This path was created by Craig Dietrich. The last update was by Will Luers.
Father Divine
Father Divine founded the Peace Mission, an interracial and celibate community, in Harlem in the 1919 as a response to the racism, as well as spiritual and economic poverty, that had followed African Americans since the Civil War.
Central to Father Divines popularity and his growing community of followers was his economic success during the era of the Great Depression. The weekly Holy Communion Banquet Service, a ritual feast with lavish multi-course meals, singing, dancing, and spirited sermons, must have appeared miraculous in contrast to the surrounding poverty.
Through a communal economic plan, Father Divine and his followers had amassed great wealth by the 1940s. They owned income-producing real estate and businesses in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, as well as in rural communities along the Hudson River. This economic power enabled the Peace Mission to confront racism. Peace Mission co-workers were employed in collectively owned hotels, shops, garages, domestic services, farms and cafeterias. These businesses served members of all races and religions without question, offering African Americans quality accommodations and services several decades before the American Civil Rights Movement.
