Dark History - 190: The Mysterious Cult Leader Who Inspired Jonestown - Father Divine

Episode Date: November 26, 2025

Hi, friends! Happy Wednesday! What if I told you that one of the most influential... and mysterious cult leaders in American history is someone most people have never heard of? And that Jim Jones himself, yes Jonestown Jim Jones, got many of his ideas from same guy? Today, we’re diving into the wild and complicated story of Father Divine—the charismatic leader behind the Peace Mission Movement, a man who inspired millions, shaped pieces of the civil rights era, built entire communities from the ground up… and also demanded unwavering loyalty that crossed more than a few lines. This isn’t your typical cult story. It’s part spiritual revolution, part empire-building, part “wait, WHAT?!” And somehow still a chapter of American history no one talks about. And we should because it brings up an interesting question... Where’s the line between a movement that helps people… and one that controls them? And at what point does something become a cult? Let’s get into the Dark History of Father Divine. And when you're done... go check out my MMM episode about Jonestown: https://audioboom.com/posts/8164237-jonestown-massacre-apocalyptic-cult-who-was-jim-jones ________ FOLLOW ME AROUND Tik Tok: https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram: http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Facebook: http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter: http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube: http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3IVnO7N Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian RECOMMEND A STORY HERE: [e-mail] Business Related Emails: [e-mail] Business Related Mail: Bailey Sarian 4400 W. Riverside Dr., Ste 110-300 Burbank, CA 91505 ________ This podcast is Executive Produced by: Bailey Sarian and Joey Scavuzzo Head Writer: Allyson Philobos Senior Writer: Katie Burris Research provided by: Xander Elmore Additional research by: Dr. Thomas Messersmith Special thank you to our Historical Consultant: Poulomi Saha, Professor at UC Berkeley who writes and teaches about our cultural obsession with cults. Director: Brian Jaggers Edited by: Julien Perez Additional Editing: Maria Norris Hair: Angel Gonzalez Makeup: Nikki la Rose ________ Stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to Zocdoc.com/DARKHISTORY to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. That’s Zocdoc.com/DARKHISTORY. For a limited time, visit AuraFrames.com and get $45 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames - named #1 by Wirecutter -  by using promo code DARKHISTORY at checkout. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. MasterClass always has great offers during the holidays, sometimes up to as much as 50% off. Head over to MASTERCLASS.com/DARKHISTORY for the current offer. Get started today at StitchFix.com/darkhistory to get $20 off your first order—and they’ll waive your styling fee. That’s StitchFix.com/darkhistory. ________

Listen, if you've ever watched my murder mystery makeup, then you will know that I did an episode about Jim Jones, a.k.a. Jones Town. Oh, yes, we did. But did you know Jim Jones got all of his inspiration, ideas, and beliefs from one very mysterious cult leader in New York? Because I sure didn't. Oh, yes. When I found this out, it led me down a rabbit hole. I had never heard of the Peace Mission Movement or a man named Father Divine. I know, a cult I had never heard of, I was shocked.

This Father Divine inspired millions of people across the world to dedicate their entire lives to his teachings. Tons of scholars believe he had just as much influence as Martin Luther King Jr. He was very influential in the civil rights movement. He opened up businesses and homes to hundreds of. of thousands of people in need, and it's because of him that a lot of us, to this day, believe in the law of attraction. So I know, you're like, so what's so bad about this guy? Well, the truth is, you know, people join good things that sometimes become a cult.

Father Divine commanded absolute loyalty. You had to cut off your family, give the mission all your money, and sacrifice everything to be one of his angels. Now listen, was this a cult or just a really good idea that maybe wasn't executed so well? Well, today we're going to talk about it. Welcome to the dark history of Father Divine. Hi, friends. I hope you're having a wonderful day today.

It's actually my birthday. and also my name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Wee! I just want to make a little note that it's my birthday today and of course we're going to talk about cults because that only makes sense if it's my birthday. I better see a comment down below saying happy birthday.

I will be looking. Listen, if you're new here, this is Dark History and here we believe... What is up with your hat? That is a T hat. That is not a birthday hat. I love how we would be here. We plan everything else, but not my birthday.

Here, at Dark History, we believe, you know, history doesn't have to be boring. It might be tragic. Sometimes it's happy. But either way, it's our Dark History. Before we get into it, don't forget to like and subscribe. I'm always posting new content. And let me know in the comment section down below what you think, your opinion, your thoughts, your feedback. And, of course, wish me a happy birthday.

Now, since today's topic is a little, you know, more serious. and Colty. I should probably take off the party had, but I just wanted my cake. Okay. Thank you so much now. Let's get into today's episode, shall we? Listen, today we're talking about Father Divine. And, you know, I did some dig-in, and it's kind of hard to find a lot about his upbringing, his background, because he was a very mysterious man and did not like to talk about his past. And he refused to confirm or deny anything. When people asked him, like, well, where'd you grow up? When's your birthday, whatever. He would be like, God has no mother. He was like, oh, okay. Same. But what we do know is that Father Divine was born in the 1800s. He was a black man. And back

then, black people just did not have reliable birth records. Historians believe that Father Divine's real name was George Baker Jr. So we're going to call him George for a minute here. So George Baker Jr., most likely he was born in May of 18. And he grew up in Rockville, Maryland, in an extremely prejudiced place. Okay? The area, the location, not great. Even though slavery had been abolished and the Civil War ended, you know, that didn't mean everyone was treated equally all of a sudden. Both of his parents were believed to be formerly enslaved.

His father, George Baker, senior, was a farm laborer. And his mother, Nancy Baker, was a domestic servant. When George was growing up, his mother, Nancy, had some serious health struggles. It was said she gained a lot of weight to the point where she could no longer work. She was stuck in the house most of her life because she ended up getting up to about 500 pounds. Now, this was like rare at the time, you know? But at a young age, George had to quit going to school and find work to support his family since his mother was not and could not, like, work. But the family, they were very religious and they would go to, you know, church all the time.

