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Peoples Temple

LC control no.n 79017271
Descriptive conventionsrda
Corporate name headingPeoples Temple
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Variant(s)Templo del Pueblo
Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ
See alsoFounder: Jones, Jim, 1931-1978
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Beginning date1955
Ending date1978
LocatedIndianapolis (Ind.) San Francisco (Calif.) Jonestown (Guyana)
Field of activityCults Jonestown Mass Suicide, Jonestown, Guyana, 1978
Found inMills, J. Six years with God, 1979 (subj.) t.p. (Peoples Temple) publ. info. (Jim Jones' Peoples Temple)
White, M. Deceived, c1979: p. 1 (People's Temple)
Facts on file, 11-24-78 (Peoples Temple)
Tello, A. Los Niños de Dios, el Templo del Pueblo y otras nuevas sectas, 1979 (subj.) t.p. (Templo del Pueblo)
Back to the world, 2021: ECIP preliminary page (the first book-length memoir of Peoples Temple and Jonestown by a Black man)
Wikipedia, viewed November 12, 2020: Peoples Temple (Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ, commonly shortened to Peoples Temple, an American new religious movement, existed between 1955 and 1978. Originally founded in Indianapolis, Indiana by Reverend Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple spread a message that combined elements of Christianity with communist and socialist ideology, with emphasis on racial equality. After Jones moved the group to California in the 1960s and established several locations throughout the state, including headquarters in San Francisco, the Temple forged ties with many left-wing political figures and boasted 20,000 members (though 3,000-5,000 more likely). Best known for events of November 18, 1978, in Guyana, when 909 people died in a mass murder at its remote settlement, Jonestown, as well as the murders of U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan and members of visiting delegation at Port Kaituma airstrip. Incident at Jonestown resulted in greatest single loss of American civilian life in deliberate act prior to September 11 terrorist attacks. The Temple is regarded by scholars and by popular view as a destructive cult)