Spencer
Spencer Iowa by Rod Clarken, submitted December 2022
Though I identified as a Bahá’í in August 1968 and was telling others about it in my community, church and school south of Spencer and in Estherville where I was attending community college, the growth of the Faith in Spencer did not start until the summer of 1971 when my friend Todd Fletcher, who I had grown up with and had become a Bahá’í while away at college, returned for the summer and lived alone in his grandparents’ house in Spencer. He was the key figure teaching the Faith in Spencer and this house was the center of activity.
Todd and the others who were involved in that exciting and remarkable time would be better equipped to tell their stories from their perspectives. I also remember working together with others on an account written in the 70’s about all the people who became Bahá’ís and were involved in the Faith in Spencer area. I do not know what has happened to that account, but it would provide a wealth of information.
I will share from my memory which is limited and faulty some of what I remember. I am now 71 years old and the events of the early 70’s were about 50 years ago. I believe the first person from Spencer that Todd and I taught was Mark Harries. It was at an outdoor rock concert in Estherville where I was attending Iowa Lakes Community College. I had been active teaching the Faith there and Todd had joined me for a public meeting on the Faith at which Ken Jeffers spoke. Later at a rock concert we were telling Mark about the Faith and he instantly and enthusiastically accept it and then actively shared it with others in Spencer where he lived.
When I was not away in college I lived with my parents and worked on our family farm seven miles south of Spencer or doing road and dock construction north and east of Spencer during the summers of 1971 to 1973. When I was free, I would be involved in the almost constant and spirited Bahá’í gatherings in Spencer where groups of young people would come together to socialize, pray, sing and learn about the Faith. There was a charged spirit of joy, comradery and mission. Whoever and whenever someone dropped by the house, they we welcomed. It was a magnet for those seeking spiritual answers. I will try to remember more details and share them later. Hopefully others will add to this conversation.
I have always wondered why there was an abundance of youth that joined the Faith in the Royal, Greenville, Spencer area during the early 70’s? Well, who knows, but guess what I found? I was searching the Spencer newspaper archive for a particular article. And in 1936, a man who had spent days at the feet of Baha’u’llah, and travelled with Abdul’Baha – Dr. Zia Baghdadi, was south of Spencer at a farm, at Auburn, about 70 miles away. He spoke at a meeting to apparently raise funds for the House of Worship, according to the article. Baha’u’llah gave him the name Zia. Interesting! I guess this can eventually go on the Iowa Baha’i website? I will post the article and newspaper heading.
Here is a link about Dr. Baghdadi: https://bahaichronicles.org/dr-zia-baghdadi/
Pretty amazing that a man who sat at the feet of Baha’u’llah and travelled with Abdu’l Baha was on a rural farm nearby!
