Wilmette Public Library Local History Digital Collection

Barbara Tobin oral history

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Transcription: Ellen Price 0:01 Okay, so today is Friday, August 19, 2022. And this is the start of an interview with Barbara Tobin. We're here at the Welcome Center at the Bahai House of worship in Wilmette, Illinois. I am Ellen Price. And I work here at the Bahai House of Worship. And also I've been living in Wilmette since, gosh, 2004. I think, no, 2005. I live in West Wilmette. And I'll be conducting the interview. And we're going to be talking about a historical figure related to Barbara who is closely associated with the Bahai House of Worship that I thought would be interesting for the sesquicentennial. So, so we're talking about the Bahai House of Worship, which is obviously one of the most well known structures in Wilmette. The Bahai faith, which is the religion associated with the temple, started in Persia in 1844. The founder, there's a very brief introduction, but I mean, the founder, was persecuted there, as is typical in religious history that when, when there's a religious movement that has lots of followers, that there's fear in the religious and political leaders. And so they, they banished Bahá'u'lláh from Iran, this was Persia at the time, but the country is Iran today, where he was. They banished him from Iran to Iraq, and then from Iraq, to Turkey, to different cities in Turkey, and then finally to Palestine, which is Israel today, where he died as a prisoner with his family and some of the followers of his religion. Bahá'u'lláh died there in 1892. So if the Bahai faith started in Persia, why is there a Bahai Temple in Wilmette? And that goes back to 1893, when the parliament of the world's religions was held in the city of Chicago, and that's why Chicago is known as the birthplace of the interfaith movement because of that event that that happened in, in at the same time as the World's Fair that was happening in 1893. It was held inside the Art Institute building, is where it was held. And so after there were speeches, given each day from different religious leaders, and a Methodist missionary in his talk, mentioned Bahá'u'lláh, and read a quote from Bahá'u'lláh. About these fruitless stripes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the most great peace shall come. And that there's the earth is but one country and mankind its citizens. And so, the passage, the messages were written up each day and shared, you know, with interested people, and so people in Chicago were the first ones to hear about the Bahai faith. So it's that event in 1893, is considered the first time that the Bahai faith was publicly mentioned in, in the, in the West, certainly in the United States. So the first Bahai in the United States was an insurance salesman in Chicago named Thorton Chase. And so a small Bahai community was formed and in the early 1900s. There were Bahais in Chicago and in Wisconsin, some, I think, even in New York by that time, and and so in 1903, the Bahais here in Chicago received a letter announcing that there was a temple built, just north of Iran in Russia was ich Gabon, Russian Turkistan at the time, because of the Bahais were still being persecuted there so they couldn't build a temple in Iran, but they were able to build it in Turkistan. And so 1903 is when they started the construction. And so a letter had gone out and the Bahais in The United States read that letter. And that was what inspired them to, to build a temple, which I think is pretty incredible that they were just this handful of Bahais. And they're like, we're gonna build a temple, you know. And that's the American spirit, I think of optimism and stuff. So, so that inspired them to build a temple. And then they decided, you know, they started ideas about where they might build a temple and started, you know, raising funds, and in 1907, so that was 1903. But in 1907, there was a group that traveled to what was called Gross Point at the time here in Wilmette, and found the location where we the temple is built now. And that was just one of a couple of different places that they were looking at one was in the city of Chicago. And but they did decide on this one in, in in Wilmette, and they purchased the first two lots for $2,000 on the southwest corner of what is now seven acres of land here. The Bahai property. So, who I have here with me today is Barbara Tobin. And the reason I have Barbara here is because there was a Bahai who was inspired by what she had heard about the temple in Turkistan, and perhaps I can have Barbara tell this part about, about what inspired. This was, well, you can tell who Nettie Tobin was, and it's, yeah, so Nettie Tobin brought a cornerstone. Brought a stone here to the house of worship. And Barbara is Nettie's... Great, great, Nettie was Barbara's great grandmother. Right. And so she's, Barbara is going to tell us the story of