Restrictions on Access
Restrictions on Reproduction and Use
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Related Collections
Acquisition Information
System of Arrangement
Processing Information
Organizational History
Scope and Contents
Title: Photographs from Peoples Temple records
Date (inclusive): 1959-1982
Date (bulk): 1972-1978
Collection Identifier: MSP
3800
Creator:
Peoples Temple.
Extent:
7 boxes, 25 albums
(10.5 linear feet)
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Location of Materials: Collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in
English.
Abstract: Consists of photographic prints of various sizes
pertaining to Peoples Temple, including individual and group portraits, publicity
photographs, and snapshots. Includes images of church services, recreational
outings, and Peoples Temple members working at various pursuits, including farming,
cooking, and woodworking. Includes interior and exterior shots of Peoples Temple
churches in the United States, images of Peoples Temple members in Jonestown and
Georgetown, Guyana, and approximately 6500 identification photographs of 3800
Peoples Temple members and others who attended church services in California. Also
includes negatives and two slides. Unidentified Peoples Temple members took the bulk
of the photographs before the deaths in Jonestown, Guyana, in November
1978.
Restrictions on Access
All researchers must sign the Access Agreement form, confirming that they have read
and understood the restrictions outlined in the document Restricted Materials in the
Peoples Temple Records, MS 3800. This document, and the Access Agreement form, are
available at the reference desk or can be sent electronically.
Collection is open for research, with the following exceptions:
Photographs from members' legal papers (Box 4, folder 44b) are restricted.
Restrictions on these photographs may be reevaluated if a researcher can show proof
that the person is deceased or has provided proof of permission by the party named
to CHS. The researcher must locate the individual and present CHS with proof of
permission, either by email or letter.
Photographs from advice correspondence (Box 4, folder 45) and photographs from
medical records (Box 4, folder 46) are permanently sealed and closed.
Restrictions on Reproduction and Use
Passport photographs, membership photographs, and other individual portraits of
former members who are still living require the written permission of that person to
be reproduced or published. The researcher must locate the individual and present
CHS with proof of permission, either by email or letter.
Permission for the use of negatives and slides must be obtained from the Director of
Library and Archives.
Publication Rights
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials
must be submitted in writing to the Director of 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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Photographs from Peoples Temple records, MSP 3800,
California Historical Society.
Related Collections
Acquisition Information
Photographs from Peoples Temple records were transferred from Peoples Temple records,
MS 3800. The Peoples Temple records were given to the California Historical Society
by orders of the California Superior Court and of the Guyana High Court, facilitated
by Robert H. Fabian, in June 1983.
Additions were made by Stephan Jones in 2003; these photographs were received from
Charles Garry, attorney for Peoples Temple from 1977 to 1978.
System of Arrangement
The collection has been divided into five series: Series 1: General photographs;
Series 2: Membership photographs; Series 3: Passport photographs; Series 4:
Photographs of Peoples Temple facilities and property; and Series 5: Photographs
from correspondence and legal files.
Processing Information
Processed by Denice Stephenson in 2003-2005.
Organizational History
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.
After the deaths, Peoples Temple members in San Francisco provided the government
with records to assist in identifying the dead. All Peoples Temple assets were
frozen and placed under court supervision and the process of dissolving Peoples
Temple began. The court oversaw the burial of hundreds of unclaimed and unidentified
bodies from Jonestown. The court also set up a system to handle what would
ultimately total $1.8 billion in claims filed against the Peoples Temple estate.
Claims were filed by the governments of Guyana and the United States; people injured
at the airstrip; relatives of the deceased; and people who had turned over property
to Peoples Temple. In 1979 and 1980, Congress held hearings on the death of
Congressman Ryan and on cult phenomenon in the U.S.
By 1983, the court recovered and disbursed over $13 million, including interest, in
assets recovered from cash found in the U.S. and Guyana, from international accounts
found in Panama, Caracas, Grenada and other countries, and from the sale of Peoples
Temple properties and assets. In June 1983, the court approved the transfer of the
records of Peoples Temple to the California Historical Society.
Scope and Contents
Consists of photographic prints of various sizes pertaining to Peoples Temple,
including individual and group portraits, publicity photographs, and snapshots.
Includes images of church services, recreational outings, and Peoples Temple members
working at various pursuits, including farming, cooking, and woodworking. Includes
interior and exterior shots of Peoples Temple churches in the United States, images
of Peoples Temple members in Jonestown and Georgetown, Guyana, and approximately
6500 identification photographs of 3800 Peoples Temple members and others who
attended church services in California. Also includes negatives and two slides.
Unidentified Peoples Temple members took the bulk of the photographs before the
deaths in Jonestown, Guyana, in November 1978.
Peoples Temple members who worked in photography or were amateur photographers
included Eugene Chaikin, T. Clancey, Don Jackson, Elmer Mertle, Ken Norton, J.
Randolph, Chris Rozynko, and E. Smith.
Many of the photographs are undated. Dates in the container list and in captions have
been supplied based on information from Stephan Jones and other former Peoples
Temple members who assisted in the identification of photographs.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Jones, Jim, 1931-1978--Portraits.
Peoples Temple--Pictorial works.
Identification photographs.
Jonestown (Guyana)--Pictorial works.
Negatives.
Photograph albums.
Photographic prints.
Portrait photographs.