George went to Sunday school. He spent most week nights at Prager meetings and he even went to Bible study a few times a week. Now, church was like a safe place for so many people. Plus, it was nice to escape reality because there was like another issue that seemed to be taking over Rockville where he lived. And that was alcoholism. Now, booze was outlawed in his town, but Rockville was known for making and selling bootleg liquor. So, you know, George is around this. He's observing it, and he did not like watching people drink and destroy their lives by this thing.

You know, he just did not like it. So from a young age, George embraced the temperance movement, which essentially was the anti-alcohol. movement. Again, he did not like alcohol and he did not like seeing what it did to people and was just not for it. Sadly, in 1897, George's mom, Nancy, ended up passing away. Her death was highly publicized in the area. Now, because of her size, she had to have a special coffin made for her. So her death became like a spectacle. And this is my own personal opinion, but I'm sure this had a big impact on George. Not only did he lose his, mom, you know, he loved her dearly, but for her death to then be treated like a spectacle

and just the disrespect, you know? Not long after she died, George decided, you know, it's time to get the hell out of Rockville. So he picks up and he leaves and he's 20 years old and it's now 1899 and George ends up in Baltimore, Maryland. And when he was there, he found work pretty quickly. But he would spend most of his free time traveling to different churches within the city and just kind of seeing like what was out there. Now, George, he looked up to the preachers and he loved the idea of one day maybe preaching himself, you know? So there was this one opportunity.

It was a smaller church and he decides he wants to give it a try. So he gets up there and he starts preaching. Now people really seem to listen to him. He was engaging, passionate. He really, like, claimed the energy in the room. And it just made him feel good. He loved the power he felt while he was preaching, the attention he was getting,

and it was just, like, community, you know? Staying on top of your wellness journey is truly exhausting. Am I drinking enough water? Did I have, I don't know, the protein? Did I, I don't know, do my skincare routine? All of it. 10 steps. You can get so preoccupied with your just lifestyle changes that you can forget to book appointments with actual doctors instead of scrolling online. And that's where Zoc Doc comes in.

Zoc Doc is a free app and website where you can search from more than 100,000 in network doctors across every specialty. Everything from mental health, dental, primary care, urgent care, you name it, you can filter by insurance, location, verified patient ratings, and even preferences like doctor, gender, language, or availability. Once you find the right doctor, you can see their real appointment openings and instantly book a slot. I use Doc Doc, and let me tell you, you should too. I can schedule a real appointment in seconds and feel like I'm finally taking care of myself the right way. So if you've been feeling like you're never doing enough for your general wellness. Why not start by checking in with a doctor? Zoc-D-Tock makes it fast, easy, and totally

stress-free. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to Zoc-D-com slash dark history to find an instantly book a top-rated doctor today. That's Z-D-O-C-D-C dot com slash dark history. Zoc-D-C-com slash dark history. Now, George, he didn't really follow any, like, religion's rules by the book. really liked to cherry pick what he liked from each different, you know, belief, okay? And then he would kind of like make it his own thing. At the time, a lot of preachers and stuff really followed the book. Okay, this is how it is. This is how it goes.

He's kind of like, I'm going to take some of this. I'm going to take some of that. I'm going to make his own thing. He also did something that a lot of preachers were not doing at this time. He brings like new philosophies and thoughts into the church, ones that people had never heard of. George, he became obsessed with something called New Thought. What's New Thought? Well, let me tell you. New Thought believed that your mind had the ability to control your reality and it had the power to physically heal you. So it's essentially the law of attraction. What you think

you become. New Thought followers also believe that God existed within all people and that if you could just channel God's spirit within you, all your problems would melt away. Anything from physical ailments to mental issues to whatever it was, all you had to do was think it away. I don't know about you, but whenever I struggle with migraines and there's times when I'm like, maybe if I just think it away, it'll go, like you'll go away. It doesn't work. Doesn't work. So, you know, people are people are liking it. He's like, I should go on tour. I should like maybe preach across like different, uh, different cities and stuff. So he does. In 1902, George does a little tour across the United States to like test out his sermons to different audiences. But I don't think people were ready for it because it was a, it was a flop. Now, one thing George was preaching that people really did not receive well was, called race mind and this was like part of new thought so to a lot of people it's like okay you're already presenting a lot of new weird stuff like what is what's race mind essentially he believed that

people being defined by their race was a product of negative thinking he thought you know all people at the end of day they're all the same he literally was like I don't see color there's no color Now, listen, at the time, this was kind of low-key offensive to a lot of people because the people he's talking to, mainly a black audience, they were experiencing racism every single day. At this point, a lot of them weren't allowed in, like, most parts of the city. Black people were still getting lynched in the street without consequences. So, you know, for a black preacher to come up and tell a mostly black audience that race doesn't really exist, people. People were like, you know, no, F this guy. Like, no.

To them, it was like, you don't really care about like what we go through on a daily basis. You're dismissing a, like, no, you're part of the problem. So, you know, George is a little bum that his message just, it wasn't being received well. So he decides to go back to Baltimore. And when he's there, he ends up joining a small Baptist church named Eden Street Church. So while he's there preaching, in 1907, a man named Samuel Morris shows up to the church. So during worship, it was said at one point Samuel kind of like gets up, he turns to the congregation, and he starts addressing the crowd. I guess he gets up and he declares in front of the whole Baptist church, I am the Father Eternal.

In other words, telling people like, I'm God. People are like, what? Like, what? So people are like, start kind of going crazy. They're like, get this guy out of here. He is sick in the head. This is blasphemy. So the people in the church, they actually physically remove Samuel from the church.

You know, so everyone is like shaking their heads. They're like, can you believe that guy? Can't believe that guy? He's like claiming to be God. What? How dare he? But George is like, hmm, hmm. Interesting.

Very interesting. He's kind of inspired. by the balls that this guy had. So George ends up finding Samuel outside of the church and he starts talking to him. He's like, hey, what was up with that? What was going on? What are you about?

And I guess the two of them actually hit it off. Samuel tells George a little secret. He's like, hey, listen, my name actually isn't Samuel. It's Father Jehovah. I'd be like, uh-huh, and? Samuel goes on to say that he renamed himself after he read a Bible verse that convinced him He was God.

