Father Divine (c. 1876 – September 10, 1965), also known as Reverend M. J. Divine, was an African-American spiritual leader[2] from about 1907, until his death. His full self-given name was Reverend Major Jealous Divine, and he was also known as "the Messenger" early in his life. He founded the International Peace Mission movement, formulated its doctrine, and oversaw its growth from a small and predominantly black congregation into a multiracial and international church. Due to his ideology, many consider him to be a cult leader.
Father Divine claimed to be God.[3] He made numerous contributions toward his followers economic independence and racial equality. He was a contemporary of other religious leaders such as Daddy Grace, Charles Harrison Mason, Noble Drew Ali and James F. Jones (also known as Prophet Jones).
Contents
1Life and career
1.1Prior to 1912: Early life and original name
1.21912–14: In the South
1.31914–19: Brooklyn and marriage to Peninniah
1.41919–31: Sayville, New York
1.51931–32: Sayville arrests, trial, notoriety, and prison
1.61932–42: Harlem
1.71942–65: Pennsylvania
2Physical characteristics and preaching style
3Doctrine
3.1Positive thought
3.2Welfare
3.3Race
3.4Patriotism
3.5Communal living
3.6Chastity
3.7Thrift and Business Practices
4Legacy
4.1Civil rights
4.2Religious
5See also
6References
7Further reading
8External links
Life and career
Prior to 1912: Early life and original name
Little is known about Father Divines early life, or even his real given name. Father Divine and the Peace Movement he started did not keep many records. Father Divine himself declined several offers to write his biography, saying that “the history of God would not be useful in mortal terms”. He also refused to acknowledge relationship to any family. Newspapers in the 1930s had to dig up his probable given name: George Baker. (This name is not recognized by the Library of Congress, and from 1979, there is no further use of that name as a heading for Father Divine in libraries catalogs.)[4] Federal Bureau of Investigation files record his name as George soldes Baker alias "God".[5]
In 1936 Eliza Mayfield claimed to be Father Divines mother. She stated that his real name was Frederick Edwards from Hendersonville, North Carolina, and had abandoned a wife and five children, although Mayfield offered no proof and claimed to not remember his fathers name. (Father Divine replied that "God has no Mother.")[3]
Father Divines childhood remains a contentious point. Some, especially earlier researchers, suppose that he was born in the Deep South, most likely in Georgia, as the son of sharecroppers. Newer research by Jill Watts, based on census data, finds evidence for a George Baker Jr. of appropriate age born in an African-American enclave of Rockville, Maryland, called Monkey Run. If this theory is correct, his mother was a former slave named Nancy Baker, who died in May 1897. Most researchers agree that Father Divines parents were freed African-American slaves. Notoriously poor records were kept about this generation of African Americans, so controversy about his upbringing is not likely to be resolved. On the other hand, he and his first wife, Peninniah (variant spellings: Penninah, Peninnah, Penniah) claimed that they were married on June 6, 1882.[6][7][8]
Father Divine was probably called George Baker around the turn of the century. He worked as a gardener in Baltimore, Maryland. In a 1906 sojourn in California, Father Divine became acquainted with the ideas of Charles Fillmore and the New Thought Movement, a philosophy of positive thinking that would inform his later doctrines. Among other things, this belief system asserted that negative thoughts led to poverty and unhappiness. Songwriter Johnny Mercer credited a Father Divine sermon for inspiring the title of his song "Accentuate the Positive".[9][10]
Father Divine attended a local Baptist Church, often preaching, until 1907, when a traveling preacher called Samuel Morris spoke and was expelled from the congregation. Morris, originally from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, had a soft-spoken and uncontroversial sermon until the end, when he raised his arms and shouted, "I am the Eternal Father!" This routine had him thrown out of many churches in Baltimore, and was apparently unsuccessful until Morris happened upon the receptive Father Divine.
In his late 20s, Father Divine became Morriss first follower and adopted a pseudonym, "The Messenger". The Messenger was a Christ figure to Morriss God the Father. Father Divine preached with Morris in Baltimore out of the home of former evangelist Harriette Snowden, who came to accept their divinity. Morris began calling himself "Father Jehovia."
Divine and Father Jehovia were later joined by John A. Hickerson, who called himself Reverend Bishop Saint John the Vine. John the Vine shared the Messengers excellent speaking ability and his interest in New Thought.
In 1912, the three-man ministry collapsed, as John the Vine denied Father Jehovias monopoly on godhood, citing 1 John 4:15 to mean God was in everyone:
"Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God."
Father Divine had finally parted ways with his former associates. Denying that Father Jehovia was God, and saying that not everyone could be God, he declared that he himself was God, and the only true expression of Gods spirit.
See also: International Peace Mission movement
1912–14: In the South
Father Divine traveled south, where he preached extensively in Georgia. In 1913, conflicts with local ministers led to him being sentenced to 60 days in a chain gang. While he was serving his sentence, several prison inspectors were injured in an auto accident, which he viewed as the direct result of their disbelief.
Upon his release, he attracted a following of mostly black women in Valdosta, Georgia. He taught celibacy and the rejection of gender categorizations.
