Martha Root was a prominent traveling teacher of the
Bahá’í Faith in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Shoghi Effendi called her "the foremost travel teacher in the first Bahá’í Century", and named her a
Hand of the Cause posthumously. Known by her numerous visits with Heads of State and other public figures. Of special importance was her efforts with Queen Marie of Romania, considered the first Monarch to accept Bahá’u’lláh. Introduced to the Faith in 1909 by meeting Roy C. Wilhem she spent several months researching the religion and met several members of the Bahá’í community, including
Thornton Chase and Arthur Agnew in Chicago, and she, later in that year, declared her faith in the Bahá’í teachings. During this time, she kept on writing and in 1909 she wrote a detailed article for the Pittsburgh Post about the history and teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. She also participated in the first annual Bahá’í convention, which took place in Chicago in 1911.
