Coverage of memorial projects, November 2010 – November 2011

November 11, 2011

Thirty-three years after Jonestown Massacre
https://guyaneseonline.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/november-gca-newsletter-_final.pdf, page 15.
by Tangerine Clarke
Using words of solace to comfort relatives of the Jonestown mass suicide that occurred on November 18, thirty-three years ago, [Guyanese] Ambassador Bayney Karran spoke of the trauma and emotional suffering and stigmatism that innocent victims and their families endured… The message by Karran that honored the former members of the People’s Temple during a memorial dedication service in Oakland California on May 9, 2011, spoke of the great anguish and the loss of so many lives, and the feelings of sympathy for the victims that had swept across the nation of Guyana on that very sad day.

 

02-05_thumbJune 2, 2011

Jonestown Memorial Plaques Laid in California Cemetery
by Vicki Perry, Associated Content
Many healing tears were shed Sunday at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, Calif. Approximately 100 people stood along the hilltop where a mass grave marks the final resting place of over 400 people who died Nov. 18, 1978.

A Memorial Divides Survivors
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/us/03bcjonestown.html
by Shoshana Walter, The Bay Citizen
At a recent dedication ceremony for a Peoples Temple memorial in Oakland, Kathy Barbour, a survivor of the 1978 massacre, knelt on the lawn of Evergreen Cemetery to look at photos of the victims of Jonestown. As nearly 200 people milled around her, Ms. Barbour, a quiet woman with white hair, peered nervously toward the path leading to the cemetery gates. “I was expecting the gauntlet,” she said.

 

May 29, 2011

Jonestown memorial unveiled after 32 years
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/29/BAQQ1JN5IS.DTL and http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-05-30/bay-area/29598516_1_jonestown-tragedy-jonestown-memorial-jonestown-victims
by Carolyn Jones, San Francisco Chronicle
It took 32 years and a last-minute court ruling, but on Sunday hundreds of Jonestown families could finally say goodbye.

Nearly 200 people gather at Oakland’s Evergreen Cemetery to dedicate Jonestown memorial
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/29/nearly-200-gather-dedicate-jonestown-memorial/
by Associated Press
Nearly 200 people gathered at Oakland’s Evergreen Cemetery on Sunday to dedicate a newly completed memorial to the victims of the 1978 mass murder and suicide at Jonestown, Guyana, organizers said.

Jonestown memorial at Oakland cemetery provokes catharsis, closure and controversy
http://oaklandnorth.net/2011/05/30/jonestown-memorial-at-oakland-cemetery-provokes-catharsis-closure-and-controversy/
by Micki Boden, Oakland North
On Sunday at Oakland’s Evergreen Cemetery, dozens of people gathered in the sunshine to remember Jonestown at the unveiling of a memorial for those who died in the Peoples Temple mass suicide in 1978. Bring up Jonestown to people who read and watched the news in 1978, and you may hear a story of disgust, anger and shock. But ask the people who were there for this weekend’s service, and you will hear about love, dedication, agony and finally—after 32 years—closure.

Jonestown memorial dedicated in East Oakland
KGO-TV
Pain and anguish resurfaced Sunday, more than 30 years after the Jonestown massacre. On Sunday, family members dedicated a memorial to those who died in Guyana, including the infamous church leader who led them to their deaths, Jim Jones.

 

May 27, 2011

Jonestown memorial dedication allowed to proceed
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/26/BATB1JLIOE.DTL
by Carolyn Jones and Matthai Kuruvila, San Francisco Chronicle
Dedication of a Jonestown memorial, which includes the name of Jim Jones among the victims, can proceed Sunday despite a last-ditch effort from a rival survivors’ group to stop it, a judge ruled Thursday.

Local Jonestown Survivor Speaks Out About Controversial Memorial
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2011/05/27/local-jonestown-survivor-speaks-out-about-controversial-memorial/
by Laura Cole, CBS Sacramento
A controversial memorial for the massacre at Jonestown will include the name of mass murderer Jim Jones, and now one local Jonestown survivor is speaking out about it. Few can share the stories of Jonestown, but Thom Bogue can. He is a survivor who became a small business owner and a Dixon city councilmember.

