Real name:
Biography:
Born to a couple from Wisconsin, after my father’s military service, my childhood and youth were in a suburb of Milwaukee and Stevens Point, where I earned a Bachelor of Science degree with double majors in Physics and Philosophy and double minors in Math and Psychology. This is also where my interest in the Baha’i Faith began. I then went on to graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Raleigh in the Department of Physics, where I earned a Master of Science degree with a minor in Education. I also met and married my wife, and I joined her in the countryside of North Carolina. However, employment conditions were such that I found non-scholarly employment and, after a number of jobs, found a career in computer tech support starting in 1996 in public education and have been continuously employed since then. Around the same time, I became involved in computer communications and reading and then contributing scholarly materials on the Baha’i Faith.
Recent scholarly activity:
* Kolins, Steven, The Increase in the Number of Local Spiritual Assemblies during the Ten Year Crusade in the Continental United States, in Research Notes, edited by Dr. Robert Stockman, Jan 1, 2025, Corinne True Center for Bahá'í History.
* Kolins, Steven, African American Bahá’í Newspaper Publishers and Chief Editors, featuring Thelma Thurston Gorham, in Conferences and Webinars, Corinne True Center for Bahá'í History, Mar. 28, 2024, by info@corinnetruecenter.org, aired Sunday, Dec. 8.
Recent publications:
* Kolins, Steven, The Increase in the Number of Local Spiritual Assemblies during the Ten Year Crusade in the Continental United States, in Research Notes, edited by Dr. Robert Stockman, Jan 1, 2025, Corinne True Center for Bahá'í History,
* Kolins, Steven, African American Bahá’í Newspaper Publishers and Chief Editors, featuring Thelma Thurston Gorham, in Conferences and Webinars, Corinne True Center for Bahá'í History, Mar. 28, 2024, by info@corinnetruecenter.org, aired Sunday, Dec. 8.
* Kolins, Steven, The Life, Faith, and Death of Helen Clevenger (1917-1936), in The Journal of the North Carolina Association of Historians, edited by Dr. Gael Graham, v31, Sep 2023, ISSN 1078-4330, OCLC 52634307, pp43-68. See also Sella, Andrea, ”Clevenger’s separator” in Chemistry World (May 30, 2024), by The Royal Society of Chemistry (Great Britain), ISSN 1749-5318 at https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/clevengers-separator-and-the-acceptance-of-grief/4019508.article (he thanked me publicly for assisting him.)
* Kolins, Steven, Wikipedia, Bahaipedia and clipping newspapers, [zoom presentation] curated by Dr. Graham Hassall, Victoria University of Wellington, Australia, part of the series, "The Reference Desk: Projects that Support Bahá’í Scholarship in the Digital Age", April 19, 2022, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaA1HaUn7qY
* Kolins, Steven, A North Carolina Bahá’í history 1850 - 2021 [zoom presentation] curated by Dr. Robert Stockman, Director of the Wilmette Institute, for the symposium “The beginnings of the Bahá'í Faith in Kansas, Missouri, and North Carolina", Wilmette Institute, May 16, 2021, see https://wilmetteinstitute.org/symposium-the-beginnings-of-the-bahai-faith-in-kansas-missouri-and-north-carolina/
* Editor/Contributor, Bahaipedia, 2012-present
as of 2024 I'm the 5th all-time contributor with over 19k edits across over 380 pages. Samples follow:
* Kolins, Steven (Smkolins), The intranational growth of Local Spiritual Assemblies during the Ten Year Crusade in the continental United States, Bahaipedia, (Feb 2022), https://bahaipedia.org/The_intranational_growth_of_Local_Spiritual_Assemblies_during_the_Ten_Year_Crusade_in_the_continental_United_States
*Kolins, Steven (Smkolins), Race and Man, Bahaipedia, (June 2019), https://bahaipedia.org/Race_and_Man
* Kolins, Steven (Smkolins vast majority ), Ludmila Ott Bechtold Van Sombeek, Bahaipedia, (July 2016), https://bahaipedia.org/Ludmila_Ott_Bechtold_Van_Sombeek
* Kolins, Steven (Smkolins vast majority), Sarah Pereira, Bahaipedia, (Nov 2016/Oct 2017) https://bahaipedia.org/Sarah_Pereira
* Editor/Contributor, Wikipedia, 2005-present
, with over 42k live edits, ~300 deleted edits, over 600 new pages(2024 stats), active since 2005. Samples follow:
* Kolins, Steven (71.4% by smkolins) Bahá'í Historical Record Survey, Wikipedia, (Apr 24, 2020), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahá'í_Historical_Record_Survey
* Kolins, Steven (84.7% by smkolins) Garland Anderson (playwright), Wikipedia, (Mar 4, 2017), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garland_Anderson_(playwright)
* Kolins, Steven (78.4% by smkolins) Nipo Strongheart, Wikipedia (August -November, 2014), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipo_Strongheart
* Deamer, Bryn, and Kolins, Steven, “Computers in the Bahá'í Community Through Ridván 1992”, in SCRIPTUM: Newsletter for Bahá'í Librarians & Information Professionals, ed William Collins, n4, January-June 1996 , see https://web.archive.org/web/20050424211446/http://www.bcca.org/librarians/Scriptum/4.htm . This was edited and republished as Deamer, Bryn and Kolin(sic), Steven, “Use of Computers by the Baha’i Community during the Six Year Plan”, The Bahá’í World, International Series v20, pp 481–484, Bahá’í World Center, Haifa, 1998, ISBN 9780853989950, OCLC 32549315, available at https://www.bahai.org/library/other-literature/periodicals-supplementary-materials/bahai-world/
Forthcoming research:
African American newspaper publishers/chief editors of the 20th century who were Baha'is.
