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Father Divine

Father Divine (c. 1876 – September 10, 1965), also known as Reverend M. J. Divine, was an American spiritual leader from about 1907 until his death in 1965. 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, formed 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 due to claiming to be God. 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, James F. Jones (also known as Prophet Jones), Wallace Fard Muhammad, Elijah Muhammad and Jim Jones.

Prior to 1912: Early life and original name
Little is known about Father Divine's early life, or even his real given name. Father Divine and the peace movement he started did not keep many records. Father Divine 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 his relationship with 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.

Federal Bureau of Investigation files record his name as George Baker alias "God". In 1936 Eliza Mayfield claimed to be Father Divine's mother. She stated that his real name was Frederick Edwards from Hendersonville, North Carolina, and he had abandoned a wife and five children, but Mayfield offered no proof and claimed to not remember his father's name. Father Divine replied that "God has no mother."

Father Divine's 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 Divine's parents were freed black 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. This date appears to have a spiritual meaning rather than a literal one.

Father Divine was probably called George Baker around the turn of the century. He worked as a gardener in Baltimore, Maryland. In a 1906 trip to 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 "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive".

Father Divine attended a local Baptist Church, often preaching, until 1907, when a traveling preacher named 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 Morris's first follower and adopted a pseudonym, "The Messenger". The Messenger was a Christ figure to Morris's 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 Messenger's excellent speaking ability and his interest in New Thought.

In 1912, the three-man ministry collapsed, as John the Vine denied Father Jehovia's 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 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 God's spirit.

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 arrest expanded his ministry, with reporters and worshipers 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)".

1914–1919: Brooklyn and marriage to Peninniah
In 1914, Father Divine travelled to Brooklyn, New York, with a small number of followers and an all-black congregation. Although he claimed to be God incarnate fulfilling biblical prophecies, 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 the people 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 God's name is Jealous. His followers affectionately called him Father Divine.

In this period, Father Divine was married to Peninniah (biblical name and the name of Peninnah, first wife of Elkanah the father of the prophet Samuel with variant spellings: Penninah, Peninnah, Penniah), a follower, who was many years older than himself. Like Father Divine, her early life is obscure, but she is believed to be from Macon, Georgia. Harris, who wrote a biography about the Peace movement and its leader said that Father Divine had met Peninah in Georgia and came North with her and that they bought the house in Sayville as a married couple. Penniniah would later claim that Father Divine had healed her from crippling arthritis or rheumatism and after this she became one of his early followers. She would also witness in churches and in the street about her miraculous recovery. According to this account Penniniah was a member of a Methodist church in Valdosta led by Rev. Joseph Gabriel, who had allowed Father Divine to preach in his church after witnessing one of his alleged miracles.

But in an interview with a reporter from the New York Post, Penniniah, herself, told a reporter that she had met Father Divine in Baltimore, Maryland, when he was a 'Nazarene' or Holiness preacher. The actual marriage date is unknown but probably occurred between 1914 and 1917. She was first called "Sister Penny" then "Mother Penny" and finally referred to as "Mother Divine" or "Mother of the Faithful".

In addition to lending her dignified look to Father Divine, Peninniah served to defuse rumours of impropriety between he and his many young female followers. Both Penninah, who often was called Mother Divine, and Father Divine would assert that the marriage was never physically consummated.

Sister Penny, as she was called, became known for her free dinners, the forerunners of the later lavish "Holy Communion" banquets that helped to attract new followers to the movement. She also played a major part in the Peace Mission's development throughout the 1920s and 1930s, establishing the group's "Promised Land" in Ulster County in upstate New York, where she also attempted to open an orphanage (though the attempt was ultimately unsuccessful).

1919–1931: Sayville, New York
Father Divine and his disciples moved to Sayville, New York in 1919. He and his followers were the first black homeowners in town. Father Divine purchased his 72 Macon Avenue 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 Divine's communal house and the apparent flaunting of his wealth by his owning a Cadillac infuriated neighbors.

Members of the overwhelmingly white community accused him of maintaining a large harem and engaging in scandalous sex, but the district attorney's office in Suffolk County found the claims baseless. To try to please his neighbors, he had a sign posted at his driveway warning guests: NOTICE—Smoking—Intoxicating Liquors—Profane Language—Strictly Prohibited. Contrary to the charges of Sayville residents, Angels claimed that Father Divine prohibited singing after 8 p.m., and by 10 p.m. had closed all windows and blinds." Nonetheless, the neighbors continued to complain.

