Join us as we discuss the complexities of Jonestown, the tragic end it came to, and what came before.
Fielding M. McGehee III is the principal researcher for the Jonestown Institute, where he manages tape transcripts, Freedom of Information Act requests, primary source documents, and general inquiries on questions concerning Peoples Temple. He may be reached at fieldingmcgehee@yahoo.com.
You can find the Jonestown Institute at https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/
For those that haven't heard of Jonestown here is a brief intro from the Jonestown Institute: “Jonestown” is a word with several meanings. First, it refers to an agricultural project established by the Peoples Temple, a religious group based in California which immigrated to Guyana in the mid-1970s to establish an agricultural utopia. Second, it refers to the events of 18 November 1978 in which a U.S. Congressman was assassinated, along with four other individuals, at a jungle airstrip in South America. These tragic killings were followed by the mass murders and suicides of 900 men, women, and children by ingesting potassium cyanide mixed into a vat of fruit punch and tranquilizers. Finally, the word “Jonestown” has been used to describe any New Religious Movement which may or may not have the potential for violence, as in “Heaven’s Gate was another Jonestown.”