• In the New York City Baha’i Center, housed in a refurbished theater in lower Manhattan, Baha’is host live jazz  concerts every Tuesday evening in the center’s John Birks Gillespie Auditorium, dedicated to the late jazz great—and Baha’i—Dizzy Gillespie.

• At the Native American Baha’i Institute, located on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Northern Arizona, Native American Baha’is have built a circular prayer hall that is the focal point for educational and social services that benefit the entire region.

• In rural South Carolina, African American men come together for the Black Men's Gathering at the Louis Gregory Baha’i Institute, a retreat inspired by the life of Louis Gregory, a contemporary and colleague of W.E.B. DuBois, who embraced the Baha’i Faith in 1909 and devoted the remainder of his life to championing race unity.

• At Green Acre, a Baha’i spiritual retreat center in Maine, Baha’i actors reenact episodes from the life of Sarah Farmer, a pioneer in the interfaith movement who played an important role in the American spiritual renaissance of the early 20th century.

These are snapshots of the Baha'i community in the United States, a community that has grown steadily since the Baha'i Faith arrived in the United States in the late 1890s. Today more than 165,000 Baha'is live in every state of the union [see map], including on over 100 Indian reservations. The U.S. Baha'i population reflects the racial and cultural diversity of the American people and includes about 10,000 Iranian Baha'i refugees who fled Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The largest Baha'i populations are in California, Georgia, Illinois, South Carolina and Texas.
 
A Vision of America's Spiritual Destiny
 
The American nation, Baha'is believe, will evolve through tests and trials to become a land of spiritual distinction and leadership, a champion of justice and unity among all peoples and nations, and a powerful servant of the cause of everlasting peace, the peace promised by God in the sacred texts of the world's religions. To achieve this destiny, however, our nation must overcome several persistent spiritual challenges—removing every trace of racism from our hearts, embracing the equality of women in every department of life, eliminating the inordinate disparity between rich and poor, transforming a limited nationalism to the love of humanity as a whole, and in humility before God, submerge religious prejudices in a great spirit of mutual forbearance that will enable us to work together for the advancement of human understanding and peace. These are among the preeminent goals of the U.S. Baha'i community.
 
History of the U.S. Baha'i Community
 
The Baha'i Faith was first mentioned in the United States in 1893 by a Presbyterian missionary at the World's Parliament of Religions held during the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The following year, Thornton Chase, a Chicago insurance manager, became the first American Baha'i. By the end of 1894 four other Americans had also become Baha’is. The Baha'i Faith spread quickly and groups formed in cities across the country. In 1909 the first National Convention was held and 39 delegates from 36 cities attended.
 
In the 1920’s, Baha'i communities representing more than 60 localities increased their activities in several areas. Most notable were Baha'i efforts in the struggle for racial harmony in the United States. Racial amity conferences were hosted in several major cities throughout the country with the cooperative participation of the NAACP, the National Urban League, U.S. congressmen, and college presidents. In 1927, the National Spiritual Assembly framed its constitution, which has served as a model for the formation of more than 160 National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world.
 
By 1930, eighteen books of Baha’i scriptures were available in English. Scores of other compilations, expository works, and pamphlets were published. By the mid-1930’s, Baha’is resided in more than 200 localities. In 1944, the centennial year of the Baha’i Faith, every state in the nation had at least one local Baha’i administrative body. By 1963, Baha’is resided in more than 1,700 localities, and by 1968, in more than 3,300. Currently more than 160,000 Baha’is reside in over 7,000 localities throughout the United States, including over 100 Indian reservations.
 
The Baha'i Faith has no clergy, and its affairs are administered by a network of elected lay councils at the international, national and local levels. The elected governing body of the U.S. Baha'i community is the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, a nine-member council with headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, near the Baha'i House of Worship in neighboring Wilmette. There are approximately 1,100 elected local spiritual assemblies in the United States. Baha'i elections are held in a prayerful atmosphere by secret ballot and plurality vote. Nominations, candidacies and electioneering are not permitted in the Baha'i electoral process.
 
The National Spiritual Assembly oversees the administrative affairs of the Baha'is of the United States and provides guidance for their spiritual and moral development. The Assembly oversees a publishing trust and several periodicals, including The American Baha’i newspaper; Brilliant Star, a magazine for children; and World Order, a quarterly journal of opinion and ideas. The Assembly also operates retreat and conference centers in California, Michigan, Maine and South Carolina.
 
Individual, Family and Local Community Life
 
Local spiritual assemblies offer spiritual guidance to the members of their communities and plan devotional services, study classes for children and adults, social events, service projects and the observance of holy days. Most of these activities are open to the public. All Baha'i activities are funded by voluntary contributions from members of the faith. No subsidies or donations are accepted from other sources. Baha'u'llah's writings emphasize the family as the foundation of society, and equality between husband and wife. Divorce is discouraged, but not prohibited. The Baha'i teachings stress the importance of daily prayer and meditation and prohibit the use of alcoholic drinks or illegal drugs. Baha'is fast from dawn to dusk for a 19-day period of spiritual reflection each year.
 
The Baha'i House of Worship for the North American Continent
 
The Baha’i House of Worship for the North American Continent is located in Wilmette, Illinois, on the shores of Lake Michigan. Build over a period of 40 years, the temple was dedicated for public worship in 1953 as the first of eight continental Baha'i Houses of Worship. The other seven Houses of Worship are in Panama, Germany, Uganda, Australia, Western Samoa, India and Chile (currently under construction). The nine-sided domed temple, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, reflects the Baha'i belief in the unity of religions. The House of Worship is a place for personal prayer and meditation and is open to the public. Daily devotional services consist of the recitation of scriptures from the Baha'i Faith and the other divinely revealed religions.