 

May 26, 2011

Jonestown Memorial Will Be Unveiled at Evergreen Cemetery Sunday
by Helene Goupil, KRON
A judge has denied a bid for an injunction that would have blocked the unveiling ceremony of a memorial for the 918 victims of the mass suicide at Jonestown in Guyana in 1978.

Judge: Jonestown Memorial Dedication Can Go Ahead
by Shosana Walter, The Bay Citizen
An Oakland judge decided Thursday to allow a controversial memorial for victims of the 1978 mass suicide at Jonestown in Guyana to be formally unveiled Sunday, despite cries of protest from survivors who say the memorial should not exist.

CA judge OKs continued use of Jonestown memorial
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/ca-judge-oks-continued-use-of-jonestown-memorial/article_c2b44feb-be5e-5a0d-a874-bc0bd44003b6.html
by Robin Hindery, The Associated Press
A Northern California judge has denied a motion seeking to block further use of a newly completed memorial to the victims of the 1978 mass murder and suicide at Jonestown, Guyana.

Judge Refuses To Enter Jonestown Memorial Controversy
Link at http://www.ktvu.com/news/28037941/detail.html no longer active
A judge Thursday denied a bid for a preliminary injunction that would have blocked the formal unveiling of a memorial at an Oakland cemetery that commemorates the 918 victims of the mass suicide at Jonestown in Guyana in 1978.

Jim Jones’ Name Stays on Memorial
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Jim-Jones-Name-Stay-on-Memorial-122679864.html
By Lori Preuitt, NBC Bay Area
This weekend a long awaited memorial to the people who were killed in the infamous Jonestown massacre in 1978 will be unveiled.

 

May 25, 2011

Judge Hears Testimony In Legal Battle Over Jonestown Memorial
Link at http://www.ktvu.com/news/28023247/detail.html no longer active
A judge is hearing testimony and arguments Wednesday in a bitter legal battle over a controversial memorial at an Oakland cemetery to commemorate more than 900 people who died in the mass suicide at Jonestown in Guyana in 1978.

 

May 15, 2011

Jonestown Massacre memorial gripped by controversy
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8514881/Jonestown-Massacre-memorial-gripped-by-controversy.html
by Nick Allen, Daily Telegraph
Attempts to commemorate the 1978 Jonestown Massacre, when more than 900 members of a religious cult committed mass suicide are mired in controversy after its founder’s name was etched on the memorial.

 

May 13, 2011

Lawsuit targets Jonestown cult leader’s name on Oakland massacre memorial
https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/lawsuit-targets-jonestown-cult-leaders-name-on-oakland-massacre-memorial/article_11cf7209-6f8f-5709-927f-2a46a7d94356.html
by Dan Schreiber, San Francisco Examiner
Of the 918 names listed on a memorial for the victims of the Jonestown Massacre, one stands out: “James Warren Jones,” the cult leader who ordered the killing of a congressman and a news crew at his Guyana compound in 1978, then instructed his entire following to swallow a fatal dose of a cyanide-laced drink.
His name appears on one of the four stones recently installed at Oakland’s Evergreen Cemetery, where the bodies of more than 400 unidentified victims are buried in a mass grave.

Jones’s Name on Jonestown Memorial — For Now
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Jim-Joness-Name-on-Jonestown-Memorial—-For-Now-121792944.html
by Chris Roberts, NBC
In the infamous Jonestown massacre in 1978, 918 people died, including Congressman Leo J Ryan, 305 children, and the Rev. Jim Jones, the founder of the People’s Temple and the architect of one of the largest mass suicides in recorded history. But was Jones a victim? And should Jones’s name be on an Oakland memorial dedicated to the victims’ memories? For now, yes, an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled on Thursday, blocking temporarily the effort of a woman who lost 27 family members to the poisoned Kool-Aid to remove Jones’s name from the monument.

Jonestown memorial can go forward, judge rules
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/12/BAER1JFM1N.DTL
by Carolyn Jones, San Francisco Chronicle
Cemetery crews can finish installing a Jonestown memorial despite emotional pleas from a rival survivors’ group that the memorial not include the name of Jim Jones, a judge ruled late Thursday.