1931–1932: Sayville arrests, trial, notoriety, and prison
On May 8, 1931, a Sayville deputy arrested and charged Father Divine with disturbing the peace. Remarkably, during the Depression, Father Divine submitted his $1,000 bail in cash. The trial, not as speedy as the neighbors wanted, was scheduled for late fall, allowing Father Divine's popularity to snowball for the entire Sayville vacation season.

Father Divine held banquets for as many as 3,000 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 Divine's for raucous loudness at his 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 his 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 30 followers resisted the charges.

Father Divine's arrest and heterodox doctrines were sensationally reported. The New York frenzy made this event and its repercussions the single most famous moment of Father Divine's 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 Harlem's Rockland Palace, a spacious former basketball venue, Manhattan Casino.

By May 1932, meetings were regularly held at the Rockland Palace and throughout New York and New Jersey. Father Divine had supporters in Washington, 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 New Thought Magazine in Seattle. Although the movement was predominantly black, followers outside the Northeastern United States were mostly middle-class whites.

In this period of expansions, several branch communes were opened in New York and New Jersey. Father Divine's followers finally named the movement the International Peace Mission movement.

Father Divine's trial was 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. Smith's order invalidated most of the testimony in Father Divine's favor and severely crippled the defense."

The jury found him guilty on June 5th but asked for leniency on behalf of Father Divine. Ignoring the jury's 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." 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 Smith's death was divine retribution was perpetuated by the press, which failed to report Smith's 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 United States 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.

1932–1942: Harlem
Father Divine moved to Harlem, New York, where he had accumulated a significant following in the black community. Members, rather than Father Divine himself, held most deeds for the movement, but they contributed toward Father Divine's 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."

Father Divine and the Peace Mission, became the largest property owners in Harlem at one point in time. The movement also opened several budget enterprises, including restaurants and clothing shops, that sold cheaply by cutting overheads. These proved very successful in the depression. Economical, cash-only businesses were part of Father Divine's doctrine.

By 1934, branches had opened in Los Angeles and Seattle, and gatherings occurred in France, Switzerland, Canada, and Australia, but the membership totals were drastically overstated in the press. Time magazine estimated nearly 2 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 give. For example, New York City mayoral candidates John P. O'Brien 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 party's commitment to civil rights. The party relished the endorsement, but 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 Divine's neighborhood. Father Divine's 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 Roosevelt's social programs, which they interpreted as "handouts".

At the zenith of Father Divine's 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 movement's attorneys conducted an internal investigation, they refused. Outraged, the Jewetts offered their story to William Randolph Hearst's 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). 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 from heart or kidney disease. 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. Father Divine also discouraged demonstration of sympathy or help. She was suffering, he insisted, because she had allowed herself "to drift back to some old cursed flesh that was called her daddy," and when those "old thoughts come back, why, she was identified by the infirmities and iniquities and afflictions and diseases of the old alleged ancestors; their iniquities were imposed upon her. "

Penninah herself said she was not in pain and told a reporter: "Death is the last sin that we must overcome. Father says it is a sin to be overcome and it is the last one for us to conquer. Some of us cannot always do it. Some of us don't have faith enough, but I have faith in my heart."

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 Divine's 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, "he's 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 1937, Father Divine was located and extradited from Connecticut and faced criminal charges in New York. That summer, Hearst's Metronone newsreel distributed mocking footage of Father Divine's 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 $4,476 ($ in ) 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 Divine's 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 Devine 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 commune in Kingston, New York), and Sayville, New York

1942–1965: Pennsylvania
After moving to Philadelphia, Father Divine's 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, as her last known appearance was at a banquet in New York in 1942 and biographers believe Penninah's 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 Divine's sermons. The subject was "You got to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative". Mercer said, "Wow, that's a colorful phrase!" 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 and the Pied Pipers in 1945. It was recorded by Bing Crosby with the Andrews Sisters that same year.

After his first wife died, Father Divine married a white Canadian woman named Edna Rose Ritchings in Washington, D.C. on April 29, 1946. The ceremony was kept secret even from most members until Ritching's visa expired. Critics of the movement believed that Father Divine's 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 Divine's 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 Divine's predominantly lower-class following ebbed as the economy swelled.

