Jim Jones

Infobox_Celebrity
name =James Warren "Jim" Jones


image_size = 150px
caption = Photo credit: The Jonestown Institute
birth_date = birth date|1931|5|13|mf=y
birth_place = Crete, Indiana
death_date = death date and age|1978|11|18|1931|5|13
death_place = Jonestown, Guyana
occupation = Leader, Peoples Temple

James Warren "Jim" Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was the American founder of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 death of over 900 Temple members in Jonestown, along with the death of nine other people at a nearby airstrip and in Georgetown.

Jones was born in Indiana and started the Temple in that state in the 1950s. Jones and the Temple later moved to California, and both gained notoriety with the move of the Temple's headquarters to San Francisco in the mid-1970s.

To the extent the actions in Jonestown were viewed as a mass suicide, it is one of the largest such mass suicides in history, and the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the incidents of September 11, 2001. One of those dying at the nearby airstrip was Leo Ryan, who became the first and only Congressman murdered in the line of duty in the history of the United States.

Early life

Jones was born in Crete, Indiana, a rural community near the Ohio border,cite book |author=Hall, John R. |title=Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |year=1987 |isbn=0-88738-124-3|page=3] to James Thurman Jones, a World War I veteran, and Lynetta Putnam. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 9-10.] He would later claim part Cherokee descent through his mother, though this was likely false.Kilduff, Marshall and Javers, Ron. "The Suicide Cult". Bantam Books, 1978. p. 10.] While Jim Jones claimed to be partially of Cherokee descent through his mother Lynetta's side, this story was apparently not true. (Lindsay, Robert, "How Rev. Jim Jones Gained His Power Over Followers", New York Times, November 26, 1978). Lynetta's cousin Barbara Shaffer said "there wasn't an ounce of Indian in our family." (Lindsay, Robert, "How Rev. Jim Jones Gained His Power Over Followers", New York Times, November 26, 1978). Shaffer said that Lynetta was Welsh. ("Jones--The Dark Private Side Emerges", Los Angeles Times, November 24, 1978). The birth records for Lynetta have since been lost. (Kilduff, Marshall and Ron Javers, "Jim Jones Always Led -- Or Wouldn't Play," San Francisco Chronicle, December 4, 1978).] Economic difficulties during the Great Depression necessitated that Jones' family move to nearby Lynn, Indiana in 1934.cite book |author=Hall, John R. |title=Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |year=1987 |isbn=0-88738-124-3|page=5] Jim Jones and, later, a journalism professor that grew up in Lynn both claimed that James Thurman Jones was in the Ku Klux Klan.

In 2007 interviews with PBS, childhood acquaintances recalled Jones as being a "weird kid" who was "obsessed with religion ... obsessed with death", and claimed that he frequently held funerals for small animals, and had purportedly fatally stabbed a cat. [ [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/jonestown/filmmore/pt.html "Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple", American Experience, PBS]

Jones was a voracious reader as a child, studying Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi and Adolf Hitler.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 24.] He studied each carefully, noting their strengths and weaknesses. After Jones' parents separated, he moved with his mother to Richmond, Indiana.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 27.] Jones graduated from Richmond High School early and with honors in the winter of 1948-49.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 33.]

Jones married Marceline Baldwin, a nurse, in 1949 and moved to Bloomington, Indiana. [ [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/jonestown/timeline/index.html "Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple - Timeline."] "PBS.org". 20 February 2007.] Jones attended the University of Indiana at Bloomington, where a speech by Eleanor Roosevelt about the plight of African Americans impressed him. [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/jonestown/timeline/index.html "Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple - Timeline."] "PBS.org". 20 February 2007.] Jones' sympathetic statements about communism offended Marceline's grandmother. In 1951 Jones and Marceline moved to Indianapolis, where Jones enrolled in Butler University, at which he attended night school and earned a degree in secondary education in 1961. [Knoll, James. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JonestownReport/Volume9/Knoll.htm "Mass Suicide & the Jonestown Tragedy: Literature Summary"] . Jonestown Institute, San Diego State University. October 2007.]

Building the Temple

Indiana beginnings

In 1951, Jones began attending communist meetings and rallies in Indianapolis.Wessinger, Catherine. "How the Millennium Comes Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven's Gate". Seven Bridges Press, 2000. ISBN 978-1889119243.] Jones became flustered with harassment he received during the McCarthy Hearings, particularly regarding meetings between Jones and his mother with Paul Robeson.Jones, Jim. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q134.html "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 134."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.] ] He also became frustrated with what he perceived to be ostracism of open communists in the United States, especially during the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. This frustration, among other things, provoked a seminal moment for Jones in which he asked himself "how can I demonstrate my Marxism? The thought was, infiltrate the church."