 

May 12, 2011

Judge Denies Bid to Stop Jonestown Memorial
http://sanleandro.patch.com/articles/judge-denies-big-to-stop-jonestown-memorial
Bay City News
A judge today denied a bid for a temporary restraining order that would have halted further work on a memorial at an Oakland cemetery to commemorate the 918 victims of the mass suicide at Jonestown in Guyana in 1978.
However, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert McGuiness said he will have another hearing on the legal dispute over the memorial on May 25, four days before a dedication ceremony is to be held at the Evergreen Cemetery at 6450 Camden Ave.

Dispute Over Jonestown Memorial In Oakland Spills Into Court
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/05/12/dispute-over-jonestown-memorial-in-oakland-spills-into-court/
OAKLAND (CBS / AP) — A woman who lost 27 relatives in the 1978 Jonestown tragedy is waging a legal battle against an East Bay cemetery over a recently completed memorial to the more than 900 victims that includes the name of Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones.

Court Hearing: Should Leader’s Name Appear on Jonestown Memorial?
http://sanleandro.patch.com/articles/court-hearing-should-leaders-name-appear-on-jonestown-memorial
Bay City News
A hearing today in Alameda County Superior Court will discuss a controversial memorial to the 918 victims of the 1978 massacre at Jonestown in Guyana, including Rev. Jim Jones.

Outrage at Jonestown Massacre Monument
Link at http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/05/12/36526.htm no longer active
By Iulia Filip, Courthouse News
A woman who lost 27 family members in the 1978 Jonestown Massacre has sued an Oakland cemetery association and its top officers, claiming that after she spent 18 years raising money to build a monument to the victims, the cemetery pulled a switch and decided to erect a different monument, based on a design from Jones’ People’s Church, which “proposes to include the name of Jim Jones himself as a victim of the Jonestown Massacre-Suicides.”

Guyana Tribute Foundation and Founder File Complaint In CA Superior Court Against Evergreen Cemetery Assoc., et al
Link at http://www.blacknews.com/news/guyana_tribute_foundation_sues_evergreen_cemetery101.shtml no longer active
Today, families represented by the Guyana Tribute Foundation, a non-profit corporation, and its founder Jynona Norwood (Plaintiffs) announced that on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 they filed a complaint in Superior Court of CA (Alameda County) against Evergreen Cemetery Association, Evergreen Cemetery president Buck Kamphausen, and the cemetery’s executive director Ron Haulman (defendants).

 

May 10, 2011

Peoples Temple memorial includes Jim Jones’ name
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/09/BA7O1JDVR9.DTL
by Carolyn Jones, San Francisco Chronicle
Jonestown finally has a memorial, more than three decades after the mass suicide in Guyana claimed 918 lives and seared the Bay Area with grief and disbelief. Workers at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland installed the final granite marker Monday of a $45,000 memorial to those who died Nov. 18, 1978, at the Rev. Jim Jones’ jungle compound and on a nearby airstrip.

 

April 14, 2011

Should Jim Jones be on Jonestown memorial?
https://religionnews.com/2011/04/14/was-jim-jones-a-victim-of-jonestown-or-the-cause/
by Tracy Gordon, Religion News Service
When the Rev. Jim Jones led more than 900 followers to commit mass suicide at his compound in the jungles of Guyana in 1978, was he, too, a victim of the massacre — or simply its cause? That seemingly philosophical question has recently become concrete.

 

March 5, 2011

Jonestown memorial – and donations – hard to track
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2011/03/05/MN9P1I2J7M.DTL
by Carolyn Jones, San Francisco Chronicle
Susan Ashby’s 82-year-old aunt, who lost both her children at Jonestown, has one wish in her waning days: to see their names on a permanent memorial honoring victims of the 1978 massacre.

 

March 4, 2011

Councilman Bogue Balks at Jonestown Monument
http://dixon.patch.com/articles/councilman-bogue-balks-at-jonestown-monument
by Carlos Villatoro, Dixon Patch
A monument is being planned for a cemetery in Oakland that will honor the 400 or more individuals buried at the cemetery who committed suicide on the orders of People’s Temple leader Rev. Jim Jones. Dixon City Councilman Thom Bogue wants no part of it.

Group Seeks to Protect Legacy of Victims of the Jonestown Massacre
by Boyce Watkins, Black Voices
Dr. Jynona Norwood is on a lifelong mission. The mission is one that is written in the blood and spirit of her own relatives, many of whom died in the infamous Jonestown Massacre 32 years ago.

