About Us
The Bahá'í Faith has a long history in Alexandria.
The Bahá'í Faith first came to the DC area through the efforts of a woman who grew up in Princess Anne on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, studied the Bahá'í teachings, and settled in Washington DC in 1898. In 1902, the Bahá'í leader, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (son of Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahá'í Faith), sent the outstanding Persian scholar, Mirza Abu'l-Fazl to Washington to guide and teach the Bahá'ís.
Among the new adherents was Howard University lawyer, Louis Gregory, who rose to be a Hand of the Cause, the highest spiritual rank in the Faith, who devoted his life to traveling throughout the Southern states and served on the first established Bahá'í leadership body founded in 1911. In 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited and spoke widely in Washington and traveled to Alexandria to visit the gravesite of a prominent Alexandria resident interred in St. Paul’s Cemetery in Old Town Alexandria. (A Bahá'í symbol is still visible on the gravestone.)
The Bahá'í community spread through the region and the US., and in 1943, the first Baha’i leadership body was established in Alexandria. The Bahá'í community of Alexandria Virginia strives to put the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith into practice through active community building. It welcomes people of all backgrounds to devotional gatherings, study groups, children’s classes, service activities and junior youth empowerment programs. Bahais are also active in a variety of community interfaith, anti-racism, and community service programs. Through these local endeavors, the Alexandria Bahá’í community creates environments where diversity is celebrated and young people are inspired to practice virtues and render service to others.