For more than three years now, I have been working on a large and comprehensive book about every single person who died in Jonestown. I know it’s been that long – and how far I’ve come in the past 12 months – when I look over what I first wrote for the jonestown report in 2023.
I have to admit that, in my naivete, when I started the project, I thought I would be teaching others about the people who died on November 18, 1978. Instead, it is the people I have spoken to this past year – relatives of the dead, survivors and academics – who have given me lessons I will never forget.
First of all, I am pleased – and even somewhat surprised – to report that I have completed the first draft of the book, and even as I continue my editing, I am looking for the perfect publishing home.
Throughout this process I have been lucky enough to meet so many people who have helped me tell the stories of the people of Jonestown. From rough outlines of the lives they led to intimate family stories, I have heard more than I initially thought I would, with each story adding to the complexity of the individual people and the richness of their lives.
This small piece, then, is my thank you to the entire Jonestown community still in existence for all who have been there along the way:
Thank you all for welcoming me in the way you have, for helping and guiding me every step of the way. Seeing the beautiful community that formed together after such a heartbreaking tragedy is a stunning example of the resilience of humanity and a perfect example of exactly what my book is about: family, found, formed and blood.
I hope my book lives up to your expectations and that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And as always, if there is a person you want to tell me about, a story you need to make sure I include or need anything at all, I can always be reached at Sarahelizabethrex@gmail.com.
The People of Peoples Temple: A Sample
My book focuses on the demographics of Jonestown: gender, race, and the social and economic conditions of American cultural history that drove them to what was essentially, a safety net in Peoples Temple. Pop culture and the media often dismiss members of Peoples Temple as too radical or insane. The purpose of my book is to show their humanity and the actual reasons they chose to join the Temple.
The book will comprise five chapters, with the most important being that which has biographies and personal stories about each member. Jonestown’s population was 75.3% Black, Latinx, or Native/Indigenous, groups that have historically been disenfranchised and marginalized. These were the people whom the Temple welcomed, offering them a place of shelter and safety. When they were led to their deaths at the hands of a power-hungry and corrupt man, they returned to their previous status of disenfranchised, marginalized, and even villainized. My book intends to undo that damage, to right that near half-century wrong and restore their humanity back. Each page will be dedicated to a particular person or family in the Temple: where they came from, who they were, and what they loved and lived for.
One of the parts of this book I struggled with the most was how to organize it, to ensure that everyone – even those I didn’t know much about – was granted the time, dedication and spotlight they deserved. This is what I settled on:
1) Introduction and Background of Peoples Temple
In this section I give a brief summary of the history of not just Peoples Temple as an institution, but also its place in the context of American history that shape it, everything from the postwar Great Migration to racial and economic conditions in Indianapolis at the time of the Temple’s founding.
2) The Legacy of Jim Jones
I promised myself from the beginning of this project that this book would not be about Jim Jones, neither a biography nor a psychological analysis, nor an attempt to determine where things went wrong. I debated whether to put him in at all. After talking to so many survivors and experts, I concluded – and they did – that the mere fact of his creation of Peoples Temple needed acknowledgement for that. That’s what this section does.
3) The People of Peoples Temple
This is by far the bulk of my book, and turned out to be so extensive, it needed a further breakdown.
- Who They Were: Those I was able to find the story about
- Genealogical Background: Those that I was able to find a Genealogical story to tell
- The Mysteries. Unfortunately, there are some who will always be question marks. As devastating as that concept was for me to come to grips with, I still dedicate this area of my book to at least giving them a photo and the few sparse details we do have.
- The Kids: The children are complicated. Some I had stories for, some were too young to even have their own personalities. This section is for all the kids who were too young to have a real voice and a personality to tell you about.
- Non-Jonestown Residents: This section covers the lives and stories for those four people – Rep. Leo Ryan and three journalists who accompanied him to Guyana – who died on the Port Kaituma airstrip that day.
4) Conclusions and Notes
5) Primary and Secondary Sources and Documents