Jones' interest in religion began during his childhood, primarily because he found making friends difficult, though initially he vacillated on his church of choice. Jones was surprised when a Methodist superintendent helped Jones to get a start in the church even though he knew Jones to be a communist and Jones did not meet him through the American Communist Party. In 1952, Jones became a student pastor in Sommerset Southside Methodist Church, but left that church because its leaders barred him from integrating African Americans into his congregation. Around this time, Jones witnessed a faith-healing service at the Seventh Day Baptist Church. He observed that it attracted people and their cash and concluded that, with financial resources from such healings, he could help accomplish his social goals.

Jones then began his own church, which changed names until it became the Peoples Temple Christian Church Full Gospel. Jones sold pet monkeys door-to-door to raise funds for his church. [Lattin, Don. [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/18/JONESTOWN.TMP "How spiritual journey ended in destruction."] "San Francisco Chronicle". 18 November 2003.]

Jones moved away from the American Communist Party and Maoists when ACP members and Mao Zedong became critical of some of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's policies.Horrock, Nicholas M., "Communist in 1950s", New York Times, December 17, 1978]

Integrationist

In 1960, Indianapolis Democratic Mayor Charles Boswell appointed Jones as a director of the Human Rights Commission. Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 68.] Jones ignored Boswell's advice to keep a low profile, finding new outlets for his views on local radio and television programs. When the mayor and other commissioners asked Jones to curtail his public actions, Jones resisted and was wildly cheered at a meeting of the NAACP and Urban League when he yelled for his audience to be more militant, and climaxed with "Let my people go!"Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 69.]

During this time, Jones also helped to integrate churches, restaurants, the telephone company, the police department, a theater, an amusement park, and the Methodist Hospital. After swastikas were painted on the homes of two African American families, Jones personally walked the neighborhood comforting African Americans and counseling white families not to move, in order to prevent white flight. Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 71.] Jones set up stings to catch restaurants refusing to serve African American customers. Jones wrote American Nazi leaders and then leaked their responses to the media. Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 72.] When Jones was accidentally placed in the black ward of a hospital after a collapse in 1961, Jones refused to be moved and began to make the beds, and empty the bed pans, of black patients.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 76.] Political pressures resulting from Jones' actions caused hospital officials to desegregate the wards.

Jones received considerable criticism in Indiana for his integrationist views. White owned businesses and locals were critical of him. A swastika was placed on the Temple, a stick of dynamite was left in a Temple coal pile and a dead cat was thrown at Jones' house after a threatening phone call. Other incidents occurred, though some suspect that Jones himself may have been involved in at least some of them.

"Rainbow family"

Jim and Marceline Jones adopted several children of at least partial non-Caucasian ancestry; he referred to the clan as his "rainbow family," [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 65.] and stating: "Integration is a more personal thing with me now. It's a question of my son's future." That comported with Jones' portrayal of the Temple overall as a "rainbow family."

The couple adopted three children of Korean-American ancestry: Lew, Suzanne and Stephanie. Jones had been encouraging Temple members to adopt orphans from war ravaged Korea. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 63.] Jones had long been critical of the United States' opposition to communist leader Kim Il-Sung's 1950 invasion of South Korea, calling it the "war of liberation" and stating that "the south is a living example of all that socialism in the north has overcome."Jones, Jim. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q1023.html "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 1023."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.] In 1954, he and his wife also adopted Agnes Jones, who was partly of Native American descent. [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/jonestown/peopleevents/p_jones.html "Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple - People & Events "] PBS.org. 20 February 2007.] Agnes was 11 at the time of her adoption. [http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~remoore/jonestown/AboutJonestown/PrimarySources/wills.html "The Wills of Jim Jones and Marceline Jones."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] Suzanne Jones was adopted at the age of six in 1959. In June 1959, the couple had their only biological child, Stephan Gandhi Jones.Wessinger, Catherine. "How the Millennium Comes Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven's Gate". 2000. ISBN 978-1889119243.]

Two years later, in 1961, the Joneses became the first white couple in Indiana to adopt an African American child, James Warren Jones, Jr. [ [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/jonestown/sfeature/race.html "Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple - Race and the Peoples Temple."] "PBS.org". 20 February 2007.] Marceline was once spat upon while she carried Jim Jr.

The couple also adopted another son, who was white, named Tim. Tim Jones, whose birth mother was a member of the Peoples Temple, was originally named Timothy Glen Tupper.

Asylum

Location map many | Brazil
label=Belo Horizonte
label_size=80
position=left
lat=-19.9166667 | long=-43.9333333
marksize=7
label2=Rio de Janeiro
label2_size=80
lat2=-22.9 | long2=-43.2333333
mark2size=7
position2=bottom
width=140 | float=left
caption=Jones' Brazil locationsAfter a 1961 Temple speech about nuclear apocalypse,Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 76.] and a January 1962 "Esquire Magazine" article listing Belo Horizonte, Brazil as a safe place in a nuclear war, Jones traveled with his family to the Brazilian city with the idea of setting up a new Temple location.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 76.]

