Mason Remey
Charles Mason Remey was a prominent member of the early American Baháʼí community, and served in several important administrative capacities. He is well-known for an attempted schism of 1960, in which he claimed leadership and was rejected by the overwhelming majority of Baháʼís, who regard him as a Covenant-breaker.
Remey came from a distinguished naval family of Washington, D.C., and was among the first Baháʼís of the United States. He was a contemporary of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, one of the faith's three central figures, and traveled around the world as a teacher of the faith. As an architect, he designed the Houses of Worship in Kampala and Sydney, both dedicated in 1961, as well as the International Archives building in Haifa.
In 1951 he was appointed by Shoghi Effendi as the president of the International Baháʼí Council, and later as a Hand of the Cause. When Shoghi Effendi died in 1957, Remey and the other Hands signed a declaration that he died without leaving a designated successor as Guardian. Remey was elected to serve as one of the nine custodial Hands, a body that became the interim leadership until the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963.
In 1960, Remey declared himself to be the second Guardian and expected the allegiance of the world's Baháʼís. His claim was rejected by all the other Hands of the Cause due to his lack of scriptural authority, and he was excommunicated along with about 100 supporters, mostly from the United States. Before his death, Remey's followers split into several rival factions, all of which declined over time.
Background
Born in Burlington, Iowa, on 15 May 1874, Remey was the eldest of six children from Rear Admiral George Collier Remey and Mary Josephine Mason Remey. The Navy destroyer USS Remey was named after his father. His maternal grandfather, Charles Mason, was the first Chief Justice of Iowa and candidate for governor in 1867.Remey's parents raised him in the Episcopal Church. He studied comparative religion in college, including a course on Buddhism, which made him receptive to other religions.
Remey studied architecture at Cornell University without completing a degree, and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. From 1904 to 1908, he became an instructor of architecture at George Washington University.
While studying in Paris Remey learned of the Baháʼí Faith from May Maxwell, the first Baháʼí in Paris, and he accepted it on 31 December 1899, becoming the third Baháʼí in the city. A few months later, the Persian Baháʼí teacher `Abdu’l-Karím-i-ihrání came to Paris and taught the new Baháʼís more about the faith. From Paris, Remey went on pilgrimage and met ʻAbdu'l-Bahá first in February 1901, then in spring/summer that year Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl visited Paris and taught the Baháʼís there.
Baháʼí service, 1903–1950
After embracing the Baháʼí Faith in Paris, Remey returned to Washington, D.C., and became a prominent author, public speaker, and organizer. Remey proposed the idea to the Baha'is in Washington to organize the first local Spiritual Assembly in the city, which he was elected to on 14 March 1907. He made a second pilgrimage to see ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in 1907, and returned in 1908, 1909, 1914, and 1921. He traveled extensively to lecture in the interests of the faith, visiting Iran, Russia, and Central asia in 1908, and in 1910 became the first Baháʼí to circle the globe on teaching trips, along with his companion Howard Struven. Robert Stockman wrote of his journeys:According to William Garlington, Washington D.C. became the third most influential group of American Baháʼís in the first decade of the 20th century, because of "its talented membership, which included leaders such as Laura Barney, Mason Remey, and Pauline Hannen."
At the first national convention of American Baháʼís in March 1909, Remey was the delegate representing Washington, and was elected to the executive committee of the "Bahai Temple Unity", a precursor to the National Spiritual Assembly. In 1917–1918 Remey chaired a committee investigating the Chicago Reading Room, a study group that combined the teachings of Baháʼu'lláh with those of a Bostonian occultist, ultimately expelling its members as "violators". Remey's loyalty brought him praise from ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and later Shoghi Effendi mentioned him as one of the most eminent Baháʼís in America.
Remey was also a prolific writer, and published several volumes on Baháʼí history and teachings. His first pamphlet was published in 1905 and was among the first material on the religion available to American Baháʼís. In part due to his fear of global cataclysm, Remey compiled much of his records and in 1940 he provided copies to several public libraries, requesting them not to be opened until 1995.
Marriage
According to Juliet Thompson's diary, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá suggested that she marry Remey, and in 1909 asked her how she felt about it. They were engaged for a time but did not marry. Thompson anguished over her decision, which she felt would cause ʻAbdu'l-Baha disappointment.During the 1930s, Remey lived in Washington, D.C. where he enjoyed an active social life. He was briefly married to heiress Gertrude Heim Klemm from 17 July 1931 until her suicide on 5 August 1932. They had no children.
