Friday, March 22, 2013

The Jonestown, Guyana Tragedy: Primary Source Materials From The U.S. Department of State


On November 18, 1978, one of the most bizarre episodes in the history of the United States Government culminated in the assassination of a U. S. Congressman and the mass suicide/murder of 909 people in the remote jungle of northwest Guyana. Drawn from over 6,000 pages of material obtained from the State Department through an FOIA request and the 782-page House of Representatives investigative report, this website is intended to present a documentary look at the people, groups, and governmental agencies involved in the chain of events that led to the Jonestown Massacre. Note: this website is not endorsed by or connected with the Department of State or any other U.S. Government agency.

The material is broken up into 11 categories, with the documents generally arrayed by date. If you're unfamiliar with the background of the tragedy, the first two sections from chapter one of the House of Representatives report, giving a detailed background and summary of events that led to the assassination of Congressman Leo Ryan, and chapter three, detailing the findings of the Staff Investigative Group, are a good place to start.
Note: As a way of verifying the authenticity of the material on this website, I scanned in the cover letter I received from the State Department that accompanied the documents.

Just added: the FCC monitored radio transmissions.


Jim Jones and the People's Temple
People's Temple Correspondence
People's Temple Testimonial Letters
The John Victor Stoen Custody Case
The Defection of Deborah Layton Blakey
The "Concerned Relatives" Group
State Department/American Embassy Correspondence      
Codel Ryan
State Department/American Embassy Cables
State Department Press Briefings
Search and Rescue/Disposition of Remains
 
