Endorsements of Peoples Temple – Jonestown & Peoples Temple

Peoples Temple would not have been able to establish the community of Jonestown in Guyana – its FreedomLand, its Promised Land – without the support of that country’s prime minister, Forbes Burnham. Nor would the Temple been able to win various concessions from the Guyanese government – the accreditation of the Jonestown school and the suspension of medical residency requirements for Jonestown doctor Larry Schacht are two examples – without the blessing of Forbes Burnham. For those reasons, Jim Jones’ priorities included maintaining a good relationship with Burnham, keeping his political benefactor informed of the progress made by the new community in the country’s Northwest District jungles, and coming to the prime minister with the political problems the Temple increasingly faced, especially in the last year of Jonestown’s existence.

The table below is primarily a collection of the endorsements of Peoples Temple made by third parties – principally congressional representatives and community leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area – that were so crucial in the early years of Jonestown’s development.

A companion page catalogues the contacts the Temple made with Burnham – there are a very few that Burnham made with Jones, especially on paper – arranged in chronological order. The exceptions are those petitions and letters submitted to Burnham in Spring 1978 by members of the Concerned Relatives oppositional group, documents which were rebutted by the Temple.

Both pages were developed by Kiana Parker, a 2026 graduate of Macaulay Honors College at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY). The editors are immensely grateful for her painstaking research on this project.

The chart lists each contact by hotlinked RYMUR citations – all of which begin with “RYMUR 89-4286” – followed by date of contact, the person making the contact, and a brief note on the topic of discussion. Contextual notes appear in the last column.

