The Digital Collections of San Diego State University Library have installed a new data manager to enhance user accessibility of their holdings. This is good news for those wishing to view photographs in the Jones Family Memorabilia Collection, 1962–2002 and the Peoples Temple Collection, 1972–1990. These links take visitors directly to the collections, and by scrolling down to a search box, visitors can look for a particular person, place, or item.
A list of filters on the left-hand side also limits searches in various ways. “Subject Names,” for example, provides a listing of all the names of individuals who have been identified, and the number of photos associated with each known person in the collection. A search by “Organization” might be a bit more helpful than by “Geographic Subject” in that it is larger and more comprehensive.
The Jones Family Memorabilia Collection, 1962–2002 was donated by Stephan Jones, and contains personal photos and effects of Jim Jones, Marceline Jones, and other members of the Jones Family. The Peoples Temple Collection, 1972–1990 contains photographs taken by the John V Moore Family on visits to Jonestown in May 1978 and May 1979. Many photos in this collection are duplicates of photos in other collections. Some photographs are copyright-protected, so please contact the Head of Special Collections, Anna Culbertson to learn how you may use images in the collection.
Additional repositories of images from Peoples Temple and Jonestown are available by going to the Peoples Temple Photo Gallery.