The Bible verse he was referencing was 1 Corinthians 316. And it said, no ye not thee, okay, wow. Know he not that ye are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you. Yeah, I guess Samuel took that and was like, oh yeah, so I'm God, I'm God, yeah. George is not weirded out by this guy. He actually ends up really liking Samuel because I guess to him Samuel was kind of like the perfect example of that new thought. If you think it, you become it.

So George is kind of thinking, like, maybe Samuel is exactly that. He manifested God within him because he believes it so much. Now, technically, Samuel and George, they were pretty aligned when it came down to what their beliefs were. They decided to work together and preach in the Baltimore area. Yeah. Together. So they end up attracting a following of about 20 people. At some point, George decides, like, he needs a new name too. I don't want to be George anymore. I need it like a new, a new God name, you know? So he goes by the name, the messenger. At first, Samuel, aka Father Jehovah, was like, I'm fine with this because, you know, I'm God and you're just my messenger. So, five. but over time more people started to join their movement and George he wasn't really happy to kind of be like this just this messenger like the second guy you know so I don't know George got like kind of resentful and decided to kind of expose Samuel he declared that Father Jehovah was not the true human expression of Christ yeah and then he tells you everyone that he was done with Samuel and in fact he was breaking off and starting his own thing.

So he announces this and he's like he tells everyone, look, you can either you can stay here or you can go with me. So he ends up taking Father Jehovah's followers with him. It's that time of the year again, time for holiday shopping. But we all have that parent who's like, oh, I don't need anything, you know, just get me a card. And then you do that. And then when everyone's unwrapping gifts, you feel like, I should have got them a gift. I knew I should I got. Well, I'm done with that.

Okay? I'm not falling for that trap anymore. This year, I'm turning to aura frames. ORA frames are digital picture frames that let you preload photos before the gift even arrives. So when your parents, grandparents, loved ones, whoever opens the box, it's already filled with their favorite moments. And because you can keep adding unlimited free photos and videos from. your phone all year long, they get to see your face instantly. Like it's always updating. It's cute. It's a cute idea. I have an aura and I love it because I can load the digital frame

from my phone. It's easy to set up and it's just cute because it's constantly changing. It's constantly changing. It only takes like two minutes. It's personal. It's easy. It's unforgettable. Basically it's like the cheat code for winning the holidays without breaking a sweat. So don't wait. Go win the holidays now with aura. frames. For a limited time, visit auraframes.com and get $45 off, ORA's best-selling Carver Matt Frames, named number one by wirecutter by using promo code dark history at checkout. That's ORAFrames, A-U-R-A-Frames.com promo code dark history. This exclusive Black Friday Cyber Monday deal is their best of the year, so order now before it ends. Support the

show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. So at this point, it's 1912, and George decides to, like, try to travel again. So he travels all across the South. He's preaching his beliefs that there is no heaven and hell, that race only exists if you're a negative thinker, that your mind has the power to heal your physical body. But this time, George was preaching that he was God and human. in form. So he kind of like stole Samuel's thing. Now, not everyone liked his preaching.

Obviously, it wasn't for everyone, but it did hit with some people and he's just gaining followers. Now, by this point, George was given a new name by his followers, Reverend Major Jealous Divine. They ended up calling him Father Divine for short. I know you're like me, you're like jealous. Why do I want jealous? What do you mean? There's many Bible verses that say God is a jealous God.

For example, Exodus 3414, For the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God. End quote. So that's where the jealous is coming from. Now, the more Father Divine preached, the more followers he got,

and there were a lot of reasons for this. So now with his new name, You know, he's preaching more and more, and he's getting more followers. And his beliefs and his rules are kind of starting to come out. For example, Father Divine didn't believe in sex. You should not be having sex, like, at all. No finger blasting. It didn't matter if he were single or married.

He thought nobody should be bumping, grind in, nothing. including himself, okay? But something people really responded to was that he believed women should not be pressured to have children. Now to you and I, we're like, yeah, okay, but this is in the early 1900s when pretty much all working class women

were expected to get married, serve their husband, and have kids. Like that's all you were supposed to do. And this was especially true for black mothers in the South. So when they hear Father Divine, saying like, hey, you don't have to do this. Oh, mothers, women would hear this and literally pack up their life and just follow Father Divine wherever he was going.

They love this forward thinking of his. Now, these women became like the core foundation of Father Divine's followers. They were almost like his spiritual groupies. And they would become known as his angels. So by 1917, after a few years in the South, Father Devine realized there wasn't much more he could do to, like, grow his base out there. So he decides to relocate and go to New York City, mainly in Harlem and Brooklyn. Now, of course, his true believers and his followers were happy to pack up and go with him. And at this time, in Harlem and in Brooklyn, a lot of people were living in poverty and slash or just like on the streets.

It was a safe place. You got community, housing, food, a job. So while he's there, Father Divine meets someone named Panaina. Now, she suffered from a medical condition called rheumatism, which is like extreme arthritis, right? So she meets Father Divine, and he kind of helps her, okay? She claims that he was able to immediately heal her condition. And for the first time in years, she was pain free. It's like, see, look what I can do.

I can heal you, you know? And then it's a bit of a jump here, but, you know, next thing you know, Panina and Father Divine decide to get married. Yeah. So a couple questions. I was like, why would he get married if, like, technically, like, you can't have sex, you don't want to have kids? Like, why?

Why would he, why would he, why would he get married? Well, the two of them decide to get married so they can become, quote, unquote, a representation of God's love. There was allegedly no sex and they got married. And the whole goal was that the two of them could now lead Father Divine's mission together. If you see a picture of him and Panina, I'm not trying to be mean, but I believe him when he says they weren't having sex. because that's mean but like listen Panina was much older than Father Divine and in my personal opinion

she's giving a very motherly vibe and it's kind of seemed like maybe Father Divine like that you know he lost his mother when he was kind of young and Panina was like that motherly figure he was missing so kind of it was giving like hmm I wonder if if it's that like There's something there, but that's just my personal opinion.

