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Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
Title: Peoples Temple miscellany
Identifier/Call Number: MS 4126
Physical Description:
17.0 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1951-2013
Physical Location: Collection is stored onsite.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English.
Abstract: Peoples Temple miscellany consists of
miscellaneous materials about Peoples Temple arranged by California Historical Society staff
into a single, ongoing collection. Acquired at different times from a variety of donors,
materials in the collection include correspondence, notes, scrapbooks, journals, clippings,
publications, audio recordings, realia and television documentaries about Peoples Temple and
Jonestown, its agricultural mission in Guyana.
CHS is not taking appointments for research at this time. Please check the Library's website updates:
https://californiahistoricalsociety.org/collections/north-baker-research-library/
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must
be submitted in writing to the Director of the Library and Archives, North Baker Research
Library, California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. Consent
is given on behalf of the California Historical Society as the owner of the physical items
and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission
must be obtained from the copyright owner. Restrictions also apply to digital
representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.
[Identification of item], Peoples Temple miscellany, MS 4126, California Historical
Society
Photographs have been removed and transferred to Photographs from Peoples Temple
miscellany, 1966-1978, MSP 4126.
Manuscript Collections:
Peoples Temple records, 1922-1984, MS 3800
Federal Bureau of Investigation collection of Peoples Temple papers from Jonestown,
Guyana, 1931-1978, MS 3801
Moore family papers, 1968-1988, MS 3802
John R. Hall research materials on Peoples Temple, 1954-2003, MS 3803
Ross E. Case collection pertaining to Peoples Temple, 1961-1984, MS 4062
Margaret T. Singer materials on Peoples Temple, 1956-1998, MS 4123
Peoples Temple ephemera and publications, 1959-1979, MS 4124
Newspaper clippings on Peoples Temple: photocopies, 1953-1978, MS 4125
Photography Collections:
Photographs from Peoples Temple miscellany, 1966-1978, MSP 4126
Photographs from Peoples Temple records, 1941-1983, MSP 3800
Photographs of Peoples Temple in the United States and Guyana, 1967-1978, PC 010
Materials in Peoples Temple miscellany have been acquired at different times from a variety
of donors. Most of the materials in the collection were donated to the California Historical
Society by surviving members of Peoples Temple, their families, and friends. Other materials
were received from members of the general public and various media and production
companies.
Additions to the collection are expected.
Peoples Temple miscellany is arranged in 8 series: Series 1: Members' and families' papers;
Series 2: Miscellaneous records and papers; Series 3: FBI releases; Series 4: Jonestown
memorials; Series 5: Television, film and audio recordings; Series 6: Realia; Series 7:
Ephemera; Series 8: Publications.
The arrangement of the collection was imposed by California Historical Society staff.
Peoples Temple began as a church founded by Jim and Marceline Jones and a small group of
parishioners in Indianapolis in 1955. As pastor, Jim Jones preached to a racially-integrated
congregation during Pentecostal-based services that included healings and sermons on
integration and class conflicts. Peoples Temple conducted food drives; opened a "free
restaurant" that served thousands of meals to the city's poor in the early 1960s; operated
nursing homes; and hosted weekly television and radio programs featuring their integrated
choir. The church became well known in the Indianapolis press for the members' integration
activities and for their assertions of their pastor's gifts as a healer. The church became
affiliated with the Disciples of Christ denomination in 1960.
In the summer of 1965, the Jones family and approximately one hundred Peoples Temple
members relocated to Redwood Valley, a rural community eight miles north of Ukiah in
Mendocino County. Peoples Temple conducted church services and meetings in rented and
borrowed spaces until 1969 when they finished building their own church with a swimming
pool, an animal shelter, gardens, and a community kitchen. By this time, the church's
membership had grown to three hundred.
In 1970, Jim Jones began to preach in cities throughout California. Recruiting drives in
African American communities in San Francisco and Los Angeles increased Peoples Temple
membership to over twenty-five hundred by 1973. Some members lived in communal housing and
worked full time for Peoples Temple. Others contributed significant portions of their income
and property to the church. The church's operations included real estate management; home
care facilities for seniors and youths; publishing and bookkeeping services; mail order
services; and maintenance of a fleet of buses to transport members to services throughout
the state and across the country. Tens of thousands of people, including politicians and
members of other congregations, attended Peoples Temple services between 1970 and 1977.
The leadership of Peoples Temple voted to establish an agricultural and rural development
mission in Guyana, South America in the fall of 1973. Over the next two years, members
traveled to Guyana to scout a location for the mission; establish a residence in Georgetown,
the capital of Guyana; clear the land; and begin construction at the site. The building
plans for the community which became known as Jonestown included farm buildings, a large
communal kitchen, medical facilities, schools, dormitory-style housing, small cabins, a day
care center and a large open-air pavilion that became the community's central meeting
place.
By 1976, Peoples Temple had moved its headquarters from Redwood Valley to San Francisco
and had become involved in citywide electoral politics. They published their own newspaper,
Peoples Forum; staged rallies and events for local and
national political figures; and were vocal in their support of causes such as freedom of the
press, affirmative action, and gay rights. In the fall of 1976, recently elected Mayor
George Moscone appointed Jim Jones to the San Francisco Housing Authority. Jones served as
its chairman until he left for Guyana the following year.
