Finding aid to the John R. Hall research materials on Peoples Temple, MS 3803
Finding aid prepared by Denice Stephenson.
California Historical Society
2007
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
Title: John R. Hall research materials on Peoples Temple
Date (inclusive): 1954-2003
Date (bulk): 1978-2003
Collection Identifier: MS
3803
Creator:
Hall, John R.
Physical Description:
38 boxes
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Collection is open for research, with the following exceptions: Boxes 2-3, folders
25-67 are restricted. Inquiries concerning these files should be directed to the
Director of Library and Archives.
[Identification of item], John R. Hall Research Materials on Peoples Temple, MS 3803,
California Historical Society.
Photographs have been transferred to the Photography Collection (MSP 3803). Printed
materials have been transferred to the book collection.
Related collections include: Peoples Temple records (MSP 3800); FBI Collection of
Peoples Temple papers from Jonestown, Guyana (MS 3801); Moore Family papers (MS
3802); Ross E. Case collection on Peoples Temple (MS 4062); Margaret T. Singer
materials on Peoples Temple (MS 4123); Peoples Temple ephemera and publications (MS
4124); Clippings on Peoples Temple (MS 4125); Peoples Temple miscellany collection
(MS 4126).
Immediate Source of Acquisiton
The John R. Hall research materials on Peoples Temple were given to the California
Historical Society by John R. Hall in February 1987. Additions were made in March
2004.
The collection has been divided into four series: Series 1: Manuscript materials;
Series 2: Reports; Series 3: Newspaper clippings; and Series 4: Audiotapes.
John R. Hall is the author of
Gone from the promised land:
Jonestown in American cultural history
. He is a professor in the
Sociology Department at the University of California, Davis.
Peoples Temple began as an independent Pentecostal church founded by Jim and
Marceline Jones in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1955 and became affiliated with the
Disciples of Christ denomination in 1960. In 1965, the church moved to Northern
California with approximately a hundred members. In 1970, Peoples Temple began
holding services and recruiting thousands of members from African American
communities in San Francisco and Los Angeles and later opened large churches in both
cities. In 1973, the church initiated plans for an agricultural and rural
development mission in Guyana, South America that became known as Jonestown. In
1977, media coverage of Peoples Temple practices and political activities led the
government to investigate the church's financial and social welfare programs. That
same year, members began to relocate to Jonestown, and by 1978 over 1000 resided
there. In November 1978, responding to claims of mistreatment of members in
Jonestown, Rep. Leo Ryan, accompanied by a small group, went to Guyana to survey the
conditions. During the visit, 17 members chose to leave with Ryan. On November 18,
when boarding their planes, they were shot by Peoples Temple members, killing Ryan,
three journalists, and a Peoples Temple member. Later that same day, over 900
members of Peoples Temple died in Jonestown of cyanide poisoning. Survivors included
eighty members in Guyana and hundreds of members in the U.S., many in California. In
1983, Peoples Temple was dissolved and its records were deposited at the California
Historical Society.
Materials used by Hall in preparation of, and cited in, his book,
Gone from the promised land: Jonestown in American cultural
history
, published in 1987. Includes correspondence, legal documents,
clippings, transcripts of conversations and broadcasts (1954-1983), and ephemera
collected and generated by members of Peoples Temple (1960-1978), particularly in
the early years of the organization's history. Much of the collection is
photocopies. Includes an audiotape of the Peoples Temple murder/suicide ritual of
November 18, 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana. Also includes Hall's papers pertaining to
Freedom of Information Act releases and an item level inventory of materials cited
in his book.
The legacy finding aid attached to this record may not accurately reflect the
contents of the collection. Additional materials may have been added to the
collection and container locations may have changed since the description was
written.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog:
Jones, Jim, 1931-1978.
Peoples Temple--History.
Collective settlements--Social aspects.
Collective settlements--Sociological aspects.
Jonestown (Guyana)--History.
Jonestown Mass Suicide, Jonestown, Guyana, 1978.
Audiotapes.