Martha Root arrived in Argentina, the first recorded visit of a Bahá'í to this country. [MR101]
• She remained in Buenos Aires until 4 October. [MR101]
• See MR101-2 and MRHK61-5 for her teaching work in Argentina.
• See MR103-6 and MRHK66-9 for her journey over the Andes on a mule.

May Bolles Maxwell (b. 14 January 1940 in Englewood, NJ) passed away in Buenos Aires. [BBD153; TG49]

Shoghi Effendi called her "the spiritual mother of Canada" and Montreal the "mother city of Canada". [OBCC35]

• Shoghi Effendi awarded her the honour of a 'martyr's death' and designated her as a Disciple of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. [BW8:631; MA38]
• She was the first Bahá'í on European soil and the "mother" of both the French and the Canadian Bahá'í communities. [PP149]
• For her "In Memoriam" and tribute written by Marion Holley see BW8p631-642.
• Hooper Dunbar quoted Shoghi Effendi in his cable to the friends in Iran announcing her passing:
  
  May Maxwell, the severed teacher firebrand of the love of God and spreader of the fragrances of God Mrs Maxwell, forsook her native land and hastened to the most distant countries out of love for her Master and yearning to sound the call to the Cause of her Lord and her inspiration, until she ascended to the highest summit attaining the rank of martyrdom in the capital of the Argentine. The furthermost boundary the countenances of paradise invoke blessings upon her in the glorious apex saying, may she enjoy with healthy relish the cup that is full and brimming over with the wine of the love of God for the like of this should the travaillers travail. Inform all the friends of the announcement of this mighty victory. [A talk] given by Mr Dunbar 28:08]
• Shoghi Effendi asked her husband, Sutherland Maxwell, to design her tomb, which was to be a 'historic centre' for 'pioneer Bahá'í activity'. [BW8:642]
• For an account of the erection of the monument to her see PSBW83–6.
• Haik Kevorkian's family had come to Argentina from Syria in 1937. When Mrs Maxwell arrived he contacted her by phone just before her fatal heart attack. After her passing, he devoted himself to caring for her grave. [KoB225]

The Regional Spiritual Assembly of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia was formed at Buenos Aires, Argentina. [BW13:257]
• Prior to this time, since 1951 it had been administer by the National Spiritual Assembly of South America. [Bahaipedia NSA; South America]

On November 2nd, she left Panama on a tour which took her to Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay, and which lasted close to three months.

Her visit to Argentina included a visit on December 24th to the grave of her mother in the cemetery of Quilmes, a suburb of Buenos Aires. May Maxwell had succumbed to a heart attack while on a teaching trip to expand the Faith in South America. It was Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum's first visit to the grave of her mother.

A donation on behalf of the Canadian Bahá'í community was sent to purchase flowers for the grave site for the occasion of the visit. Sixteen dozen roses of different colours were chosen by Maralyn Dunbar, wife of Hooper Dunbar, South America Auxiliary Board Member, who ably carried out this commission for the Canadian National Spiritual Assembly. A representative group held a commemorative service at the Shrine in Montreal. Gathered in the Master's room of the former Maxwell home were Hand of the Cause John Robarts and Mrs. Robarts, National Assembly member Rowland Estall, Shrine Committee members Mr. and Mrs. Underwood and Heather, and Montreal Local Assembly Chairman Jessie Harkness. [CBN No 217 Feb-Mar 1968 p1]

An account of the event, essentially by Ruhiyyih Khanum and titled Roots of the Cause in the West, our Dawnbreaker, May Maxwell was serialized in the Canadian Bahá'ì News. [CBN 227 Feb/Mar 1969, CBN No 228 Apr 1969 and CBN No 229 May 1969]

Haik had learned of the Faith from his father who had embraced the Faith in his birthplace, Gaziantep Aintab, Turkey. In 1937 the family emigrated from Aleppo, Syria to Argentina and they stopped on the way to visit the Holy Land where they spoke with the Guardian about pioneering. They arrived in Buenos Aires on the 29th of March after a another stop in Bahia to visit Leonora Holsapple.

On February 29th, 1940 May Maxwell, accompanied by her niece Jeanne Bolles arrived in Buenos Aires and it was from Haik that she received the a telephone call to welcome her. The following morning when the Kevorkian family called at the City Hotel they learned that May Maxwell had passed during the night. Haik and Wilfrid Barton searched for a befitting spot for her interment and Haik spent the rest of his life honouring and caring for her resting place.

Haik taught the Faith in the interior of Argentina and make international trips to Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Chile Brazil and Ecuador. He assisted in the formation of the first spiritual assembly in Guayaquil and won the honour of being named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh when he settled in the Galapolos Islands in May 1954. A record of his service there can be found in Heroes of God: History of the Bahá'í Faith in Ecuador, 1940-1979 by Helen Bassett Hornby.

Upon his return from the Galapolos to Buenos Aires he married Aurora de Eyto and they had one surviving son, Daniel Claudio (b.1960). [BW15p483-485]

The Second World Congress was held in New York City to commemorate the centenary of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh and the completion of the Six Year Plan. It was attended by some 28,000 Bahá'ís from some 180 countries. [BBD240; VV136-141; BW92-93p95-102, 136]
• Nine auxiliary conferences were held in Buenos Aires, Sydney, New Delhi, Nairobi, Panama City, Bucharest, Moscow, Apia and Singapore. [BINS283:3-4]
• For pictures see [BINS283:9-10], [BW92-3p100] and [VV136-141]
• "New York will become a blessed spot from which the call to steadfastness in the Covenant and Testament of God will go forth to every part of the world." - 'Abdu'l-Bahá [AWH77-8 90-1 105-6]
• On the 25th of November a concert was held in Carnegie Hall as a birthday tribute to Dizzy Gillespie called "Celebrating the Bahá'í Vision of World Peace". [VV141]
• On the 26th of November Bahá'ís around the world were linked together by a live satellite broadcast serving the second Bahá'í World Congress, the nine auxiliary conferences and the Bahá'í World Centre and it was received by those with access to satellite dish antennas. [BINS283:1–5, 8; BINS286:10; BINS287:4]
• For the message of the Universal House of Justice read on the satellite link see BW92–3:37–4.
• For accounts of personal experiences by some of the attendees see In the Eyes of His Beloved Servants: The Second Bahá'í World Congress and Holy Year by J. Michael Kafes.
• The film, 'Abdu'l-Bahá: Mission to America, made by Elizabeth Martin, was prepared for the World Congress program and also used in the Theme Pavilion. [HNWE45]