I don't know, but they get married. So after their marriage, Panina becomes known to all of the members as mother. And you will only call her mother. And all of their followers were called their children. No matter what their age, whatever you were their children. Now, this is kind of the beginning of the golden age of Father Divine. His teachings become known as the peace mission movement. His followers start being called peace missioners.

Now, while in New York, this is where they lay down some important roots. So if you wanted to join the movement, one of the first things you needed to do was change your mindset. From I to us. I feel like to me, that's always red flag number one. I don't like that. I don't know. It's a good mindset to be like us, but sometimes you got to be I. You know, okay, but okay.

Almost every single dollar you made, whether it was from work or, a lot of his followers were receiving like government assistance, all of that had to be given to Father Divine. So he could put it in one giant fund that would go towards the movement. So any and all money you got from anywhere, it had to be given to Father Divine. So it's red flag number two. So with this money, Father Divine, he would buy apartment buildings like across New York. And this is where he would house all of his followers. So again, besides the no sex rule, there was no drinking, no gambling, no drugs,

no bad language, no smoking, nothing. And women and men, they were not supposed to talk to each other at all unless it was about business. And even then, keep it short. So in the apartments, women and men, they would be separated on different floors. So like men would be on one floor or one or one on another.

and they would be like in a large room with beds kind of crowded all next to each other. There was no personal space and there was like no exceptions. And let's say you join the movement as husband and wife, you would have to convert to a sexless like friendship marriage. That way you can stay focused and devoted to the teachings. In their mind, if you were having sex, if you were focusing on your marriage or your relationship, it was a distraction. and therefore you could not become a better, more holy person.

Some people who joined had kids, and if you did join with children, they would be sent away to be raised by other members of the movement. It's giving Scientology, huh? I know. I feel like a lot of cults we know are like based off of kind of this outline. Anyway, I just want to be comfortable. I can't get there.

My knees are really hurting. Think the pain away. They wanted to remove the children from their real parents. That way, the only mother and father they knew were the leaders, Father Divine and his wife. So like many cults do, Father Divine encouraged members to cut off their families, no communication at all, so the members could focus on dedicating their lives to the movement.

So once you're in, you're in. There's no outside world. It's just about the movement. So once you were like in, you were a member. You were given a new name by father or mother divine. So I was like, ooh, what kind of names? Look at them up. So I came across a couple.

Name, please. Heavenly bouquet. Heavenly bouquet. Another was peace determination. And then a gracious land. Damn. Yeah. Could you imagine the pressure of like having that type of name? Peace determination? It kind of adds pressure too. Like, oh crap. You kind of got to live up to it. Gracious lamb. You're like, damn, I gotta be gracious all the time and be a lamb. Ah. Heavenly bouquet. Oh, do I have to smell good all the time? Like, that's really hard. What if I stink one day? I don't know. I just feel like it was another way to kind of add pressure to the members. But listen, when you got a new name, it was like a sign that you had totally committed. to this and you had left your old being behind. You were no longer Tom DeLong. You are gracious lamb. Poor Tom DeLong. He was right about the aliens the entire time. You know, as we name this off,

you're always like, why do people, why would people even want to do this? But here's the thing. A lot of people did not mind all these changes. It was better than living on the streets. The movement was a welcoming, safe place for a lot of people. Now, one thing the movement was, like, really known for was their Holy Communion banquets. So these banquets were huge feasts meant to symbolize Jesus' last supper. But they took place every single week. But Father Divine is chiefly celebrated for the unfailing regularity with which he feeds his flock.

Twice a day for the past 15 years, he has provided. The banquets were filled with friendship, food, worship, and thousands of people would come. Because it wasn't just for his followers, they were open to anyone in the area in need. It just looks like such a good time. Everybody looks so happy to be there. Everyone is just happy. So this is the part where I'm like, I can't be, I'm not mad. I'm not mad the guy.

Because, listen, Father Divine, he would take the money. that, you know, he got from the movement and he would buy up entire blocks in Harlem. So he built and opened small businesses and under his direction, followers opened barbershops, restaurants, grocery stores, dry cleaners. And they were told to charge the people as little as possible. And I was like, oh, I love that. Like, that's so great. Now, all these businesses, like on their cash registers, had little signs that said, thank you, Father Divine.

You know, his name was everywhere. And it was like kind of a reminder like, yeah, thank you, Father Divine. Without you, I wouldn't be able to, like, get this. Now, these spots, these restaurants, these businesses, whatever, they weren't just affordable. They were a lifeline. They gave jobs to black workers at a time when most places would not even consider hiring them. Now, because of this, to the people in Harlem and even later in Brooklyn, Father Divine was a, he was a hero. He offered food, shelter, and affordable services to people in a way that wasn't charity.

You know what I'm saying? Like, everyone was treated with dignity. But he wasn't a hero to everyone. At this point in the 1920s, Father Divine, like, really avoided getting involved with politics. Instead, he focused 100% on the movement. because he himself did not identify as a black man. In fact, people in the Peace Mission Movement were not even, you weren't allowed to identify anyone by their race.

But listen at this time in New York, many leaders in the black community were encouraging black people to embrace their racial identity instead of trying to whitewash and like blend in with everyone else. So when Father Divine, someone who had a lot of influence and power, like didn't agree with this, it was kind of seen as a slap in the face again to the black community.

Father Devine eventually decided to get involved with politics because he wanted the world to know what the peace mission movement was about. So he saw it as like getting involved with politics almost guaranteed that you'd get media attention. And he was considered like a huge part of the civil rights movement. In 1940, the peace mission movement gathered 250,000 signatures to help pass. an anti-lynching bill. The bill ended up failing, but it did help future anti-lynching bills pass through.

So people were questioning, you know, you have a lot of followers, a lot of influence. Like, why aren't you using it for good when it comes to politics? He was instead 100% focused on making the movement even bigger. It's the holidays, which means I'm about to be going nonstop. Bus, bus, another bus.

club another bus presence this year though instead of doom scrolling i wanted to learn something new and that's when i found masterclass masterclass offers over 200 online classes taught by the world's best writers business leaders chefs and experts across 13 categories you can listen in audio mode on your commute watch on your phone your laptop or even your tv and you can download classes to watch offline if you're traveling at all you know Personally, I wanted to break some of my unhealthy habits before the holidays. So I took the class from James Clear. He wrote the book, Um, Atomic Habits.

