Louis Gregory visited Ramleh where 'Abdu'l-Bahá was staying in preparation for His first visit to Europe. During their first conversation 'Abdu'l-Bahá immediately cut "to the substance of the issue." "What of the conflict between the white and colored races?" he asked. "Work for unity and harmony between the races," 'Abdu'l-Bahá told him. "The colored people must attend all the unity meetings. There must be no distinctions." [239Days Day 12; SoW Vol 2 No 10 September 8 1911 p5; SYH6]
• On pilgrimage at the same time were Neville Meakin and another British Bahá'í, Louise Mathew. On the 16th of April the three set sail for Haifa. [SYH3-8]
• After visiting the Holy sites Louis returned to Cairo and to 'Abdu'l-Bahá who asked him to visit Stuttgart, Paris and London before returning to America. [SYH12-13]

`Abdu'l-Bahá's second Western tour

'Abdul'-Bahá and His party embarked from Alexandria on the White Star Line Liner RMS Cedric for New York via Naples. They departed Naples on the 30th of March and made a call at Gibraltar. Three of His party were forced to leave the ship for supposed "medical' reasons. Among them was His grandson, Shoghi Effendi. [AB171; GPB281; ABF274; ABTM50-52; SYH50-51]

• Boarding in Naples to join Him on the Atlantic crossing were Louisa Mathew and the Woodcock family, Percy, Aloysia and their daughter, May as well as Mr and Mrs Austin from Denver, Colorado. [SYH49, 52; ABPp18n.96]

`Abdu'l-Bahá gave private interviews in the morning then called on the Turkish Ambassador, Diya Pasha. [APD56-59] . He spent considerable time with the Turkish ambassador, Zia Pasha while in Washington. [AY86-87; Luminous Journey 36:45]
• For a list of some of the well-known individuals whom the Khans brought into 'Abdu'l-Bahá's presence see AY88.
• During His time in Washington He toured the Library of Congress with the Parsons. He went to the Arlington National Cemetery to pay tribute to the graves of the parents of Agnes Parsons. [Luminous Journey 31:56]
• At some point during His stay in Washington former president Theodore Roosevelt came to visit 'Abdu'l-Bahá at the Parsons' residence. Mahmud reports that this took place on April 25, after the reception at the Turkish Embassy. [Luminous Journey 34:26; MD]
• Alice Pike Barney, the influential artist and thespian and an important member of the Washington arts scene, hosted a luncheon and two evening receptions at her studio for 'Abdu'l-Bahá. She had met Him earlier when she accompanied her daughter Laura to Akka in 1905. [Luminous Journey 34:59]
• Ali Kuli Khan, one of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's former secretaries in Akka and who, by this time was the chargé d'affairs at the Persian Legation, tried to arrange a meeting for 'Abdu'l-Bahá at the White House and for Him to speak to the Congress but scheduling did not work out. He hosted receptions for 'Abdu'l-Bahá and arranged for prominent diplomats to met Him. [Luminous Journey 36:00]
• At a meeting at the Persian Legation where a meal was being served, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and arranged for the place of honour on His right for African-American lawyer Louis George Gregory. At this time he was a thirty-seven-year-old, Fisk- and Howard-educated African American lawyer from Charleston, South Carolina. He was president of the Bethel Literary and Historical Association, the oldest African American organization in Washington and he was one of the most prominent members of the capital's African American community. Even so, at this time in Washington where one third of the population was Black, it was expected that he would not eat with Whites. [Luminous Journey 38:36; 239Days Day 12]
• At this time there were only about 15 Black Bahá'ís in the Washington Community and events were not fully integrated following the example in the segregated city. Pauline and Joseph Hannen held integrated gatherings and became proponents of racial integration. [Luminous Journey 42:00]
• `Abdu'l-Bahá left Washington for Chicago. [239D:46; AB184; SBR81]
  • Accompanying Him were Louise Mathew and Mrs Moss, a stenographer. [SYH62]
• `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in Chicago some 12 hours late due to mechanical failure. [239D:47]

'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to a group of 28 black people on the importance of unity and friendship between the races and announced that Louise Mathew and Louis Gregory were to be married. [SYH71]
• Mahmúd, page 189-190 stated that this event took place on the 2nd of August.