On February 6, 1914, several followers husbands and local preachers had Divine arrested for lunacy. This actually expanded his ministry, with reporters and worshippers deluging his prison cell. Some whites even began calling on him. Former Mercer University professor and lay preacher, J. R. Moseley of Macon, Georgia, befriended Divine and arranged for J. B. Copeland, a Mercer alum and respected Valdosta lawyer, to represent him pro bono. Moseley was interested in what he termed "this unusual man" in his autobiography "Manifest Destiny." Decades later, in the 1930s, Moseley met Divine in New York City when he received word that the man going by that name might in fact be the same person he met in Georgia. Father Divine was found mentally sound in spite of "maniacal" beliefs. He had given no name when arrested and was tried as "John Doe (alias God)".
1914–19: Brooklyn and marriage to Peninniah
In 1914, Father Divine traveled to Brooklyn, New York, with a small number of followers and an all-black congregation. Although he claimed to be God incarnate fulfilling Biblical prophecy, he lived relatively quietly.
He and his disciples formed a commune in a black middle-class apartment building. He forbade sex, alcohol, tobacco and gambling among those who were living with him. By 1919, he had adopted the name Reverend Major Jealous Divine. "Reverend Major" was chosen as a title of respect and authority, while "Jealous" was a reference to Exodus 34:14, where the Lord says he is a "jealous god" and that Gods name is Jealous. His followers affectionately called him Father Divine.
In this period, Father Divine was married to a follower, Peninniah (variant spellings: Penninah, Peninnah, Penniah), who was a few years older than him. Like Father Divine, her early life is obscure, but she is believed to be from Macon, Georgia. The date of the marriage is unknown but probably occurred between 1914 and 1917.
In addition to lending her dignified look to Father Divine, Peninniah served to defuse rumors of impropriety between him and his many young female followers. Both Penninah, who was often called "Mother Divine", and Father Divine would assert that the marriage was never physically consummated.
1919–31: Sayville, New York
Father Divines house in Sayville, New York.
Father Divine and his disciples moved to Sayville, New York (on Long Island), in 1919. He and his followers were the first black homeowners in town. Father Divine purchased his 72 Macon Street house from a resident who wanted to spite the neighbor he was feuding with. The two neighbors, both German Americans, began fighting when one of them changed his name from Felgenhauer to Fellows in response to anti-German sentiment. His neighbor taunted him, and the feud escalated until Fellows decided to move. As a final insult, he specifically advertised his home for sale to a "colored" buyer, presumably to lower his neighbors property value.
In this period, his movement underwent sustained growth. Father Divine held free weekly banquets and helped newcomers find jobs. He began attracting many white followers as well as black. The integrated environment of Father Divines communal house and the apparently flaunted wealth of his Cadillac infuriated neighbors. Members of the overwhelmingly white community accused him of maintaining a large harem and engaging in scandalous sex, although the Suffolk County district attorneys office found the claims baseless. In order to try to please his neighbors, he had "A sign posted at his driveway warned guests: NOTICE—Smoking—Intoxicating Liquors—Profane Language—Strictly Prohibited. Contrary to the charges of Sayville residents, angels claimed that Father Divine prohibited singing after eight oclock and by ten oclock had closed all windows and blinds."[11] Nonetheless, the neighbors continued to complain.
1931–32: Sayville arrests, trial, notoriety, and prison
On May 8, 1931, a Sayville deputy arrested and charged Father Divine with disturbing the peace. Remarkable during the Depression, Father Divine submitted his $1000 bail in cash. The trial, not as speedy as the neighbors wanted, was scheduled for late fall, allowing Father Divines popularity to snowball for the entire Sayville vacation season.
Father Divine held banquets for as many as 3000 people that summer. Cars clogging the streets for these gatherings bolstered some neighbors claims that Father Divine was a disturbance to the peace and furthermore was hurting their property values.
On Sunday, November 15, at 12:15 am, a police officer was called to Father Divines raucously loud property. By the time state troopers, deputies and prison buses were called in, a mob of neighbors had surrounded the compound. Fearing a riot, the police informed Father Divine and his followers that they had fifteen minutes to disperse. Father Divine had them wait in silence for ten minutes, and then they filed into police custody. Processed by the county jail at 3 AM, clerks were frustrated, because the followers often refused to give their usual names and stubbornly offered the "inspired" names they adopted in the movement. Seventy-eight people were arrested altogether, including fifteen whites. Forty-six pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and incurred $5 fines, which Father Divine paid with a $500 bill, which the court was embarrassingly unable to make change from. Penninah, Father Divine, and thirty followers resisted the charges.
Father Divines arrest and heterodox doctrines were sensationally reported. The New York frenzy made this event and its repercussions the single most famous moment of Father Divines life. Although mostly inaccurate, articles on Father Divine propelled his popularity. By December, his followers began renting buildings in New York City for Father Divine to speak in. Soon, he often had several engagements on a single night. On December 20, he spoke to an estimated 10,000 in Harlems Rockland Palace, a spacious former basketball venue, Manhattan Casino.[12]
By May 1932, meetings were regularly held at the Rockland and throughout New York and New Jersey. Father Divine had supporters in Washington state, California and throughout the world thanks to New Thought devotees like Eugene Del Mar, an early convert and former Harlem journalist, and Henry Joerns, the publisher of a New Thought magazine in Seattle. Curiously, although the movement was predominantly black, followers outside the Northeast were mostly middle class whites.