So I was like, let me watch. Let me see what I like that and it gave some great tools. I learned something new. I love learning something new. That's why I'm here. I'm always learning something new. I use Masterclass and you should too. 88% say Masterclass has made a positive impact on their life.

So if you're heading into the new year feeling overwhelmed, Masterclass can help you feel like a functioning adult. It helps me escape the chaos, learn from the best, and actually do something good from our brain. Masterclass always has great offers during the holidays, sometimes up to as much as 50% off. Head over to masterclass.com slash dark history for the current offer. That's up to 50% off at masterclass.com slash dark history.

Masterclass.com slash dark history. Father Divine decides to move to Sayville, Long Island, to grow the mood. But listen, this was like a wealthy white area. So the residents who lived there did not like this man coming in. They were upset and offended by this black man who appeared to be rich and who had lots of power and like hundreds of people and he just moved right in and like people are coming and going.

They didn't like this guy. The residents, they really tried to kick him out of the neighborhood for years. Now, eventually, they were able to get him arrested because the movement's banquets caused, like, such a scene in town. And so many people were coming to his place to attend the banquet that it actually, like, caused a lot of traffic. And you know how people are. The traffic. So on May 9th, 1931, authorities, you know, they busted into the Peace Mission Movement's house. and they arrested Father Divine for being a public nuisance.

This was insane, though. So he gets arrested. He is put in jail. He pled not guilty and was able to post bail and get out. But right away, when the trial happened, it was like a hot mess. The judge did not like Father Divine, did not like this guy, didn't like what he stood for, just did not like him. The judge, like, really kind of let the jury know. how he felt about Father Divine,

and it was kind of influencing the jury to lean a certain way. You know what I'm saying? And as a result, Father Divine was found guilty and sentenced to jail. It was a whole, like, media circus, okay? It got a ton of attention because, again, Father Divine, he was a wealthy black man with, like, a very large following, and it just seemed to really bother people. It was very dramatic, all of it, right?

And it was like this media circus. And I was like, oh, my God, he's found guilty. Like, I wonder what he's going to be sentenced because it sounded like he was going to get, like, life in prison. But he was sentenced to one year in prison. And I was like, oh, okay, like, you know, okay. Not that it's as good, but whatever. Anyways, it doesn't matter because, listen.

So just a couple of days after sentencing, the judge drops dead from a sudden heart attack. Now, this was surprising to a lot of people because the judge was barely 50 years. years old and reportedly healthy. So now when word got out about this, the press, they wanted to talk to Father Divine and like see what he thought about it. So they go to Father to Divine and they're like, hey, what do you think about like the judge who died? Isn't that kind of wild? And he replied, I hated to do it. And it was like, what? So a few weeks

go by, Father Divine's appeal was approved and he ends up being released from jail. The second he got out of jail, Father Divine wanted to make it known that the judge's death wasn't an accident. Now, just to be clear, Father Divine was not involved in his death. It's just more so he was kind of like milking it a little bit and he would tell his followers that like, you know, see, I did that. And this is further proof. that I'm God because I did that. So after all this, it was a lot. Seville had gotten way too intense for him and the movement,

so they decided to go back to New York. But all of this media attention that he was receiving from the trial and all that, it put a spotlight on him. And it was kind of like the best thing that could have happened, honestly. Before the arrest, Father Divine had a couple thousand followers, but not long after, he had over 3.5 million followers across the world. I know, you're like, what?

Yes, yes. Because people were reading in the newspapers about this guy and, like, his thoughts, and they're like, oh, this actually sounds kind of interesting. And they were, like, going to, like, check it out or, like, looking into him. And I kind of like what he stands for. So he got a lot. He went viral before going viral. So this really led to the movement growing.

So there were over 134 peace mission movements across the United States and more, like, in other countries as well. Again, it's giving Scientology. Am I right? It is. So listen, this was great. This was great. Because all these new followers meant more and more money was being put into the movement, which meant that, you know, Father Divine could purchase more properties for the followers. Historian Mina A. Vaughan said, quote, By the mid-1930s,

the peace mission was the largest real estate holder in Harlem, owning markets, apartment houses, dry cleaning stores, and a coal business. Father Devine even opened up farms in upstate New York called The Promised Land. Oh, he was getting properties and land everywhere. So people really wanted to join this movement. I mean, it seemed very promising.

And there was just like opportunities and jobs and plays different locations. Plus, on top of all of that, it was the 1930s. So this was right in the middle of the Great Depression. Father Divine always told his followers from day one to keep their money away from banks. And instead, they needed to give it to his movement. So if you're not familiar with the Great Depression, what happened was like all the banks went under and people lost everything. So when this happened,

the followers were like, oh my God, like Father Divine knows what he's talking about. He kept us safe. We didn't put our money in the banks and like, yeah, like he knows what he's talking about. I mean, if you were one of these people, you'd be like, oh my, yeah, I believe him. I believe him.

So Father Divine never accepted money from outsiders, only from people who joined the movement. Now, he did have a couple of high profile followers. followers, and one of them was a man named John Hunt. So John came from a very wealthy white family in Los Angeles. Now, at the time, he was an alcoholic, he slept with a lot of women, and he was married like numerous times. He said he found Father Divine's teachings, and it genuinely like helped turn his life around.

He took the vow of celibacy, stopped drinking, and dedicated his life to the movement. John, he ended up funding millions of dollars worth of businesses and properties for for the movement's California location. But then he was like doing work for the movement in Denver, Colorado. So while he's there, he meets a 17 year old named Delight. John and Delight builds a little bit of a relationship and she's really following his lead.

