As a teenager, Jones was convinced that his father was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, as Lynn had a large KKK membership. Believing in equal rights and in reaction to his father’s actions, Jones became a strong advocate for racial equality and civil rights. Jones attended Indiana University and Butler University, and in 1952, became a student preacher for the Somerset Methodist Church in Indianapolis.[4] In 1956, he established the Peoples Temple of the Disciples in Christ in Indianapolis, and became ordained in 1964. Due to Jones’ passion for civil rights and his support for the underdog and downtrodden since his childhood, the Peoples Temple welcomed congregants from various racial backgrounds, the majority being African American. Jones and his wife adopted children of different races and claimed to be the first white couple in Indianapolis to adopt an African American child. Jones referred to his children as his “rainbow family”, with the Joneses receiving death threats towards their African American son.[5]
The Peoples Temple directly participated in the Civil Rights Movement in Indiana, including helping to desegregate movie theatres, hospitals, restaurants, and police departments. The Temple also created a “free restaurant, and homes for the mentally ill.” In 1961, Mayor Charles Boswell appointed Jones as head of the Indianapolis Human Rights Commission.[6]
Jones moved his Peoples Temple to San Francisco in the 1970s. The Temple attracted members of lower and middle classes of all races to hear Jones’ message of equality and anti-discrimination. Jones continued to donate to local causes such as the NAACP, and developed connections with politicians to spread his message and gain followers. California State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown was said to compare Jones to figures including “Martin Luther King, Angela Davis, Albert Einstein, and Chairman Mao.”[7]
Jones portrayed himself as someone with extraordinary powers, such as telepathy, faith healing, and clairvoyance. In reality, he had other Temple members search through “garbage cans and medicine cabinets for private information” or pretend to be disabled to make Jones’ powers look real. Jones controlled his congregants with abuse, beatings, sleep deprivation, constant work, and humiliation[8] This abuse caused some of even Jones’ most trusted members to leave the Temple and contact the media.[9] In 1974, threatened by an imminent media investigation, he moved his entire congregation to Guyana. There, the Temple sought to create a society where they were free to do as they wished without prejudice and hatred, and control by the US government. By 1977, “Jonestown” had nearly a thousand residents.[10]
Jones continued to maintain control over Jonestown residents by physical punishment and humiliations. Communication from inside and outside Jonestown was heavily controlled and censored. Phone calls were scripted, with Jones telling his followers what to say to their relatives in the US. He convinced his followers that staying in Jonestown was for their own safety, by falsely declaring that nuclear war was impending and concentration camps were being formed in the US. Despite these “warnings”, some members did leave Jonestown. As a test of loyalty, Jones even made his followers practice “revolutionary suicide” by drinking water said to be poisoned. Meanwhile in the US, relatives of the Jonestown population contacted the authorities to start an investigation into the Peoples Temple. Former members informed the media of the abuses and mass suicide threats that occurred in Jonestown.[11]
California Representative Leo Ryan, relatives of Temple members, and American journalists arrived in Jonestown on November 1978 to investigate. Jones and the residents put on public festivities to welcome their guests, but in private, Jones complained to Ryan about the American government interfering with the Peoples Temple.[12] The next day, a reporter handed Jones a note that was given to him by a Temple member reading “Help us get out of Jonestown.” Despite his anger, Jones told Ryan and the media that anyone who wanted to leave Jonestown could do so. As several groups of people prepared to leave the settlement, Peoples Temple members opened fire, killing Ryan and three others, and injuring 11.[13] In Jonestown, Jones convinced his congregation to drink from vats of Flavor-Aid that were laced with cyanide as a “revolutionary act.” A total of 918 people died by mass suicide that day, a third of them children.