Nettie and the stone, that people Bahai, I'll just throw this in, Bahais from all over the world come to this house of worship, and they asked to see the cornerstone, and it's Nettie's stone that they want to come and see. It's in the lower level of the temple. So here, I'll let Barbara talk. Yeah. Barbara Tobin 7:54 Okay. My great grandmother's name is actually Nettie Esther Tobin, and she lived in Detroit, Michigan. And she was widowed with two small sons. And she heard a Corinne True, who was Mother of the temple here known as the mother of a temple, who was instrumental in getting this house of worship built. She went up to Detroit to teach the faith and my great grandmother heard about the faith and moved to Chicago. Was the early 1900s, as she became a Bahai in 1903 at the age of 40. So she was the seamstress for Corinne True. And as I said, she was widowed. And she, the story about the actual, she was poor and widowed. And she used to contribute nickels, nickels and dimes. Because she was so poor, but she gave nickels and dimes and there were receipts for all of these. I had visited the daughter of Corinne True, would be Edna True, when I'd asked way back when, if if the sewing machine was still there, which was it wasn't. At any rate, she had she heard a voice that said three times according to the story, that she should get a stone get a stone and the first two times, she didn't. She was like, what what is this but the third time she went to this construction site in Chicago. She lived at 2921 North Halsted in Chicago. And she got this guy said yeah, you can have it. So she went downstairs, she she got her baby carriage. The story is, and she got that stone put in there with the help of her half brother John Leadroute. Okay, so she did that. And then they put it on a horse drawn trolley. The baby carriage, the stones in there, this big heavy stone and horse, a horse drawn trolley. So somewhere along the way that that that baby carriage broke, so the stone was there and the story is that that her half brother John Ledroute and Persian gentleman, I think by the name of Mirza Mao. And yes, his name was, Mirza Moslem and he helped with this getting this... well then a boy came along with a wagon is the story, there was a small boy with a wagon. So next thing is that this stone was put in this wagon. And then it was left. And this, this was actually she brought the stone, according to the stories. She brought it Labor Day of 1908. That's when it actually came here, this stone, and then it was left there. That stone was left there just until actually it was dedicated. Would have been, Yeah, May 1, 1912. It was finally dedicated when Abdul Baha came here. And then it was dedicated and according to the, what the story say, that there was a very expensive marble stone sent from from Persia, for this dedication. But Abdul Baha said no, I want that stone that, that the beloved Nettie sent or brought. So out of the labor of her love because she was very poor. So that's a story that, that that stone was. So as far as I know, she raised my dad, that would have been his grandmother. She had two sons. So that was my uncle John. And so my dad was, Nettie raised my my dad and the other son. And we used to add as far as as far as coming down here, I was raised at my mom's church, United Church of Christ, but we knew about the cornerstone. We were always intrigued by this cornerstone, we'd come down here. But we've pretty much stayed at my mom's faith. And I was always drawn to the by teachings where I was, in fact, I was I remember I was 16 years old in the United Church of Christ. And I asked the Minister, I said, Oh, I don't understand, like, gee all the, all the Buddhists out there, and all the other Hindus. And I said, I don't understand why, like you have to, you have to accept Jesus as Savior to go to heaven. I could never accept that as a teenager. And his answer to me was that someday, they'll have a chance to hear the Word of God. That their mission work, their mission work, and I'm like, Oh, wow. So I had the I had way back when I was 16. I was already thinking that the Bahai faith was was something for me, but then I didn't really pursue that I was busy teaching high school and, and I was raising two sons. And then I was teaching English second language in Arlington Heights. And I had Persian Bahais by the name of Tally and Mansur Mobafog, and they were they were Bahais and then we would talk during the break about religion. So I went one year to their firesides in Mount Prospect, new Manhurst. And I studied, I read a Thief in the Night and I read all different things. But I had to, even though I had Nettie in there and my background, I had to come to my own terms of being a Bahai, like starting like taking the blinders off and just looking at this faith from a whole new perspective, because I grew up with Jesus as Savior. So a year later, finally, I was able to become Bahai, I was ready