In 1953, follower John Devoute gave Father Divine Woodmont, a 72-acre (0.3 km2) hilltop estate in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. 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 Divine's personal rooms at Woodmont just as they were as a shrine to his life.

Father Divine's widow Edna Rose Ritchings became the spiritual leader of the movement. In 1972, she fought an attempt by Jim Jones to take over the movement's 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 the Peoples Temple after Jones made his play for leadership of the movement, the power push was, in terms of its ultimate objective, a failure.

That Jones was 34 years old at the time of Father Divine's death made his claims of being a new incarnation rather hard to sustain – Jones claimed Divine's 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, black man at a diminutive 5 ft. Through most of his life, he maintained a fastidious appearance and a neat mustache 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, he's God. Yes he's God."

Father Divine ended every sermon or article with the following statement, "Sincerely wishing that you and those with whom you are concerned might be even as I AM for I AM well, healthy, joyful, peaceful, lively, loving, successful, prosperous and happy in spirit, body and mind and in every organ, muscle, sinew, joint, limb, vein and bone and even in every atom, fibre and cell of MY bodily form."

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
Father Divine preached of his divinity even before he was known as "Father Divine" in the late 1910s. 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 follower's bodies, and that he was "God's 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.'"

Father Divine and his followers capitalized pronouns referring to him, much like "LORD" translated from the tetragrammaton is capitalized in the English Bible.

Father Divine's 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.

Welfare
Father Divine was particularly concerned with the downtrodden of society, including but not limited to African Americans. 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." He thought Americans could make it better if they had positive thoughts and channeled God's spirit.

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 Divine's 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 United States Constitution and particularly the Bill of Rights as inspired documents, believing that they outlined an 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 forbade smoking, drinking, and using profanity. Additionally, it forbade tipping, using bribes, receiving presents, and "undue mixing of the sexes" as well as women wearing slacks or short skirts and men wearing short sleeves.

Although Father Divine 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 were expected to abide 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 were expected to obey all of these practices. They dealt only in cash, refusing credit in any of its forms. Each was to sell below their competitor's prices while refusing any sorts of tips or gratuities. Finally, they refrained from trade in alcohol or tobacco.

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 Divine's Gladwyne estate Woodmont, his former home in Sayville, New York, and the Circle Mission Church on Broad Street in Philadelphia, which also houses the movement's 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 published an article about Mother S.A. Divine and the movement's feasts.

In 2000, the Divine Lorraine Hotel near Temple University on North Broad Street was sold by the international Peace Mission movement. It was a budget hotel with separate floors for men and women in accord with Father Divine's teachings. The Divine Tracy Hotel in West Philadelphia was sold in 2006.

title: Father Divine


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Noticed your deleted note. The Arboretum (Strybing in GGPark) goes on and on about this. That's why there are sections of the Arboretum devoted to Chilean and South African plants. Anyway, if you don't find the answers you're looking for you might find them at Strybing. Or I'll remember to check it out a bit next time I'm there. --Chinasaur 04:03, 26 Aug 2004 (UTC)

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I've seen your edits to articles related to the Bay Area, such as Grand Lake Theater, so I was wondering if you'd like to join WikiProject San Francisco Bay Area. It's a WikiProject that focuses on improving Wikipedia's coverage of the Bay Area. (It's a plus that you live in Oakland.) If you'd like to join, just add your name to the member list. Thanks for reading! — Emiellaiendiay 08:35, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

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Hey, I was just noticing that you've been trying to put your signature ( ~ ) into the edit summaries, instead of in the actual text on talk pages. Those ~'s don't do anything in edit summaries, they belong at the end of whatever you type, where it gets automatically converted to your signature. Just thought I'd help out there. Lurlock 18:45, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Image:Feral Rock Dove nest with chicks.jpg
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Dilution table
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Bunraku

Bunraku (文楽) (also known as Ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃)) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the  or  (puppeteers), the  (chanters), and  musicians. Occasionally other instruments such as drums will be used. The combination of chanting and playing is called  and the Japanese word for puppet (or dolls, generally) is. It is used in many plays.

History
's history goes as far back as the 16th century, but the origins of its modern form can be traced to around the 1680s. It rose to popularity after the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653–1724) began a collaboration with the chanter Takemoto Gidayu (1651–1714), who established the Takemoto puppet theater in Osaka in 1684.

