Father Divine
Father Divine’s religious philosophy and beliefs were simple. He declared himself to be God. Of his upbringing, early days, and education little is known. Not even his real name is known, for a time it was believed to be George Baker, but that has been since discounted and the official records of his existence in the FBI files record him as alias George Baker, alias God.
Divine first called himself The Messenger and presented himself as a Christ-like figure to his mentor, Samuel Morris’s appearance as God the Father. When Morris and Divine had a falling out in 1912, Divine assumed the role of God the Father and so declared himself. He then began a ministry in Georgia, at first attracting a small following of mostly black women, which began to expand to include men and women of all races after several run-ins with the law and occasional incarcerations for lunacy.
Divine returned to New York in 1914, leading his followers in what he called his Peace Movement and married his first wife, Penninah around this time. He preferred to be addressed by his followers as Father Divine and soon established a commune on Long Island. Father Divine held lavish and loud banquets weekly to attract new followers, and drove around the neighborhood in his new Cadillac, angering his neighbors and drawing new supporters. When the police raided one banquet for creating a public nuisance, Father Divine paid the bail for all arrested with a $500 bill.
Soon the Peace Movement had branched out to other locations and Father Divine’s supporters rose to his defense when he was convicted for disturbing the peace, drawing a sentence of one year. When the judge who imposed sentence died of a heart attack four days later, Father Divine commented, “I hated to do it.”
Eventually, Father Divine became ensconced in Philadelphia, where he lived lavishly on the donations of his growing numbers of devoted followers. When his first wife died he soon remarried, concerned that the appearance of Godly immortality would suffer if he were to appear as a widower. He resided in the estate known as Woodmont, given to him by a follower, with 72 acres of grounds and a chateau-like mansion, tennis courts, swimming pools, stables, and groomed lawns. It became and remains the headquarters of the International Peace Mission Movement which arose from Father Divine’s own followers when he died in 1965.