Architectural projects
Having studied architecture, Remey made significant achievements in the design of several Baháʼí buildings. Under the guidance of Shoghi Effendi, his designs were used in the temples in Kampala and Sydney, both dedicated in 1961.Before 1944 a site was selected and purchased for a House of Worship in Tehran, Iran. Upon the request of Shoghi Effendi, Remey provided a design for this temple, which he approved. The drawing of it was published in The Bahá'í World XIV: 1963–1968, p. 495. The construction of this temple has been delayed indefinitely, however, due to the hostile political situation in Iran.
A site has been selected for a House of Worship in the vicinity of the Baháʼí World Centre on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Since 1971, an obelisk has marked the location where it will be constructed. The design by Mason Remey was approved by Shoghi Effendi. A photo of that model can be found in Baha'i World vol. XII, p. 548. It now stands in the upper hall of the Mansion of Bahjí.
Remey also designed the International Archives Building, completed in 1957. His design was based on the Parthenon.
He provided many design proposals for the Baháʼí temples in Wilmette and Frankfurt, but Louis Bourgeois and Teuto Rocholl, respectively, were selected instead. He also made suggestions for the design of the Shrine of the Báb.
The Remeum
Remey had a large personal fortune from his family and his late wife. He spent much of it on two projects: his mansion on Embassy Row in Washington, built around 1930, and the "Remeum".Remey contracted with Pohick Church in 1937 to build a huge family mausoleum on its grounds in Virginia, to be located on five acres of land about one half-mile south of the church building. Construction began in 1939. According to an article in the Washington Evening Star and Daily News, the mausoleum was planned as a "magnificent complex of walled courtyards, underground chambers with soaring vaulted ceilings, marble reliefs and statues, carved pillars, chapels and burial vaults". It was to be four times the size of Pohick Church, using over two million bricks, and costing over a million dollars. It had relief panels depicting historical events in the life of Remey's family, such as the landing of the Mayflower and the sinking of the USS Yorktown; a pair of massive lions guarding the entrance; life-size statues; depictions of Christian saints; and a huge ornate sarcophagus of Portuguese marble was prepared for himself. Remey transported the bodies of fifteen relatives to the Remeum.
The grounds were landscaped. The complex had electric chandeliers, ventilation and plumbing. A trust account was established with the church for maintenance. Remey planned to crown it with a three-story structure that would have dwarfed the church. The Remeum was never finished.
Problems soon developed in the 1950s, and the mausoleum site became the target of vandals. As a preventative measure, the entrance was bricked up to prevent access, but the wall was breached in 1956 by high school boys with axes, as reported by the Morning Star:
By 1958 the church vestry became concerned, and in 1962 refused to grant permission for any more work to be done on the site. Soon negotiations began to break the original contract; in 1968 the property reverted to the church, and Remey was given five years to remove anything of value from the site. Most of the dead were taken by relatives to another family cemetery in New York; Remey's wife Gertrude was reinterred in the main church cemetery. After the last of the bodies was removed, the Remeum was demolished beginning in 1973 on the orders of the Episcopal church, and the last of the aboveground ruins was finally bulldozed ten years later. Little remains on the site to mark the former presence of the complex save an obelisk dedicated to Remey's parents and a pair of structures which served as chimneys or vents.
Robert Stockman wrote:
Service in Haifa, 1950–1959
In November 1950, Shoghi Effendi announced to a small group, including Remey, his intention of appointing them to an International Baháʼí Council. Remey moved his residence from Washington to Haifa, and the public announcement of the Council was made on 9 January 1951. The Council was the first international Baháʼí body, intended to be a forerunner to the Universal House of Justice while forging links with authorities in the newly emerged Israel, assisting with the completion of the Shrine of the Báb, and negotiating for status as a religious court in Israel.Remey was appointed president of the council in March 1951, with Amelia Collins as vice-president. A further announcement in March 1952 appointed several more officers to the Council and Rúhíyyih Khánum as the liaison between the Council and the Guardian.
Remey was included in Shoghi Effendi's first contingent of 12 appointments to the rank of Hand of the Cause on 24 December 1951. Remey attended all four international teaching conferences in 1953, in Kampala, Chicago, Stockholm, and New Delhi.
During this time he continued several [|Baháʼí architectural projects].