Interior View of Library - Green Acre Baha'i School, Eliot, Maine

Interior View of Library - Green Acre Baha'i School, Eliot, Maine

Image of the lower landing of a gracious, ca. 1890 staircase, seen through an opening from another room. Glass-fronted bookcases flank the opening, and frame the carpeted steps up into the landing. The scene is inviting and relaxed. The Library pictured here was probably inside the former Eliot Hotel, which the Transcendentalist John Greeleaf Whittier later called "Green Acre on the Piscataqua" as it stood on the Piscataqua River. Green Acre Baha'i School was formed out of a summer retreat begun by Moses Gerrish Farmer and Hannah Tobey Shapleigh Farmer, Transcendentalists, philanthropists and residents of Eliot in the late 19th century. With their daughter, Sarah Jane Farmer, the family established a program in the study of peace, religion and philosophy to anyone who was interested. The project, which operated out of the family's Eliot Hotel and other buildings, attracted thinkers of the day, including the Transcendentalist John Greenleaf Whittier, a close family friend. In line with the retreat's mission to explore diverse philosophies and faiths, Sarah Farmer eventually bequeathed the Eliot Hotel to the Baha'i community. The Library pictured here was probably inside the former Eliot Hotel, which Whittier called "Green Acre on the Piscataqua" as it stood on the Piscataqua River. The annual summer program was part of a larger later 19th century movement in the intellectual history of the Northeast. The emergence of an educated elite, the experience of urban life and its inequities, the rise of Transcendentalism, social reform, and scientific and technological advances stoked curiosity about non-Western culture and spiritualism. Colonies sprung up to discuss and disseminate thinking, and participants such as Moses Farmer "traveled throughout Europe and brought together prominent writers, philosophers, musicians, performers, of all kinds, social activists, and religious leaders to lecture at the summer sessions. Franklin Sanborn, author and member of the Concord (MA.) School of Philosopphy and Literature, wrote of the experience of visiting Gren Acre:, 'As is well known, each succeeding summer has found visitors here fromthe most distant parts of the Earth...The picturesque aspect borne in past seasons by the large audience of searchers after truth as tehy assemble themselves together in the large "Peace" tent, in the "Eirenon," or under the Lysekloster pines, was [an] effect produced by the intermingling of elegantly clad Orientals in their [sic.] native flowing robes of bright fabrics, from far away India, China, and Japan, wiith the more sombre attire of our own people and visitors from England and various other European countries." Horatio Dresser, follower of New Thought and a Swedenborgian minister in Maine wrote of Green Acre, "It is indeed a unique experience to be one of a throng of people gathered on the hill at sunset, while the Parsee chants a native hymn, or someone reads from one of our own poets. And after one has heard Emerson expounded underneath the pines, or listened to the Swami setting forth in his quiet way the venerable doctrines of Vedanta, one is ready to exclaim that there are no such woods anywhere outside of Greenacre." Sarah Farmer, with three friends, travelled to Europe and the Mediterranean in January 1900 visiting Acre, Palestine to meet with 'Abdu'l-Baha, the leader of the Baha’i Faith. 'Abdu'l-Baha encouraged her to continue with her programs at Green Acre and told her if ever released from imprisonment by the Ottoman Empire, He would visit Green Acre. In 1901, Farmer, now a declared member of the Baha'i Faith, returned to Green Acre, continued to promote her conferences and used this quotation from 'Abdu'l-Baha on a conference program: "Good tidings to you! Good tidings to you! Awake! Awake! For in a short time these fragrances, which give life to the soul, shall be diffused and the lights, which disperse the darkness, shall shine universally…" A subject close to Farmer's heart was world peace, and she often featured speakers and programs at Green Acre on peace. She created the first known "Peace Flag" and raised it in the courtyard. In August 1904, as the Russo-Japanese war raged, a rousing program at Green Acre included the great operatic singer Emma Thursby in Japanese clothing, singing the national anthem of Japan, followed by Mary Burnham Moore leading the audience in the national anthem of Russia. All stood as they sang with the collective hope that the two nations might soon find peace. A year later, Portsmouth, New Hampshire was chosen as the site of negotiations for a treaty to end the war. President Theodore Roosevelt invited delegates from Russia and Japan to consult at the Portsmouth Naval Ship Yard, only a few miles from Green Acre. Farmer was the only woman present to witness the signing of the Treaty. One of the great joys of Farmer's life came when the leader of the Baha'i Faith, 'Abdu'l-Baha, visited Green Acre and stayed at the Inn from August 16-23, 1912. He gave numerous talks and interviews on subjects such as the unity of God, the unity of all religions, and the unity of humankind. Hundreds of people gathered to hear 'Abdu'l-Baha speak. Maine newspapers sent reporters to cover and report about the substance of these talks, including the Republican Lewiston Evening Journal and the Biddeford Weekly Journal. 'Abdu'l-Baha’s travels across North America were met with a fervor of interest at all levels of society, from the New York City newspaper, boys, ministers, educators and statesmen to the wealthiest socialites of Washington, DC. 'Abdu'l-Baha said of Green Acre, "This is a delightful spot; the scenery is beautiful, and an atmosphere of spirituality haloes everything. In the future, God willing, Green Acre shall become a great center, the cause of the unity of the world of humanity, the cause of uniting hearts and binding together the East and the West. This is my hope." – Excerpt from a talk on August 17, 1912. The Green Acre Conferences offered a free and open forum for conversations on social and religious subjects, and became a focal point for the American Baha'i community, acting as a meeting place for individual believers and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada. After Farmer died on November 23, 1916 the property passed into the possession of the National Baha'i community and remains, as of 2018, the "great center," and "the cause of the unity of the world of humanity" that 'Abdu'l-Baha hoped it would be. [Green Acre Baha'i School, mainememory.net]