On a quiet stretch of Main Street in Dublin, past a garden bursting with color, stands the house where a religious leader once told a room full of strangers to see the world as a garden. For 20 years, Phil and Ruthie Gammons have made sure that story — and that house — survive.
The Dublin Inn has been preserved not only for the building’s historical value to the town, but mainly for its significant importance to the Bahá’í Faith.
In 2006, the Gammons were sent to Dublin for that reason, and for 20 years the couple has cared for the Inn ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stayed at in 1912 during his visit to North America.
“We were immediately interested because we’re both from the northeast,” Ruthie explained.
Initially working for the Bahá’í House of Worship in Illinois, the couple moved into the Inn when asked by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the U.S. and because it was closer to their families.
Since then, the couple has hosted an annual commemoration of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to Dublin on the second Sunday of August, the same day he spoke at the Dublin Community Church 114 years ago.
This year, Christopher White, professor of religion and the Andrew W. Mellon Chair at Vassar, spoke to the belief that all people are connected on one Earth, which is core to the Bahá’í Faith.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit
The Bahá’í Faith, as defined by the official website, believes God has sent divine messengers who teach about the advancement of civilization to humanity throughout time, including Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad.
Bahá’u’lláh, Abdu’l-Bahá’s father, is the latest messenger and informed humanity about the link between religions and a single God.
“We believe that this faith is the one that’s been promised, but all the faiths of the past that’s been foretold,” Ruthie said.
She further explained in the Bahá’í Faith, “there’s no conflict between those religions; they’re all just different chapters of one long thing that has been.”
According to the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies study done in 2020, Bahá’í is the largest non-Christian religion by county, and at that time there were 176,000 people practicing the Bahá’í Faith recorded.
The reason the religion might not sound familiar is that they do not proselytize.
“When people find out about us, it’s because they’re investigating and they’re interested,” Ruthie said.
The Bahá’í Faith also restricts discussion or participation in partisan politics, religion and money.
In 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stayed at the Inn during his trip to North America when invited by Agnes Parsons.
Parsons was a practicing Bahá’í and had both a residence in Washington, D.C. and Dublin. During her time in Palestine, she met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and he promised to visit the Granite State during his time in America.
While some specifics are unknown about his time in Dublin, he came here to spread the knowledge of the Bahá’í Faith and their core principles around education and equality. He stayed in Dublin from July 26 to August 16.
By the 21st Century, the Inn had grown in age and fallen apart. In the early 2000s, a Bahá’í family bought the Inn from a bank after it was foreclosed and donated it to the National Spiritual Assembly in 2005.
A year later, the Gammons moved in and since then have taken care of the building and grounds. It’s hard to miss the colorful garden out front when driving down Main Street.
The Gammons
Phil and Ruthie found their own ways to the Bahá’í Faith.
As a graduate student in Oregon, Phil was invited to a dinner event hosted by the Bahá’í community.
“It’s just a very welcoming atmosphere and diverse, and so my friend gave me some things to read, and I just started on my own,” Phil said.
Ruthie, on the other hand, avoided religion at first while studying at the University of Connecticut. Once she became a single mother, her perspective changed.
“I just paid no attention to it until after I had a child, and I wanted a faith for her where she was going to be given a true equal voice to men,” Ruthie said.
The two met while volunteering at a blood drive during Christmas time in Connecticut.
“We kind of saw each other. Then we had a date, and then we had another date,” Ruthie said.
As of Aug. 1, the Gammons have been married for 34 years.
Finding home in Dublin
According to the Gammons, there are four other Bahá’í families in the Dublin area with eight adults and five children. Plus, approximately 30 to 40 Bahá’í families in the Monadnock region.
Ruthie pointed out that in the Bahá’í Faith, when nine adults live within a geographic area, they can form an administrative body called a local spiritual assembly.
The Dublin Inn has become a gathering spot for the small Bahá’í community in the town and New England.
After moving in, the couple started organizing the large building, finding a use for all the rooms and adding their own character.
All the walls are pristinely painted and the gardens are tended.
They received most of the furniture from donations or rummage sales, and they have designated each room for a specific use for visitors, specifically of the Bahá’í Faith, including a room for kids.
The walls are covered in framed images of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during his visit and temples from around the world, including the House of Worship in Illinois.
In every room, Ruthie adds a bit of her own personality with at least one corner cabinet full of colorful fancy dishes, which in the 19th century demonstrated wealth.
When reflecting on their time in Dublin, the couple understand the significance of their station.
“We are here because we were sent here, and so we serve an important purpose,” Ruthie said. “It’s a real blessing to be able to be here. It’s also 24/7.”
Commemoration of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit
Held annually at the Dublin Community Church, the Gammons invited the community of Bahá’ís as well as the weekly attendees of the church to participate in the commemoration and service.
With prayers and speeches by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Bahá’u’lláh, the congregation focused on peace and the connection of all humankind.
White ended the service with a talk connecting the Bahá’í Faith with the pressing question: “In a world that is in chaos politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race survive another 100 years?”
This question, as outlined by White, was posed by Stephen Hawking in 2006 on Yahoo and prompted many different responses.
To answer the question, White referenced the famous photographs of the Earth taken from the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s along with the realization at the time that there’s only one world and we all live on it.
“This more encompassing vision of the world is part of my answer to Stephen Hawking’s question,” White said. “We are a single homeland.”
While ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ideas seemed modern and unattainable at the time, White said, as the years have passed, his core beliefs have become more and more obtainable.
White called back to the discussion ‘Abdu’l-Bahá led 114 years ago at the Dublin Community Church, where a young audience member remembered what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told the crowd: to “see the world as a garden.”