Southwest Iowa – Iowa Bahá’í History

Southwest Iowa by Priscilla Hofert, August 19, 2022

Early Bahá’ís of Iowa

Race Unity Picnic a roaring, smashing success, led by the Mark & Mary McDowell in response to a publicized White Power Parade, needs to be in any report on Dubuque.

Betty and Les Rogers. Les was a sheep farmer, raising crops for his sheep, and giving sermons each Sunday at the local church. His son Steve told his dad that he had become a Bahá’í because it embodied the values that they had taught him.

Betty had lots of time to read while Les was busy doing his farm chores and preparing sermons. She was ready to become a Bahá’í early on, but she waited for Les to feel the same way. When Les hurt his leg he finally had time to sit and read the Bahá’í writings. As he read and attended firesides and summer schools, he realized that our beloved Faith was the truth. Les gave his final sermon to his little church stating that Christ had returned. In spite of his honorable character, his congregation ignored his claim. Betty joined him in embracing the faith in the late 70’s. Both have since passed away.

Betty used the local newspaper to report each time that Bahá’ís came to visit them on their farm. From these articles a young man named Matt Olive became a Bahá’í. He too was a farmer who lives near Corning and is today an isolated Bahá’í.

Curt Zimmerman, who lives close to Westphalia, heard about the Bahá’í Faith when he served in the Peace Corps in the late 1960s. A Bahá’í in the Peace Corps gave him “The World Order of Baha’u’llah.” After returning to Iowa, Curt came to firesides and, after learning more about the Bahá’í Faith, became a Bahá’í around 1973. When talking with him recently he reported his greatest joy comes from immersing himself in the Bahá’í writings. As far as he knows he is the only Bahá’í in his area.

The picture of Les & Betty Rogers was taken September 5, 1993.

The second picture is Janet DeLaughery, Priscilla, Curt Zimmerman, and Matt Olive, taken 4/27/97 at a gathering of the Southwest Iowa Institute when the idea of having institutes was first announced by the Universal House of Justice. Mrs. Khadem, our auxiliary board member for Iowa at the time, urged the friends to meet together. Priscilla believes this was the first time that Matt and Curt met each other. The group met at Matt’s home near Corning, Iowa, in a small farmhouse which Matt restored, and drew Bahá’ís from two to four hours away from each other.

The third picture is Joan and Frank Trump, with Les Rogers in the background, and the fourth is Jeanne Barzydlo and Pele Trump, from Samoa. These friends also participated in the Southwest Iowa Institute.