From its earliest days in North Carolina, the Bahá’í Faith has appealed to the diverse peoples in the state, just as it has to people across the country and the world. Throughout the Faith’s long history in North Carolina, Bahá’ís have repeatedly crossed the color line, as evidenced by family histories and community building from Wilmington to Asheville.
Although there were isolated Bahá’ís in various communities in the 1940s, a notable event occurred in 1955 when a prominent Bahá’í (a North Carolina native who had been living in Boston) spoke at an integrated meeting in a white couple’s home in Durham.
The Local Spiritual Assembly of Raleigh was formed first in 1957, followed by Durham in 1962. The Durham Bahá’í Community held a Race Amity Day in the summer of 1964, highlighting “race unity” as the most challenging issue facing America, and the community continues to observe this as Race Unity Day every year. Chapel Hill followed by organizing an Assembly in 1971.
A Bahá’í club was created on the campus of North Carolina Central University in Durham in 1964, followed by clubs on other campuses in the area.