The marriage of Louis G. Gregory and Louisa ("Louise") A. M. Mathew, the first interracial Bahá'í couple, who met while on pilgrimage and whom 'Abdul-Bahá had encouraged to marry. They exchanged Bahá'í vows after the rites performed by Rev. Everard W. Daniel, curate of St. Philip's Protestant Episcopal Church, perhaps the most prestigious African American church in the country, in a private ceremony in his residence. In a "Tablet" (translated March 14, 1914). She was 46 and he was 8 years younger. [SYH73-75, 91]
• `Abdu'l-Bahá lauded the Gregorys' marriage as "an introduction to the accomplishment" of harmony between the races. [`ABDU'L-BAHÁ' S 1912 HOWARD UNIVERSITY SPEECH: A CIVIL WAR MYTH FOR INTERRACIAL EMANCIPATION p117 by Dr Christopher Buck]
• See The Journey West.
• The prayer, "Verily, they are married in obedience to thy command. Cause them to become the signs of unity and harmony until the end of time..." was revealed for their wedding by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [FMH97]
• "Intermarriage is a good way to efface racial differences. It produces strong, beautiful offspring, clever and resourceful." [sYH7]
• [239D:169] reported this marriage took place on the 27th of September.
• At this time interracial marriage was legal in Washington but not socially acceptable. It was outlawed in 25 states. It wasn't until 1967 that legislation forbidding interracial marriages was henceforth illegal. In the Washington community at this time there were white Bahá'ís who did not yet understand the principle of racial unity. [SYH80, 85-86]
• "I made that marriage." 'Abdu'l-Bahá is reported having said to Mrs Parsons. "I wish the white and coloured races to marry"

Louise Gregory landed in Liverpool from New York on board the Cunard vessel, the RMS Ausonia and visited family in Leeds and in France before going to Spa in Belgium. During this trip she visited Wiesbaden in Germany and she may have visited Stuttgart and then to Luxembourg where she was the first Bahá'í to teach the Faith. [SYH117-118, 237]
• On the 16th of August 1923 she sailed from Southampton to New York on the SS Volendam of the Holland America Line. During this trip she had visited Leeds, England, Les Ambiers, Duex Sèvres in France, Spa in Belgium, Luxembourg, Wiesbaden in Germany and Ferndown Lodge in England. [SYH240]

In September she travelled to Luxembourg where she stayed six months finding accommodations again in the old city centre in the Place d'Armes. She was disappointed that her teaching efforts did not meet with more success. In April of 1925 she travelled to Austria. [SYH123, 130]

Louise Gregory travelled from Luxembourg to Vienna where she met William Herrigel. She accompanied him to Graz where he delivered a couple of lectures. Louise stayed in Graz for about one month. [SVH130-132]
• It was probably during this time that she met Lydia Zamenhof in Geneva. [SYH150]

After a stay of three weeks she travelled to Wiesbaden in Germany to visit a contact and spent five days at the home of the Schweitzers in Suffenhausen. She visited friends in Esslingen and stayed one night in Frankfurt before sailing from Antwerp on the 17th of June for the United States. During this trip she visited Liverpool in England, Luxembourg, Vienna and Graz in Austria, Budapest in Hungary, Zuffenhausen, Esslingen, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Nuremberg in Germany as well as Spa and Brussels in Belgium. [SYH132-134, 240]

In the spring of 1927 she went to Sofia, Bulgaria.where Martha Root had visited for 12 days in February.

