The World Parliament of Religions, the Swami, and the Evangelist: Contextualizing Late 19th-Century American Responses to Hinduism

Abstract

This article explores how Hinduism and other religions and philosophies outside the Christian traditions were received by Americans influenced by secularism, science, globalization, and expanding U.S. imperialism in the late 19th century. The article also explores the role of two missionaries, John Henry Barrows and Swami Vivekananda, arguably the most influential participants in the World Parliament of Religions of 1893. Get Karma, good—well rubbed into you—absorb it, wallow in it, and then you will batter down all the obstacles of life. —New York Times book review, 1896 A journalist writing four years after the shuttering of the World’s Columbian Exposition described Chicago’s Lake Front Park1 as a “barren waste” (The New York Times, 1897, p. 13).2 Dominating this “eyesore” and “source of annoyance” was the building that had housed the 1893 General Committee on the Congress of Religions, which came to be known as the World Parliament of Religions.3 The fireravaged park also contained a tangle of railroad tracks; a sculpture described as “a nightmare in bronze, supposed to represent the late Mr. Columbus as he appeared to the distempered visions of the artist”; and “a varied assortment of men out of 1 i.e., Jackson Park, as it is known today. 2 That the reporter was from New York City may have darkened his view of the abandoned fairground. According to Robert W. Rydell (2005), the U.S. Congress had been charged in 1890 with deciding whether the Exposition would take place in Chicago or New York City. “New York's financial titans, including J. P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and William Waldorf Astor, pledged $15 million to underwrite the fair if Congress awarded it to New York City. Not to be outdone, Chicago's leading capitalists and exposition sponsors, including Charles T. Yerkes, Marshall Field, Philip Armour, Gustavus Swift, and Cyrus McCormick, responded in kind. Furthermore, Chicago's promoters presented evidence of significant financial support from the city and state as well as over $5 million in stock subscriptions from people from every walk of life. What finally led Congress to vote in Chicago's favor was banker Lyman Gage's ability to raise several million additional dollars in a 24-hour period to best New York's final offer.” 3 Now the Art Institute of Chicago. 42 Journal of Global Initiatives work, and men to whom work [was] only an abstract proposition” (The New York Times, 1897, p. 13). In 1897, Chicago’s population of nearly 2 million had been increasing by 50,000 annually although in many neighborhoods, such as those surrounding the park, water could not be pumped above the first floor of buildings. During six months in 1893, more than 20 million visitors from around the globe streamed to the park’s “White City” (Rydell, 2005), and thousands crowded into the Hall of Columbus in the Memorial Art Palace to witness “the birth of formal interreligious dialogue worldwide” (Parliament of the World’s Religions, 2015b). Delegates to the World Parliament of Religions, which took place from September 11–27, represented 41 spiritual traditions (Berkley Center, n.d.), including “Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam” (Michaud & Adiprasetya, 2004). The Parliament inspired a wide range of religiously inflected responses. One attendee planned to establish a similar parliament in Jerusalem. A Mr. Kiretchjiam was reported to have “distinguished himself and his people [Armenian Apostolic Christians] on the platform of the world’s fair parliament of religions by a remarkable speech, which was entitled ‘A Voice from the Young Men of the Orient’” (The Atlanta Constitution, 1897, p. 6) and which was said to be the “first cry of Armenians” heard in the United States. Soon after the Parliament, Kiretchjiam addressed the church clubs of New York City, which consisted “of men prominent in business and professional circles,” and through such outreach he founded the Armenian Relief Association (The Atlanta Constitution, 1897, p. 6). According to historians of the Baha’i faith, practice of their religion on American soil can be traced to the Parliament (Abdu’l Bahá in America, 2011). Catholic speakers at the Parliament had traveled from as far away as Australia, Brazil, and Belgium. And many Christian delegates, like delegates from other traditions, traveled extensively in the United States before and after the event. In summer of 1894, The New York Times (1894b) reported that “Momolu Massaquoi, an African Prince from Vei Territory, Liberia, West Africa, son of King Lahai Massaquoi of the Salinas, called at Police Headquarters . . . and paid his respects to Superintendent Byrnes. Prince Massaquoi has been doing missionary work in this country. He was a delegate to the Parliament of Religions at the World’s Fair. He is going back to Africa soon” (p. 8). One of the founders of the Brotherhood of Christian Unity, which was an “outgrowth of the religious parliament of the fair,” Massaquoi signed his name to this statement: “For the purpose of uniting with all those who desire to serve God and their fellow-men under the inspiration of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, I hereby enroll myself a member in the Brotherhood of Christian Unity” (The New York Times, 1893a, p. 1). Headlining the list of signatories to the new Brotherhood was the chairman of the World Parliament of Religions, John Henry Barrows (1847–1902). In New York City, immediately after the event concluded, an individual identified as “Professor Richey” read the paper he had presented “at the Parliament of Religions, on ‘The Anglican Communion and Its Claims’” (p. 5). According to The New York Times (1893c), “Prof. Richey also gave a short review of the work accomplished at the parliament” (p. 5). In addition to delegates and visitors, documents regarding the Parliament circulated;