FATHER DIVINE - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 11/02/1945 - HFSID 152175

FATHER DIVINE. TLS: "Rev. M.J. Divine", 1½p, 8x11, separate sheets. Philadelphia, 1945 November 2. To Herbert L. Dobbie, General Auditor, W.C. Fleck & Bro., Inc., Jenkintown, Penna. In full: "Your letter of the 1st is at hand and I appreciate being informed of the payment made by Mrs. Stanford of Twenty-one Dollars and Fifty-seven Cents, which represented the balance due on a radio purchased in 1940. Such acts of honesty are jewels in the crown of salvation for the Nation. I AM creating a Righteous Nation in the land that this Nation might not perish from the earth. This is the answer to the prayer Abraham Lincoln prayed, 'That this Nation under GOD might have a New Birth of Freedom, that government of the people, by the people, for the people might not perish from the earth.' You can see by the development of atomic power that weapons of offense and defense are powerless to protect men and nations against destruction. Truly did Jesus declare, 'As it was in the days of Noah and of Lot so shall it be in the time of the coming of the Son of man.' There was no power on earth to save the people from destruction saving Righteousness. Noah was saved because he was a righteous man and Lot, likewise, was saved because of his righteousness. Hence, had I not come to America and lifted up a righteous nation by impregnating righteousness in millions, this western hemisphere and this Nation, especially, could not have escaped the destruction of invasion and of weapons of war. However, I have declared, we shall have a Righteous Government universally, even as I have it under MY Personal jurisdiction, for I shall not cease MY Endeavors until all mankind shall enjoy the privilege of becoming to be even as this leaves ME, as 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." Typed beneath his signature: "REV. M.J. DIVINE/(Better known as FATHER DIVINE)". On stationery headed: "The U.S.A. North-Eastern Churches and Connections/Under The Peace Mission Movement". Addresses of 62 churches or missions throughout New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are listed at the left and right of the first page. After preaching in the South, Black American religious leader Father Divine (1882-1965) moved to Harlem in 1915 and became one of the neighborhood's biggest landlords. Hebecame wealthy by acquiring businesses, including restaurants and grocery stores and began calling himself Rev. Major Jealous Divine, later Father Divine. Although once dismissed as a cult leader, he built the largest religious movement in northern ghettos during the Great Depression. He was an early civil rights activist, leading anti-lynching campaigns, instituting economic cooperatives and organizing political action against racial discrimination. During the 1940s, his health and influence declined, but his movement symbolized the progressive spirit in the Black church and helped define the church's active role in the civil rights movement. Lightly creased. Staple holes at upper left blank corner. Overall, fine condition. Framed in the Gallery of History style: 42¾x22.