In the spring of 1978 \u2013 the exact date is unknown \u2013 the leaders of Jonestown wrote a letter \u201cin urgent haste\u201d to President Jimmy Carter about the community\u2019s perceived threats to its very existence. Signed by Temple member Laura Johnston, the 12-page letter offers a lengthy summary of\u00a0 Jonestown\u2019s understanding of itself. Among other topics, it speaks of:<\/p>\n
While the letter contain no overt or direct references to death or any other drastic measures to resolve the issues, it does profess great frustration with the situation and poses rhetorical questions about how much more it should endure.<\/p>\n
The last paragraphs of the letter capture its tone and overall message:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could go on and on. We have spent no money except to build \u2013 a program which is the most significant kind of grassroots like between two people. Tim Stoen has spent thousands and solely to tear down \u2013\u00a0our work, Guyanese-American relations, hope for little children. We are peace-loving people, made so by decent, productive work and the enormous inspiration of our humanitarian leader. Now they would even threaten his health \u2013 he cannot endure much more of this, it is too much for one to bear alone. He feels too deeply for the safety and security of everyone; and it could literally kill him to see his child [John Victor Stoen] to be dragged away to be \u2018raised\u2019 by terrorists and sadists; or to see his people thrown back into the counter-productive and destructive modes of life it took years to rehabilitate them from. Where in heaven\u2019s name would this organization be without the constant moderation and direction of Jim Jones? Yet many believe by this point that this is exactly what Tim Stoen and the others are out to do \u2013\u00a0destroy and kill the person who has given many the only hope they have ever known! We need to keep our people\u2019s faith alive and the program going. These threats, harassment \u00ad\u2013 when we are doing so much good \u2013 are getting to be more than they can endure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe implore you to investigate these sources yourself and determine the conspiracy behind it. Investigate the Project [Jonestown]. We are a credit to both America and Guyana. We are in a unique position to cement relations between these two peoples, and we are avid and positive towards that end. We are a practical model and can make THE significant difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impending IRS investigation, deliberately provoked by false charges and lies as Tim Stoen had threatened, will totally alienate our membership. How much can people be expected to take? We urgently request your help.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
While the letter is authentic \u2013 in that it came from Peoples Temple \u2013\u00a0the identity of the writer is unknown. Laura Johnston, who was in Georgetown on 18 November 1978 and thereby survived the deaths in Jonestown, acknowledges that the signature could be hers but that she didn\u2019t write the letter. Her name was \u201cLaura R. Johnston\u201d at the time, not \u201cL[aura] J. Johnston.\u201d Moreover, the letter contains a great deal of information \u2013 including many of the names and especially the details of the Stoen custody battle \u2013 that she did not know until many years later. \u201cI vaguely remember signing it,\u201d she wrote in June 2008, but \u201cI never wrote it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Letter to President Carter from Jonestown<\/strong>, RYMUR 89-4286-M-1-a-7a \u2013 M-1-a-7l, State Department C09000443
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