On his way to Brazil, Jones made his first trip into Guyana. Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 78.] After arriving in Belo Horizonte, the Joneses rented a modest three bedroom home.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 79.] Jones studied the local economy and receptiveness of racial minorities to his message, though language remained a barrier.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 81.] Jones was careful to not portray himself as a communist in foreign territory, and spoke of an apostolic communal lifestyle rather than Castro or Marx.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 82.]

After becoming frustrated with the lack of resources in the locale, in mid-1963, the Joneses moved to Rio de Janeiro. Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 83.] There, they worked with the poor in Rio's slums. Jones also explored local Brazilian cults. Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 84.]

Jones was plagued by guilt for leaving behind the Indiana civil rights struggle and possibly losing what he had struggled to build there. When Jones' associate preachers in Indiana told him that the Temple was about to collapse without him, Jones returned.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 85-6.]

California Eden

Location map many | California
label=Los Angeles
label_size=100
pos3=right
lat=34.0452 | long=-118.281
marksize=9
label2=San Francisco
label2_size=110
lat2=37.778 | long2=-122.421
mark2size=11
mark2=Blue_pog.svg
label3=Ukiah
label3_size=100
pos3=top
lat3=39.152 | long3=-123.207
mark3size=9
label4=Bakersfield
label4_size=80
pos4=right
lat4=35.368 | long4=-119.018
mark4size=7
label5=Fresno
label5_size=80
pos5=right
lat5=36.740 | long5=-119.786
mark5size=7
label6=Sacramento
label6_size=80
pos6=right
lat6=38.580 | long6=-121.491
mark6size=7
label7=Santa Rosa
label7_size=60
pos7=top
lat7=38.438 | long7=-122.712
mark7size=7
width=240 | float=right
caption=Some of the Peoples Temple's California LocationsAfter Jones' return to Indiana from Brazil, in 1965, Jones claimed that the world would be engulfed in a nuclear war on July 15, 1967, that would then create a new socialist Eden on earth, such that the Temple must move to Northern California for safety. Accordingly, the Temple began moving to Redwood Valley, California.

While Jones always spoke of the social gospel's virtues, before the late 1960s Jones chose to conceal that his gospel was actually communism. By the late 1960s, Jones began at least partially openly revealing in Temple sermons his "Apostolic Socialism" concept. Specifically, "those who remained drugged with the opiate of religion had to be brought to enlightenment -- socialism." [Layton, Deborah. (1998) "Seductive Poison". Anchor, 1999. ISBN 0-3854-8984-6. p. 53.] Jones often mixed those concepts, such as preaching that "If you're born in capitalist America, racist America, fascist America, then you're born in sin. But if you're born in socialism, you're not born in sin."Jim Jones, [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q1053-4.html "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 1053"] ]

By the early 1970s, Jones began deriding traditional Christianity as "fly away religion," rejecting the Bible as being white men’s' justification to subordinate women and subjugate people of color and stating that it spoke of a "Sky God" who was no God at all. Jones authored a booklet titled "The Letter Killeth," criticizing the Bible. [Jones, Jim. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PrimarySources/letter-orig.htm "The Letter Killeth."] Original material reprint. "Department of Religious Studies." San Diego State University.]

By the Spring of 1976, Jones began openly admitting even to outsiders that he was an atheist. [See, e.g., Jones, Jim in conversation with John Maher, [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q622.html "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 622."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.] ] Despite the Temple's fear that the IRS was investigating its religious tax exemption, by 1977, Marceline Jones admitted to the "New York Times" that, as early as age 18 when he watched his then idol Mao Zedong overthrow the Chinese government, Jim Jones realized that the way to achieve social change through Marxism in the United States was to mobilize people through religion.New York Times, "How Rev. Jim Jones Gained His Power Over Followers", Robert Lindsay, November 26, 1978] She stated that "Jim used religion to try to get some people out of the opiate of religion," and had slammed the Bible on the table yelling "I've got to destroy this paper idol!"

Move to San Francisco

The move of Peoples Temple headquarters to San Francisco in 1975 invigorated Jones' political career. After the Temple served an important role in the mayoral election victory of George Moscone in 1975, Moscone appointed Jones as the Chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission. [ [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/jonestown/filmmore/pt.html "Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple"] . PBS.org.]

