in many Baháʼí activities. At the age of 15, she joined the Executive Committee of the Fellowship of Canadian Youth for Peace. She was also involved in local racial equality conventions, including dances. A spectator, Sadie Oglesby – one of the first African-American Baháʼís – described her as "sixteen-year-old Mary Maxwell, a beautiful and most refreshing girl to know". By twenty-one, she was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of Montreal, the local Baháʼí governing council there. Considered by her contemporaries as attractive and a gifted orator, Mary rapidly established herself as a notable member of the North American Bahá’í community. She made regular trips around the United States and Canada to propagate the religion. From 1932 she began lecturing on The Dawn-Breakers throughout the United States. In May 1933, at the age of 22, she visited Washington, D.C. and insisted all meetings be open to both black and white people. She held talks in Howard University and made an effort to meet African-American’s interested in the Bahá’í Faith. She also attended official functions with her father in Montreal during her twenties, meeting the Governor General of Canada at events such as the Royal Canadian Academy’s Fifty-Fourth Exhibition. Europe As a young woman, Mary had expressed a great desire to learn Spanish. However, her plans to travel to Republican Spain were thwarted with the Spanish Civil War. Instead, Mary chose to live with her cousin in Nazi Germany in 1935, a move which was endorsed by Shoghi Effendi. In Germany, Shoghi Effendi encouraged Mary to strengthen the fledgling Baháʼí community. The young Mary assimilated herself in German culture, wearing a dirndl and learning to speak German fluently. Whilst in Germany, Mary received an invitation from Shoghi Effendi to go on pilgrimage with her mother. Both mother and daughter accepted the invitation. They were initially planning to travel through the Balkans and visit the Baháʼís, but the unrest of the area forced them to travel directly to Haifa. Marriage Mary had spent long periods of time with Shoghi Effendi prior to marrying, having first met him when she was 12 years of age. She went on pilgrimage again three years later, after which she kept in constant communication with Shoghi Effendi. Arriving in Haifa in January 1937 with her mother, the two began a brief and discreet courtship. In February, the couple were engaged, and Mary cabled her