Postcard Depicting Spiritual Leaders Father Divine and Mother Divine
- [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] , 1946
[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania], 1946. Very good to near-fine. Minor toning.. Postcard reproducing the likenesses of Father Divine (a.k.a. Reverend Major Jealous Divine, a.k.a. George Baker, c.1877-1965) and Mother Divine (a.k.a. Sweet Angel Divine, a.k.a. Edna Rose Ritchings, 1925-2017), accompanied by the tag line, "International Peace In the Air On Land [and] On the Sea". The postcard appears to be produced by the Reverend for his followers to distribute in an effort to promote peace and patriotism following WWII.
Color-illustrated postcard (5.5" by 3.5"). Father Divine was born George Baker in the rural, post-Reconstruction South, and experienced poverty and racism at a young age. He preached at a Baptist church in Baltimore for a time, and by 1912 was claiming his own divinity and gathering a group of like-minded believers: "[To] his inner circle of believers he embodied the divine spirit. Divine often obtained jobs for his followers, who in turn surrendered their wages to the communal revenues. This allowed him to expand housing and provide free weekly banquets. By 1926 his personal magnetism attracted the first white converts, who mingled easily with black believers; together they lived chaste lives dedicated to harmony among all humankind ... His movement had no clergy, creed, or scripture. Its meetings featured no formal worship but rather were occasions for impromptu speeches, jubilant songs, and banquets as a form of communion. Divine had urged chastity among his people, and so his second marriage in 1946 to Edna Rose Ritchings raised questions. The fact that his new bride, called 'Sweet Angel,' was white and fifty years his junior presented even more difficulties. But Divine explained that this was a spiritual union and the occasion for his first wife, who had simply disappeared in 1937, to inhabit a new body" (American National Biography). Mother Divine took over as leader after Father Divine's death, and they are both cited as pioneers of civil rights. Cult leader Jim Jones would attempt to take over the movement, and Mother Divine was forced to fend off his repeated efforts until the infamous Jonestown massacre in 1978.
Color-illustrated postcard (5.5" by 3.5"). Father Divine was born George Baker in the rural, post-Reconstruction South, and experienced poverty and racism at a young age. He preached at a Baptist church in Baltimore for a time, and by 1912 was claiming his own divinity and gathering a group of like-minded believers: "[To] his inner circle of believers he embodied the divine spirit. Divine often obtained jobs for his followers, who in turn surrendered their wages to the communal revenues. This allowed him to expand housing and provide free weekly banquets. By 1926 his personal magnetism attracted the first white converts, who mingled easily with black believers; together they lived chaste lives dedicated to harmony among all humankind ... His movement had no clergy, creed, or scripture. Its meetings featured no formal worship but rather were occasions for impromptu speeches, jubilant songs, and banquets as a form of communion. Divine had urged chastity among his people, and so his second marriage in 1946 to Edna Rose Ritchings raised questions. The fact that his new bride, called 'Sweet Angel,' was white and fifty years his junior presented even more difficulties. But Divine explained that this was a spiritual union and the occasion for his first wife, who had simply disappeared in 1937, to inhabit a new body" (American National Biography). Mother Divine took over as leader after Father Divine's death, and they are both cited as pioneers of civil rights. Cult leader Jim Jones would attempt to take over the movement, and Mother Divine was forced to fend off his repeated efforts until the infamous Jonestown massacre in 1978.