Originally, the term referred only to the particular theater established in 1805 in Osaka, which was named the  after the puppeteering ensemble of Uemura Bunrakuken (植村文楽軒), an early 18th-century puppeteer from Awaji, whose efforts revived the flagging fortunes of the traditional puppet theatre.

Elements of the form
The puppets of the Osaka tradition tend to be somewhat smaller overall, while the puppets in the Awaji tradition are some of the largest as productions in that region tend to be held outdoors.

The heads and hands of traditional puppets are carved by specialists, while the bodies and costumes are often constructed by puppeteers. The heads can be quite mechanically sophisticated; in plays with supernatural themes, a puppet may be constructed so that its face can quickly transform into that of a demon. Less complex heads may have eyes that move up and down, side to side or close, and noses, mouths, and eyebrows that move.

Controls for all movements of parts of the head are located on a handle that extends down from the neck of the puppet, and are reached by the main puppeteer inserting their left hand into the chest of the puppet through a hole in the back of the torso.

The main puppeteer, the, uses their right hand to control the right hand of the puppet, and uses their left hand to control the puppet's head. The left puppeteer, known as the or, depending on the tradition of the troupe, manipulates the left hand of the puppet with their own right hand by means of a control rod that extends back from the elbow of the puppet. A third puppeteer, the, operates the feet and legs. Puppeteers begin their training by operating the feet, then move on to the left hand, before being able to train as the main puppeteer. Many practitioners in the traditional puppetry world, particularly those in the National Theater, describe the long training period, which often requires ten years on the feet, ten years on the left hand, and ten years on the head of secondary characters before finally developing the requisite skills to move to the manipulation of the head of a main character, as an artistic necessity. However, in a culture like that of Japan, which privileges seniority, the system can also be considered a mechanism to manage competition among artistic egos and provide for a balance among the demographics of the puppeteers in a troupe in order to fill each role.

All but the most minor characters require three puppeteers, who perform in full view of the audience, generally wearing black robes. In most traditions, all puppeteers also wear black hoods over their heads, but a few others, including the National Bunraku Theater, leave the main puppeteer unhooded, a style of performance known as. The shape of the puppeteers' hoods also varies, depending on the school to which the puppeteer belongs.

Usually a single chanter recites all the characters' parts, altering his vocal pitch and style in order to portray the various characters in a scene. Occasionally multiple chanters are used. The chanters sit next to the player. Some traditional puppet theaters have a revolving platform for the chanter and player, which rotates to bring replacement musicians in for the next scene.

The used in  is slightly larger than other kinds of  and has a different sound, lower in pitch and with a fuller tone.

shares many themes with kabuki. In fact, many plays were adapted for performance both by actors in kabuki and by puppet troupes in. is particularly noted for lovers' suicide plays. The story of the forty-seven is also famous in both  and kabuki.

is an author's theater, as opposed to kabuki, which is a performer's theater. In, prior to the performance, the chanter holds up the text and bows before it, promising to follow it faithfully. In kabuki, actors insert puns on their names, ad-libs, references to contemporary happenings and other things which deviate from the script.

The most famous playwright was Chikamatsu Monzaemon. With more than 100 plays to his credit, he is sometimes called the Shakespeare of Japan.

companies, performers, and puppet makers have been designated "Living National Treasures" under Japan's program for preserving its culture.

Today
Osaka is the home of the government-supported troupe at National Bunraku Theatre. The theater offers five or more shows every year, each running for two to three weeks in Osaka before moving to Tokyo for a run at the National Theater. The National Bunraku Theatre also tours within Japan and occasionally abroad.

Until the late 1800s there were also hundreds of other professional, semi-professional, and amateur troupes across Japan that performed traditional puppet drama.

Since the end of World War II, the number of troupes has dropped to fewer than 40, most of which perform only once or twice a year, often in conjunction with local festivals. A few regional troupes, however, continue to perform actively.

The Awaji Puppet Troupe, located on Awaji Island southwest of Kobe, offers short daily performances and more extensive shows at its own theater and has toured the United States, Russia and elsewhere abroad.

The Tonda Puppet Troupe (冨田人形共遊団) of Shiga Prefecture, founded in the 1830s, has toured the United States and Australia on five occasions and has been active in hosting academic programs in Japan for American university students who wish to train in traditional Japanese puppetry.

