Beyond Jonestown: The people of the temple
About this project
This project is dedicated to the celebration of the lives touched by Peoples Temple and as an examination of how belief can lead to destruction when left unchecked. The stories of who they were go far beyond Jonestown and one tragic day.
PART ONE: THEY WERE VIBRANT
Take a look into who the people who made up the Temple were and the world they dreamt of living in.
PART TWO: NOVEMBER 18, 1978
918 people died November 18, 1978 during the Jonestown massacre in the jungles of Guyana.
Largest loss of American life since 1960
909 members of Peoples Temple died in Jonestown, as well as five members of Congressman Leo Ryan's party who were shot at the nearby Port Kaituma airstrip and the murder-suicide of Sharon Amos and her three children in Georgetown, Guyana.
PART THREE: AFTERMATH
Looking back on the pain that day caused leaves us to wonder how we may continue to forgive and move on.
Peoples Temple in Guyana
Demographics show that 68 percent of Temple members were black, 24 percent were white, 5 percent mixed and 3 percent were other. Jim's vision of living along with one another beyond racial boundaries appears to have come true.
PART FOUR: LEST WE FORGET
In this segment, we focus on societal parallels between then and now and examine the importance of preserving this history. We understand that only by learning from our past, even when painful, that we can prevent repeating it.
Dangerous Rhetoric
Although Nixon was not president on November 18, 1978, it was largely under his leadership from 1969 to 1974 that Peoples Temple membership grew and concerns over civil rights, nationalism, capitalism and nuclear was took hold.
If the passing issues of the time solidified Jones as the antithesis to society's ills, it was certainly Nixon's influence they sought to escape. In light of the similarities, often referenced by Trump and those close to him, it is important people
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A TRIBUTE TO GREG ROBINSON
On the day Congressman Leo Ryan visited Jonestown, a team of journalists accompanied him. Among that team was San Francisco State alumnus Greg Robinson who was a photographer with the San Francisco Examiner at the time. Greg's legacy lives on at San Francisco State in the Greg Robinson Memorial Photojournalism Laboratory. This room has been dedicated to a man who was a journalist at heart, capturing photos until his final breath. Our team would like to send a special thank you to Andrea Robinson, Greg's sister, who took time to speak with us about who her brother truly was.