In 1977, former members and relatives organized a group called the Concerned Relatives to
protest Jones's treatment of church members. Child custody issues and living conditions in
Jonestown were at the center of the conflict between Peoples Temple and the Concerned
Relatives. Both sides filed lawsuits, sought public support through the media, and appealed
to government officials for protection. Media coverage of Peoples Temple practices and
political activities led the government to investigate the church's financial and social
welfare programs. Peoples Temple began to close many of their businesses, sell their
properties, and relocate hundreds of their members to Guyana.
In response to issues raised by the media and former members, California Congressman Leo
Ryan scheduled a trip to Jonestown in November 1978. By this time, more than a thousand
Peoples Temple members were living in Guyana. His staff, members of Concerned Relatives,
Embassy officials, and journalists accompanied Ryan on an overnight visit to Jonestown. As
the congressional party left for the airstrip at Port Kaituma, sixteen disaffected Jonestown
residents accompanied Ryan. As the group boarded two small airplanes at the airstrip,
Peoples Temple members drove up on tractors and began shooting. They killed Ryan, three
journalists, and a Peoples Temple member. That same day, November 18, 1978, more than nine
hundred people died, most by cyanide poisoning, in Jonestown; four other members died in
Georgetown.
More than eighty Peoples Temple members survived the deaths in Guyana: people who lived
through the airstrip shootings; Jonestown residents who left the community before and during
the poisonings; and members who were in Georgetown and on boats. Hundreds of Peoples Temple
members had remained in the U.S., many of them in California.
Peoples Temple miscellany consists of miscellaneous materials about Peoples Temple arranged
by California Historical Society staff into a single, ongoing collection. Acquired at
different times from a variety of donors, materials in the collection include
correspondence, notes, scrapbooks, journals, clippings, publications, audio recordings,
realia, and television documentaries. The collection includes records pertaining to
individual members of Peoples Temple, the activities of the church, life in Jonestown, and
the aftermath of the events of November 18, 1978.
Materials in Series 1, Members' and families' papers, were received from surviving members
of Peoples Temple or from families and friends of members who died in Jonestown. Records in
this series include an unpublished college paper by the son of a former member; stories and
artwork created by children of Peoples Temple members; letters between Guyanese and U.S.
embassy staff and parents seeking information about their children in Jonestown; and some of
Jim Jones' personal papers, including newspaper clippings, academic records, and
certificates.
Series 2, Miscellaneous records and papers, consists of miscellaneous records created by
or concerning Peoples Temple or associated organizations and individuals. Records in this
series includes high school journal writings by children of Peoples Temple members who
attended Opportunity High School in San Francisco; papers from a theatrical production about
Peoples Temple; personal correspondence between the American and Guyanese lawyers for
Peoples Temple; lists of supply orders from Jonestown transmitted by radio to the
headquarters of Peoples Temple in San Francisco; Bible teaching materials created by Peoples
Temple members; and a signed petition to Congressman Leo Ryan opposing his visit to
Jonestown.
Series 3, FBI releases, consists of three compact discs obtained from the FBI by the
California Historical Society under the auspices of the Freedom of Information Act. The CDs
contain information regarding the FBI's investigation into the murder of Congressman Leo
Ryan on November 18, 1978.
The records in Series 4, Jonestown memorials, concern various installations and events
planned, designed, or created to memorialize those who died in Jonestown. Records in this
series include donation forms for a planned Jonestown Memorial Wall at Evergreen Cemetery in
Oakland, California, ephemera and reviews of Laura Baird's art installations about Peoples
Temple,
Jonestown Carpet and
Jonestown
Dead
, and a 30th anniversary reading of the names of all those who died on November
18, 1978.
Series 5, Television, film, and audio recordings, consists of Peoples Temple choir
recordings of
He's Able, the album produced in 1973 at
Brotherhood Records in San Francisco, and video tapes and DVDs of television documentaries
produced after the events of 1978. The series also includes a feature film, video-taped news
and press conference footage, and ephemera and articles relating to the 2006 documentary
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple.
Series 6, Realia, consists of objects created or used by Peoples Temple members. Objects
include a choir robe worn by Jim Jones, a wooden crate made to transport materials between
the United States and Guyana, and a wooden sign engraved with the name of Dr. Laurence
Schacht, head of the medical clinic in Jonestown. Other objects were used to raise funds for
Peoples Temple and include a handmade candle sold through the Peoples Temple mail-order
department, as well as toys and jewelry created in Jonestown and meant for sale to help
support the settlement.
Series 7, Ephemera, consists of ephemera about Peoples Temple created by other sources.
This series contains a set of
Cult of Death trading cards
published by Carnage Press in 1988.
Series 8, Publications, is made up of published articles and newsletters about Jonestown
and Peoples Temple.
The collection was re-processed by Frances Wratten Kaplan in 2011.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audiocassettes
Jonestown (Guyana)
Jonestown Mass Suicide, Jonestown, Guyana, 1978
Phonograph records.
Scrapbooks
Video recordings.
Jones, Jim, 1931-1978
Peoples Temple.
Ryan, Leo J.--Assassination.