The Origins of the Bahá'í Community of Canada, 1898-1948

Henry G. MacLeod teaches sociology at both Trent University and the
University of Waterloo.

This book provides the first empirical and historical account of the
Bahб’н faith in Canada, from 1898, when Edith Magee of London,
Ontario, became the first Canadian to adopt the Bahб’н faith, to
1948, when the Bahб’н Canadian national governing council was
established.

Part 1 begins with the story of expatriate Canadians in Chicago who
were drawn to this new religion in the 1890s. It concludes with the 1912
visit of Abdu’l-Bahб—the religion’s third spiritual leader—to
Montreal. Part 2 focuses on the expansion of the Canadian Bahб’н
community from 1913 to 1947. In Part 3, the author analyzes the
organizational and community aspects of Bahб’н development from 1937
to 1947. The final part examines Bahб’н relations with the wider
society and the social processes that resulted in its slow acceptance
and recognition as a religion in Canada.

Van den Hoonaard has also written the first sociological analysis of
Bahб’нs in Canada. Employing an interpretative historical sociology
and the sociology of social movements, he examines how a non-Western
religion transplants and adapts itself into a Western setting. Unlike
that of most non-Western religions in Canada, Bahб’н membership is
derived from conversions rather than immigration. Early members were
drawn from Methodist supporters of the turn-of-the-century Social Gospel
movement. The ongoing appeal of the Bahб’н faith for those in social
movements delayed its integration into Canadian society as a religion.
Even though the faith was incorporated in 1949 by an Act of Parliament,
the first legally recognized Bahб’н marriage ceremony did not occur
until 1960.

Van den Hoonaard’s dual perspective makes this book of interest to
both historians and sociologists of religion. Anyone interested in the
Bahб’н faith will find the book a very useful introduction.