Unlike most other figures deemed as cult leaders, Jones was able to gain public support and contact with prominent local and national United States politicians. For example, Jones and Moscone met privately with vice presidential candidate Walter Mondale on his campaign plane days before the 1976 election and Mondale publicly praised the Temple.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 302-4.] [Los Angeles Times, " [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/650870272.html?dids=650870272:650870272&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Nov+21%2C+1978&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(1886-Current+File)&edition=&startpage=B17&desc=MONDALE%2C+CALIFANO+ALSO+LISTED First Lady Among Cult's References; Mondale, Califano also listed] ", November 21, 1978.] First Lady Rosalynn Carter also personally met with Jones on multiple occasions, corresponded with him about Cuba and spoke with him at the grand opening of the San Francisco Democratic Party Headquarters where Jones garnered louder applause than Mrs. Carter. [Jones, Jim. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q799.html "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 799."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.] Kilduff, Marshall and Phil Tracy. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PrimarySources/newWestart.htm "Inside Peoples Temple."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University. August 1, 1977.]

In September 1976, Willie Brown served as master of ceremonies at a large testimonial dinner for Jones attended by Governor Jerry Brown and Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally and other political figures. [Layton, Deborah. "Seductive Poison". Anchor, 1999. ISBN 0-3854-8984-6. p. 105.] At that dinner, while introducing Jones, Willie Brown stated "Let me present to you what you should see every day when you look in the mirror in the early morning hours ... Let me present to you a combination of Martin King, Angela Davis, Albert Einstein ... Chairman Mao." [ Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. page 308] Harvey Milk, who spoke at political rallies at the Temple, [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,919893-1,00.html "Another Day of Death."] "Time Magazine". 11 December 1978.] and wrote to Jones after a visit to the Temple: "Rev Jim, It may take me many a day to come back down from the high that I reach today. I found something dear today. I found a sense of being that makes up for all the hours and energy placed in a fight. I found what you wanted me to find. I shall be back. For I can never leave."VanDeCarr, Paul "Death of dreams: in November 1978, Harvey Milk's murder and the mass suicides at Jonestown nearly broke San Francisco's spirit.", The Advocate, November 25, 2003] [Sawyer, Mary [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Articles/sawyer.htm "My Lord, What a Mourning:’ Twenty Years Since Jonestown"] , Jonestown Institute at SDSU]

In his San Francisco Temple apartment, Jones regularly hosted San Francisco radical political figures such as Angela Davis for discussions.Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. page 369.] He spoke with friend and "San Francisco Sun-Reporter" publisher Dr. Carlton Goodlett about Jones' remorse regarding not being able to travel to socialist countries such as China and the Soviet Union, speculating that he could be Chief Dairyman of the Soviet Union.Goodlett, Carlton B., [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PersonalReflections/goodlett_notes.htm "Notes on Peoples Temple"] , "reprinted" in Moore, Rebecca and Fielding M. McGehee, III, "The Need for a Second Look at Jonestown", Edwin Mellen Press, 1989, ISBN 0889466491] After his criticisms caused increased tensions with the Nation of Islam, Jones spoke at a huge rally healing the rift between the two groups in the Los Angeles Convention center attended by many of Jones' closest political acquaintances.Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. page 282.]

While Jones forged media alliances with key columnists and others at the "San Francisco Chronicle" and other media outlets,Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. page 285, 306 and 587.] the move to San Francisco also brought increasing media scrutiny. After Chronicle reporter Marshall Kilduff encountered resistance to publishing an expose, he brought his story to New West Magazine.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 314] In the summer of 1977, Jones and several hundred Temple members moved to the Temple's "Agricultural Project" in Guyana after they learned of the contents of Kilduff's article to be published in which former Temple members claimed they were physically, emotionally, and sexually abused.Layton, Deborah. (1998) "Seductive Poison". Anchor, 1999. ISBN 0-3854-8984-6. p. 113.] Jones named the settlement Jonestown after himself.

