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A BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND ON BISHOP JIM JONES
Bishop Jim Jones is the founder of the Peoples Temple Christian Churches, a large human service ministry based in California, USA. The Bishop is an officially ordained minister in a mainstream nationwide denomination, the Disciples of Christ. He has been pastor of his church for 25 years.
Bishop Jones uncompromising stands in defense of social justice and equalitarian ideals for all peoples has led to his serving with acclaim in many civic posts. He was the Executive Director of the Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights in a large city in the Midwestern United States. Through that position he integrated scores of businesses, at a time – many years ago – when it was dangerous to even try. It was in this period that Bishop Jones shared a pulpit with the late civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King.
Since coming to California with his wife, Marceline, a Registered Nurse who inspects and evaluates hospitals, and his family of eight adopted children of all races (and one natural born), Bishop Jones has become widely recognized as a courageous champion of the poor and the oppressed. Various prominent media have honored him as being a great humanitarian. A special merit award for civic leadership was presented to him by the President of the National Newspaper Publishers Association – the Black press of America.
The ministry built by Jim Jones is known by virtually all segments of the community for its work in fulfilling the Scripture in which Jesus Christ admonishes people to “feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and minister to the sick and imprisoned, as well as the orphans and widows.” Bishop Jones is responsible for developing programs and facilities that have rescued hundreds of people from extreme poverty, drug addiction, and other oppressive conditions. Recently, he was appointed by the mayor of San Francisco, California to serve as a commissioner on the city’s Housing Authority.
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BISHOP JIM JONES (CONT.)
Bishop Jones graduated from Butler University of Indiana with honors in 1960. He has taught civics and social studies as a public school teacher. His lifestyle is modest and completely without frills. As a minister, he takes no anniversary gifts, appreciation days, or personal offerings of any kind. He steadfastly refuses to live above the people of disadvantaged backgrounds whom he serves. His entire life is centered on the struggle for human dignity, and equality for the working class – a principle Bishop Jones is prepared to defend with his very life.
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SUMMARY OF SOME OF THE CONCERNS AND IDEALS JIM JONES STANDS FOR
Jim Jones was reared in circumstances of extreme poverty in the Midwestern United States. He began to support himself and his family as a youngster. He became head [“orderly” struck out, handwritten substitute illegible] of a large hospital while still in high school. At Butler University he undertook extensive study in political science and the humanities with preparation in Biblical history and scriptural exegesis. Over the years he has combined the leadership of human service industry with teaching public school and operating two very successful nursing homes.
From the beginning of his career Jim Jones has been exclusively interested in serving the cause of humanity, sacrificing personal advantage in favor of relieving human suffering. He has worked tirelessly towards the restoration of the basic Judeo-Christian ideals of brotherhood and equality through building an integrated ministry of dedicated people that reaches out to all areas of human need.
Rev. Jim Jones is the founder of Peoples Temple Christian Churches, a large human service ministry with several California branches. He is an officially ordained minister in the nationwide Disciples of Christ denomination of about 2 million members. He has been a pastor for approximately 25 years.
Rev. Jones uncompromising stands in defense of social justice and equalitarian ideals for all peoples has led to his serving with acclaim in many civic posts. He was the Executive Director of the Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights in a large city in the Midwestern United States. Through that position he integrated scores of businesses, at a time – many years ago – when it was dangerous to even try. It was in this period that Bishop Jones shared a pulpit with the late civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King.
Rev. Jones has become well-recognized as a courageous champion of the poor and the oppressed. Various prominent media have honored him as a great humanitarian.
The ministry built by Jim Jones is known by virtually all segments of the community for its work in fulfilling the Scripture in which Jesus Christ admonishes people to “feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and minister to the sick and imprisoned, as well as the orphans and widows.” Bishop Jones is responsible for developing programs and facilities that have rescued hundreds of people from extreme poverty, drug addiction, and other oppressive conditions.
Rev. Jones lifestyle is modest and completely without frills. As a minister, he takes no anniversary gifts, appreciation days, or personal offerings of any kind. He steadfastly refuses to live above the people of disadvantaged backgrounds whom he serves. His entire life is centered on the struggle for human dignity, and equality for the working class – a principle Rev. Jones is prepared to defend with his very life.