The Imada Puppet Troupe, which has performed in France, Taiwan, and the United States, as well as the Kuroda Puppet Troupe are located in the city of Iida, in Nagano Prefecture. Both troupes, which trace their histories back more than 300 years, perform frequently and are also active in nurturing a new generation of traditional puppeteers and expanding knowledge of puppetry through training programs at local middle schools and by teaching American university students in summer academic programs at their home theaters.

The increase in interest in puppetry has contributed to the establishment of the first traditional Japanese puppet troupe in North America. Since 2003, the Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe, based at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, has performed at venues around the United States, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian Institution, as well as in Japan. They have also performed alongside the Imada Puppet Troupe. The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia, has an extensive variety of puppets in its Asian collection.

Music and song
The chanter/singer and the  player provide the essential music of the traditional Japanese puppet theater. In most performances only a player and a chanter perform the music for an act. Harmony between these two musicians determines the quality of their contribution to the performance.

The role of the is to express the emotions and the personality of the puppets. The performs not only the voice of each of the characters, but also serves as the narrator of the play.

Located to the side of the stage the physically demonstrates facial expressions of each character while performing their respective voices. While performing multiple characters simultaneously the facilitates the distinction between characters by exaggerating their emotions and voices. This is also done to maximize the emotional aspects for the audience.

In the  which is the largest  as well as that of the lowest register, is employed.

The instruments most frequently used are flutes, in particular the, the and various percussion instruments.

The head of the Puppet
The heads of the puppets are divided into categories according to gender, social class and personality. Certain heads are created for specific roles, others can be employed for several different performances by changing the clothing and the paint. The heads are in effect repainted and prepared before each presentation.

There are approximately 80 types of puppet heads broadly classified, and the Digital Library of the Japan Arts Council (ja) lists 129 types of puppet heads.

Some of these heads have special tricks on them, and by pulling the strings of these tricks, the expression of the puppet can be changed to show that the human has turned into a strange apparition or an vengeful spirit by activating the trick. For example, by pulling a string, the, a type of head, can instantly split a beautiful woman's mouth open up to her ears and grow fangs, her eyes change to a large golden color and she grows golden horns. It is possible to represent the transformation of a woman into female demon in a single head. The head of, by pulling a string, can instantly cover the face of a beautiful woman with a fox mask. It is possible to represent, with a single head, the true appearance of the nine-tailed fox that was disguised as Tamamo-no-Mae. Note that in Noh, the change in the attributes of the characters is represented by removing one of the double-layered Noh masks. The, a type of head, can be made by pulling a string to split the head in two, revealing a red section to represent a head severed by a sword.

The preparation of the hair constitutes an art in and of itself. The hair distinguishes the character and can also indicate certain personality traits. The hair is made from human hair, however yak tail can be added to create volume. The ensemble is then fixed on a copper plate. To ensure that the puppet head is not damaged, the finishing of the hairstyle is made with water and beeswax, not oil.

Costumes

The costumes are designed by a costume master and are composed of a series of garments with varying colors and patterns. These garments typically include a sash and a collar as well as an underkimono, a kimono, and a or an outer robe. In order to keep the costumes soft they are lined with cotton.

As the clothing of the puppets wear out or are soiled the clothing is replaced by the puppeteers. The process of dressing or redressing the puppets by the puppeteers is called.

Construction
A puppet's skeletal structure is simple. The carved wooden is attached to the head grip, or, and thrust down an opening out of the puppet's shoulder. Long material is draped over the front and back of the shoulder board, followed by the attachment of cloth. Carved bamboo is attached to create the hips of the puppet, arms and legs are tied to the body with lengths of rope. There is no torso to the puppet, as it would merely block out the puppeteer's range of movement of the individual limbs. The, or costume of the doll is then sewn on to cover over any cloth, wooden or bamboo parts that the artist does not wish to be seen. Finally, a slit is created in the back of the costume in order for the chief puppeteer to firmly handle the head stick.

Text and the puppets
Unlike kabuki, which emphasizes the performance of the main actors, simultaneously demonstrates elements of presentation (directly attempting to invoke a certain response) and representation (trying to express the ideas or the feelings of the author). In this way attention is given to both visual and musical aspects of the puppets as well as the performance and the text. Every play begins with a short ritual in which the, kneeling behind a small but ornate lectern, reverentially lifts their copy of the script to demonstrate devotion to a faithful rendering of the text. The script is presented at the beginning of each act as well.

