Howard University Class, ca. 1900. Library of Congress. Unrelated to below content.
Trustees of the Baha’i Assembly of Washington, DC, Early 1900s
The documents are in two-parts for clarity. They lists four people who possibly were Trustees of the Baha’i Assembly of Washington, perhaps the first officially registered organisation of the Baha’i Faith in the Nations Capital. These scanned images are of xeroxed copies made from original microfilm at the Washington, D.C. Public Library, the original copies were done by Vivian Aston, a local community activist, and contain no date or reference. She discovered them by accident as she researched the history of Woodlawn Cemetery, a personal project undertaken to save the cemetery from destruction, the place of internment of many prominent African Americans. Ms. Aston had copied them intending to give them to Frances Coley, a local Baha’i, and in whose home she was an occasional guest. When Terry Randolph arrived in Washington from East Asia in the Summer of 2000 to spend time researching local Baha’i history and to make preparations to embark on an Africa Development Project. He had contacted Francis Coley to inform her of his intended and she immediately referred him to Vivian Aston. It is from her the following documents were acquired, and in turn led to additional information. Time did not permit a more detailed research into the early beginnings of the Baha’i Faith in the Nations Capital, and that presented is considered only as a ‘teaser’ to encourage others to become involved in an exciting undertaking.
On the documents provided by Ms Aston, the following individuals are listed as Trustees of the Baha’i Assembly of Washington:
Mrs. J. F. Bundy
Annie Bundy
James F. Bundy (b. 1862, d. 1914), Lawyer and Educator. Interred at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Mrs. Mattie (Kemp or Kent?)
*Click Images to enlarge
Background
LSA Trustees (The Bundy’s-Sec. D, p50)a.jpg and LSA Trustees (The Bundy’s-Sec. D, p50)b.jpg. My personal archive image reference.
The identity numbers in the right hand column remain unknown, and the same for the last person (4.) listed on the second document, if she was also a ‘Trustee’ or not.
Harriet Bundy — Not yet established that she was a member of the Baha’i community.
Residence: 1315 thirtyth St., NW (Georgetown address). Born: March (?) 1874, Died: 17 Feb 1924 (at home), Age: 50 Yrs. & 11 Mos. Buried: 20 Feb 1924, Woodlawn Cemetery. Widowed, resident of Washington for 7 years. Husband: Willis Bundy.
Death Certificate
Father: William Terrell (Culpepper, VA); Mother: Violet Holmes (Culpepper, VA). Information furnished by: Daughter/Emily Jones, Fairmount Heights, MD. Record Number: Z83346/Certificate Of Death, District of Columbia/Issued: 28 July 2000.
Second Record (source unknown): BUNDY, Harriet, 1850-1924: Aunt Matilda Johnson, daughter to William and Violet Terrell; P. 36. Perhaps Aunt Matilda Johnson is the person giving information.
Coralie Franklin Cook, a member of the Baha’i Faith in Washington, DC, was the wife of George William Cook. Its not known if he was also a member of the faith.
Reference: Morrison, Gayle. To Move The World: Louis G. Gregory and the Advancement of Racial Unity in America, p.140. ISBN-13:978-0877431886.
Reference: Cookman Institute Publication, p.287
Note:
When I first met Vivian Aston she was deeply commited to saving Woodlawn Cemetery from blight and ultimate destruction, a project she had worked on for several years. Francis Coley recommended I contact her because it seemed possible that she had information about the early beginnings of the Baha’i Faith in the Nations Capital. She spends an enormous amount of time doing research at the Martin Luther King Library, her primary source for information about Woodlawn. Though not of the Baha’i Faith, being of the Christian faith, she was deeply impressed by it’s principles of the faith. Through her research she happened upon information she was certain pertained to the early formation of a Baha’i institution in Washington, DC, information that related not only to the background and social status of members of the Faith during the early 1900s, and some of prominence were buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.
At some future date addition information will be provided to provide a more clear understanding of details relating to the early beginnings of the Baha’i Faith in the Nations Capital. Meanwhile see: Baha’i Faith In Washington DC
Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
“Established in 1929, Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland, MD has rolling hills lined with beautiful trees, and is the resting place of many prestigious African Americans, some born as long ago as 1863. Lincoln memorial Cemetery offers traditional ground burials, cremation, mausoleums, and lawn crypts.”
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Lot Owners: Della Bundy Turner and Delilia [sp?] Bundy
Delilia Bundy (Born About 1867), Died: 14 Feb 1955, 88yrs. Old. Arrangements: Frazier’s Funeral Home. Interment: Lincoln Memorial Cemetery.
Ref.: http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/cookman-institute-right-place-and-time
Information provided by Lincoln Memorial Cemetery (28 Jul 2000), 4001 Suitland Road, Suitland, MD 20746. Tel.: 301-568-8410.
Ref.: http://www.burialplanning.com/cemeteries/lincoln-memorial-cemetery/cemetery-about.
Additional research is required to establish the validity of the above information and discover additional facts having links with the establishment and growth of the Washington Baha’i community during it’s early years of development from about 1900 to 1955.
Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
4001 Suitland Road, Suitland, MD 20746, USA
Woodlawn Cemetery
“Designated on the DC Inventory of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Sites, Woodlawn Cemetery was established in 1895 by several individuals associated with Graceland Cemetery (founded in 1872 and located near the inter of Benning Road and H Street NE). The initial interments at Woodlawn consisted primarily of over 6,000 re-interments from Graceland made from 1895 to 1898; as at Graceland, blacks and whites were placed in adjoining graves. Subsequent interments included many prominent African-Americans, among them Blanche K. Bruce, born a slave in 1841 and elected to the U.S. Senate in 1875, and John Mercer Langston, U.S. Representative from Virginia and Dean of the Howard University Law School from 1869 to 1879. Despite attempts by loyal volunteers to maintain the cemetery, it remains severely deteriorated.”
Woodlawn Cemetery
4611 Benning Rd SE, Washington, DC 20019, USA