So he's able to kind of get her away from her parents and into the movement. And he renames her, and he gives her the name Mary Dove. I know, I was like, I thought Delight was her new name, but Delight was her original name. So he names her Mary Dove. So he convinces her that she was the new Virgin Mary

and that she was going to get pregnant with his seed and she would give birth to like a new Jesus. Now, this sounds wonky don't. to us, but, you know, to her, she's like, oh my gosh, like this high up spiritual man is telling me, like, I'm the new Virgin Mary. I'm going to, like, give birth to Jesus. Like, she's really believing this. Reminder, she's 17. He's, I don't know, a lot older. Unfortunately, he ends up having sexual relations with her. She's 17 years old. YouTube and the internet does not like the word rape, but I'm going to call it what it is. It was rape. And yeah, so it's not great. And first of all, you're not supposed to be having sex under the, if you're part of the movement. So this John guy is really just not following the rules, okay? So I guess he must have been feeling kind of guilty about it because he ends up going to Father Divine. And he tells him about the relationship he was having with the 17-year-old.

So Father Divine, and he finds this out, he's pissed, he's pissed off. Father Divine, instead of sending her home and, like, reporting John to the police, he instead sends her to, like, a different location where the movement is at. And he sends John also somewhere else. Meanwhile, Delight's parents, they're kind of like, hey, where's our daughter? You know, like, they can't really figure out where she's at. So they contact Father Divine and eventually get answers as to, like, where her location's at. So they contact her, and Delight is like, I'm Mary Dove now.

Like, I'm different. I'm going to give birth to the new Jesus. And as an outsider or as a parent, they're like, huh? She is just, she's completely lost her mind. Okay? And they're like, what is there? What? What?

So at first, they're telling themselves like, okay, well, at least like we kind of align with Father Divine's teachings. It's a good message. We, it seems fine. But it got to a point where things were not fine. Their daughter was like gone and they wanted her back. And they weren't getting her back. So how are they going to do it?

Now, as some time went on, eventually Delight kind of came back around and confessed to her parents that she was having sexual relations with this John guy and she kind of thinks it was more so rape. So this is when Delight's parents kind of saw an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. They blackmailed Father Divine saying that they would go to the press with the story unless he paid them off. You know, they're thinking, of course, like John, the guy who actually did this is a rich white man from Beverly Hills. So the movement, they knew that John wouldn't take the heat for the mistake. Instead, it was going to be Father Divine.

It was going to make him look bad. But Father Divine didn't care. He refused to pay the family. And he was like, I will not be blackmailed. So Delight's family decide to take their complaints to the head honcho of the media at the time. Oh, we've talked about him on Dark History a couple of times, many times. Can you guess who it is? No.

William Randolph Hearst. Have he been to Hurst Castle yet? Let me know. So listen, they should just went to the police. When Delight's family showed up at, you know, his front door, he was salivating at the thought of exposing Father Divine. You see, Mr. Hurst, he hated Father Divine's teachings. He did not like this man. And he wanted to take him down.

So he was like, thank you so much. I am going to run this story. So he printed very salacious headlines that would destroy Father DeLiver. Divine's reputation, but most of all, sell papers. Eventually, the FBI, they get involved. They ended up charging John with transportation of a minor across state lines. So, you know, luckily John was found guilty and sent to jail. Now, even though Father Devine wasn't charged with anything,

Hearst made people think that the peace mission movement was really just a front for sexual offenders. The damage was already done. And Father Divine really didn't have time to kind of like do, I don't know, do some good PR because he got hit with like another bad story in the press. A follower named Faithful Mary came forward with her story. Faithful Mary said she joined the movement years before after ending up homeless as a result of her drug and alcohol addiction. She said the movement helped her get off.

her feet, just like it had for thousands of others. So, over time, she had become like a poster girl for Father Divine. Her recovery was evidence of his divine power. So she even opened up her own mission branch in New Jersey. And things were kind of like looking good, but you know how it goes? Once money gets involved, it's when things really went south, okay? I guess her mission's location was offered a 10,000. dollar donation. So Miss Faithful Mary, she was like, oh my gosh, yes, I will take this donation because we could really use it to like pay rent, pay to fund things. Okay, you get it. But Father Divine rejected the donation, said no. He would never accept donations from outsiders because he wanted the public to know that the mission was self-sustaining. And anytime he did something like this, he made it a point of telling the press,

that he did not accept donations. See? I said no. We don't need anyone else's money. We don't take bribes. We don't take checks. We are fine. We don't need anyone.

Well, Miss Mary was like, look, I could really use that money. So she went behind his back and took the donation. So she invested half of it in the mission, and she put the other half in her own bank account. I don't know how he was on it, but Father Devine was on it, and he found out she did this.

Now, at first he told her to give the money back and he would forgive her, but Mary refused. So he kicked her out of the movement and out of her businesses. Now, of course, she was livid because she had just dedicated over a decade of her life

to Father Divine. Like, how are you just going to kick me out? So what does she do? She ran to Mr. Hurst And was like, oh, I have a juicy story for you. You won't believe it. So Mary wrote an expose,

essentially saying Father Divine was just an ordinary man who was using the movement to steal people's money. Lately I've been dreading online chopping. I just don't like chopping in general. I end up opening 47 tabs. I zoom in. I add things to my basket. Then I abort mission.

I don't know. I don't want to eat. It's like, I don't know. But listen, that's where Stitch Fix comes in to save the day. Stitch Fix is an online styling service. You start with a quick style quiz, your size, your budget, your vibe, and then you get matched with a real human stylist. They handpick pieces that fit your style, your body, and your price range. Shipping and returns are always free, and there's no subscription required.

You get a personalized, fixed box delivered right to your door. Try everything on at home. Keep what you love. And then if you don't like something, you can send it back, again, there's no shipping costs. That's great. The first time my stylist sent me a box, I was like, hmm. Okay. You know, all right. I was impressed. So listen, stress-free shopping, well, that's why you need Stitch Fix.

Stitch Fix makes it easy. Get started today at stitchfix.com slash dark history to get $20 off your first order, and they'll waive your styling fee. That's stitchfix.com slash dark history. Faithful Mary exposed that every week, Father Divine would secretly accept cash from his followers. She said this money didn't just fund the missions building and like the Holy Communion banquets. It actually funded his lavish lifestyle. I guess he had plenty of designer suits.