In this period of expansions, several branch communes were opened in New York and New Jersey. Father Divines followers finally named the movement: the International Peace Mission movement.
Father Divines trial was finally held on May 24, 1932. His lawyer, Ellee J. Lovelace, a prominent Harlem African American and former US Attorney had requested the trial be moved outside of Suffolk County, due to potential jury bias. The court acquiesced, and the trial took place at the Nassau County Supreme Court before Justice Lewis J. Smith. After a long trial, with many witnesses, "Justice Smith instructed the jury to ignore the statements made by witnesses not present on the night of the raid. Smiths order invalidated most of the testimony in Father Divines favor and severely crippled the defense."[13] The jury found him guilty on June 5 but asked for leniency on behalf of Father Divine. Ignoring this request, Justice Smith lectured on how Father Divine was a fraud and "menace to society" before issuing the maximum sentence for disturbing the peace: one year in prison and a $500 fine.
Smith, 55, died of a heart attack days later on June 9, 1932. Father Divine was widely reported to have commented on the death, "I hated to do it."[14] In fact, he wrote to his followers, "I did not desire Judge Smith to die.… I did desire that MY spirit would touch his heart and change his mind that he might repent and believe and be saved from the grave."
The impression that Justice Smiths death was divine retribution was perpetuated by the press, which failed to report Smiths prior heart problems and implied the death to be more sudden and unexpected than it was.
During his brief prison stay, Father Divine read prodigiously, notably on the Scottsboro Nine. After his attorneys secured release through an appeal on June 25, 1932, he declared that the foundational documents of the United States of America, such as the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, were inspired. Father Divine also taught that contemporary leaders strayed from these ideals, but he would become increasingly patriotic through his life.
1932–42: Harlem
The International Peace Mission movement established over 100 Heavens in the Northeastern United States.
Father Divine moved to Harlem, New York, where he had accumulated significant following in the black community. Members, rather than Father Divine himself, held most deeds for the movement, but they contributed toward Father Divines comfortable lifestyle. Purchasing several hotels, which they called "Heavens", members could live and seek jobs inexpensively. He opened one hotel "near Atlantic City, New Jersey, so that blacks could access the beach."[15] Father Divine, and the Peace Mission, became the largest property owners in Harlem at one point in time. [16]The movement also opened several budget enterprises, including restaurants and clothing shops, that sold cheaply by cutting overhead. These proved very successful in the depression. Economical, cash-only businesses were actually part of Father Divines doctrine.
By 1934, branches had opened in Los Angeles, California, and Seattle, Washington, and gatherings occurred in France, Switzerland, Canada, and Australia, but the membership totals were drastically overstated in the press. Time Magazine estimated nearly two million followers, but the true figure of adherents was probably a few tens of thousands and a larger body of sympathizers who attended his gatherings. Nonetheless, Father Divine was increasingly called upon to offer political endorsements, which he initially did not. For example, New York mayoral candidates John P. OBrien and Fiorello H. LaGuardia each sought his endorsement in 1933, but Father Divine was apparently uninterested.
An odd alliance between Father Divine and the Communist Party of America began in early 1934. Although Father Divine was outspokenly capitalist, he was impressed with the partys commitment to civil rights. The party relished the endorsement, although contemporary FBI records indicate some critics of the perceived huckster were expelled from the party for protesting the alliance.
In spite of this alliance, the movement was largely apolitical until the Harlem Riot of 1935. Based on a rumor of police killing a black teenager, it left four dead and caused over $1 million in property damage in Father Divines neighborhood. Father Divines outrage at this and other racial injustices fueled a keener interest in politics. In January 1939, the movement organized the first-ever "Divine Righteous Government Convention", which crafted political platforms incorporating the Doctrine of Father Divine. Among other things, the delegates opposed school segregation and many of Franklin Delano Roosevelts social programs, which they interpreted as "handouts".
At the zenith of Father Divines influence, several misfortunes struck the movement.
On December 16, John Hunt, a white millionaire and disciple from California calling himself John the Revelator, met the Jewett family of Denver, Colorado. He kidnapped their 17-year-old daughter Delight and took her back to California without her parents consent. Renaming her "Virgin Mary", John the Revelator began sexual relations with her. He announced that she would give birth to a "New Redeemer" by "immaculate conception" in Hawaii. Father Divine summoned Hunt to New York, separated the couple and chastised his eccentric follower. The Jewetts, finding their daughter apparently brainwashed into believing she was literally the Virgin Mary, demanded compensation. After the movements attorneys conducted an internal investigation, they refused. Outraged, the Jewetts offered their story to William Randolph Hearsts New York Evening Journal, an established critic of the movement. After a manhunt and trial, John Hunt was sentenced to three years and adopted a new name, the "Prodigal Son". Father Divine publicly endorsed the conviction of John the Revelator, contrary to some expectations (some followers expected him to once again "smite" the judge). However, the scandal brought bad publicity to Father Divine. News coverage implied his followers were gullible and dangerous.
