Jonestown Research

Much of the information about Jonestown and Peoples Temple which appears elsewhere on this site is primary source material gathered from records of the Temple itself and government investigations before and after the deaths of 18 November 1978. This section of the site presents original research based upon those primary source documents both to give researchers a more complete picture of the Temple as an organization and Jonestown as a community, and to offer context for and coherence of those records.

The material below is organized into two broad categories. The first represents compilations of the documents themselves. The second represents original research by contributors to this site. A Section Map and indexof the multiple subject areas scattered throughout this page appears here.

This page is dedicated to the memories of former Temple member Don Beck and researcher Michael Bellefountaine, both of whom participated in the development and structure of this resource, and who compiled much of the material which appears below.

Compilations of Documents

1. Maps of Jonestown
2. Jonestown Censuses
3. Jonestown Organization
4. Edith Roller Journals
5. The Opposition
6. Peoples Temple Meetings with the Soviet Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana, 1978
7. The Prosecutions of Larry Layton

Original Research

1. 100 Events in the Life of Peoples Temple Timeline, by Fielding M. McGehee & Don Beck
   1a. An Extended Peoples Temple Timeline, by Don Beck (2012)
2. Peoples Temple Addresses in the US
3. Index of People Names in Jonestown Tapes
4. The Demographics of Jonestown
5. The Family Trees of Jonestown
   4a. The Single Seniors of Jonestown, by Sarah Rex
6. The Music of Peoples Temple
7. Was There Social Security Fraud in Jonestown? A Special Report
8. Expenditures by Peoples Temple in Guyana
9. The Jonestown Express, November 17, 1978: Life on the Eve of Tragedy, by Joel X. Thomas
10. The Jonestown Radio Tower, by Joel X. Thomas
11. The Infrastructure of Jonestown’s Recording and Speaker Systems: A Photographic Overview, by Joel X. Thomas
12. Mystery of Q042 Death Tape Unspooled, by Joel X. Thomas
13. Jonestown Survivors at the Park Hotel, Georgetown, November 1978 by Aliah Mohmand
14. Timeline for Dr. Leslie Mootoo, November 20, 1978 – November 8, 1979
15. Where are the Jonestown dead buried?
16. Peoples Temple Radio, the archive of the website of Josef Dieckman

We are open to suggestions for future research projects. We welcome feedback, corrections, questions and observations from all visitors. Please write to us at remoore@sdsu.edu.