He had custom Rolls Royces and he went on exotic vacations all the time with whose money. Now, again, this was shocking because Father Divine was known as this selfless, humble leader. But that wasn't all. The biggest scandal, she said, the peace mission movement was not a celibate environment. She said, listen, in those buildings, there are homosexual orgies going on. I saw it.

She said that Father Divine, he wasn't celibate either. In fact, he was known to have sex with many women close to him, including her. She said, quote, Divine himself is nothing but a religious jigolo, masquerading as God, having a sexual cohabitation with some of his female angels, and consoling these stupid victims by telling them that they have received God's personal blessing. I have known of these angels leaving the boudoir of Divine, shouting that they had been blessed. In actuality, they meant that they had had their sexual desires satisfied, end quote. That was a long quote.

So, for my understanding, he was planting his seed in many. Oh, oh, yeah, Mary. Mary also called him the Rasputin of America. I was like, dang. I could see that. I could see that. So Mary, she ended up telling stories to the press about Father Divine for years. She made a lot of money off of it.

And she paved the way for other women to come forward and talk about. their experiences with Father Divine. Meanwhile, you know, Father Divine is just trying to move forward and it is what it is. You know, there's something he can do about it, but something tragic happens. His wife, Panina, remember her? She ended up dying. It must have been so tragic. But the weird thing was, Father Divine didn't even acknowledge her death for years.

Now, this was because he always told his followers that if they followed his rules, they would live forever. So it was like kind of a bad look that a Pinina died on him. He's like, God damn it, it kind of ruins things. But also, he himself, it was said that he was really freaked out himself because he truly believed he was not going to die. And this was like, it was, you know, he's being faced with reality. I know my personal opinion was like he must have had like some kind of deep rooted fear about death. You know, at a young age, his mom died.

And maybe he never worked through that or something. He just didn't want to accept it. I don't know. There's probably something there. So he's kind of having a little midlife crisis. Oh, no. People, you can die. No, you know.

So it's fine, though. He's like, I have to move forward. Father Devine, he ended up meeting someone else. A 21-year-old Canadian woman named Edna Rose Richings. And they met in, well, first she was like his assistant. and then they ended up getting married in 1946. So I guess their meat cute is that she approached him and told them that they were meant to be together.

So at this point, Father Divine was like 60-something years old, and he was like, all right, it's kind of a good idea. You know, Enna, she was young, she was pure, she believed so much in the movement. And he saw her as like the perfect person to carry on the mission. If, if, if. Or when he died.

So, okay, let's do it. For the next decade throughout the 50s, the movement battled one bad PR story after another. Usually it was like a sex scandal involving Father Divine or something about how he was stealing people's money. But the movement was so strong and unique from other religious movements that they really still managed to stay afloat. But time is going on, and Father Divine is,

is getting older. And by the 1960s, he kind of stopped making public appearances. Now behind closed doors. Everyone knew he had like some serious health issues going on. But no one talked about it. No one acknowledged it. Nothing like that. You know, his whole life he had preached

how the power of positive thought would heal, disease, illness, whatever, better than any doctor. So if you acknowledge it, then it becomes real. And you don't do that. Father Divine. was struggling with diabetes. Yeah, and I guess it progressively got worse and worse and worse. There was a couple of times where Edna brought him to, like, public gatherings,

I think just to kind of show people like, look, he's here, look. But it was clear he was out of it. And he couldn't actually speak. And there's, like, actual footage of this. This poor man just looks like he is not there. Father Divine is alive and well. Father, would you like to say? something to the television audience.

Now, Edna, she still encouraged the followers to use the power of positive thinking, to heal him. You are a healthy young man, Father Divine. So healthy. But it didn't work. Yeah. Father Divine is dead. On September 10th, 1965, at the age of 86, Father Divine passed away. Now, I was thinking, dang, he made it all the way to 86 without seeing a doctor or anything.

That's pretty good. But then I was like, wait a minute. He had diabetes, and he made it to 86. Now let's be real here, to live that long with diabetes, come on. He had to secretly be taking insulin, right? There's no way. There's no way. If you know someone with diabetes or you have diabetes, there's no way, right?

Listen, he died. Oh no. His followers obviously were shocked because they genuinely, really, truly believe that this day was never going to come. Yeah. Edna at this point was going by Mother Divine, and she took over the movie. Even though there was a big decline in membership, they managed to keep a solid base of followers, enough to keep the movement's headquarters at least. People continued to worship at the Peace Mission Movement because they really believed that Father Divine, he was going to like return one day. Yeah, he's going to show up, reincarnated.

Like he was going to come back. So they kept their eyes open. Again, very Scientology, right? With Elron Hubbard? Like they do the same thing with Father Divine. Like they keep his bedroom all nice. They keep his laundry folded and constantly wash it just in case he returns. Okay, it's okay.

I mean, they're not hurting anyone. They're just washing some laundry. That's fine. So listen, you won't believe this. You will not believe this. It's the 70s, okay? 1970 something. There was a man who showed up to a holy communion banquet.

He came walking in and he was like, I'm the reincarnation of Father Divine. Yes, me. It's me, Father Divine. Like, he's claiming it's him. And guess who that man was? Jim Jones. Yes. Yes.

Yes. Yes. That Jim Jones. Jones Town, Jim Jones. For years, Jim, Mr. Jones, admired Father Divine's work from afar. He observed. He watched. He kind of was paying attention to how he was doing things,

buying buildings, running businesses, keeping the people together. He was taking notes. And Jim decided, you know, to start his own religious group. He thought to himself, you know, they now don't have like a leader. Maybe I could be their leader. So he waltz right in there and he declares that he is Father Divine. But it wasn't received. Well, Mother Divine, she was there and she shut it down.

She's like, you are not him. No, she just knew. It wasn't him. So she asked Jim to leave the property. But he ended up returning not long after with some empty buses, offering peace missioners a new start within his movement. Some went with him. Most stayed back. But can you believe that little crossover?

I was, I, now if you, again, I mentioned earlier, but I did a murder mystery and makeup about Jim Jones in like Jonestown and if you watch that after this or if you watch or you know Jonestown you can see the the similarities here between Father Divine and Jim Jones like Jim Jones did a lot of the same thing that Father Divine did open up businesses took care of the people was humble gave back blah blah blah and then it went very very wrong but it was it's It just kind of blew my mind. It really did. It's like Father Divine really gave Jim Jones this outline of what to do.

