The Baháʼí Faith in Greater Boston, a combined statistical area, has had glimpses of the religion in the 19th century arising to its first community of religionists at the turn of the century. Early newspaper accounts of events were followed by papers on the precursor Bábí religion by Dr. Rev. Austin H. Wright were noted, materials donated, and lost, and then other scholars began to write about the religion.

The community began to coalesce being near to Green Acre, founded by Sarah Farmer, who publicly espoused the religion from 1901. From then on, the institution would progressively be associated with Baháʼís - a place where both locals and people from afar came to learn of the religion, and who officially took over controlling interest from 1913. Leaders rising to national prominence with a national level of organization soon arose after ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, traveled through the area for about 40 days and across the United States for some 239 days. Most prominent were Harlan Ober, William Henry Randall, and Alfred E. Lunt, who served in events in the Boston area, Green Acre boards, and national institutions of the religion. In addition to national leaders in the religion, a number of notable individuals joined the religion and were increasingly visible - such as Urbain Ledoux, Sadie and Marby Oglesby, James Ferdinand Morton Jr., Nancy Bowditch, and Guy Murchie.

The community moved from beginning to host public meetings to systematically support a presence in a Center in Boston with services and presentations on the religion as well as a racially integrated community since 1935. Starting about the 1950s and broadening into the 1960s, there was wider recognition of the Baháʼís themselves. Sometimes this took the form of noting their persecution in Morocco and then Iran and other times noting local concerts and fairs with their participation. The modern community, albeit a tiny fraction of the wider population, is present in some concentrations and thin areas throughout the greater Boston area. Over the last couple of decades, it has been systematically pursuing programs of neighborhood community-building activities of study circles, children's classes, junior youth groups, and devotional meetings among the activities and observances of the religion.

Firsts

Mention of Bábí period The first mention related to the history of the Baháʼí Faith known in Massachusetts concerns news of Bábism in Qajar Persia, which Baháʼís hold as a direct precursor akin to the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus. This was a newspaper article printed in the Boston Courier December 29, 1845, reporting on events from the previous June. It is an echo of the original published in the London Times Nov 1, 1845. This Boston mention repeated January 1846 in the Boston Evening Transcript, the Christian Witness and Church Advocate, In February in the Christian Journal out of Exeter, New Hampshire, and then again later in June 1847. In Baháʼí records this event is reported in The Dawn-Breakers following Quddús' arrival in Shiraz after the pilgrimage of the Báb. The next newspaper reference to events of this period was in November 1850, echoing newspaper articles as early as the previous July.

Austin Wright The first "paper" on events of this period is a letter written to the American Oriental Society which was holding its meeting in Boston, and the library of materials was held at the Boston Athenæum. The letter was originally published as part of the minutes of the Society in The Literary World of June 14, 1851, as an untitled entry whose first quote is "notice of a singular character, who has for some years past played a prominent part on the stage of Persian life" dated February 10, 1851, by Dr. Rev. Austin H. Wright. It is considered the first paper to give an account on Bábism, though it makes mistakes typical of the period. See also Josephus on Jesus. It was subsequently also published in a Vermont newspaper June 26, 1851, and a translation was published in a German newspaper. Wright, father of Lucy Myers Wright Mitchell and John Henry Wright, was a medical missionary from New England to Persia among the Nestorian Christians.

Wright followed up with another paper/letter, "A short chapter in the history of Bâbeeism in Persia," to the Society published in May 1853. Donations to the Society, while mentioned in the first paper, are not listed actually being cataloged, however another donation in 1856 is noted when another set was sent. The library of materials of the period was first kept under Charles Folsom at the Boston Athenæum until 1855, then the materials were moved to New Haven and accepted at Yale University in July. The collection was dispersed and then regathered, purged and organized in 1905 by Hanns Oertel. By 1930 the only Bábí related texts in the collection were later works that had been gathered by E. G. Browne.

Wright died in what was then called Urumiah, in Qajar Persia, January 14, 1865.

Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch Bostonian Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch wrote about the religion following the work of Frenchman Ernst Renan who wrote The Origins of Christianity: The Apostles in 1866. see also Bulfinch had been a Unitarian minister since 1830 but resigned circa 1860 when he accepted the Trinity Doctrine. Across some 11 pages, Bulfinch made comparisons between the Báb and Jesus mostly positive though he also calls the religion a "delusion".

He marks the court examination of the claims of the Báb like the examination of Jesus (suggesting the account may, in fact, have been copied), then after a while continues:

James T. Bixby Though later than the Bábí period perse, Unitarian minister born, educated, and worked often in Massachusetts, James Thompson Bixby wrote about the religion in 1897 and made a student journal of Boston College doing so. He also later lectured on the religion in 1901 at Green Acre. Bixby also turned his attention to the Baháʼí period. He published an article on the religion in August 1912 in the North American Review, after he had offered it to the Baháʼís to review. Objecting to it, an interview with ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was subsequently arranged in April 1912 and published in Star of the West in August as well.