In March 1937, Penninah fell ill in Kingston, New York. Father Divine rarely comforted her on what was widely believed to be her deathbed. He kept running the church, only visiting her once in Kingston, again causing bad publicity. Penninah, however, claimed that she was not seriously ill or in pain.
On April 20, 1937, a violent outburst occurred in a meeting when two men tried to deliver Father Divine a summons. One of the men, Harry Green, was stabbed as Father Divine fled. Father Divine went into hiding to evade authorities.
During this time, one of Father Divines most prominent followers, called Faithful Mary, defected and took control of a large commune, which was technically in her name. Of the Father she said, "hes just a damned man." She furthermore alleged that he defrauded his followers to maintain a rich lifestyle for himself. Faithful Mary also made a number of sexual allegations, including a charge that Father Divine coerced women to have sex with key disciples.
In early May, Father Divine was located and extradited from Connecticut and faced criminal charges in New York. That summer, Hearsts Metronone newsreel distributed mocking footage of Father Divines followers singing outside police headquarters, "Glory, glory, hallelujah! Our God is in our land!"
Later in May 1937, an ex-follower called Verinda Brown filed a lawsuit for $4,476 against Father Divine. The Browns had entrusted their savings with Father Divine in Sayville back in 1931. They left the movement in 1935 wishing to live as husband and wife again, but were unable to get their money back. In light of their evidence and testimony from Faithful Mary and others critical of the movement, the court ordered repayment of the money. However, this opened up an enormous potential liability from all ex-devotees, so Father Divine resisted and appealed the judgment.
In 1938, Father Divine was cleared of criminal charges and Mother Divine recovered. Faithful Mary, impoverished and broken, returned to the movement. Father Divine made her grovel for forgiveness, which she did. By the late 1930s, the movement stabilized, although it had clearly passed its zenith.
Father Divines political focus on anti-lynching measures became more resolved. By 1940, his followers had gathered 250,000 signatures in favor of an anti-lynching bill he wrote. However, passage of such statutes came slowly in New York and elsewhere.
The Verinda Brown lawsuit against Father dragged on and was sustained on appeal. In July, 1942, he was ordered to pay Brown or face contempt of court. Instead, Father Divine fled the state and re-established his headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He still visited New York, however. State law forbade serving subpoenas in New York on Sunday, so he often spoke on the Sabbath day in Harlem, the Promised Land (his Kingston commune), and Sayville.
1942–65: Pennsylvania
After moving to Philadelphia, Father Divines wife, Penninah, died. The exact date is not known, because Father Divine never talked about it or even acknowledged her death. However, it occurred sometime in 1943, and biographers believe Penninahs death rattled Father Divine, making him aware of his own mortality. It became obvious to Father Divine and his followers that his doctrine might not make one immortal as he asserted, at least not in the flesh.
In 1944, singer/songwriter Johnny Mercer came to hear of one of Divines sermons. The subject was "You got to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative." Mercer said, "Wow, thats a colorful phrase!”[9][10] He went back to Hollywood and got together with songwriter Harold Arlen ("Over The Rainbow"), and together they wrote "Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive", which was recorded by Mercer himself and the Pied Pipers in 1945. It was also recorded by Bing Crosby with the Andrews Sisters that same year.
After his first wife died, Father Divine married a white Canadian woman called Edna Rose Ritchings in Washington, D.C., on April 29, 1946. The ceremony was kept secret even from most members until Ritchings visa expired. Critics of the movement believed that Father Divines seemingly scandalous marriage to 21-year-old Ritchings would destroy the movement. Instead, most followers rejoiced, and the marriage date became a celebrated anniversary in the movement. To prove that he and Ritchings adhered to his doctrine on sexual abstinence, Father Divine assigned a black female follower to be her constant companion.
He claimed that Ritchings, later called "Mother S. A. Divine", was the reincarnation of Penninah. Reincarnation was not previously part of Father Divines doctrine and did not become a fixture of his theology. Followers believed that Penninah was an exceptional case and viewed her "return" as a miracle.
Going into the 1950s, the press rarely covered Father Divine, and when it did, it was no longer as a menace, but as an amusing relic. For example, light-hearted stories ran when Father Divine announced Philadelphia was capital of the world and when he claimed to inspire invention of the hydrogen bomb. Father Divines predominantly lower-class following ebbed as the economy swelled.
"Woodmont" was Father Divines home from 1953 until his death in 1965.
In 1953, follower John Devoute gave Father Divine Woodmont, a 72-acre (0.3 km²) hilltop estate in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia. This French Gothic manor served as his home and primary site of his increasingly infrequent banquets until his death in 1965.
As his health declined, he continued to petition for civil rights. In 1951, he advocated reparations to be paid to the descendants of slaves. He also argued in favor of integrated neighborhoods. However, he did not participate in the burgeoning American Civil Rights Movement because of his poor health and especially his dislike of the use of racial labels, denying he was black.
On September 10, 1965, Father Divine died of natural causes at his Woodmont estate. His widow and remaining followers insist his spirit is still alive and always refer to Father Divine in the present tense. Believers keep the furnishings of Father Divines personal rooms at Woodmont just as they were as a shrine to his life.