And then he went off the freaking rails, obviously. So listen, Mother Divine, she ran the movement up until 2017. Crazy, huh? Yeah, she ended up passing away at the age of 91. Wow. And honestly, we could do a whole episode on Mother Divine and how she carried on the movement. I mean, there are so many layers to this story. Now, apparently, to this day, the peace mission movement still exists.

Now they're known as the International Peace Mission Movement. For decades after Father Divine's death, followers would clean his room, washes his sheets, and dry clean his suits. They still believe that one day, the power of positive thinking will bring back Father Divine. Now listen, the story of Father Divine is, complicated. On one hand he offered safety, homes, work, promise, and just community at a time

when people had nothing. And then on the other hand, it's like kind of a textbook cult, like it checks all the boxes. A guy declares himself God, he renames you, he gives you rules to follow or else you get kicked out, he tells you to cut off your family in order to prove your loyalty, he controls your money, he breaks his own rules about celibacy, has sex with his followers, check, check, check, check. Like everything that is a, you know, this is a cult. It's like he also did that, you know? But you're at the same time, you're like, but he also kind of did good.

All I know is like, honestly, I couldn't believe I had never heard of this guy. To this day, memoirs about the peace mission movement are being published and coming out. People are sharing their stories and their experiences. So I'm looking forward to that. I think there's a couple coming out soon. I'm not sure. Anyways, look, I think it's easy for us to write off stories like Father Divine because you would think to yourself, we all do. I'd never join. Why do people join that? Why don't they see what they're in? But listen, people don't join cults. They join good things that sometimes become a cult. And I think this is a perfect example of that because you're like again he did he did good he was helping people he was

taking care of them and some or a lot of people argue that you know they were better off because of his teachings yeah i mean he didn't sacrifice anyone so well i don't know actually anyways let me know your guys's thoughts down below i am i'm looking forward to read in the comments section it's time to dust off your your best dress and dig around your drawer for some spinks, because next week, it's officially time for the annual Dark History Award show, The Jonies. Oh, every season we learn so much, don't we? What about this season?

Oh, we sure have. From the secret sex lives of Unix to the government bailing out Domino's Pizza, so they had a place to put their old government cheese, to the horny history of exorcisms. I feel like a new person. We also had a lot of interesting moments along the way. So the Jonies is going to be dedicated to Dark History's funniest moments. Honestly, it's like a big old bucket of fun filled with bloopers. I'm looking forward to it.

It's going to be a lot of fun. And I'm also looking forward to see what everyone's going to wear. It's an award show. You better dress up. Listen, I'd love to hear your reactions to today's episode. So make sure to leave a comment down below so I can see what you guys are saying. and your comment might be featured in a future episode. Now let's read a couple of comments you guys have left me.

Rosanna, Ma, Honey, 6-9, 68 left me a comment saying, quote, really random Bailey, but my 14-year-old son refers to you as the genie because he thinks you look like a genie magician fortune teller. Love from the UK, X, end quote. I'm not sure if I'm offended or this is a good thing. Because I don't want to look like a genie. A genie? I want to look like, I don't know.

A genie? I guess I'm just thinking of like David Copperfield or something and like Chris Angel. Oh, God, I cringe when I think of them. They're just so corny. But I know people love them, so sorry. It's not a personal attack. But, okay, I mean, how old is your kid? Four?

Oh, 14? Oh. Okay. Well, thank you. Now watch me disappear. Anyway, thank you for watching. I'm sure it's a compliment, I think. I'm going to receive it that way. Thank you. I'm a magician. All the hard work I do and I'm a magician. God damn it. Okay. Ruby 4751 left me a comment saying, quote, I'm going through a breakup and your videos have helped me forget about my heartbreak, L.O.L. and quote, Oh, Ruby, I'm so sorry you're going through a breakup. Listen, I know it's hard. It's never easy. It hurts. But it will pass.

I promise. When you're feeling down, okay, yep, you just got to watch things to help you get out of the funk. But what's going to help you get out of the funk is to actually put yourself out there. You need to like go do something, go on a walk, change up your routine. So you start looking out for yourself. Don't get stuck in bed and don't get stuck in this breakup cycle. Okay? I'm saying this because I care about you.

Give yourself some time to grieve, yes, but don't get stuck there. You got to move forward. You're going to be okay. I promise, and it's probably for the better. One day you're going to look back and you're going to be like, that was a joke. Why was I with that person? Oh my God, that's so embarrassing. And when you get there, which you will, you will be like, I'm so glad that happened.

I know. It's easier to say that now, but you're going to be okay, sending you all the love. Mikey Spirit 2, 1433 left a comment saying, I just wanted to share that Bailey helped me get an A on one of my classes when I was doing my master's when we were told to do a report on unethical business. and her dark history episode on bananas was a huge help. Lucky. I was a straight F student. Your master's, really?

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Can I get a master's? I dedicate that A to you, Bailey. You deserve the world. Mike, yay. I'm so happy to hear that. Congratulations. There's nothing better than getting an A on something.

I never got that. I was a straight D-minus. I hate to see. Say it, F student. Yeah. So I'm living through you. I wish I could. A master's.

What did I? Ah. But I'm so glad I can help. I love that. Yeah, we've covered so much on the show that sometimes it's easy to forget. Like, I forgot about the banana episode, but I love that it helps you out. Congratulations on that A. I'm kind of jealous.

Thank you guys so much for hanging out with me today and, you know, engaging. Keep on commenting because maybe you. your comment will be featured. And hey, did you know you can join me on my YouTube where you can actually watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs? And while you're there, you can catch my murder, mystery, and makeup.

So don't forget to subscribe. And if you don't know, Dark History is an audio boom original. A special thank you to our expert, Palo Mi Saha, professor at UC Berkeley, who writes and teaches about our cultural obsession with cult. And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian. I hope you have a good day.

You make good choices. Okay, stay curious out there. And I'll be talking to you guys later. Goodbye.