- 1920-04-02 —
Louis Bourgeois was selected as the architect for the Chicago House of Worship. [DP94; GPB303; SBBH1:145]
- For details of the designs and selection process see DP76-100.
- See CT159 for the source of inspiration for the design.
- See FMH75-76 for details of a visit by Willard and Doris McKay to his home. He reported that "the inspiration for the Temple was from another realm and that he had been conscious, from the beginning, that Bahá'ulláh was the creator of the building."
- 1930-08-19 — Jean-Baptiste Louis Bourgeois, (b. 19 March 1856, Staint-Célestin de Nicolet, QC. d. Wilmette, IL), the architect of the first Bahá'i Temple of Worship in America, passed away. He was buried in East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento, California.[Find a Grave]
He, like Sutherland Maxwell and Mason Remey, had studied at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. These three and four others submitted designs for the Wilmette Temple for consideration. Other buildings designed by Louis Bourgeois include the Chicago Tribune Building, Evergreen Cabin in Englewood NJ where 'Abdu'l-Bahá hosted a Unity Feast, the Savoy Hotel in Chicago.
He became a Bahá'í in New York sometime during the winter of 1906. In April of 1909 the National Spiritual Assembly called for design proposals for the first Bahá'í Hours of Worship in the West and he submitted is design proposal in October. It was finally accepted at the National Convention in 1920. [DP76-100] - 1930-08-20 —
Louis Jean-Baptiste Bourgeois, (19 March, 1856, Saint-Célestin, Quebec, Canada) designer of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in Wilmette, passed away in that city. He was buried in East Lawn Memorial Park Sacramento, Sacramento County, California, USA [DP145; Find a grave]
- He had learned of the Faith in Boston through the efforts of Mary Hanford Ford. [Wikipedia]
- For details of his life see DP76–86.
- 1939-07-01 —
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of United States and Canada relocated the National Office from New York to Wilmette. The National Spiritual Assembly Secretary and his wife/assistant, Horace and Doris Holley, moved from their cramped apartment at 119 Waverly Place in Greenwich Village, to the building on Sheridan Road across the street from the Temple that was built as the studio and residence of Temple architect, Louis Bourgeois. Henceforth the building was referred to as the Hazírátu'l-Quds, the headquarters of the National Assembly.
- Because the Hazírá lacked sufficient space for more than the office of the Secretariat, an apartment in a residential building was rented. Within a few years a small frame, two-room building was erected on the Temple grounds that served as office space for more than fifty years.
- About six months later the offices of the Treasury and the Publishing Committee were relocated from New York as well.
- In 1940 Sophie Loeding was hired as the first full-time staff member of the secretariat. [IH282-286]
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