Among the many wide-ranging programs and facilities inspired by Rev. Jones are senior citizens’ homes, a 40 acre children’s ranch, a large community center, free medical program, and legal assistance, a youth day care project, refuge shelters for sick and abandoned animals. He has also established an overseas agricultural mission project where food is being grown to help feed the world’s hungry in order to alleviate human misery in some small way.
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Jim Jones has always been a fierce and uncompromising advocate of racial equality. He has an abiding respect for the democratic process as the vehicle for the elimination of racial barriers, but he believes that it is up to each of us as citizens to see that the process is motivated and activated in a continuous way so that social justice issue is achieved.
Under Pastor Jones’ direction, Peoples Temple constantly attempts to combat injustice by standing in support of any person, regardless of race or creed, wherever basic human rights are in question. He persists through such vehicles as the Peoples Forum, in which issues of moral and social significance are presented to the community for which he feels such a great sense of responsibility.
(For further information on early background Pastor Jones has been lauded in his hometown press in Richmond, Indiana)
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FACT SHEET REV. JAMES JONES
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Bachelor of Science Degree – Butler University
Major in Political Science and History – University of Indiana
Ordained minister in the Disciples of Christ Denomination
Post Graduate work at Sonoma State [University]
Teaching Credential with experience teaching elementary, secondary, and adult education.
Post Graduate work at Christian Bible College
COMMUNITY SERVICE ACTIVITY
Life member of the NAACP and the ACLU
Honorary Member of Religion in American Life
Official in the Disciples of Christ Denomination
Phi Eta Sigma – Honorary Scholarship Society
Former Foreman of the Grand Jury in Northern California
Past President of Legal Services Foundation in Northern California
Member of Tomorrow Environmental Organization
Member of the San Francisco Council of Churches
Board of Directors for the NAACP
HONORARY AWARDS
Commendation by the California State Senate for his “diligent and devoted service to and concern for his fellow man, not only in the state and nation but throughout the world.”
Commendation by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for the tireless and invaluable contributions to all people of the Bay Area.”
Received the Citizen of Merit Award for the San Francisco newspaper the Sun Reporter
Received the “Humanitarian of the Year Award” in the Los Angeles Herald Dispatch.
Named one of the Nation’s Most Outstanding Clergymen by the Religion in American Life (a National Interfaith Organization)
FAMILY
Rev. Jones and his wife Marceline have 6 legally adopted children of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, and have also raised numerous foster children throughout the years. His multiracial family is composed of his black son, Jim Jones Jr., his two Asian children, Lew and Suzanne, his “homemade” son, Stephan, his latest adopted son, Timothy, and his grown Native American daughter.
His wife, Marceline Jones, is a Registered Nurse who inspects and evaluates hospitals, with a concern for the welfare of the elderly sick which is equaled only by that of her husband.
[Handwritten additions]
Chairman of Housing Commission
Ordained in Disciples of Christ Ministry in 1964
Standard Teaching Credential in California
specialized Elementary & Adult Education
Bachelor of Science Degree Butler University 1961
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BIOGRAPHY
Name: Reverend James Jones
Social Security No. 303-32-5942
Present Occupation: Minister, Peoples Temple Christian Church, Disciples of Christ Denomination
Business Address: 1859 Geary Blvd., San Francisco, California
Business Telephone: 922-6418
Residence Address: 1859 Geary Blvd., San Francisco, California
Residence Telephone: 922-3735
Have you been a legal resident of San Francisco for at least the past five years, and an elector in San Francisco for the past twelve months?
I have been a resident of San Francisco for the last year and one half. I am registered and vote as a Democrat.
Previous Business Experience: Director of the Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights under Mayor Charles Boswell in Indianapolis, Indiana
Owner of Peoples and Anthony Hall Nursing Homes
Past Foreman of the Mendocino County Grand Jury
Date of Birth: May 13, 1931
Place of Birth: Crete, Indiana
Are you a citizen of the United States of America? Yes
Education: Bachelor of Science Degree, Major, Political Science and History, Butler University 1958-1960 and Indiana University 1949-1951. Secondary teaching credential. Postgraduate work at Sonoma State College.
