The articles below offer a wide range of perspectives on the life of Peoples Temple, the deaths in Jonestown, and the 28 years that have passed. All were written by former members and relatives of the people who died. While each individual story brings a powerful voice to any consideration of the events of 18 November 1978, their totality contributes to an even more important – if sometimes cacophonous – body of work. For that reason, these stories may also be found on our growing online collection of perspectives here.
We invite other members and families of Peoples Temple – whatever your views on the tragedy of Jonestown and the factors that led to its end – to join in this chorus. Contact us at remoore@sdsu.edu or fieldingmcgehee@yahoo.com so that we may add your story.
- Were We Special? Are We Still? by Kathryn (Tropp) Barbour
- Re-Connection and Restoring Dignity, by Don Beck
- Temple Healings: Magical Thinking, by Mike Cartmell
- A Few Words And Booklist, by Jim Cobb
- Three Years Later, by Josef Dieckman
- Allegory, by Laurie Efrein Kahalas
- A Thousand Eyes, by Vernon Gosney
- How I Remember 1978, by Lela Howard
- What Good Is Anger? by Neva Sly Hargrave
- The plain ugly truth, by Dianne E. Scheid
- A Cultural Biography, by Andy Silver
- Mind Control and Torture, Or, Mass Murderers, Megalomaniacs, and Fear Mongers, by David Parker Wise
- ReUnited after 35 years through the Alternative Considerations Website, by David Parker Wise