The widow Edna Rose Ritchings became spiritual leader of the movement. In 1972, she fought an attempt by Jim Jones to take over the movements dwindling devotees. Jones based some of his doctrines on the International Peace Mission movement and claimed to be the reincarnation of Father Divine. Although a few members of the Mission joined Peoples Temple after Jones made his play for leadership of the movement, the power push was, in terms of its ultimate objective, a complete failure. That Jones was 34 years old at the time of Father Divines death made his claims of being a new incarnation rather hard to sustain - Jones claimed Divines spirit had entered his body upon the passing of the elder man - and Ritchings was left unimpressed by Jones impassioned rhetoric. Jones custom of tape-recording all his sermons was copied from Divine, who "spoke" to his followers via archived sermon tapes once ill health forced him to cease speaking at meetings.
Physical characteristics and preaching style
Father Divine was a slight, African American man at a diminutive 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m). Through most of his life, he maintained a fastidious appearance and a neat moustache that he kept well groomed, his hair was invariably neatly combed, and since his days in Sayville, New York, he almost always wore a suit in public.
Father Divine was said to be very charismatic. His sermons were emotionally moving and freely associated between topics. His speech was often peppered with words of his own invention like "physicalating" and "tangiblated". An attendee at a Harlem "kingdoms" meeting in the 1930s recalled that he rhythmically intoned "Tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions. Tens, hundreds, ... millions. Although this seemed nonsense to the visitor, he reported that at the end the true believers chanted, "Yes, hes God. Yes hes God."[17] Other eccentricities were drawn from his doctrine. For example, nearly every sermon began with the greeting and exhortation "Peace!" Father Divine believed that peace should replace hello.
Doctrine
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Father Divine preached of his divinity even before he was known as "Father Divine" in the late 1910s.[18] His doctrine taught that his life fulfilled all Biblical prophecies about the second coming, regarding himself as Jesus Christ reborn. Father Divine also lectured that Christ existed in "every joint" of his followers bodies, and that he was "Gods light" incarnated in order to show people how to establish heaven on earth and to show them the way to eternal life. For example:
Condescendingly I came as an existing Spirit unembodied, until condescendingly inputting MYSELF in a Bodily form in the likeness of men I came, that I might speak to them in their own language, coming to a country that is supposed to be the Country of the Free, where mankind is privileged to serve GOD according to the dictates of his own conscience...establishing the Kingdom of GOD in the midst of them; that they might become to be living epistles as individuals, seen and read of men, and verifying what has long been said:
"The tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and God Himself shall be with them, and he shall be their God, and they shall be his people."
– quoted in Peace Mission Movement p. 62, Mrs. S. A. Divine, 1985 and God, Harlem, U.S.A. p. 178, Jill Watts, 1992.
Father Divine and his followers capitalized pronouns referring to him, much like "LORD" translated from the tetragrammaton is capitalized in the English Bible.
Father Divines definition of God became quite celebrated at the time because of its unusual use of language: "God is not only personified and materialized. He is repersonified and rematerialized. He rematerialized and He rematerialates. He rematerialates and He is rematerializatable. He repersonificates and He repersonifitizes."
Positive thought
Father Divine can be considered part of the New Thought Movement; indeed, many of his white followers came from this tradition.[citation needed]
Welfare
Father Divine was particularly concerned with the downtrodden of society, including but not limited to Blacks. He was opposed to people accepting welfare. He believed in capitalism, and "In his opinion, capitalism was not at fault; the individual was to blame for the depression."[19] He thought Americans could make it better if they had positive thoughts and channeled Gods spirit.[20]
Race
Scholars disagree about whether Father Divine, an African American, was a civil rights activist, but he certainly advocated some progressive changes to race relations. For example, because he believed that every human was accorded equal rights, he believed that all members of lynch mobs ought to be tried and convicted as murderers. Father Divines anti-lynching campaigns resonated in the black ghettos where his congregations lived, and he got over a quarter million people to sign his anti-lynching proposals.
Patriotism
Father Divine advocated that followers think of themselves as simply Americans. He believed that America was the birthplace of the "Kingdom of God", which would ultimately encompass truths of all religious principles, promoting equality and brotherhood. The Movement was supportive of the United States Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and particularly the Bill of Rights as inspired documents, believing that they outlined a more ideal life.
Communal living
Toward this life, followers of Father Divine owned and managed property collectively. The movement strove to alleviate poverty by feeding the poor and through education in written English, which the Movement believed was the "universal language."
Chastity
Father Divine established an "International Modesty Code" which forbids smoking, drinking, and profanity. Additionally, it forbade tips, bribes, receiving presents, and "undue mixing of the sexes," along with women wearing slacks or short skirts and men wearing short-sleeves.
Although Father Divine himself was married, the movement discouraged marriage, along with any excessive mingling of the sexes. In the "Heavens" and other living spaces the Movement maintained, separate areas existed for men and women.
Thrift and Business Practices
Father Divine advocated a number of economic practices, which his followers abided by. He opposed life insurance (which converts were to cancel), welfare, social security, and credit. Thus, the Movement advocated economic self-sufficiency. His insistence that his followers refuse welfare not related to employment was estimated to have saved New York City $2 million during the Depression.
