A01=Jill Watts
african american
american religion
Author_Jill Watts
bible
biography
black
black history
black men
black preacher
Category=JH
Category=NHK
Category=QRM
Category=QRVS4
Category=QRYC
charismatic ministry
christianity
cult following
cults
diversity
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
father divine
ghetto
god harlem
harlem
history
itinerant preacher
jazz
marginalized history
ministry
nonfiction
poverty
race
race relations
racism
religion
religious leaders
religious movement
religious revival
sharecropping
spirituality
theology
wealth
Product details
- ISBN 9780520201729
- Weight: 408g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 13 Feb 1995
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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How did an African-American man born in a ghetto in 1879 rise to such religious prominence that his followers addressed letters to him simply "God, Harlem U.S.A."? Using hitherto unknown materials, Jill Watts portrays the life and career of one of the twentieth century's most intriguing religious leaders, Father Divine. Starting as an itinerant preacher, Father Divine built an unprecedented movement that by the 1930s had attracted followers across the nation and around the world. As his ministry grew, so did the controversy surrounding his enormous wealth, flamboyant style, and committed "angels"--black and white, rich and poor alike. Here for the first time a full account of Father Divine's childhood and early years challenges previous contentions that he was born into a sharecropping family in the deep South. While earlier biographers have concentrated on Father Divine's social and economic programs, Watts focuses on his theology, which gives new meaning to secular activities that often appeared contradictory. Although much has been written about Father Divine, God, Harlem U.S.A. finally provides a balanced and intimate account of his life's work.
Jill Watts, Associate Professor of History at California State University, San Marcos, is at work on a book about Mae West.