Performers
Despite their complex training the puppeteers originated from a very destitute background. The were itinerants and as a result were treated as outcasts by the educated, richer class of Japanese society at the time. As a form of entertainment, the men would operate small hand puppets and put on miniature theatre performances, while women were often skilled in dancing and magic tricks which they used to tempt travelers to spend the night with them. The whole environment that gave birth to these puppet shows is reflected in the themes.

The musician's stage ()
The is the auxiliary stage upon which the  is performed. It juts out into the audience area at the front right area of the seats. Upon this auxiliary stage there is a special rotating platform. It is here that the chanter and the player make their appearance, and, when they are finished, it turns once more, bringing them backstage and placing the next performers on the stage.

The partitions () and the pit ()
In the area between upstage and downstage, there are three stage positions, known as "railings". Located in the area behind the second partition is often called the pit and it is where the puppeteers stand in order to carry out the puppets' lifelike movements.

Small curtain () and screened-off rooms ()
This stage looks from an angle of the audience, the right side is referred to as the (stage left), while the left side is referred to as the  (stage right). The puppets are made to appear and then leave the stage through the small black curtains. The blinded screens are just above these small curtains, and they have special blinds made from bamboo so that the audience cannot see inside.

Large curtain ()
The is a large, low hanging curtain hanging off of a ledge called the. It is used to separate the area where the audience is sitting from the main stage. The puppeteers stood behind the, holding their puppets above the curtain while being hidden from the audience. However, the practice established later in the  form would let the actors be seen on stage moving with the puppets, nulling the use of the curtains.

title: Bunraku


text:
Twin Cities PBS

Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. (abbreviated TPT, doing business as Twin Cities PBS ) is a nonprofit organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that operates the Twin Cities' two PBS member television stations, KTCA-TV (channel 2.1) and KTCI-TV (channel 2.3), both licensed to Saint Paul. It produces programs for local, regional and national television broadcast, operates numerous websites, and produces rich media content for Web distribution.

TPT's offices and studio facilities are on East 4th Street in downtown Saint Paul; KTCA-TV and KTCI-TV transmit from the KMSP Tower in Shoreview, Minnesota.

Twin Cities PBS also serves the Mankato market via K26CS-D (relaying KTCA) and K29IE-D (relaying KTCI) in nearby St. James through the local municipal-operated Cooperative TV (CTV) network of translators as that area does not have a PBS member station of its own.

History
Twin Cities Public Television was incorporated in 1955 as Twin City Area Educational Television.

KTCA (channel 2) began broadcasting as the first non-commercial public television station in the state on September 16, 1957, from a shabby, WWII wooden barracks-type structure on the University of Minnesota Agricultural Campus. The studios and offices were moved in the 1960s to what was known as the Minnesota Statehood Centennial Memorial Building for Education Television, at 1640 Como Avenue in Saint Paul. (Incidentally, that building housed another Twin Cities commercial television station, WUCW, channel 23, from 1989 to 2018.) KTCA's first program was Exploring Science. A second station, KTCI (channel 17), was launched on May 4, 1965. Channel 17 was originally assigned to the Tedesco Brothers in the early 1950s to be a commercial station, WCOW-TV, affiliated with the DuMont Television Network, but that station never made it to air. In 1967, KTCA became the first educational television station in the United States to broadcast in color. In 1977, the station changed its corporate name to Twin Cities Public Television.

On September 15, 2000, the stations began their first digital television broadcasts, 10 years after moving to 172 4th Street East in downtown Saint Paul. In 2000, KTCA and KTCI were rebranded tpt2 and tpt17, paving the way for the larger family of digital broadcast services to come. In 2003, TPT became the first broadcaster in Minnesota to launch a channel, tptHD, fully devoted to high-definition programming, and in 2005 the organization launched a full-time digital channel, tptMN, devoted entirely to local and regional programs.

In December 2005, the organization began distributing many of its productions online, making programs available through iTunes, Google Video, and Yahoo! Podcasts among others. Its website features streaming video as well as video podcasts. In 2007, TPT began offering Video-On-Demand (VOD) through local cable providers.

KTCA's Nielsen ratings are among the highest of any PBS station in the country.