Other activities:
* I've been working to build a cadre of individuals focused on local/regional Baha'i history through voluntary association. I've also cooperated with the UnityMuseum.org in Seattle and its affiliates in Portland OR, Michigan, Buffalo NY, and Cameroon.
* I've also contributed to the Baha'i-inspired collection website Bahai-Library.com. See https://bahai-library.com/author/Steven+Kolins and written primers on geneological resources and awareness of the religion such as https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Bahá'í_Faith and https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Sources_for_looking_up_Bahá'ís
* I've volunteered research consulting with a number of individuals and some institutions, with credits as follows:
Redman, Earl (2023), Acknolwedgements, in A Day for Very Great Things - The Lives of Howard Colby and Mabel Rice-Wray Ives, by Earl Redman and Erica Toussaint, George Ronald, Oxford, UK, p. xvii.
Thorne, A., Rose, J. F., Redman, E., & Momen, M. (2023). The Bahá‘í Community of the British Isles 1844-1963. George Ronald, ISBN 9780853986621 OCLC 1401935551. See pp74, 158.
Venters, L. (2019). A History of the Bahá‘í Faith in South Carolina. The History Press, ISBN 9781467117494, OCLC 1053582184. See Notes subsection, p1.
Materials used by Dr. Christopher Buck in classes he taught, articles we co-authored, or I contributed to him, at Bahaiteachings.org and other places. There was a series about the Baha'i engagement in Harlem circa 1918-1922 including:
* The Rainbow Circle: When a Black Church Welcomes All Colors, by Christopher Buck and Steven Kolins, Oct 14, 2023.
* A Black Minister’s – and a New Baha’i’s – Advice on Promoting Race Amity, by Christopher Buck and Steven Kolins, May 10, 2023.
* A Persian Goes to Harlem – to Unite the Races, by Christopher Buck and Steven Kolins, Feb 28, 2023.
* Harlem’s First Emmanuel Church and the Baha’i Principle of Racial Unity, by Christopher Buck and Steven Kolins, Feb 16, 2023.
In addition, there was a series of articles on the Baha'i engagement in Miami circa 1918-1925 to which I contributed. See for example:
* Building the Moral Force that Sustains Society, by Christopher Buck, Oct 7, 2018
* The Early—and Integrated—Baha’i Community in Miami by Christopher Buck, Aug 30, 2018
Others of these have been picked up in another publication: Chapman, Hillary I., and Musta, Lex, (2024). This Noble Destiny - 'Abdu'l-Baha, the Early Baha'is of Washington DC, and the Struggle for Racial Unity. Kalimat Press, ISBN 9781890688462. See pp71, 195.
And a variety of academic articles of Dr. Buck:
Buck, Christopher, (2021) The 'Baha’i Question' in Iran - Influence of International Law on “Islamic Law” Pistor-Hatam, A.(ed), Menschenrechte in der Islamischen Republik Iran. Ergon Verlag, in der Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. ISBN 9783956507151, ISSN 1863-9801, OCLC 1253283468. See pp169-170.
Buck, Christopher,(2019) Alain Locke’s “Moral Imperatives for World Order” Revisited, in (1988). The Journal of Bahá‘í Studies = La revue des études bahá‘íes, v29n1-2, ISSN 0838-0430, OCLC 1081123930. See pp62-63.
Buck, Christopher (4 December 2018). "The Baha'i 'Pupil of the Eye' metaphor". In Loni Bramson (ed.). The Bahá'í Faith and African American History: Creating Racial and Religious Diversity. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-1-4985-7003-9. OCLC 1098186570. See pp.8, 30-31, 33, 35, 39, 40-41.
Buck, Christopher (4 December 2018). "Alain Locke on Race, Religion, and the Baha'i Faith". In Loni Bramson (ed.). The Bahá'í Faith and African American History: Creating Racial and Religious Diversity. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-1-4985-7003-9. OCLC 1098186570. See p110
Buck, Christopher, (2018) The First Recorded Bahá’í Fireside, in Bahá’í Studies Review, Volume 21, Association for Baha’i Studies (UK), doi: io.i386/bsr.2i.57/i. See p83.
Buck, Christopher(2016). Deganawida, The Peacemaker, in Parini, J. (ed), American Writers. Supplement XXVI. Charles Scribner’s Sons / Gale Cengage Learning, ISBN 9780684325064, OCLC 907159819. See p99.
I also have a YouTube Channel through with some workshops I have given, and other work, has been preserved for further sharing: see https://www.youtube.com/@smkolins . And I maintain a growing publicly accessible newspaper clippings collection at Newspapers.com via the link https://www.newspapers.com/clippings/?user=27888%3Asmkolins