= Jonestown's formation and operation = Location map many | Guyana
label=Jonestown
label_size=100
pos=bottom | bg=yellow
lat=7.66 | long=-60.187
marksize=8
label2=Georgetown
label2_size=70
lat2=6.807 | long2=-58.159
mark2size=7
label3=Kaituma
label3_size=70
pos3=right
lat3=7.84 | long3=-60.01
mark3size=7
width=150 | float=right
background=#FFFFDD
caption=Peoples Temple Agricultural Project ("Jonestown", Guyana)Jones had first started building Jonestown in 1974 as a means to create both a "socialist paradise" and a "sanctuary" from media scrutiny that had started in 1972. [cite book |author=Hall, John R. |title=Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |year=1987 |isbn=0-88738-124-3|page=132] Regarding the former goal, Jones purported to establish Jonestown as a benevolent model communist community stating, "I believe we’re the purest communists there are." Jones, Jim. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q050.html "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 50."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.] In that regard, like the restrictive emigration policies of the then Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea and other communist republics, Jones did not permit members to leave Jonestown. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 451.] Religious scholar Mary McCormick Maaga argued that Jones' authority waned after he moved to the isolated commune, because he was not needed for recruitment and he could not hide his drug addiction from rank and file members.McCormick Maaga, Mary. "Hearing the voices of Jonestown". Syracuse University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8156-0515-3.] In spite of the allegations prior to Jones departure to Jonestown, Jones was still widely respected by some for setting up a racially mixed church which helped the disadvantaged; 68 percent of Jonestown's residents were black. [Moore, Rebecca. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JTResearch/demographics.htm "The Demographics of Jonestown".] Jonestown Institute, San Diego State University, adapted from Moore, Rebecca, Anthony Pinn and Mary Sawyer. "Demographics and the Black Religious Culture of Peoples Temple." in "Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America". Bloomington: Indiana Press University, 2005. 57-80)]

New children

Further complicating matters was Jim Jones' claim that he was the biological father of John Victor Stoen, although the birth certificate lists Grace and Timothy Stoen as the parents of the boy. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 130-1] The Temple repeatedly claimed that Jones fathered the child when, in 1971, Temple member Tim Stoen had requested that Jones have sex with Grace Stoen to keep her from defecting. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p 445.] After Grace Stoen later defected in 1976 and began divorce proceedings against Tim Stoen in 1977, in order to avoid potentially giving up the boy in a custody dispute with Grace, Jones ordered Tim to take John to Guyana in February of 1977. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 377]

After purported father Tim Stoen defected from the Temple in June 1977, the Temple kept John Stoen in Jonestown. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 324] The custody dispute over John Stoen would become a lynch pin of several battles between the Temple and the Concerned Relatives. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1.]

Jim Jones also fathered a son, Jim Jon (Kimo), with Carolyn Louise Moore Layton, a Temple member. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=633 "Jim Jon (Kimo) Prokes"] . "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.]

Pressure and waning political support

While most of Jones' political allies broke ties after Jones' departure, [Liebert, Larry, "What Politicians Say Now About Jones", San Francisco Chronicle, November 20, 1978] some did not. As a show of support, Willie Brown spoke out against enemies at a rally at the Peoples Temple, also attended by Harvey Milk and Art Agnos. [ Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. page 327] Most importantly for Jones and the Temple, Moscone's office shortly thereafter issued a press release saying that Jones had broken no laws.Moore, Rebecca. "A Sympathetic History of Jonestown". Lewiston: E. Mellen Press. ISBN 0-8894-6860-5. p. 143.] In the Fall of 1977, Tim Stoen and other relatives in Jonestown formed a "Concerned Relatives" group.Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. page 408] Stoen traveled to Washington D.C. in January 1978 to visit with Congressman, including Leo Ryan and State Department officials, and wrote a "white paper" to Congress detailing the dispute and pressing for Congressional correspondence.cite book |author=Hall, John R. |title=Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |year=1987 |isbn=0-88738-124-3 page 227] Stoen's efforts aroused the curiosity of Ryan, who wrote a letter on Stoen's behalf to Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham.Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. page 458]

Amidst growing pressure in the United States to investigate the Temple, on February 19, 1978, Harvey Milk wrote a letter of support for the Peoples Temple to President Jimmy Carter. [Coleman, Loren, "The Copycat Effect", Simon & Schuster, 2004, page 68] [Fishwick, Marshall, "Great Awakenings: Popular Religion and Popular Culture", Routledge, 1994, page 73] Milk, Harvey [http://www.brasscheck.com/jonestown/milk.jpg"Letter Addressed to President Jimmy Carter, Dated February 19, 1978"] ] Therein, Milk wrote that Jones was known "as a man of the highest character." Regarding the leader of those attempting to extricate relatives from Jonestown, Milk wrote he was "attempting to damage Rev. Jones reputation" with "apparent bold-faced lies."

On April 11, 1978, the Concerned Relatives distributed a packet of documents, including letters and affidavits, that they titled an "Accusation of Human Rights Violations by Rev. James Warren Jones" to the Peoples Temple, members of the press and members of Congress. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PrimarySources/concerned.htm "Accusation of Human Rights Violations by Rev. James Warren Jones."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University. April 11, 1978.] In June 1978, escaped Temple member Deborah Layton provided the group with a further affidavit detailing alleged crimes by the Peoples Temple and substandard living conditions in Jonestown. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PrimarySources/BlakeyAffidavit.htm "Affidavit of Deborah Layton Blakey."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.]