Business owners in the Movement named their ventures to show affiliation with Father Divine, and obeyed all of these practices. They dealt only in cash, refusing credit in any of its forms. Each was to sell below competitors prices while refusing any sorts of tips or gratuities. Finally, they refrained from trade in alcohol or tobacco.
Legacy
Civil rights
Some biographers, such as Robert Weisbrot, speculate that Father Divine was a forerunner to the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s and 1960s, heavily influenced by his upbringing in the segregated South. Others, such as Jill Watts, reject not only this characterization, but also the theory that Father Divine grew up in the Deep South. Watts asserts that Rockville was less oppressive than the South or even Baltimore, Maryland, and believes his civil rights positions are unintelligible without evaluating them in the context of the Doctrine of Father Divine.
Religious
Edna Rose Ritchings (Mother Divine) conducted services for the old and dwindling congregation until her death. The movement owns several properties, such as Father Divines Gladwyne estate Woodmont, his former home in Sayville, New York, and the Circle Mission Church on Broad Street in Philadelphia, which also houses the movements library.
Chapters exist in Pennsylvania and possibly elsewhere, but the movement is not centralized and exists through a number of interrelated groups.
In 2004, Gastronomica magazine published an article about Mother S. A. Divine and the movements feasts.[21]
In 2000, the Divine Lorraine Hotel near Temple University on North Broad Street was sold off by the international Peace Mission Movement. It was a budget hotel with separate floors for men and women in accord with Father Divines teachings. The Divine Tracy Hotel in West Philadelphia was sold in 2006.[22]
Father Divine, in full Father Major Jealous Divine, original name George Baker, (born 1880?, Georgia?, U.S.—died Sept. 10, 1965, Philadephia, Pa.), prominent African-American religious leader of the 1930s. The Depression-era movement he founded, the Peace Mission, was originally dismissed as a cult, but it still exists and is now generally hailed as an important precursor of the Civil Rights Movement.
Buffalo Bill. William Frederick Cody. Portrait of Buffalo Bill (1846-1917) in buckskin clothing, with rifle and handgun. Folk hero of the American West. lithograph, color, c1870
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Reportedly born on a plantation in Georgia, Baker began his career in 1899 as an assistant to Father Jehovia (Samuel Morris), the founder of an independent religious group. During his early adult years, Baker was influenced by Christian Science and New Thought. In 1912 he left Father Jehovia and emerged several years later as the leader of what would become the Peace Mission movement. He settled first in the New York City borough of Brooklyn and then in Sayville, New York, an all-white community on Long Island, where he lived quietly during the 1920s. His following grew, and in 1931, when his Sayville neighbors complained about the growing attendance at meetings in his home, Father Divine was arrested and incarcerated for 30 days. When the judge who sentenced him died two days after the sentencing, Father Divine attributed the event to supernatural intervention. His movement commemorates this event by annually publishing accounts of "divine retribution" visited on wrongdoers.
In 1933 Father Divine and his followers left Sayville for Harlem, where he became one of the most flamboyant leaders of the Depression era. There he opened the first of his Heavens, the residential hotels where his teachings were practiced and where his followers could obtain food, shelter, and job opportunites, as well as spiritual and physical healing.
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The movement, whose membership numbered in the tens of thousands at its height during the Great Depression, builds on the principles of Americanism, brotherhood, Christianity, democracy, and Judaism, with the understanding that all “true” religions teach the same basic truths. Members are taught not to discriminate by race, religion, or colour, and they live communally as brothers and sisters. Father Divine's teachings were codified in 1936 in the “Righteous Government Platform,” which called for an end to segregation, lynching, and capital punishment. Movement members refrain from using tobacco, alcohol, narcotics, and vulgar language, and they are celibate. Moreover, members attempt to embody virtue, honesty, and truth. The movement's teachings also demand “a righteous wage in exchange for a full day's work.” Members refuse to accumulate debt, and they possess neither credit nor life insurance.
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During the Depression residents of the Heavens paid the minimal fee of 15 cents for meals and a dollar per week for sleeping quarters, a practice that allowed them to maintain their sense of dignity. In the opinion of many, Father Divine affirmed, amid the poverty of the Depression, the abundance of God with the free lavish banquets he held daily.
Heavens were opened across North America as well as in Europe, and, although most of its adherents were African Americans, the movement also attracted many whites (approximately one-fourth of its membership). The Heavens and related businesses brought in millions of dollars in revenue for the Peace Mission. Their success, however, also brought accusations of racketeering against Father Divine that, like the allegations of child abuse that were made against the movement, proved to be unfounded.
In 1942 Father Divine moved to suburban Philadelphia, in part to avoid paying a financial judgment in a suit brought by a former movement member. Four years later he married Edna Rose Ritchings, a Canadian member who, as Mother Divine, succeeded her husband as the movement's leader in 1965. The movement's membership has declined dramatically, however, not least because of the movement's strict dedication to celibacy.
Once dismissed as another cult leader, Father Divine was recognized in the late 20th century as an important social reformer. In the 1930s he was a champion of racial equality and an advocate of the economic self-sufficiency for African Americans that found broad acceptance only with the Civil Rights Movement.