and then I, I had attended feast for one whole year or firesides, at front whole year with these friends of mine. And then I told them that I had this relative who was Bahai, and they were like, Who is it? And I said. And they said, what you didn't tell her? I said, No, I couldn't tell you because I had to just do my my own thing. But Nettie is buried in Niles and Ridgewood cemetery, along with my dad and and the uncle and my mom and dad are all there on Milwaukee Avenue in Ridgewood Cemetery. And I always feel her presence. I pray to her every day. I always felt that I always feel that she's like a guardian angel. Like she's always with me and just just there and I have some original. I have a black ribbon that she wore and I have some original pictures, original photographs that my mother had. Because my mother, Nettie was actually lived until see, she was born. She was she was 81 when she finally passed away, she was born 1863 and died 1944. I was born in '46, so of course I didn't get... But anyway, my mother my mother did meet her. Mmm. And my dad had original photos of Nettie that my mom, that I have now and the black ribbon she wore and I have an American Bahai that Nettie signed that a wonderful Indian Bahai found in an auction and bought for me years ago. So I do have that at home with the original photographs. So that's my story. I have just been blessed with the Bahai faith. Just such a blessing to be a Bahai and this today and thank you. Ellen Price 15:23 Thank you, Barbara. Yeah. And I'll mention a little bit more about the laying of the of the cornerstone because you mentioned Abdul Baha. Barbara Tobin 15:33 And all the different people from all that. Ellen Price 15:36 Yes, right. So Abdul Baha was the son of the founder of the Bahai faith. So the founder was Bahá'u'lláh, which means the glory of God in Arabic. And as I said earlier, he was banished finally to actually Akka, Israel, Palestine at the time, where he died in 1892. And, but his family had been imprisoned with him and remained, his son remained a prisoner until the Turk Revolution in 1908. So, so when Bahais, when people would become members of the Baha'i Faith, they would would write to Abdul Baha. And then he, you know, would correspond with them and so he was, Abdul Baha was after Bahá'u'lláh died. Bahá'u'lláh had written a will that that explained that everybody, all the Bahais should follow his son, Abdul Baha as the leader of the faith. So Abdul Baha was the leader. So when he was released from prison in 1908, he was able to travel and so the Bahais in the United States, you know, were certainly excited and wanted him to come. And so he did come in 1912, and traveled all across the United States. He was here for 239 days, in the United States traveled all over. And so one of the major things that he did was come to this house of worship, I mean, it was just the property at the time. And laid the cornerstone for the house of worship. So typically, a cornerstone would be something that would be put in the building, you know, maybe after it was, you know, completed and they would put a fancy cornerstone in, but this was a symbolic cornerstone. And as Barbara said, I mean, fancy cornerstones were sent from a number of places apparently, had, had sent cornerstones but they didn't arrive and and so Abdul Baha has said, Bring me Nettie's stone, and so they they brought Nettie's stone, and then he had men and women from each nationality that were represented there, there were about I think they were about 400 people that were here. May 1, 1912. And they each helped dig a little bit of the hole. And actually, one of the interesting stories that I've heard is that of a Bahai from New York, he had a special golden trowel, little shovel, you know, that they wanted him to break the ground with and, and, but it was, you know, it wasn't, he said, Bring me a real tool, you know, so. So apparently, the train station, which is down on, you know, Fourth and Linden was under construction at that time, and so a young boy ran down there and was able to get like a pitchfork, not a pitchfork, but a thing that's anyway, a real tool. And they brought it back and Abdul Baha, they said, you know, he was in his 70s at that time and swung it, you know, and dug the hole and, and so then he had, like, I said, that people from all the different nationalities, I think they said about 50 different nationalities that were represented, and each dug a little bit of the hole, and Native American, yeah. And, and so, he, he then gave some of the dirt, you know, to people as kind of a souvenir, and he said, he, like, patted the ground around the cornerstone and said, the temple is already built. So, symbolically, he said, Yeah, that the temple is already built, but of course, it was 1953 is when the temple was completed. So it took a few number of years more before the temple was actually completed, but but the, like, read that part but he meant