the jonestown report 13, Personal Reflections

The articles below offer a wide range of perspectives on the life of Peoples Temple, the deaths in Jonestown, and the 33 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.

1. We were just kids who loved to dance, by Glenda Bates
2. My Adolescence in Peoples Temple, by James Bernie Blanton
3. The Song of the Unmarked Graves, by Laurie Efrein Kahalas
4. Articles and Reflections by Laura Johnston Kohl
   1. Membership In Communal Groups – So Much Of Who I Am Today
   2. Peoples Temple – A Church On The Margin And Then Over The Side
   3. My Communal Studies Experience
   4. Sisterhood
5. Jonestown: In the Prison of History Not Personally Lived, by Chris Lewis, Jr.
   1. A Bridge between the Academic and the Personal, by Chris Lewis, Jr.
6. Damn you, Jim Jones!, by RP
   1. My Life Since the Temple, by RP
7. Eradicating an Expression, One Step at a Time, by Mickey Touchette
8. Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid, by David Parker Wise