Because of the abundance of misinformation that is prevalent in many writings about Father Divine these dates that we present here should correct a portion of these errors.
By way of introduction this is what Mother Divine said before the cameras on March 6th, 2004:
Mother Divine:
“There is much to be said and a great deal to be learned about The International Peace Mission Movement and it's founder and Pastor Father Divine, since it began to take form in 1932.” Father Divine and Mother Divine, whom he married in 1882, moved to Sayville, a quiet fishing village on the south shore of Long Island, New York from Brooklyn in 1919.
“Father Divine had been a itinerant preacher, for some time, carrying the message of practical Christianity – – the reality of The kingdom of God on earth. He commissioned Himself to accomplish three things:
1. To prove to the world the Gospel can be preached without money and without price;
2. That Christ died that we might live, and not that we must die and go to the grave and then go to heaven;
3. That out of one blood GOD created all the nations to dwell upon the earth. He came to bring them all together in One.
“What he was preaching met with a great deal of opposition. In the south He had been handled by 32 lynch mobs. Because of this opposition he went to Sayville to go into seclusion and be with His own Mind and Spirit. The home where he and Peninnah lived became ‘The Rescue Home for the poor only.' Here people were fed, clothed and housed and no one could pay a penny for the blessings they received. Thousands came and every manner of healing took place physically, mentally and spiritually – some just walking on the ground but none ever being touched by Father Divine Personally. Countless numbers received the realization that Father Divine is GOD – Jesus Christ – returned in the Fathership Degree.”
1882: June 6th: Father Divine Married Peninnah. Peninnah gave us this date and declared it was because of his Deity that she desired to be Father's helpmate. Father Divine verified this date.
Father-Divine-Mother-Divine
Father Divine and Mother Divine in first body
1893: Father Divine left Brooklyn, according to HIS own statement, and went south just after the Jim Crow Law was passed in Grover Cleveland's administration to Prove That a Man Is a Man and Not a Color, Creed or Race. He also wanted to prove that the Gospel Can Be Preached Without Purse or Script and That the Consciousness of the Presence of God Is The Source of All Supply.
Because of the stand He took, FATHER Was in the Hands of Lynch Mobs 32 Times.
1906: Joseph Isaac King, Great Uncle to Martin Luther King stated that he was with Father Divine when they visited San Francisco after the earthquake. This is the only record of this that we have but Mother Divine stated that is was possible or even probable because it was at that time that the Holy Ghost descended on California and FATHER might very well have been there to stir things up.
1913: Mother Divine in Washington, D. C. sings the “The Lord Has Come, O Glory To HIS Name.”
1914-1919: During these years, to the best of our knowledge, Father Divine had a residence on Lefferts Place in Brooklyn, New York.
There was a Peace Mission Extension in the same block at #70 Lefferts Place with a public dining room that served 10 and 15 cent meals to the public during the depression years in the 1930s through to the 1950s.
Father Divine visited and lectured there 9 times that we have records of from 1939 to 1953.
1919: Father Divine Left Brooklyn, New York City and Established His Residence in Sayville, Long Island, New York, where, during the depression, HE fed up to 300 people a day.
The home is also now Designated as a Suffolk County Historic Landmark.
1929: “The Head of the Whole Hearst Syndicate. . . He Offered Me a Sum in Five Figures If I Would Write an Expose of the Father Divine Movement.” – Archbishop William Henry (Father) Francis
1931 through 1932: The “Word of GOD Revealed,” Is Recorded in the notebooks of John Lamb. The Word of GOD Revealed Was Published as 70 installments in 1974 with an introduction and conclusion.
1931: Sayville persecution.
1932, May 31st: Father Divine sentenced to 1 year in jail for creating a public nuisance. Three days later Judge Smith died.
Retribution Followed the Wake of Persecution in Sayville. The previous article attests the law of retributive justice that is psychologically meted out according to the scientific functioning of the exorable laws of GOD.
1932: Father Divine Began the Establishment of the Many International Churches as Mr. Walter C. Lanyon and the Young Family from Australia, Among Others, Carry the Message Abroad to England, Europe and Australia.
1933: Father Divine Established His headquarters in Harlem, New York City where He fed and housed the people. A complete meal was 10 or 15 cents and housing was $1.50 or $2.00 per week.
1934: Father Divine Began the Establishment of Peace Mission Extensions and integrated “The Promised Land,” in Ulster County, Upstate New York
1936: Six Radio Broadcasts by Father Divine and The Peace Mission were presented over Station WBHI, Newark, N. J.
1936: The International Righteous Government Convention Presented Father Divine'S Righteous Government Platform in New York City and also a Righteous Government Convention was convened in Los Angeles, California.
1936: Father Divine first proposed a Federal Anti-Lynching Bill. “We Believe All Members of a Mob, Which Commits Murder, Should Receive the Full Penalty of the Law for First Degree Murder That the County Wherein the Crime is Committed Should Justly Pay the Heirs of the Deceased”
1936: The Father Divine Peace Mission Freedom Riders Were on the Move.. Integrated Bus Loads of Followers Traveled from California, Through the South to New York City and Returned Several Times under the Protection of GOD, Father Divine.