During the summer of 2015, a new name and logo, "Twin Cities PBS", was introduced, before debuting on air on September 30, 2015. The rebrand included an updated version of the TPT logo that had been used since 2000, by Minnesota design agency Capsule.

Productions
TPT is one of the few public television organizations that regularly produces programs for the national PBS schedule. Major productions include:
 * Grant Wood's America (1985)
 * Alive from Off Center (1985–1996)
 * Hoop Dreams (1995)
 * Liberty! The American Revolution (November 23–25, 1997; June 21 – July 26, 2004)
 * The Nine Steps To Financial Freedom (December 5, 1998)
 * The Courage to Be Rich (1999)
 * Jane Goodall: Reason for Hope (October 27, 1999)
 * American Photography: A Century of Images (October 13, 1999)
 * Transistorized (November 8, 1999)
 * Organizing from the Inside out with Julie Morgansterm (August 12, 2000)
 * American High (April 4, 2001)
 * The Road to Wealth (August 6, 2001)
 * Seth Eastman: Painting the Dakota (2002)
 * Benjamin Franklin (November 19–20, 2002)
 * Suze Orman: The Laws of Money, The Lessons of Life (March 2, 2003)
 * The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's (January 21, 2004)
 * The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke (2005)
 * The New Medicine (2006)
 * Out North – MNLGBTQ History (2017)

In addition, TPT has produced the children's science series:
 * Newton's Apple – The first major children's science show (October 15, 1983 – January 3, 1998)
 * DragonflyTV (January 19, 2002 – January 31, 2009; June 1, 2014 – August 24, 2014)
 * SciGirls – A show that demonstrates the scientific method and inclusive future for science. (February 11, 2010–June 23, 2023)
 * Hero Elementary – An animated series featuring superhero kids who solve problems using scientific concepts (June 1, 2020–present)

Other series included Right on the Money. Make: television, produced in collaboration with Make magazine, premiered on PBS stations and the web in 2009.

TPT also regularly produces programs exclusively for and about Minnesota and the surrounding region. Its Friday night public-affairs program Almanac has aired weekly for more than 35 years. Other significant local productions include numerous concerts with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota: A History of the Land (2005), North Star: Minnesota's Black Pioneers (2004), the series Don't Believe The Hype (10 seasons), Seth Eastman: Painting the Dakota (2001), Death of the Dream: Farmhouses in the Heartland (2000), the series Tape's Rolling, Wacipi-Powow (1995), Lost Twin Cities (1995), Dakota Exile (1995), The Dakota Conflict (1993), Iron Range: A People's History (1994), and How to Talk Minnesotan (1992).

The Minnesota Channel
The Minnesota Channel (TPT MN) is a full-time statewide network originating at Twin Cities Public Television and carried on digital subchannels of nine stations. It features programming related to Minnesota and Wisconsin, including ethnic and public-affairs programming.

In 2003, TPT began setting aside time on KTCI for the "Minnesota Channel", an evening dedicated to local and regional related programming, which expanded to a full-time digital subchannel on September 16, 2005. The Minnesota Channel was expanded region-wide in Minnesota and North Dakota in February 2008.

Technical information
KTCA-DT and KTCI-DT began broadcasting on channels 34 and 16 respectively on September 16, 1999.

Analog-to-digital conversion
TPT rearranged its on-air lineup on February 18, 2009. It continued to use both KTCA-DT and KTCI-DT's transmitter, but shut down the separate tpt17 service and unified all over-the-air channels as virtual subchannels of 2. TPT's stations shut down their analog signals at 9 a.m. on June 12, 2009, the date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts by federal mandate. The station's digital channel allocations post-transition are as follows:
 * KTCA-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 2; the station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 34, using virtual channel 2.1.
 * KTCI-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 17; the station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 16, using virtual channel 2.3.

The then-new channel lineup was originally meant to coincide with the DTV transition. When the transition's mandatory cutoff was delayed, TPT announced the new lineup would still go forward and it would continue its analog service until the new cutoff. Until then, KTCA-TV simulcast tpt 2 and KTCI-TV simulcast tptLife on their analog signals.

Translators

 *  Frost (translates KTCA-TV)
 *  Frost (translates KTCI-TV)
 *  Jackson (translates KTCA-TV)
 *  St. James (translates KTCA-TV)
 *  St. James (translates KTCI-TV)

title: Twin Cities PBS