 

March 1, 2011

Rep. Jackie Speier against Jim Jones’ name on memorial
https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/rep-jackie-speier-against-jim-jones-name-on-memorial/article_850a42c0-0573-5603-9707-a07fc8b8e800.html
by Mike Aldax, San Francisco Examiner
Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier, whose life was forever altered by the 1978 Jonestown massacre, told The San Francisco Examiner on Monday she is opposed to plans to include Jim Jones’ name on a memorial to the victims.

Should Jonestown memorial include Jim Jones?
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Should-Jonestown-memorial-include-Jim-Jones-2472696.php
by Carolyn Jones, San Francisco Chronicle
The seemingly unending tragedy of Jonestown intensified Monday when a group of victims’ families ramped up their fight to stop a planned memorial that would include Jim Jones’ name among the massacre victims.

 

February 28, 2011

Son Of Rev. Jim Jones, Descendant Of Jonestown Massacre Victims Battle Over Monument
http://sfappeal.com/news/2011/02/son-of-rev-jim-jones-descendant-of-jonestown-massacre-victims-battle-over-monument.php
The San Francisco Appeal
Controversy over a proposed memorial for the victims of the 1978 Jonestown massacre came to a head Monday at the Oakland cemetery where more than 400 of the People’s Temple suicide cult followers are buried.

Jonestown memorial debate stirs anger
by Mike Aldax, San Francisco Examiner
A battle has erupted on how to memorialize the more than 900 people who died in the mass suicide.

Controversy Snarls Plan For New Jonestown Memorial
Link at http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/controversy-snarls-plan-for-new-jonestown-memorial/nKzwD/ no longer active
FoxReno.com –
OAKLAND, Calif. — It’s been over 30-years since the Jonestown Massacre in Guyana, but a planned victim’s memorial has attracted controversy. A group of local clergy members, activists and survivors support a plan to build a memorial wall in Oakland’s Evergreen Cemetery.

Jonestown Massacre Monument Still In Debate
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Jonestown-Massacre-Monument-Takes-a-Twist-117120843.html
By Mathew Luschek, NBC Bay Area –
A memorial to remember victims of the Jonestown massacre is in debate, reports the Oakland Tribune. The major controversy is whether or not to include the name of Jim Jones, who led hundreds to their ultimate death in 1978.

Feud Over Jonestown Memorial
by Dan Brekke, KQED News Fix
By any measure, the Jonestown Massacre is one of the most tragic episodes in US history. Thirty-two years after the murder of more than 900 people in Guyana—followers of the Rev. Jim Jones forced to drink poison—the nightmare refuses to fade away.

Families, cemetery clash over Jonestown memorial
Link at http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=7986770 no longer active
by Vic Lee, KGO-TV
A fight is brewing between families of victims from the People’s Temple massacre more than three decades ago and an Oakland cemetery. The battle is over plans for a memorial.

 

February 24, 2011

Jonestown massacre memorial still generating controversy
https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/jonestown-massacre-memorial-still-generating-controversy/article_8693a6df-3020-5936-a038-77d1c934ff43.html
by Brent Begin, SF Examiner
A host of local reverends, activists and survivors will hold a press conference Monday to support a memorial wall in Oakland’s Evergreen Cemetery. The memorial has hit several snags, including opposition from Jones’ son, who wants Jones’ name on the memorial wall.

 

November 19, 2010

Thirty-two years later, Jonestown controversy still simmers in Oakland
Link at http://510pen.org/en/aggregator/sources/2?page=8 no longer active
Two competing groups vied for the right to host a memorial service for the victims of the 1978 Jonestown massacre at Oakland’s Evergreen Cemetery yesterday, November 18, 2010, the thirty-second anniversary of the infamous event.

Peoples Temple observance: Jonestown memorial rift
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-11-19/news/24839821_1_jynona-norwood-jonestown-memorial-ceremony
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/19/MNET1GEEDD.DTL
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/25411/peoples-temple-observance-jonestown-memorial-rift
by Carolyn Jones, San Francisco Chronicle

New Jonestown memorial going forward
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/11/19/apnewsbreak_new_jonestown_memorial_going_forward/
by Tim Reiterman, Associated Press

New Memorial for Jonestown Victims Going Forward
http://www.theroot.com/new-memorial-for-jonestown-victims-going-forward-1790881671
by Nsenga Burton, The Root