Citation	Date	Person making contact	Topic of discussion	Contextual Notes
D-2-B-8	20 Nov 73	Letter from U.S. Rep. Don H. Clausen	Congressional introduction of Jones’ Guyana mission.	Direct recipient. Clausen introduces Jones before his Guyana visit and asks Burnham to extend courtesies for a proposed missionary human-service project. Early pre-Jonestown contact uses humanitarian instead of crisis language.
D-2-B-9	26 Nov 73	Letter from U.S. Rep. George F. Brown, Jr.	Congressional introduction of Peoples Temple directors	Direct recipient. Brown introduces Jones and Temple directors before their Guyana visit, describing the church’s interracial and social-service work.
M-1-a-4, HH-1-P12	2 Aug 77	Letter from Michael Snedeker	Endorses Peoples Temple work with prisoners and social services.	Direct recipient. Support letter from attorney and Prisoners Union affiliate on Temple services, progressive social work, former drug addicts, and the Guyana agricultural mission. Copy recipients include Deputy Prime Minister Ptolemy Reid.
LL-1-f	2 Aug 77	Letter from Art Agnos	Defends Peoples Temple’s public-service work in San Francisco.	Direct recipient. Support letter from California state legislator. Agnos says Peoples Temple’s work is mainly service to elderly, poor families, and troubled youth, despite local efforts to politicize it.
NN-1-F	2 Aug 77	Letter from Philip Martin	Endorses Peoples Temple community-service work in San Francisco.	Direct recipient. Martin says he has no official Temple association but is familiar with its San Francisco work in child care, legal aid, housing, and rehabilitation.
NN-1-I	2 Aug 77	Letter from Gilbert Graham	Endorses Peoples Temple programs and social-justice work.	Direct recipient. Graham describes attending services and touring Temple facilities, including food service, job training, printing, media training, school curricula, and business enterprises.
HH-1-P11	2 Aug 77	Letter from Joseph E. Hall	Endorses Temple youth rehabilitation and legal and medical services.	Direct recipient. Support letter from president of the San Francisco NAACP. Describes Peoples Temple programs for youth, seniors, abandoned children, legal aid, medical services, job training, and rehabilitation.
HH-1-P22	2 Aug 77	Letter from Margie Baker	Endorses Peoples Temple youth, senior, and health programs.	Direct recipient. Support letter from a San Francisco public school supervisor. Praises Jones’ work with young people, senior citizens, health programs, and his admiration for Guyana.
HH-1-P24	2 Aug 77	Letter from Enola D. Maxwell	Endorses Jones’ humanitarian ministry and aid to people in need.	Direct recipient. Support letter from Potrero Hill Neighborhood House. Maxwell says she has known Jones for ten years and hasn’t known him to turn down people or organizations in need regardless of race, color, or creed. Compares his ministry to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
LL-2-e-1 – e-2, HH-1-P16	3 Aug 77	Letter from Calif. Lt. Gov. Mervyn Dymally	U.S. media attacks on Peoples Temple and Guyana.	Direct recipient. Dymally compares attacks on Peoples Temple with U.S. media attacks on Guyana and Jamaica, and asks Burnham to continue supporting the mission. cc line includes Ptolemy Reid and members of the Cabinet.
NN-1-H, HH-1-P25	3 Aug 77	Letter from E. Robert Wallach	Legal endorsement of Peoples Temple’s San Francisco work.	Direct recipient. Wallach says Gene Chaikin asked him to provide a personal appraisal of Peoples Temple’s work.
HH-1-P19	3 Aug 77	Letter from Charles Briody	Endorses Jones and links attacks to right-wing anti-socialist organizing	Direct recipient. Support letter from the Bay Area Ecumenical Committee of Concern for Chile. Compares attacks on Jones to coordinated right-wing and fascist propaganda offensive, including overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile.
HH-1-P26	3 Aug 77	Letter from Connie Williams	Endorses Temple as refuge for poor Black residents.	Direct recipient. Support letter from owner of Connie’s Restaurant and president of the West Coast Caribbean Association. Describes Jones as a defender of poor and oppressed people in a racist capitalist society and notes his respect for Burnham’s socialist leadership.
LL-1-a-1 – a-2	5 Aug 77	Letter from Willie Brown	Lauds Peoples Temple service work and anti-Jones smear campaign.	Direct recipient. Support letter from California Assembly member. Brown describes Jones’ social justice work and warns that smears should not jeopardize the Guyana project.
HH-1-P13	5 Aug 77	Letter from Howard Wallace	Gay Action/Labor endorsement of Peoples Temple against right-wing press attacks.	Direct recipient. Support letter from a socialist, trade unionist, anti-war organizer, and supporter of Black, Latino, feminist, and gay movements. Identifies New Times articles as part of a right-wing smear campaign and says Guyana’s land supports a mission for desperate youth.
D-1-L-6 (12)	8 Aug 77	Letter from Lynn E. Hodges	Church support during San Francisco media attacks.	Direct recipient. Support letter from Bancroft Avenue Baptist Church. Hodges responds to press allegations against Peoples Temple and describes the Guyana agricultural project as a positive church relationship.