Facing increasing scrutiny, in the summer of 1978, Jones also hired noted JFK assassination conspiracy theorists Mark Lane and Donald Freed to help make the case of a "grand conspiracy" by intelligence agencies against the Peoples Temple.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. page 440.] Jones told Lane he wanted to "pull an Eldridge Cleaver", referring to a fugitive Black Panther that was able to return to the United States after repairing his reputation.

Visit by Congressman Ryan, murders and mass suicide

In November 1978, U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan led a fact-finding mission to Jonestown to investigate allegations of human rights abuses.Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 481.] Ryan's delegation included relatives of Temple members, Don Harris, an NBC network news reporter, an NBC cameraman and reporters for various newspapers. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 476-480.] The group arrived in Georgetown on November 15. On November 17, Ryan's delegation traveled by airplane to Jonestown. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 487-8.] The delegation left hurriedly the afternoon of November 18 after Temple member Don Sly attacked Ryan with a knife.Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 519-20.] The attack was thwarted, bringing the visit to an abrupt end. Congressman Ryan and his people succeeded in taking with them fifteen People's Temple members who had expressed a wish to leave. [Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 524.] At that time, Jones made no attempt to prevent their departure. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 516.]

Port Kaituma Airstrip shootings

As members of Ryan's delegation boarded two planes at the airstrip, Jones' "Red Brigade" armed guards arrived in a tractor-pulled trailer and began shooting at the delegation.Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 527.] The guards killed Congressman Ryan and five others near a twin engine Otter.Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 529-31.] At the same time, one of the supposed defectors, Larry Layton, drew a weapon and began firing on members of the party that had already boarded a small Cessna.Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 533.] An NBC cameraman was able to capture footage of the first few seconds of the shooting at the Otter. When the gunmen departed, five people were dead: Congressman Leo Ryan; Don Harris, a reporter from NBC; Bob Brown, a cameraman from NBC; San Francisco Examiner photographer Greg Robinson; and Temple member Patricia Parks. Surviving the attack were future Congresswoman Jackie Speier, then a staff member for Ryan; Richard Dwyer, the Deputy Chief of Mission from the U.S. Embassy at Georgetown and allegedly an officer of the Central Intelligence Agency; Bob Flick, a producer for NBC News and several defecting Temple members. The murder of Congressman Ryan was the first and only murder of a Congressman in the line of duty in the history of the United States. [Brazil, Jeff. [http://www.rickross.com/reference/jonestown/jonestown9.html "Jonestown's Horror Fades but Mystery Remain."] "Los Angeles Times". December 16, 1999.]

Deaths in Jonestown

Later that same day, 909 inhabitants of Jonestown, [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/whodied_list.php "Who Died?"] , Alternative Considerations of Jonestown, San Diego State University] 276 of them children, died of apparent cyanide poisoning, mostly in and around a pavilion. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/18/newsid_2540000/2540209.stm "1978: Mass suicide leaves 900 dead".] BBC, November 18, 2005] This resulted in the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the September 11, 2001 attacks. [Rapaport, Richard, [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/16/INGEM3070J1.DTL&type=printable "Jonestown and City Hall slayings eerily linked in time and memory"] , San Francisco Chronicle, November 16, 2003] No video was taken during the mass suicide, though the FBI did recover a 45 minute audio recording of the suicide in progress.Jim Jones, [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/DeathTape/Q042.html "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 42."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.]

On that tape, Jones tells Temple members that the Soviet Union, with whom the Temple had been negotiating a potential exodus for months, would not take them after the Temple had murdered Ryan and four others at a nearby airstrip. The reason given by Jones to commit suicide was consistent with his previously stated conspiracy theories of intelligence organizations allegedly conspiring against the Temple, that men would "parachute in here on us," "shoot some of our innocent babies" and "they'll torture our children, they'll torture some of our people here, they'll torture our seniors." Parroting Jones' prior statements that hostile forces would convert captured children to fascism, one temple member states "the ones that they take captured, they're gonna just let them grow up and be dummies." Given that reasoning, Jones and several members argued that the group should commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced grape flavored Flavor Aid (often misidentified as Kool-Aid) along with a sedative. One member, Christine Miller, dissents toward the beginning of the tape. When members apparently cried, Jones counseled "Stop this hysterics. This is not the way for people who are Socialists or Communists to die. No way for us to die. We must die with some dignity." Jones can be heard saying, "Don't be afraid to die" and, regarding death as "just stepping over into another plane" and that " [death is] a friend." At the end of the tape, Jones concludes: "We didn't commit suicide, we committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world." According to escaping Temple members, children were given the drink first and families were told to lie down together. [Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 559.] Mass suicide had been previously discussed in simulated events called "White Nights" on a regular basis. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PrimarySources/BlakeyAffidavit.htm "Affidavit of Deborah Layton Blakey."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.] Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 390-91.] During at least one such prior White Night, members drank liquid that Jones falsely told them was poison.

