Harlem Prep was conceived to provide creative educational experiences for dropouts residing in ghetto areas of NYC and place them in universities.
From its inception in 1967, the Harlem Preparatory School attracted the attention of educators in New York City and elsewhere for its innovative educational system. Based on progressive education principles, Harlem Prep embraced the concepts of individual responsibility, individual dignity, and support for community. These values resonate with Bahá'í religious principles promoted and practiced by
Hussein Ahdieh (assistant headmaster) and other education visionaries who made up the faculty and administration of the school. He became a part of Harlem Prep after having witnessed the denial of education of young people in Iran. He felt a soulful connection to the disadvantaged and disenfranchised. The alternative school movement (free schools) in the early seventies sparked the intellect and the imagination. Harlem Prep enrolled disadvantaged youth 17 to 21 years old who generally were either high school dropouts or were in the category of those who could not expect to get accepted into a standard American college. Both groups suffered from poor academic skills, poor goal setting, and a background history of inadequate educational preparation for school and for life. As a private, non-sectarian school, Harlem Prep was allowed independence in its operation, curriculum, and hiring. The curriculum was needs based. Classes were chosen with an advisor. Classes met at flexible times. The open classroom arrangement in an old supermarket space in Harlem, New York allowed cross observation. Class topics cut across the disciplines. Study materials were supplemented by visits to actual work sites. Tutoring and mentoring were built in. Personal expression was encouraged Mutual respect between teachers and students allowed roles to be interchanged. An individual graduated only when he or she had college acceptance in his/her hands. Early on, the Urban League and Manhattanville College helped to launch the school. There was no tuition. Funding came chiefly from institutions such as Standard Oil of New Jersey, the Sheila Mosler Fund, the Carnegie Corporation, the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, the Hayden Foundation, the Arwood Foundation, the Roethbert Foundation, the New York Foundation, Coca-Cola, IBM, Chase Manhattan Bank, Union Carbide, Herman Miller Furniture, and the Ford Foundation – to name just a few. Prominent individuals from many fields, such as Edward F. Carpenter (Headmaster); Whitney M. Young (National Urban League); Mother Ruth Dowd (Manhattanville College); Dr. Eugene S. Callender; Honourable Robert J. Mangum; Dr. Kenneth B. Clark; Stephen J. Wright; Dr. John Cave; Dizzy Gillespie; Bill Cosby; Sammy Davis, Jr.; Ozzy Davis, Billy Taylor, William F. Buckley, Jr.; Senator Jacob K. Javits; Minister Louis Farrakhan; Percy Sutton; Ann Carpenter; E. Solomon McFarlane; and others, lent their support in so many ways. Harlem Prep continues today as part of the NYC Board of Education. "Moja Logo," Unity and Brotherhood, is the motto that sums it all up. In the ten years of its independent existence, this spirit of unity and support provided the educational opportunity for more than 500 students to find their way into 189 colleges. The school was been covered in major newspapers, and written about by Jonathan Kozol, Dwight W. Allen, and other education authors in journals and books, and visited by educators from Israel, China, Norway, and many other countries. It still serves as an iconic example of one way to bring about a bright future for individuals who need that extra chance.
03/25/2026
Today we honor Dan and Jim Seals, two remarkable brothers whose musical talents left an indelible mark on pop and soft rock music.
Dan Seals, famously known as England Dan from the duo England Dan & John Ford Coley, achieved massive success with hits like “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” and later carved out a solo career in country music, earning acclaim for his smooth voice and heartfelt songwriting.
Jim Seals, one half of the duo Seals & Crofts, became a defining voice of 1970s soft rock, with timeless hits like “Summer Breeze” and “Diamond Girl,” blending intricate harmonies with poetic lyricism. Together and individually, the Seals brothers brought warmth, emotion, and storytelling to millions of listeners.
Both brothers are laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery, remembered for their enduring contributions to American music.
While the world commemorate the 50th anniversary of man's landing on the moon.
Let's remember a modern day martyr of science, Dr Ronald McNair,
the second African American and first Bahá’í Astronaut.
Son of a mechanic father and a teacher mother, McNair showed an early aptitude for technical matters, earning the nickname 'Gizmo' in school.
At the age nine he wanted to borrow a book from his local public library only to discover that the word 'public' in the library's name meant 'white'. When he insisted, though politely, local police and his mother were called.
Ultimately he went on to earn his PhD in Physics from prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1976.
He was one of the 35 selected out of 11000 applicants to be trained as NASA astronaut.
His first travel to space was in February 1984 on the fourth flight of space shuttle Challenger.
On January 1986 he was one of the seven crew members killed when the Challenger shockingly exploded 73 seconds after liftoff.
His alma mater MIT has named a building which houses the Kavli Institute of Astrophysics & Space Research after him.
A crater in the moon is also named after him.
He was honored with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 2004.
Scores of schools and other institutions in America are named after him.
Most ironically the library which refused to lend him a children's book on space was dedicated in 2011 as the Ronald McNair Life History Center.
He came in touch with the Bahá’í Faith as a very young person in early 1960s.
He was a deeply spiritual person and a dedicated Bahá’í .
He took his fellow astronauts to a Bahá’í meeting the night before the fatal flight.
04/18/2024
A memoir by Hussein Ahdieh, where he shares his personal journey from a rural village in Iran to life in New York City. Ahdieh also shares details about the history of the Bahá’í Faith in Iran and his family's involvement in the Bahá’í community over the years. All the many challenges and blessings of being new in a different country are shared with humor and joy.
. .. a compelling story that will leave the reader in tears one moment and laughter the next ... an easy read that is poignant and at times provocative, humorous, at other times sad, and yet always informative and filled with hope ... I encourage you to join Ahdieh and Chapman for a surprising and powerful journey in which laughter mingles with tears and sorrow turns to joy. —Eric S. Mondschein
Hussein Ahdieh’s remarkable journey from a rural village in Iran to director of a university in New York is not just another feel-good story about the American Dream at its best. Told with humor, Ahdieh gives us an intimate history of the Bahá’í Faith in Iran from the point of view of a family that helped shape that history. He also shares his personal account of the turbulent 1960s as he helped educate some of the ‘tired, poor, and huddled masses’ of Americans forgotten in the country of their birth. Buy one copy of Foreigner for yourself, and a dozen more for family and friends who could use an uplifting story and a good laugh. —Peter Murphy
Available at bit.ly/fsgrbds and bahaibookstore.com.
03/25/2026
03/13/2025
07/14/2024
04/18/2024