Membership in Clubs and Organizations:
ACLU; NAACP; Honorary Member of Religion in American Life; Official in the Disciples of Christ Denomination; Phi Eta Sigma; Indiana University Honorary Society; Past President of the Legal Services Foundation of Mendocino County; San Francisco Commonwealth Club; San Francisco, Tomorrow Environmental Organization.
Military Service: None, Ministerial Deferment
Marital Status: Married
Family: Jim W. Jones, Jr., legally adopted black son, born October 1, 1960; Stephan G. Jones, born June 1, 1959; Lew Eric Jones, adopted Korean-American born [son]; Suzanne Jones, adopted Korean-American daughter; and Timothy Jones, adopted son, as well as a number of foster children who have been reared by Mr. and Mrs. Jones.
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The enclosed a summary of some of the events of Rev. Jones’ life was added by one of the Jewish participants in our human service ministry who felt any synopsis of Jim’s achievements would not accurately inform you of his past contributions without the additional background information. I concurred with his suggestion and have included this material for your perusal.
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[Duplicate of BB-17-g-1 – g-2
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[Newspaper clipping of Guyana government reception for Jim Jones]
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[Handwritten notation at top of page: “draft – Jim asked to hold”]
PERSONAL INFORMATION … on Jim Jones
Jim was born in May, 1931, in the small town of Crete, Indiana. In the town of Lynn, he went to grammar school, graduated from high school in the town of Richmond … all nearby towns. Began college at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana… later graduated from Butler University (which at that time was associated with the Disciples of Christ). He was an understatement the 1st 2 years of college, Phi Eta Sigma (A Average) even while working 60-70 hours a week.
[The following paragraph was struck through] The only incident of revelation ever to come to his mother what in connection with his birth. She told of a revelation about the child that was to be born to her, a year or so prior to his conception. She described how he would look and many things about him. She said his hair will be black and his eyes would be brown, although both of his parents have blue eyes a genetically this is a contradiction to hereditary factors.
In his early childhood, his mother realized he had a gift. People and animals got better at his touch and in his presence. Numerous times he would “know” things he had no way of knowing.
Once when he was five, she had occasion to hide some of his money from him, and when he came home he called out for her to “come down out of the attic and bring the money with her…”
His love for animals and the afflicted and the lonely prevailed early in his childhood. Animals followed him around as much as a block long. He had a groundhog for a pet, and a raccoon, and there was a crow but used to write about on his shoulder wherever he would go.
Jim was very conscious of poverty and the downtrodden people around him. He was born in the railroad tracks, and he used to bring home tramps his mother to feed. One time she got tired of the hobos, and decided to hide from him, feeling that if she was not there to cook, he would not bring the men around… But when he came in the house, he called after her to come on downstairs… he knew she was under the bed. His friend was hungry.
His friends were the most wretched people in town, those who were shunned by the rest of the populace. One old man, Salina Hutchinson, had sores all over his back and body. Jim would take them home for dinner at times, and at other times would take the old man soup. There were some of the older people in the neighborhood to whom he constantly took flowers to cheer them up. He always took food to and cheered the older and lonely people in the town.
He began picking tomatoes at age nine, and later at age 15 began work in a hospital, he kept getting added responsibilities until he was placed in charge of all orderlies.
It was at this hospital that he met his wife, Marceline. At 18 they married and have stayed married and devoted to the same principles for 23 years now. They were very poor at this point of their life,
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and they recall buying maybe a candy bar a week and splitting it, or a coke.
It was just prior to this time that he had split from his own family and was taken in by a black woman who loved him and cared for him as her son. She was a fundamentalist and taught him to really appreciate the qualities of black people. It was a quarrel with his father over Jim’s black friend that caused the rift in his natural home. As he saw the problems of his black family, he developed a strong concern for racial justice.
Marcy and Jim worked together in the nursing home. His jobs have always oriented around people in need.
When he graduated he went into his ministry – always maintaining himself with a jop on the side, both he and Marcy working. As his ministry progressed, he was offered jobs all over the world in various churches, but he decided to stay with the common folk and became a more active example of what he felt Christ had come to earth to portray.
