William Edward Riker (February 17, 1873 – December 3, 1969) was a

White supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

religious leader who founded the community of

Holy City A holy city is a city important to the history or faith of a specific religion. Such cities may also contain at least one headquarters complex (often containing a religious edifice, seminary, shrine, residence of the leading cleric of the religi ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and was an unsuccessful candidate for California

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Other nicknames included "Father", "The Comforter", "The Professor", "The Emancipator".

Early life

Riker was born in California on February 17, 1873. He worked as a

palm reader Palmistry is the pseudoscientific practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm. Also known as palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology, the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those wh ...

and later traveled as a mind reader under the professional name "Professor Riker". Riker moved to Canada rather than face charges of

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

in San Francisco. In

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, Riker established The Perfect Christian Divine Way (PCDW) and a religious doctrine which emphasized

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

gender segregation Sex segregation, sex separation, gender segregation or gender separation is the physical, legal, or cultural separation of people according to their biological sex. Sex segregation can refer simply to the physical and spatial separation by sex w ...

, and abstinence from alcohol and sex. In 1918, the PCDW was incorporated by Riker, Irvin Fisher and Anna Schramm in Los Angeles.

Religious commune leader

In 1918, Riker returned to the United States and purchased of land near

Los Gatos Los Gatos (, ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franci ...

outside of San Jose. He used the property to found the religious commune of Holy City, which Riker said he had been instructed to do through messages from God. He married his fourth wife, "Mother" Lucille Schutrum Jensen Riker (1874–1950) which went against claims of

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the ...

. This marriage resulted in one of his early disciples, Frieda Schwartz, suing him in order to recuperate her money invested in PCDW. Schwartz lost the lawsuit but generated publicity and more tourism to the area as a result. Eventually increasing the commune to , Riker developed it into a road-side tourist attraction which included an observatory, gas station, dance hall, restaurant and penny peep show machines. Along the roadway entering Holy City, Riker placed nine Santa Claus statues and a billboard that read "Headquarters for the World's Most Perfect Government." In 1929 Riker added a radio station with the call letters KFQU, which broadcast popular programming as well as his personal message. The station closed after two years when Riker's license was revoked for "irregularities".

Politics

Riker ran for political office on a

White Supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

platform, advocating that

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and

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

s be banned from owning businesses in California. In one of his political pamphlets titled ''The Emancipator'', Riker wrote:

The White Man can take care of any and all kinds of business in our own, White Man's California State Home, and no longer will the White Man tolerate your undermining and polluting tactics. Farmers, Business Men and The Workers say: Orientals get out and stay out of our business. Our new Government will see that you get a job. Your polluting, undermining system of business must eternally stop in Our California. And besides this, keep your polluting hands off our White Race Women; they also belong only to the White Race Man. This is the true law of our original White Man's Constitution, these statements explain the real and true spirit of California.

He unsuccessfully ran for

Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

four times.Jeffrey Kaplan, Heléne Lööw, ''The cultic milieu: oppositional subcultures in an age of globalization'', AltaMira Press, 2002, pg.94 In 1938, he entered the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Italy ...

primary and received only 170 of the approximately 7,500 total votes cast. In the subsequent three elections, he entered both the Republican and Democratic primaries. Riker lost the primaries in 1942, 1946 and 1950, averaging less than one percent of the total votes. Riker was arrested by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

in 1942 for

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

due to his support of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

whom Riker called "a second

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

". A jury acquitted Riker, who then sued his attorney

Melvin Belli Melvin Mouron Belli (July 29, 1907 – July 9, 1996) was a prominent United States lawyer, writer, and actor known as "The King of Torts" and by insurance companies as "Melvin Bellicose". He had many celebrity clients, including Zsa Zsa Gab ...

for defamation because Belli's successful defense was to present Riker as a "crackpot." Riker lost the suit.

Decline and death

The 1940 re-routing of

California State Route 17 State Route 17 (SR 17, locally known as Highway 17) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from State Route 1 in Santa Cruz to I-280 and I-880 in San Jose. SR 17, a freeway and expressway, carries substantial ...

to bypass Holy City caused a decline in visitors."Once home to a cult, ghost town of 'Holy City' is for sale"
''Lodi News-Sentinel'', 15 December 2006 Financial difficulties eventually led to Riker losing control of the community in 1960. In 1966, at the age of 93, Riker converted to Catholicism. Riker died on December 3, 1969 at

Agnews State Hospital Agnews Developmental Center was a psychiatric and medical care facility, located in Santa Clara, California. In 1885, the center, originally known as "The Great Asylum for the Insane", was established as a facility for the care of the mentally ill ...

, in Santa Clara, California."Colorful cultist: 'Father' Riker of Holy City dies", ''San Francisco Chronicle'', December 4, 1969, p. 41.

References

External links

Photo of Holy City in 1940
''Life Magazine'', 1 January 1940

titled "Racial rhetoric of California Gubernatorial candidate", ''Life Magazine'', 1 January 1940 {{DEFAULTSORT:Riker, William E. 1873 births 1969 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism Founders of utopian communities California Progressives (1924) American white supremacists People from Santa Clara County, California Religious leaders from the San Francisco Bay Area Catholics from California 20th-century far-right politicians in the United States