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, the head of the religion, cited Haiti as one of the island countries of the Caribbean where Baháʼís should establish a religious community.[1] The first Baháʼí to visit the island was Mrs. Harriet Gibbs Marshall, from 1922–1928.[2] Another early Baháʼí to visit Haiti was Leonora Armstrong in 1927.[3] After that, others visited Haiti, and by January 1937 Louis George Gregory visited the island and cited the presence of a small community of Baháʼís.[4] The first long term pioneers, Ruth and Ellsworth Blackwell, arrived in 1940.[5] Following their arrival the first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly of Haiti was formed in 1942 in Port-au-Prince.[6] From 1951 the Haitian Baháʼís participated in regional organizations of the religion[7] until 1961 when Haitian Baháʼís elected their own National Spiritual Assembly[8] and soon took on goals reaching out into neighboring islands.[9] The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying mostly on the World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 23,000 Baháʼís in Haiti in 2005,[10] and about the same in 2010.[11]