Background
George Baker was born around 1880 on Hutchinson Island, Georgia, United States.
George Baker was born around 1880 on Hutchinson Island, Georgia, United States.
Following World War I, a number of movements developed among black Americans, especially in the northern cities. These movements, political, religious, and social, were frequently led by one outstanding, often flamboyant, individual. George Baker was one such leader, and he eventually was known as Father Divine. In 1919 he founded a small religious group in Sayville, N. Y. He later moved his base to Harlem, New York City's best-known black ghetto. His following grew enormously over the next two decades. The sect then declined into insignificance by the late 1950's. Father Divine did not permit racial discrimination in his movement, and although most of his followers were blacks, he attracted poor people of all races as well as some wealthy people. It is clear that a considerable part of his appeal resulted from his Peace Missions serving nourishing meals for only 10 or 15 cents during the depression of the 1930's. Father Divine took on God-like qualities in the eyes of his followers. Indeed, they eventually declared that Father Divine was God, a belief he encouraged by stating that he was omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Joining Father Divine's "Kingdom" meant committing oneself to celibacy, renouncing parenthood, and turning over all one's earnings to the "Kingdom. " But lavish banquets and an ostentatious life-style were associated with Father Divine himself. As the leader of a movement made up of intensely emotional, completely devoted followers, Father Divine amassed a huge fortune.
International Peace Mission
Father Divine married a follower, Penninah, who was decades his senior. After his first wife died, Father Divine married a white Canadian woman called Edna Rose Ritchings in Washington, D. C. on April 29, 1946.