Jones himself was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head, leaving an incomprehensible and tragic legacy of using civil rights and religion as a cover to further his political ideology resulting in human rights abuses and mass murder.[14]
]]>James Warren Jones was born on May 13, 1931 in Crete, Indiana[1] and the family moved to Lynn, Indiana in 1934.[2] He was invited to church by his neighbors, and it was those sermons that sparked Jones’ interest in religion and leadership. He studied various leaders including Marx, Gandhi, Hitler, and Stalin, noting their strengths and weaknesses.[3]
As a teenager, Jones was convinced that his father was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, as Lynn had a large KKK membership. Believing in equal rights and in reaction to his father’s actions, Jones became a strong advocate for racial equality and civil rights. Jones attended Indiana University and Butler University, and in 1952, became a student preacher for the Somerset Methodist Church in Indianapolis.[4] In 1956, he established the Peoples Temple of the Disciples in Christ in Indianapolis, and became ordained in 1964. Due to Jones’ passion for civil rights and his support for the underdog and downtrodden since his childhood, the Peoples Temple welcomed congregants from various racial backgrounds, the majority being African American. Jones and his wife adopted children of different races and claimed to be the first white couple in Indianapolis to adopt an African American child. Jones referred to his children as his “rainbow family”, with the Joneses receiving death threats towards their African American son.[5]
The Peoples Temple directly participated in the Civil Rights Movement in Indiana, including helping to desegregate movie theatres, hospitals, restaurants, and police departments. The Temple also created a “free restaurant, and homes for the mentally ill.” In 1961, Mayor Charles Boswell appointed Jones as head of the Indianapolis Human Rights Commission.[6]
Jones moved his Peoples Temple to San Francisco in the 1970s. The Temple attracted members of lower and middle classes of all races to hear Jones’ message of equality and anti-discrimination. Jones continued to donate to local causes such as the NAACP, and developed connections with politicians to spread his message and gain followers. California State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown was said to compare Jones to figures including “Martin Luther King, Angela Davis, Albert Einstein, and Chairman Mao.”[7]
Jones portrayed himself as someone with extraordinary powers, such as telepathy, faith healing, and clairvoyance. In reality, he had other Temple members search through “garbage cans and medicine cabinets for private information” or pretend to be disabled to make Jones’ powers look real. Jones controlled his congregants with abuse, beatings, sleep deprivation, constant work, and humiliation[8] This abuse caused some of even Jones’ most trusted members to leave the Temple and contact the media.[9] In 1974, threatened by an imminent media investigation, he moved his entire congregation to Guyana. There, the Temple sought to create a society where they were free to do as they wished without prejudice and hatred, and control by the US government. By 1977, “Jonestown” had nearly a thousand residents.[10]
Jones continued to maintain control over Jonestown residents by physical punishment and humiliations. Communication from inside and outside Jonestown was heavily controlled and censored. Phone calls were scripted, with Jones telling his followers what to say to their relatives in the US. He convinced his followers that staying in Jonestown was for their own safety, by falsely declaring that nuclear war was impending and concentration camps were being formed in the US. Despite these “warnings”, some members did leave Jonestown. As a test of loyalty, Jones even made his followers practice “revolutionary suicide” by drinking water said to be poisoned. Meanwhile in the US, relatives of the Jonestown population contacted the authorities to start an investigation into the Peoples Temple. Former members informed the media of the abuses and mass suicide threats that occurred in Jonestown.[11]
California Representative Leo Ryan, relatives of Temple members, and American journalists arrived in Jonestown on November 1978 to investigate. Jones and the residents put on public festivities to welcome their guests, but in private, Jones complained to Ryan about the American government interfering with the Peoples Temple.[12] The next day, a reporter handed Jones a note that was given to him by a Temple member reading “Help us get out of Jonestown.” Despite his anger, Jones told Ryan and the media that anyone who wanted to leave Jonestown could do so. As several groups of people prepared to leave the settlement, Peoples Temple members opened fire, killing Ryan and three others, and injuring 11.[13] In Jonestown, Jones convinced his congregation to drink from vats of Flavor-Aid that were laced with cyanide as a “revolutionary act.” A total of 918 people died by mass suicide that day, a third of them children.
Jones himself was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head, leaving an incomprehensible and tragic legacy of using civil rights and religion as a cover to further his political ideology resulting in human rights abuses and mass murder.[14]