[Handwritten begging of paragraph] From the first, Jim and Marcy plan to only one natural child, though they could have had more had they chosen to. Jim and Marcy had always shared the idea of adoption of little children. It seemed more kindly to take children from the ghettos from the orphans homes and love them, rather than bring in so many more… So while they had their own son naturally, they also adopted children of many races.
Each child “happened” to them. There was really no planning for the type of a family that developed. For instance, when they went to the orphanage to look for a child and heard their little “Jim” crying, and the people at the orphanage refused to let them see the child – telling them that the child was not for them… Jim insisted on seeing the child, and though he had to go all over the state to get a Judge to sign the papers, he finally succeeded in the adoption of his black child.
Across the years, they have taken in many children.
As Jim’s ministry in Indianapolis progressed, he was appointed as Director of the Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights and was an official for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Mayor Boswell sent a letter to the local Ukiah [illegible word] after they arrived here telling of the mayor’s esteem for Jim Jones and the good work he did back there.
Before he was through, he got over 300 businesses integrated through conciliatory methods.
He met with the racists and got them to meet their black neighbors… where they had previously bombed and harassed the black people of the community, when they got to know them on his suggestion – and their people baked cookies and they all got together… the problem eased rapidly and surprisingly, there was not so much difference as had originally been thought.
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While on the Mayor’s Commission for Human Rights, Jim was taken to the hospital for observation. When taken into the hospital, he found that it was not integrated. Though the doctor stopped his condition was critical, Jim refused to let the doctors touch him in that hospital until it was integrated.
When the hospital realized his position on the Mayor’s commission, they acquiesced. Removed fence everywhere and integrating the hospital on the spot. he was in his room waiting to go into surgery when he made a decision. He decided he could not go out of life at this point – he would not go. He must stay here and help conditions. And so he decided that the God within him must and would heal him. He felt a warmth all over his body, and knew that he was healed. His life began now as a point of even greater dedication to humanity and the rights of the downtrodden of society.
He established a free food kitchen in his Indianapolis church. He never required people to go to the services. He felt it was important to do as Christ had declared … and he fed the hungry wherever he found them. The people like cabbage and they cooked a lot of it, even while service was going on. One woman offered the congregation $6000 if they would stop cooking cabbage during the service as it spoiled her worship by the smell – Jim said no. They felt that beating hungry people was more important than the money or [illegible word] enjoyment of the services.
His children were each precious to him. Agnes at age 10 or 11 couldn’t talk. She was retarded, they were told, and she would never pass 4th grade mental level… She is now a mature woman, a high school graduate, married with her own family and she operates one of the church care homes.
It took an act of Congress to adopt one of the children, because of the number of children he had taken from abroad.
Suzanne, their Korean-American child now at Univ. of Calif., if not adopted by them would have been turned out of the orphanage the following year, leaving her only chance at support to be a life of prostitution.
Jim does the tasks he will not ask others to do. When he became involved locally, in Ukiah, in the Legal Services Foundation through the Office of Economic Opportunity for poor families, Tim Stoen ask if some of the temple people could clean the upstairs of a building that would be used for the foundation office (it is still being used); they came in and cleaned. Though the toilets had been used for years without much flushing, Jim personally took the job of cleaning the toilets and sinks.
The family vacations began when someone offered to let Jim bring his personal family to their place in Oregon, he refused unless the whole church could come along with them. He stood in church and said it was not fair for his children to have a vacation and the children of the congregation to not have one. It was arranged that all of the children should go.
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One of our attorneys, Eugene Chaikin, had been told by his doctors that he had cancer. Gene was called out by Jim and healed. His doctors later pronounced the cancer – gone!
1959 was the last death that occurred in the “inner” family in and around Jim. Since that time, he has restored any that have passed into that realm where vital signs were gone and where the nurses could not detect life. Some may have been in a very deep thanks, but most unquestionably, in many cases the registered nurses present who volunteer their services checked them specifically before Jim could reach them and the vital signs were gone.
Now, as when he began his ministry, Jim’s real mission is to people. He spends most of his time ministering to his flock, and to the needy of the community that come to the congregation for help. Peace is best served by love, and this is the ministry he practices.
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[Typed and handwritten notes used to write the narrative above.]