Jonestown

Alternate uses: See Jonestown (disambiguation)

Jonestown was a town in Guyana established by People's Temple cult leader Jim Jones. It was located about six to eight miles from Port Kaituma (7°44'N 59°53'W). Notoriously, on Jones' direction the inhabitants committed mass suicide in 1978. The group had been formed in Indianapolis, Indiana from the 1950s. Under pressure the group had moved to San Francisco and following a report in the New West magazine in 1977 Jones leased 4,000 acres of land in Guyana and moved himself and his most devoted followers there. Calling it the People's Temple Agricultural Project they grew food and raised animals.

Life in Jonestown

"The moment I got off that plane I knew something was wrong," said a former member Richard Clark, who ran away when he arrived in Guyana.

Once Jones' followers arrived at the 42 acres of land leased from the local Guyana government, they were put to work on a primitive compound that became Jonestown.

Many of the People's Temple members believed that Guyana was, as Jones promised it, to be their tropical paradise. Instead, everyone including children ended up working from six days a week, from seven in the morning to six at night, and often when temperature was as hot as 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Incidents of cruelty and inhumanity continued and increased within Jonestown. Beatings were commonplace, along with electric shock tortures. Teenagers performed more than half the hard labor, and children were the main victims of abuse.

When parents exchanged whispers while Jones was talking, their children were made to perform sexual acts in front of other members. The care of children was surrendered to the group as a whole, and they were made to address Jones as "Dad", and they were only allowed to see their parents briefly at night.

Children who became too tired to work or "misbehaved" were made to spend the night at the bottom of a well.

Members considered to be serious disciplinary problems could be imprisoned in a 6 foot by 4 foot by 3 foot plywood box. Members who attempted to run away had their ankle fitted with a ball and chain. Guards patrolled day and night around the compound to ensure the following of Jones' orders.

Mass suicide

On November 18, 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan, a Democrat from San Francisco, California, flew to Guyana to investigate charges that members of the religious group had been brainwashed and were under the dictatorial rule of Jones.

While the Ryan party were greeted warmly and shown around by Jones, there was clearly something amiss. Ryan, and his party of 18 journalists and photographers, discovered a fearful, depressed group of followers. Some members were to afraid to speak, some were angry and saw the Congressman's visit as troubles brought in from outside, and others complained of the dire situation within the compound.

When Jones learned about some of his followers' reactions, and that some of them wished to leave, he was angry and believed that those who wanted to leave the community would "lie", and destroy Jonestown.

A man attacked the congressman with a knife while one couple argued whether or not they should go with Ryan's party. Realizing that the visiting party along with the defectors were in danger, Ryan's group and 16 People's Temple members hurried to a nearby airstrip, where they planned to use the two planes waiting there and fly to the Georgetown, the capital of Guyana.

While boarding the plane, two people were wounded when a loyal Jones member took out a gun and started shooting. Then Leo Ryan, three journalists and one 18-year-old Jonestown defector were shot and killed when several Jonestown members came out of the jungle to attack the escaping party. One of the planes was able to take off and go to Georgetown for help. They carryied with them a filmed footage of the attack, a first glimpse of Jonestown for the outside world.

The Guyanese army took a day to cut its way through the jungle, and when they reached the compound, they found all its 914 inhabitants dead, including 276 children. The victims had been forced to drink a mixture of Flavor-aid (a drink similar to Kool-aid) and cyanide. Jones and some of the others were killed by gunshots to the head.

Jonestown itself became a "ghost town" after 1978 and was mostly destroyed by a fire in the mid-1980s, after which the ruins were left to decay; as of 2004 there is little to mark the site of one of the most notorious mass suicides in history.

Bibliography

1. Troubled Society (series): Cults by Renardo Barden

   Discusses in general, the different types of cults, how they begin and prosper, deprogramming, the 60s, and detailed examination of events surrounding cult leaders Charles Manson and Jim Jones.

2. The Need to Know Library (series): Everything You Need to Know About Cults by Sean Dolan

   Existence of cults, what it is and what it does, understanding cults, process of joining and leaving cults, glossary, where to go for help, and recommended further readings.

External links

• Remembering Jonestown, NPR interview with mass suicide survivor, Laura Johnston Kohl
• Alternative considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple, San Diego State University, documented fruitless attempts to gain U.S. government information, personal recollections, essays.
• The Word Spy: drink the Kool-Aid

Referenced By