In June of 1927 Louise returned to New York in the United States from Boulongne-sur-Mer, France. During this trip she had visited Liverpool, York and London in England, Brussels in Belgium, Graz and Vienna in Austria, Budapest, Hungary and Sofia in Bulgaria. [SYH140-145, 240]

In early Spring Louise Gregory sailed for Dresden, Germany where she spent 11 days renewing old acquaintances. [SYH149]
• Around the beginning of April she went to Prague were she met with Martha Root and spent about 2 weeks. [SYH149]
• By March or perhaps mid April she was in Sofia installed at the Hotel Union Palace and nourishing her group of about 5 interested persons. Her knowledge of Esperanto was link to her contacts. On the 14th and the 18th of the month there were severe earthquakes near Bulgaria's second city, Plovdiv. The shocks were felt in Sofia so normal activity was suspended temporarily. [SYH149-150]
• In May, to escape the heat of the summer in Sofia she took refuge the Villa Viktoria in Trenčianske Teplice, a spa town situated in the Carpathian mountains of Slovakia. She stayed there in June, July and most of August. Here she received a great deal of assistance from an attracted soul, Dr Binder and his friend, Mr Schapira. An earthquake in Bulgaria's second city, Plovdiv, upset the country and the teaching work [SYH150-152]
• On about the 20th of August she made her way to Vienna and spent time with a previous contact. From there she took boat down the Danube on August 26th and arrived in Ruse, Bulgaria on the 30th of August and travelled overland to Sofia where she resumed her work with her study group in mid-September. One of her contacts translated Dr Esslemont's pamphlet "What is the Bahá'í Movement" into Bulgarian and 2000 copies were printed. She held study classes, taught languages, held public meeting and put articles in the local paper to attract interested persons. [SYH155; BN No 31 April 1929 p4]
• On the 19th of March 1929 she departed Sofia en route to Haifa and her second pilgrimage. It is likely that she took the Simplon Orient Express to Tripoli, Lebanon and then by autobus to Beirut and Haifa. The latter part of the journey was completed by the Nairn Transport Company. [SYH161-165]
• After her pilgrimage she sailed from Haifa on the SS Asia of the French Fabre Line to Providence, Rhode Island where she arrived on the 13th of May 1929. From their she travelled home to their cottage at Green Acre. During this trip to Europe she had visited Dresden in Germany, had accompanied Martha Root in Prague, Czechoslovakia, spent the summer in Teplice, Czechoslovakia and went back to Sofia before embarking on pilgrimage. [SYH165-166, 241]

Louise Gregory sailed on the SS Sinaia from Providence, Rhode Island with a destination of Constanta in Romania. The ship carried her via the Azores, Algiers and Istanbul. In all possibility she visited Bucharest and Poland before arriving at her destination of Sofia some time in January. [SYH169]
• Marion Jack had been on pilgrimage and Shoghi Effendi suggested she might go to Sofia to help Louise. She left Haifa near the end of March, stopped over briefly in Cyprus then on to Trieste and then to Sofia. Meanwhile Louise had been informed by the American Legation that the police had become suspicious of her "non-Christian" work and she had to vacate the country before the expiration of her visa. [SYH172, NBAD122, 143-144]
• Louise left Sofia on the 8th of April. She stopped in Geneva, Switzerland to visit her friends at the International Bahá'í Bureau. After making her way to England she departed from Liverpool on the SS Britannic on the 24th of April arriving in Boston on the 2nd of May. [SYH241]
• Marion had arrived in Sofia on the 9th of April 1931. [SYH172]

Louise Gregory left Varna in the early Spring to go first to Prague Brno and, then to Budapest. She continued her tour around Europe and by July she was in Salzburg, Austria. She spent the summer in the coolness of the mountains of Germany and Austria. By the autumn of 1932 she was back in Varna once again having visited Hamburg, Leipzig, Vienna, Salzburg and Budapest. [NBAD176; SYH177]
• Marion Jack was based in Varna at this time.
• In May, 1933 she left Varna for Salzburg, Austria where she spent four days before moving on to Hamburg, Germany to depart for New York. She arrived on the 26th of May 1933 on the SS Hamburg of the Hamburg-American Line. During this trip she had visited Varna, Bulgaria and Brno in Czechoslovakia, Budapest in Hungary, Salzburg in Austria, Berchtesgaden and Stuttgart in Germany. [SYH178, 241]

