Bosch Baháʼí School

[3] John David Bosch (1855-1946) immigrated in 1879, became naturalized in 1887,[4] and bought a 45 acres (180,000 m2) section[5] of a winery[6] on October 26, 1901 as his residence in Geyserville, California[5] not far from the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians and north of Healdsburg.

Bosch began producing non-alcoholic grape juice,[7] joined the religion in 1905,[8] and was able to meet ʻAbdu'l-Bahá several times.

[6] Shoghi Effendi, then head of the religion, asked that the school be "…a testing ground for the application of those ideals and standards that are the distinguishing features of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh.

[14] The committee was particularly conscious of the issue of the oneness of humanity because of communications with Louis G. Gregory and Sadie Mabry's recent talk at the national Bahá'í convention about the problem of race in America.

[6] 250 attendees came that year from India, Denmark, Peru, several provinces of Canada and western US states,[27] the end of which saw the announcement of construction for a new dormitory at a conference called by the National Spiritual Assembly at the site,[28] which was built in 1937 as a gift of Amelia Collins and her husband Thomas.

[33] In 1973 the state of California finalized plans to expand the scenic Redwood Highway (HW101) including seizing the property through its eminent domain powers.

[3] The school was last administered by a committee and the resident manager, Waldo T. Boyd, while the local Bahá’ís community in Northern Sonoma County with its spiritual assembly numbered about 30 adults.

[42] The Geyserville location was also used in 1980 [43] when the new owner of the land, Loreon Vigné, welcomed the Bahá’í to Isis Oasis Sanctuary which occupies ten acres of the original Bosch School site.

[62] Charles Wolcott, then a member of the head of the religion, the Universal House of Justice, and his wife came to Bosch in 1978 to give a presentation.

[69] The program in 1986 noted work in human relations, music, psychology, racial unity,[70] followed by ones on women's issues.

[79] Bosch Bahá'í School campus now comprises 85 acres (340,000 m2) including cabins, a dining hall, conference and prayer room, pools, a playground, a bookstore-cafe, and forested land with trails.

[80] The property is used mainly for Bahá'í programs but is frequently leased out to nonprofit, educational, and/or service-oriented groups, and able to house 80 guests in 30 cabins/rooms and up to 175 attendees.

[59] Year-round sessions are held on the religion and additional conferences and seminars in the summer and winter with room and board for a fee while being run mostly by volunteers.