HH-1-P23, HH-4-B – 4-C	8 Aug 77	Letter from John Maher	McCarthy-style attacks on Temple.	Direct recipient. Support letter from Delancey Street Foundation. Describes Peoples Temple’s charitable work in San Francisco and argues that Jones became a political target because of local power-structure conflicts, racism, and press distortion.
D-1-L-6 (7)	9 Aug 77	Letter from Doris M. Ward	Endorses Jones’ civil-rights record and social-service work.	Direct recipient. Support letter on San Francisco Community College District letterhead. Ward describes Jones’ civil-rights record and his work on health care, housing, education, and programs for poor communities.
D-1-L-6 (8)	9 Aug 77	Letter from Susan J. Bierman	Peoples Temple work in San Francisco and Guyana.	Direct recipient. Support letter from San Francisco City Planning Commission member. Bierman describes her visit to Peoples Temple and thanks Guyana for assisting Jones’ project.
NN-1-J, HH-1-P10	9 Aug 77	Letter from Vivian Hallinan	Reason for press attacks on Jones and gratitude for Guyana project support.	Direct recipient. Hallinan says Jones is attacked because he challenges the social system behind poverty and neglect instead of serving corporate interests. Thanks Burnham’s government for kindness and cooperation with the project.
HH-1-P47	9 Aug 77	Letter from Mary Helen Rogers	Compares Temple press attacks to Black organizing campaigns and struggles.	Recipient status: Uncertain. No visible Burnham address line, but letter appears within a larger Burnham endorsement-letter collection and is addressed “Dear Sir.” Support letter from WAPAC (Western Addition Project Area Committee) chair. Compares press attacks on Jones with attacks on WAPAC, WACO, and the Black Panther Party.
D-1-L-6 (3) – 6 (4), HH-1-P17A – P17B	10 Aug 77	Letter from Julia Hare	Compares U.S. criticism of Jones to persecution of Black and progressive leaders.	Direct recipient. Support letter on KSFO/560 letterhead. Mentions visit to Peoples Temple and COINTELPRO. Defends Jones against U.S. criticism and compares attacks on Peoples Temple to earlier campaigns against Black and progressive leaders.
D-1-L-6 (9)	11 Aug 77	Letter from Rodney E. Williams	Endorses Jones’ work with ex-offenders.	Direct recipient. Support letter from former director of the Police Community Relations Unit. Williams describes Peoples Temple’s work with ex-offenders and its role in addressing problems in San Francisco’s Fillmore District.
D-1-L-6 (10)	August 1977, Uncertain	Letter from Ridgewood Ranch signatories	Jones’ loyalty and support for Burnham’s government.	Direct recipient. Letter has no explicit date and eight illegible signatures. Placed with August 1977 support-letter packet. Eight signatories describe Jones as a loyal advocate for economic equality and wish Burnham success in Guyana.
D-1-L-6 (11)	11 Aug 77	Letter from Shelley Fernandez	Peoples Temple health clinic, school, rehabilitation, and youth work.	Direct recipient. Support letter on National Organization for Women letterhead/from president of San Francisco NOW. Fernandez describes Peoples Temple’s health clinic, school, drug-rehabilitation work, and services for poor and troubled youth.
HH-1-P21	13 Aug 77	Letter from Sylvester Herring	Support for Peoples Temple medical and food services.	Direct recipient. Support letter from San Francisco Human Rights Commission commissioner. Describes Peoples Temple’s free medical, food, and community services. Urges Burnham to support the agricultural mission in Guyana.
D-2-C-27	August 77	Undated note	Rosalynn Carter’s praise of Jones.	Likely attachment or supporting note within the August 1977 support-letter packet. States that Rosalynn Carter commended Jones by telephone for Peoples Temple’s work in Guyana.
A-1 (40), HH-1-P15	31 August 77	Letter from Fernando Gonzalez	Support for Temple based on Yvonne Golden’s recommendation.	Direct recipient. Gonzalez defends Peoples Temple against press criticism and describes its work through association with Yvonne Golden.
LL-2-c-1 – c-3	27 Oct 77	Letter from Mervyn Dymally	Conspiracy against Jones and Black elected officials.	Direct recipient. In letter of support, California Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally describes alleged organized efforts to discredit Black officials and links the campaign against Jones to attacks on Peoples Temple’s Guyana project.
HH-1-P-9	3 Nov 77	Letter from Dennis Banks	Describes David Conn blackmail allegation efforts against Jones.	Direct recipient. In letter of support, American Indian Movement leader Dennis Banks says Treasury department agent named David Conn offered help with his South Dakota extradition matter if he denounced Jones and Peoples Temple. Presents approach as part of the same broader campaign against Indigenous activists.
AA-1-c	17 Nov 77	Letter from Charles S. Preston	Protection for Jim Jones against extradition.	Direct recipient. In letter of support, the editor of The Gray Panther Network Charles S. Preston asks Burnham to protect Jones from U.S. press and government pressure, including possible extradition.
D-3-A-6b	May 23, uncertain	Forwarded endorsement from Con Malone	Endorses Jones and Peoples Temple’s social work.	Direct recipient or enclosure forwarded through Peoples Temple. Associated with D-3-A-6a. Letterhead is Charles Cameron MacSwan Testimonial Committee, date not visible. Malone endorses Jones and Peoples Temple’s social-service work in Guyana and the United States.

Originally posted on July 2nd, 2026.