Jones was found dead in a deck chair with a gunshot wound to his head that Guyanese coroner Cyrill Mootoo stated was consistent with a self-inflicted gun wound. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PrimarySources/GuyanaInquest.pdf "Guyana Inquest - Interviews of Cecil Roberts & Cyril Mootoo"] ] However, Jones' son Stephan believes his father may have directed someone else to shoot him. [, Interview of Stephan Jones, Documentary airing on Discovery Networks, 2007] An autopsy of Jones' body also showed levels of the barbiturate Phenobarbital which would have been lethal to humans who had not developed physiological tolerance. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PrimarySources/autopsies/JimJones.pdf "Autopsy of Jim Jones by Kenneth H. Mueller"] , Jonestown Institute at SDSU] Jones' drug usage (including various LSD and marijuana experimentation) was confirmed by his son, Stephan, and Jones' doctor in San Francisco.

Other issues

On December 13, 1973, Jones was arrested and charged with soliciting a man for sex in a movie theater bathroom known for homosexual activity, in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles.Wise, David. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PersonalReflections/reflwise.htm "Sex in Peoples Temple."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.] The man was an undercover Los Angeles Police Department vice officer. Jones is on record as later telling his followers that he was "the only true heterosexual", but at least one account exists of his sexual abuse of a male member of his congregation in front of the followers, ostensibly to prove the man's own homosexual tendencies.

Jones had sexual relations with multiple male and female members of the Peoples Temple. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p. 176-77.] While Jones banned sex among Temple members outside of marriage, he himself voraciously engaged in bisexual relations. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,919897-1,00.html "Paranoia And Delusions"] , Time Magazine, December 11, 1978] Jones, however, claimed that he himself detested engaging in homosexual activity and did so only for the male temple adherents' own good, purportedly to connect them symbolically with himself.

One of Jones' sources of inspiration was the controversial International Peace Mission movement leader Father Divine. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/ "FAQ: Who was the leader of Peoples Temple?"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.] Jones had borrowed the term "revolutionary suicide" from Black Panther leader and Peoples Temple supporter Huey Newton who had argued "the slow suicide of life in the ghetto" ought to be replaced by revolutionary struggle that would end only in victory (socialism and self determination) or revolutionary suicide (death).

Family aftermath

Marceline

Marceline Jones was found poisoned around the pavilion. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p 565.] On the final morning of Ryan's visit, Marceline had taken reporters on a tour of Jonestown. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. '. Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p 505-6.]

Found near Marceline Jones' body was a signed and witnessed will leaving all bank accounts "in my name" to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and writing that Suzanne Jones Cartmell should received no assets. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PrimarySources/financialLetters/letter_fromMarceline.pdf "Letter from Marceline Jones."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.]

tephan, Jim Jr. and Tim Jones

Stephan, Jim Jr., and Tim Jones did not take part in the mass suicide because they were playing with the Peoples Temple basketball team against the Guyanese national team in Georgetown.cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=3047543&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab7pos2 |title=Outside the Lines: Grandson of Jonestown founder is making a name for himself |author=Fish, Jon and Chris Connelly |publisher="ESPN.com" |date=2007-10-05 |accessdate=2008-08-23] At the time of events in Jonestown, Stephan and Tim were both nineteen and Jim Jones Jr. was eighteen. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/whosurvived_list.htm "Who Survived the Jonestown Tragedy?"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] Tim's biological family, the Tuppers, which consisted of his three biological sisters, [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=796 "Janet Marie Tupper"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=798 "Mary Elizabeth Tupper"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=800 "Ruth Ann Tupper"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] biological brother, [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=797 "Larry Howard Tupper"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] and biological mother, [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=799 "Rita Jeanette Tupper] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] all died at Jonestown. Three days before the tragedy, Stephan Jones refused, over the radio, to comply with an order by his father to return the team to Jonestown for Ryan's visit. [Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. p 474-75.]

During the events at Jonestown, Stephan, Tim, and Jim Jones Jr. drove to the American Embassy in Guyana in an attempt to receive help. The Guyanese soldiers guarding the embassy refused to let them in after hearing about the shootings at the Port Kaituma airstrip.Smith, Gary. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/magazine/12/24/jonestown1231/index.html "Escaping Jonestown."] "Sports Illustrated". CNN.com. 24 December 2007.] Later, the three returned to the Temple's headquarters in Georgetown to find the bodies of Sharon Amos and her three children. Guyanese soldiers kept the Jones brothers under house arrest for five days, interrogating them about the deaths in Georgetown. Stephan Jones was accused of being involved in the Georgetown deaths, and was placed in a Guyanese prison for three months. Tim Jones and Johnny Cobb, a member of the Peoples Temple basketball team, were asked to go to Jonestown and help identify the bodies of people who had died. After returning to the United States, Jim Jones Jr. was placed under police surveillance for several months while he lived with his older sister, Suzanne, who had previously turned against the Temple.