symbolically. I mean, it was the intention and the, the positive feelings of the Bahais that brought brought it together and that the construction of this temple actually helped build the Bahai community so because they needed to learn how to work together, I mean, they actually created the National Governing Council we have. We don't have clergy in the Bahai faith, but we have elected councils at the local, national and international level. And so they had the first National Spiritual Assembly and the first national convention were held because they, you know, were were working towards building this house of worship. So all of the administrative structures were founded because of because of the process of needing to be organized in order to build the temple. So the Bahai temple here in Wilmette is very special to Bahais around the world. It's always going to be the most sacred and special temple because Abdul Baha came here, this is the only house of worship that Abdul Baha visited, and actually the one in in Turkistan was taken over by the Soviet government in 1920. And then it was damaged, there was an earthquake in the 1940s. So it was damaged. And then in the 1960s, it was taken down. So this is the oldest standing house of worship. Then it was dedicated in 1953. Yeah. And Barbara is going to read there's actually something else about Nettie, you know, when she went to the construction site in Chicago, and apparently asked if there was a stone that she could purchase, you know, a cheap stone that she could purchase and the the the leader of the construction, would do you call, foreman, the foreman said, Well, there's a bunch of stones over there that you know, that we can't use, they were broken. And you'll see you know, if you ever come here you can ask to see the cornerstone, it's in the lower level of the temple, you'll see that it's, you know, it's an odd shape. It's kind of broken, you know, so it was rejected by the, by the foreman. And Barbara's gonna read there's a prophecy in the in the Bible that we feel is related to, to the cornerstone here. Barbara Tobin 22:15 Yes, this this quote from the Bible is from Psalms 118: 22, verse 22. And we believe that this fulfill the old prophecy and it reads, "The stone which the builders refused, is become the headstone of the corner." And I believe that that Nettie had read that. I think that that Bahais the Bahais inspired her to, to get this stone and I would have been seven years old when this house of worship was dedicated. Ellen Price 22:50 So wow, do you remember the first time you came here to the house of worship? Barbara Tobin 22:54 Oh, I came here. I came here. We came here growing up. My first time was probably about, I'd say 12 years old. Because as I said, I grew up in the United Church of Christ and was my mom, always. My mom when she was older, spent a whole day down here with me. She liked the Bahai faith, too. And she was so cute because she had met Nettie before Nettie died. And my mother said to me, Oh, she said, I hope you don't mind if I don't become Bahai. I've been in my church forever. But I said, Oh, no. I said, because she said, I love I really do like the Bahai teachings. And I said, Oh, no, but I'm just glad that you came down and spent a whole day here with me. So that was special too. Ellen Price 23:35 It's great. All right. So I hope that was helpful to make a connection between the house of worship here and Wilmette. And happy 100 and 50th Sesquicentennial birthday to Wilmette. Bye! Barbara Tobin 23:56 Cool. I was fun doing it. I like hear you talking.
Creators: Tobin, Barbara, Interviewee; Price, Ellen
, Interviewer
Media Type: Audio; Text
Item Type: Sound recordings
Description: Interview with Barbara Tobin by Ellen Price in Wilmette, Illinois, on August 19, 2022. Barbara shares the story of her great-grandmother, Nettie Esther Tobin. Nettie, a seamstress and devoted Bahai, played a significant role in the construction of the Bahai House of Worship. In 1908, Nettie felt compelled to obtain a stone for the temple's construction. This stone, dedicated by Abdul Baha in 1912, symbolizes the Bahai community's unity and dedication to building the first Bahai House of Worship in the Western Hemisphere.
Place of Publication: Wilmette, Illinois
Date of Original: 19 Aug 2022
Playing Time: 24:01
Subject(s): Oral histories
Bahai Faith
Bahá'í Temple (Wilmette, Ill.)
Personal Name(s): Tobin, Barbara ; Tobin, Nettie Esther ; Baha, Abdul ; Bahá'u'lláh ; Chase, Thorton ; True, Corinne
Corporate Name(s): Bahai House of Worship
Language of Item: English
Copyright Statement: Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Copyright Date: 2022
Copyright Holder: Wilmette Historical Museum and Wilmette Public Library
Contact: Wilmette Public Library
Email:refdesk@wilmettelibrary.info
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https://www.wilmettelibrary.info/

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