Jim Jones

James Warren "Jim" Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 death of more than 900 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the deaths of nine other people at a nearby airstrip in Georgetown. This event was greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001

Early Life.
Jim Jones was born in rural community of Crete, Indiana. Jones mother was often working and paid little attention to him, while his father was an unemployed alcoholic and veteran of World War 1. Financial troubles caused the Jones family to Lynn, Indiana were Jones would be raised. He often spent most of his time reading books about Karl Marx, Joseph Stalin, Mahatma Gandhi, and Adolf Hitler. He also spent much of his childhood randomly taking in stray animals and caring for them. When they died, Jones would invite other kids over for a funeral for the animals. It is reported Jones killed one of the animals in his care with a knife. In 1949 he married a woman named Marceline Baldwin and they moved to Indianapolis and in 1951 he joined the communist party.

The People's Temple is born.
Jones was frustrated with the constant public attacks towards communists. He decided the best way to demonstrate his opinions were to open up a church demonstrating them. His churches teachings combined biblical theology with Communist philosophy. Jones became a popular public figure. He had become very active in Civil Rights. His church was not segregated and he helped to integrate the police department, a hospital, restaurants, and even an amusement park. Jones and his wife were also the first white couple to adopt a black child in Indiana's history. They also adopted three children of Korean-American ancestry, and had one biological son. Jones also didn't draw a paycheck from his church because he claimed it would take money from the poor. He took many odd jobs to make ends meet, including a door-to-door exotic pet salesman. He was praised for his work and even selected by the mayor to direct Indiana's Human Rights Commission.

California and then Guyana.
In 1967, Jones claimed that he had a vision of the world ending by nuclear holocaust. He read in a magazine article about location that would be absolutely safe from nuclear fallout. He selected a place called Redwood Valley, California. Jones began making many strange claims after the move to Redwood Valley. He claimed he was the reincarnation of Jesus, Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Vladimir Lenin, and Father Divine. Sometimes he would say he was an atheist and that the bible was a "paper idol" and that he believed in "Apostolic Socialism." The group would move to San Francisco in 1975 and aided in the election of George Moscone as Mayor. In respect of Jones help, Moscone made him Chairman of the Housing Commission. Jones would become highly involved in politics, including meeting figures like vice presidential candidate Walter Mondale and First Lady Rosalynn Carter. In the summer of 1977, Jones and his followers moved to Guyana and founded a settlement called Jonestown. They left in response to an article, in which former temple members claimed to be physically, emotionally, and sexually abused.

Jonestown Massacre.
Life in Jonestown was difficult. The people tried to make a living as farmers, but lacked skill in the task. Also, the isolation in the jungle kept Jones from being able to hide his drug addiction. Jones would record a number of his speeches and play them over the intercom again and again, keeping people from getting needed sleep. Jones also began having the members do "White Night" drills, in which they practice mass suicide if the enemy should ever arrive. Back in the U.S., Jones had lost his political allies and had become embroiled in a lawsuit by Timothy Stoen, a man who wanted his son back from the Temple. A congressman named Leo Ryan traveled with a news crew, some temple family members, and two planes to Jonestown when reports that members were being held against their will. At first everything appeared fine, until someone passed a note to Congressman Ryan saying, "Help us get out of Jonestown". Eventually 15 members came forward admitting they wanted to leave. Jones decided that they would tell more of Jonestown's secrets and effectively destroy the community. He sent a group of killers after Ryan and his group. A few of the people were killed including Ryan, but most got away. Knowing their fate was sealed, Jones forced the community to commit mass suicide. The death toll was 909, 303 of the dead were children. The suicides were recorded on the "Death tape."