1936: Audio Records were made on 12 inch Platters and on Wax Cylinders called Dictographs.
1937: The New Day Publication Began.
1937:A Cabinet for a Secretary of Peace first proposed December 23,1937. President Eisenhower created this Cabinet in his administration.
1938: The first Peace Stamp was published. These stamps were placed on the envelopes of all correspondence from Father Divine'S office and of many of the followers. In this letter FATHER explains in detail the purpose of these many proposals made to Governments and then sent as Peace Stamps around the world. The following are some of these Peace Stamps.
1938, September 20th: “Why not propose purchase of coveted Czechoslovakian territory.”
This was the first of many Proposals made by Father Divine for world peace and brotherhood as are the next 9 on the list.
1939, December 9th: Why not unite the three Americas as a national and international defense for Peace?
1944, January 12th: For Victory let all the allies unite consolidatedly and every American citizen buy bonds unlimitedly
1944, July 6th: Let the united countries of the world
1945, May 9th: I wrote Hirohito, urging him to surrender for humanity's sake and the redemption of millions of bodies.
1945. August 5th: Japan surrendered unconditionally.
1945, October 23rd: Buy Bonds Unlimitedly the Victory of Peace to win.
1946, July 1st: Passage of an extension of forceful OPA regulations of price control
1946, December 9th: I Propose that the UN accept of Philadelphia as the capital of the United. Countries of the World
1947, June 11th: Bring an end to the rights of states that are unconstitutional, to have their sovereign rights.
1939: On September 3rd, 4th and 5th at the Invitation of City Officials Father Divine held huge mass meetings at “The Baker Bowl,” then the Phillies Ball Park, on Lehigh Avenue and at The Music Fund Hall, 830 Locust Street, demonstrating integration and brotherly love to Philadelphia.
1939: MY following . . . at least around twenty million.- Father Divine. But Virginio Gayda, Mussolini's mouthpiece, publicly announced according to radio and press reports, that the United States could never be the leader for the other nations of the earth because of “Father Divine and HIS fifty million followers.”
1940: July 1st. “We should be able to carry some two hundred to two hundred and fifty or three hundred thousand signatures representing the American people who desire to have the Anti-lynching Bill passed.”
1940: The Peace Mission Movement Began the Legal Organization of the Five Established Churches with its' many branches.
1941, September 28th: The Tarrytown Estate, Tarrytown, New York, was purchased and dedicated to brotherhood and the service of humanity..
1942: Father Divine Moved His Headquarters to The Circle Mission Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania With Most of the New York City Establishments and Followers following.
1942, July 7th; The Dedication of the Brigantine Hotel, as the first in the United States, of five totally integrated first class hotels under The Peace Mission Movement, took place.
1944.; The Pine Brook Hotel, formerly, The Belmont Hotel and Country Club, in Pine Brook, New Jersey was dedicated to Democracy.
1946: On April 29th: The Marriage of The Lamb and The Bride Took Place. MOTHER DIVINE Said: “Because I Know YOU Are GOD I want to marry YOU.”
1948: The first Electronic Audio Recordings were made on Wire Spools, then transferred to tape in the 1950s and now are being recorded onto CDs.
1949, February 7th: The 10 story, first class, Divine Lorraine Hotel was Dedicated in Philadelphia breaking down the segregation of the hotels of Philadelphia and finally throughout the United States. It is Now Designated as an Historic Landmark.
1949: I Proposed that Philadelphia would be accepted as the Country Seat of the United Nations of the World. Father Divine
1950, July 17th:The Divine Tracy Hotel, an eight story building in the University City area Philadelphia, was dedicated.
1950, July 18th:The Divine Riviera Hotel in Newark New Jersey was dedicated.
1953: The Mount of the House of the Lord at Woodmont was dedicated. It is Now Designated a National Historic Landmark.
1963: The Divine Fairmont Hotel in Jersey City, New Jersey was dedicated.
1965: The Year of the Holy Advent, Father Divine'S Personal Sacrifice on September 10th.
1965: Mother Divine was legally recognized as Spiritual Head of the Peace Mission Churches along with Father Divine.
1968: The Shrine to Life was dedicated September 10th, 11th and 12th.
1970: “The Portal of Life Eternal”, the door of the Shrine to Life was dedicated.
1970: Mother Divine became an American Citizen at the Ceremony at Valley Forge Park and HER Name Sweet Angel Divine was legalized.
1982: The Philadelphia City Council on February 4th, 1982 lauding and commending the Peace Mission Movement for over half a century of dedication and service to God and the community.
1982: The Library of Congress heading created in 1936 for Father Divine under the spurious name ‘George Baker' has been corrected. Our heading now reads “Father Divine.”
1998: The Mount of the House of the Lord was designated in 1998 and in 1999 dedicated, as a National Historic Landmark. by The National Park Service.
2000: Recorded Radio Broadcasts of FATHER and Mother Divine speaking and reading started over Station WTMR, 800 A.
Soldes PHOTO ANCIENNE ORIGINALE AFRO-AMÉRICAINE HARLEM PÈRE FEMME DIVINE 1937
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