When Jonestown was first being established, Stephan Jones had originally avoided two attempts by his father to relocate to the settlement. He eventually moved to Jonestown after a third and final attempt. He has since said that he gave into his father's wishes to move to Jonestown because of his mother. [Jones, Stephan. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JonestownReport/Volume7/remem-Jones.htm - "Marceline/Mom"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] Stephan Jones is now a businessman, who is married with three daughters. He appeared in the documentary "Jonestown: Paradise Lost" which aired on the History Channel and Discovery Channel. He stated he will not watch the documentary and has never grieved for his father. [Brownstein, Bill. [http://www.rickross.com/reference/jonestown/jonestown52.html "The son who survived Jonestown."] "The Gazette". Canada. 9 March 2007.] Jim Jones Jr., who lost his wife and unborn child at Jonestown, returned to San Francisco. He remarried and has three sons from this marriage, including Rob Jones, a high-school basketball star who went on to play for the University of San Diego. [ [http://usdtoreros.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/jones_rob00.html "22 - Rob Jones."] "University of San Diego Official Athletic Site".]

Lew, Agnes and Suzanne Jones

Lew and Agnes Jones both died at Jonestown. Agnes Jones was thirty-five years old at the time of her death. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=421 "Agnes Paulette Jones"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple"] . San Diego State University.] Her husband [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=428 "Forrest Ray Jones"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] and four children [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=207 "Billy Jones"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=61 "Jimbo Jones"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=438 "Michael Ray Jones"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=62 "Stephanie Jones"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] all died at Jonestown. Lew Jones, who was twenty-one years old at the time of his death, died alongside his wife Terry and son Chaeoke. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=435 "Lew Eric Jones"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=127 "Terry Carter Jones"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=425 "Chaeoke Warren Jones"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] Stephanie Jones had died at age five in a car accident.

Suzanne Jones married Mike Cartmell; both turned against the Temple and were not in Jonestown on November 18, 1978. After this decision to abandon the Temple, Jones referred to Suzanne openly as "my goddamned, no good for nothing daughter" and stated that she was not to be trusted. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q265.html "FBI Tape Q 265 - October 17, 1978 address"] . "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] In a signed note found at the time of her death, Marceline Jones directed that the Jones' funds were to be given to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and specified: "I especially request that none of these are allowed to get into the hands of my adopted daughter, Suzanne Jones Cartmell." [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PrimarySources/financialLetters/letter_fromMarceline.pdf "November 18 1978 Letter from Marceline Jones."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] Cartmell had two children and died of colon cancer in November of 2006. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/whodiedsince_list.htm "Who Has Died Since 18 November 1978?"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] [Smith, Gary. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/magazine/12/24/jonestown1231/1.html "Escape From Jonestown"] "Sports Illustrated" CNN.com. 24 December 2007.]

John Stoen and Kimo

Specific references to Tim Stoen, the purported father of John Stoen, including the logistics of possibly murdering him, are made on the Temple's final "death tape," as well as a discussion over whether the Temple should include John Stoen among those committing "revolutionary suicide." [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/DeathTape/death.html "Jonestown Audiotape Primary Project."] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.] At Jonestown, John Stoen was found poisoned in Jim Jones' cabin. [Reiterman, Tim, and John Jacobs. "". Dutton, 1982. ISBN 0-525-24136-1)]

Both Jim Jon (Kimo) and his mother, Carolyn Layton, died during the events at Jonestown. [ [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/WhoDied/bio.php?Id=483 "Carolyn Louise Moore Layton"] "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple". San Diego State University.]

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Klineman, George and Sherman Butler. "The Cult That Died". G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1980. ISBN 0-399-12540-X.
* Layton, Deborah. "Seductive Poison". Anchor Books, 1999. ISBN 0-385-48984-6.
* Maaga, Mary McCormick. "Hearing the voices of Jonestown". Syracuse University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8156-0515-3.
* Naipaul, Shiva. "Black & White". Hamish Hamilton, London, 1980. ISBN 0-241-10337-1.

External links

*, [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/jonestown/ "Jonestown: The Life And Death Of Peoples Temple"] , shown on PBS
* [http://employees.oneonta.edu/downinll/mass_suicide.htm Transcript of Jones' final speech, just before the mass suicide]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20060907005952/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/relmove/ University of Virginia profile: Peoples Temple (Jonestown)]
* [http://www.history.com/media.do?id=historyrocks_jonestown_broadband&action=clip: History Channel Video and Stills]