Lua Getsinger

Who is Lua Getsinger?

Louise "Lua" Aurora Getsinger known as Lua Getsinger was one of the first Western members of the Bahá'í faith, becoming a member in 1897. A prominent disciple of `Abdu'l-Bahá, she was given the title "Herald of the Covenant" and "Mother Teacher of the West" by 'Abdu'l-Baha.

Lua was the sixth of 10 children born to Ellen McBride and her husband Reuben D. Moore in Hume, New York, a rural small town located in northwestern New York State's Wyoming County, about 90 kilometers south of Lake Ontario.2

Since her youth she had tended to a colorful mode of dress and avoiding fashions of the day. When `Abdu'l-Bahá asked her to travel in the East for him he asked her to dress in a less conspicuous fashion. She then designed a form of dress with a royal dark blue of inset panels of different fabric with silk trimmings. Her clothing generally appears dark in period photos, however in actuality her clothing was not dour but a contrast of colors against her Caucasian skin. `Abdu'l-Bahá discouraged other women from emulating her style.