Louise Gregory sailed from Boston to Europe on the SS Sinai. She spent some time in Salzburg and met with Miss Steffi Fürth whom she had met a year earlier. She had become, perhaps, the first believer in Salzburg [SYH180-181]
• By October she was settled in Varna, Bulgaria where there was a small group of active believers. [SYG181]
• On the instructions of the Guardian she left Varna for Belgrade to help Martha Root with the teaching work. Louise arrived on the 14th of March 1934. [SYH186]

Louise Gregory arrived in Belgrade to join Martha Root in the teaching work. Their overlap lasted until the 25th of March when Martha left for Athens. [SYH186-187]
• Martha had arranged for a new believer, Mrs Draga Ilić, to translate Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era as well as the Hidden Words into Serbian. [SYH187]
• During her time here Louisa received American visitors Charles and Helen Bishop from Portland, OR, who were on their way to Geneva to take up service at the International Bahá'í Bureau. They had been on pilgrimage in Haifa. [SYH188; BW6p133]
• Louise established herself as a language teacher giving private lessons. On the 19th of June she moved to a larger house near the Austrian border then after a few weeks went to Salzburg to meet with Miss Fürth until the end of July. When Marion Jack arrived they travelled together to Munich and Göppingen and then to Esslingen to attend the German Bahá'í summer school at the request of Shoghi Effendi. It ran from the 5th to the 12th of August. [SYH190-191, 195]
  For photos taken at the summer school see SYH198-199.
• After the summer school Marion and Louise went to Stuttgart and arrived back in Salzburg on the 3rd of September. She had trouble having her visa renewed and ultimately had to go to Vienna for this purpose. She returned to Belgrade by boat down the Danube. [SYH196-197]
• A report on her teaching work in Belgrade was printed in the Bahá'í News No 90 March 1935 pg11.
• Because her visa expired she was obliged to return to America. She left Belgrade near the end of April and went to England with plans to visit her relatives before boarding the Laconia in Liverpool destined for Boston on the 11th of May 1935. She had been away from home some 18 months on this teaching trip and had visited Varna in Bulgaria, Salzburg in Austria, Belgrade in Yugoslavia, Esslingen, Munich, Göppingen and Stuttgart in Germany, Salzburg and Vienna in Austria. [SYH 203-205, 242] ,

Louise Gregory returned to Europe for her last teaching trip on that continent. Over the Christmas period she had a month-long visit from Martha Root who subsequently went on to Sofia to assist Marion Jack.
• Louise left Belgrade on the 16th of May 1936 and travelled to Norway. She sailed from Oslo to New York on the SS Bergensfiordon the 26th of May and arrived in New York on the 4th of June. [SYH206-212]

Louis and Louise Gregory sailed to Haiti with the assignment to introduce the Faith to prominent Haitians. Although they met with success they were not able to extend their stay.. They were watched by the authorities and undermined by a "high ecclesiastical authority". They were denied permission to hold meetings so they left the country on the 10th of April and returned home via Kingston, Jamaica. [SYH218, 242; TMW246-251]
• See the report as given by the Inter-America Committee in BN no 109 July 1937 p3-5.

Louisa Mathew Gregory, (b. 1 February 1866 in Penge, Kent, England) whose wedding to Hand of the Cause of God Louis Gregory in 1912 was the first interracial western Bahá'í marriage, passed away in Eliot, Maine. [BW13:878; SYH19, 239]
• She had been introduced to the Faith by Edith Sanderson in Paris in about December of 1909. Edith had been taught by May Maxwell in 1902. [SYH5, 206]
• For her obituary see BW13:376–8. Error in this article
  • There was no Bahá'í Congress in Prague in 1928
  • She did not attend Cambridge but rather the examination for her credentials were administered by Cambridge.
  • 'Abdu'l-Bahá did not attend her marriage on the 27 September 1912. He was in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. [SYHvii-viii; 28]
• Her biography, A Seed in Your Heart - The Life of Louise Mathew Gregory by Janet Fleming Rose was published by George Ronald in 2018.
• See a brief biography in The Bahá'í Community of the British Isles 1844-1963 p462-464 and for the story of his learning of the Faith, p453-454