Bahá´í period firsts

Though the religion was established in the United States before 1900, by then no more than a dozen Baháʼís were in New England.The Baha'i Faith in America - Origins 1892-1900, vol 1, by Robert Stockman, 1985, pp. 4–5, 36–37, 95, 130–131, 209 Compared to the early growth in other places, and massive growth in South Carolina decades later, the region had relatively little Millennium interests - see Second and Third Great Awakening and the Burned-over district. Nevertheless, individuals from, educated in, or lived their lives in, Greater Boston were among the first Baháʼís of the United States. At the same time, some perhaps well-meaning if inaccurate reviews or even misinformed views of the Bábist/Baháʼí views were done as early as 1900.*

Thornton Chase (February 22, 1847 – September 30, 1912) was born in Springfield, Massachusetts and was a U.S. businessman and writer; he was commonly recognized as the first convert to the Baháʼí Faith of Occidental background. During his life, he organized many Baháʼí activities in Chicago and Los Angeles and is considered a prominent Baháʼí.

In 1895 Kate Ives, née Cowan, of Orleans, Massachusetts, may have been the first woman born in the United States to accept the Baháʼí Faith, and was the first Baháʼí to move to Boston in 1899.

Sarah Farmer, Green Acre and the first Baháʼí community of Boston

The Green Acre Baháʼí School is established in Eliot, Maine, at the northern edge of Greater Boston becoming an important learning center for Baháʼís and non-Baháʼís in Greater Boston and across the United States. Maria P. Wilson was in the company of Sarah Farmer on a trip overseas when they learned of the religion in 1900 from Josephine Locke and Elizabeth Knudson.Early History of the Baháʼí Community in Boston, Massachusetts, by Anise Rideout. date before 1982 - see citation #88 in Farmer was publicly linked with the religion in June 1901 after she had found truth in various religions and quasi-religious groups.*

But of the Baháʼí Faith, it was explained, "...she has found the common faith in which all devout souls may unite and yet be free." It was then announced Green Acre would be a place to learn of the religion, run in parallel with the other classes already established, but for free. Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl, among the most scholarly trained Baháʼís of the time, was there.* Ali Kuli Khan, to serve as his translator, arrived in the United States in June. Abu'l-Faḍl had accompanied Anton Haddad, the first Baháʼí to live in the United States, on his return trip to America. They had been sent by then head of the religion, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. The later well-known Baháʼí Agnes Baldwin Alexander was also there. News of the Boston area community began to be noted in the newspapers.* It was at these classes with Abu'l-Faḍl Mary Hanford Ford is considered to have joined the religion. Ford moved to the Boston area for a couple of years. It was not her first time in Boston. She, Ali Kuli Khan, and the Breeds, whom she introduced to the religion, were soon active as a community in Boston area. By December 1901 Baháʼís in Chicago knew she was a Baháʼí and working with Sarah Farmer on projects. Ford was noted in Boston in November 1903 giving her talk on "The Holy Grail", and news of the mistreatment of Bábís/Baha'is in Persia was noted in August 1903. Khan was soon visible living in Boston in 1904,* and Khan had married Bostonian Baháʼí, Florence Breed in 1904. Alice Ives Breed, Florence's mother, originally from Pavilion, Illinois, born Jan 15, 1853, was a leading philanthropist socialite of the area. Ford would return for a talk a decade later.

Other Baháʼís noted in the period are: Oscar S. Greenleaf was the first Baha'i in Springfield, Massachusetts, Henry Goodale, and Maria P. Wilson soon moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1902. Professional singer Mary Lucas who went on Baháʼí pilgrimagehttp://bahai-library.com/pdf/l/lucas_my_visit_acca.pdf A brief account of my visit to Acca by Mary L. Lucas with Nathan Fitz-Gerald in January–February 1905 and meet ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion. Nebraskan/Illinoian Albert Ross Vail attended Harvard Divinity School, a center of Unitarian training, for 3 years. Vail studied with William James on pragmatist philosophy. In 1906, he served as president of the Unitarian student group as well as the Harvard Divinity School Unitarian Club in his final year there. It is unknown if he was ever aware of Ali Kuli Khan's appearance at Harvard as a guest of James in 1905, but he moved to Urbana, Illinois and served a Unitarian congregation near the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, arriving in September 1906. The first known connection with Baháʼís is when Vail's group hosted "Amir Ullah Fareed", who was listed as a student of the Medical College of the University, and who spoke on April 28, 1907. Fareed circulated some early printed prayers visible in Boston and would serve as one of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's translators in 1912.

Growing community

After marrying in 1904, Khan gave a talk at Alice Ives Breed's home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. By 1905, regular Baháʼí meetings were established in Boston, whether in homes or in public venues. Khan was visible at a women's club meeting in March 1905 at Sewall Hall. Baháʼís began to be profiled in the news in 1909. Mary Lucas published an account of her pilgrimage in 1909. Lucas would be visible at occasional Baháʼí events*

until her death in 1934.