Roberta and W. Kenneth Christian
Roberta and W. Kenneth Christian were a devoted couple who dedicated their lives to the service of the Bahá’í Faith. They were given the title of Knights of Baháʼu’lláh in 1954 in recognition of their pioneering work in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Africa. Throughout their lives, they inspired countless individuals with their unwavering faith and commitment to social justice. The following stories celebrate their legacy and the impact they had on the lives of those around them.
“Bahá’í Baby”
This picture is of a sterling silver baby rattle engraved with the words “Bahá’í Baby”. Family lore is that it was given to my mother by Mrs. Roberta K. Christian (see below).
Roberta and her husband, W. Kenneth Christian, had lived in Lansing, Michigan, before answering the Guardian’s call for international pioneers. They became friends with my parents, Eva and William H. Smith, who had one of the first interracial Bahá’í marriages in Michigan.
My mother and Roberta often exchanged letters, and Roberta would commonly ask, “How are the children?” During a visit to the US in 1957, Roberta gave my mother this baby rattle for me. The rattle doesn’t have my name, probably because Roberta hadn’t heard the news of my name when she had it engraved.
It seems Roberta loved children and was the author of one of the first Bahá’í children’s songbooks from which I still remember several simple and beautiful songs. This “Bahá’í Baby” rattle is important to me as a connection to physical and spiritual ancestors—those who pioneered geographically and those who pioneered socially—and is a reminder of the courage and faith with which they walked through their present-day, as well as the hopes they held for the children of the future.
– Marianne Smith Geula, Chicago, Illinois December 2022
Passing of Roberta Christian – Knight of Baháʼu’lláh
“Grieved Tragic Passing Knight Baháʼu’lláh Roberta Christian Her Devoted Services Alaska Nine Year Plan Worthy Addition Laurels Garnered Pioneer Efforts Rhodesia And Greece Company Late Husband William Kenneth Christian During World Crusade Convey Family Assurance Prayers Progress Her Soul Abhá Kingdom” – August 9, 1971 — Universal House Of Justice
The foregoing cablegram from The Universal House of Justice was sent to the National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska on receipt of the news of the tragic passing of Mrs. Roberta Kaley Christian on July 30 in an early morning burning of the apartment building in which she lived in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Mrs. Christian will long be remembered for her valuable services to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh with her late husband, William Kenneth Christian, who died suddenly in Djakarta, Indonesia, on May 4, 1959. She pioneered in Rhodesia and Greece in the early years of the Ten-Year Crusade and, more recently, in Alaska.
Mrs. Christian was the author of the popular, widely used Bahá’í Child’s ABC and the first Bahá’í children’s songbook. Her son, Roger, and his wife, Kandie, live in Fairbanks. https://www.oldbookshopofbordentown.com/pages/books/E25682/roberta-k-christian-child-education-committee/a-bahai-childs-abc
Roberta K. Christian; Child Education Committee; A Bahá’í Child’s ABC; Wilmette, IL: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1957.
The above photo of Dr. W. Kenneth Christian, dated 1946, was recently found in the Archives of LouHelen Center for Higher Learning, near Davison, MI. It appears to have been taken in the living room of the farmhouse residence of Lou and Helen Eggleston, who, along with Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, founded LouHelen in the early 1930s. It is likely Helen Eggleston took this photo.
William Kenneth Christian was a native of Wilkes Barre, PA, and became a member of the Bahá’í Faith in Binghamton, NY. At the time of this photo, Dr. Christian had just transferred from East Carolina Teachers College to a teaching position at Michigan State College and was living in Lansing, MI. Along the way to MSC, Dr. Christian spoke in Alexandria, VA, and Washington, DC. According to the Greenville, SC news article, the DC talk was titled “Two Roads We Face.”
It was in the late 1940s when Dr. Christian met and befriended an MSC Engineering graduate named William H. Smith, a person of African descent who became a member of the Bahá’í Faith in 1950.
Dr. Christian, along with his wife and fellow Bahá’í teacher Roberta, and their son Roger, attended the Bahá’í Marriage Ceremonies in Lansing, MI, of Margaret Yeutter to Michael Jamir in 1949, and Eva Livingston to William H. Smith in 1951.
In addition to being a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, Dr. Christian wrote the Introduction to the 1952 Revision of “Gleanings from the Writings of Baháʼu’lláh”
The attached 1952 Feast photo in Lansing includes Dr. Kenneth Christian standing on the right behind Joanne Menking while Roberta Christian, on the left, is standing next to Richard Nolen.
Shortly after the Dedication of the House of Worship in 1953, The Christians left MI and the US to begin teaching the Bahá’í Cause in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), then Greece, and then Indonesia. In August 1957, before their transfer to Indonesia, Dr. Christian and Robera traveled back to Lansing, MI, to meet with the Smith family. Dr. Christian shook the hands of their two sons, Julius and me, and Roberta held Marianne, their 2-month-old daughter.
The attached 1952 Feast photo in Lansing includes Dr. Kenneth Christian standing on the right behind Joanne Menking while Roberta Christian, on the left, is standing next to Richard Nolen.
The original monument in Djakarta for Dr. Christian (photo shown) had this inscription: “O God, my God! Attire mine head with the crown of justice and my temple with the ornament of equity.”
William Kenneth Christian was named a Knight of Baháʼu’lláh by Shoghi Effendi and left this world in Djakarta on May 4, 1959.