Jim Jones and the People's Temple
  • Peoples Temple Agricultural Project: Progress Report-Summer 1977 - text of a booklet that was distributed by the PT, detailing daily life at the Project - (45k)
  • Privacy Act Request from Jim Jones - notarized letter signed by Jones to the Department of State, requesting copies of the material contained in his Department file - (192k - 2 jpgs)
  • Privacy Act Release of Information Authorization from Jim Jones - February 2, 1978 statement handwritten and signed by Jones, authorizing the State Department to release information to members of Congress and the relatives of PT residents - the statement was written at the request of the State Department's Welfare/Whereabouts Unit - (75k - jpg)
  • Transfer of PT funds at Union Bank of Switzerland - one of the charges raised by Blakey in her affidavit of June 15th was that Jones had a fortune stashed away in banks in several countries (Blakey was the Temple bookkeeper while she was in San Francisco). Here are two letters from the PT, both dated September 21, 1978, confirming their instructions to transfer over $5 million into different accounts at UBS branches in Panama and Zurich - (307k - 3 jpgs)
  • "The Last Day of People's Temple" - copy of a transcript of an unsigned note that was found at Jonestown after the mass suicide - the first page is the State Department memo that accompanied the transcript - (328k - 3 jpgs)
  • Certificate of Election to Wind Up and Dissolve - the end of the PT as a corporate entity, signed by five of the six voting members - filed with the California Secretary of State on December 19, 1978 - (135k - 2 jpgs)
  • Amended Petition for Judicial Supervision... - document filed December 20, 1978, asking the Court to take over the dissolution of the PT - (607k - 8 jpgs)
People's Temple Correspondence People's Temple Testimonial Letters The John Victor Stoen Custody Case The Defection of Deborah Layton Blakey The "Concerned Relatives" Group State Department/American Embassy Correspondence/Memos Codel Ryan State Department/American Embassy Cables
  • Georgetown 930 - Authority to Sign on Seamen - dated June 7, 1974, this was the first reported contact between the American Embassy in Georgetown and members of the PT - (95k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 252 - Conditions at People's Temple Mission - (252k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 1411 - People's Temple members request Guyanese citizenship - (193k - 2 jpgs)
  • State 118668 - People's Temple Community - (81k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 1544 - People's Temple Community - (106k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 1545 - W/W Deborah Blakey DOB: Feb. 7, 1953 - (194k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 1815 - People's Temple and the Community at Jonestown - (260k - 2 jpgs)
  • State 241892 - Congressman Leo Ryan's planned visit to People's Temple in Guyana - (149k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3098 - U.S. lawyer Mark Lane vows to file lawsuit against USG conspiracy to destroy People's Temple - (258k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3125 - Congressman Ryan's plan to visit People's Temple in Guyana - (343k - 3 jpgs)
  • State 256273 - Congressman Ryan's proposed visit to Guyana - (123k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3174 - American lawyer Mark Lane's Georgetown press conference on the People's Temple - (399k - 3 jpgs)
  • State 277716 - Congressman Ryan's visit to Guyana - (187k - 2 jpgs)
  • State 278140 - Codel Ryan - (175k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3597 - CODEL Ryan's intention to investigate Peoples Temple in Guyana - (90k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3600 - Congressman Ryan's visit to Guyana - (299k - 3 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3619 - Codel Ryan visit to Guyana - (242k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3714 - Congressman Ryan's visit to Guyana - (132k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3749 - Peoples Temple press release on visit of CODEL Ryan - (602k - 4 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3761 - Ambassador meets with "Concerned Relatives" - (258k - 3 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3774 - flash message notifying the State Department of the airport attack on CODEL Ryan - (134k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3775 - Passenger list of party that made trip to Port Kaituma with Congressman Ryan - (97k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3776 - Shooting incident at Port Kaituma - (276k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3777 - Background Port Kaituma and Jonestown - (145k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3778 - First reports from Port Kaituma - (93k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3779 - Situation report as of 1100 local - (110k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3780 - Security of "Concerned Relatives" at Pegasus Hotel - (105k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3781 - First wounded arrive at Timehri International Airport, Georgetown - (98k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3782 - Security of "Concerned Relatives" at Pegasus Hotel - (108k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3783 - Special military aircraft - (80k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3784 - Offer of assistance to GOG - (87k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3785 - Equipment needs of Guyana National police - (90k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3787 - Shooting incident - (82k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3788 - Names and addresses of PT relatives - (82k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3790 - Offer of assistance to GOG - (111k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3791 - Security of Concerned Relatives - (125k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3792 - First casulty report from Jonestown - (84k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3793 - Update on party that flew to Port Kaituma with CODEL Ryan - (102k - jpg)
  • State 293749 - Offer of assistance to GOG - (95k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3807 - Interview with Mark Lane - (656k- 5 jpgs - 8k - html)
  • Georgetown 3811 - GOG creates task force to deal with Jonestown tragedy - (303k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3812 - Assistance - (94k - jpg)
  • State 299101 - Press guidance - (204k - 2 jpgs)
  • State 299104 - Task force supplies and equipment - (247k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3817 - Identification of Reverend Jim Jones... - (119k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3820 - Department assumption of death and w/w notification responsibilities - (85k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3826 - Disposition of remains - (285k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3837 - Request for equipment by GOG director of civil aviation - (285k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3843 - Disposition of remains - (150k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3845 - Disposition of remains - (123k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3867 - U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan... - (194k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3868 - Medical findings of investigation at Jonestown - (192k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3884 - People's Temple - (77k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3897 - Findings in partial autopsy on body of Bishop Jim Jones - (76k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3900 - Search and rescue - (116k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 3919 - Official GOG statement on the assassination of Congressman Ryan and the tragedy at Jonestown - (236k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3928 - Media activities in wake of Port-Kaituma-Jonestown tragedies - (292k - 3 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3951 - Verifying removal of all human remains from Jonestown site - (182k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3978 - Mission contacts with Jonestown - (230k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 3986 - Radio broadcast related to the visit of Congressman Ryan to Jonestown - (213k - 2 jpgs)
  • Georgetown 4014 - Status of legal issues - (174k - 2 jpgs)
  • State 299116 - Arrangements for return of survivors - (121k - jpg)
  • State 299118 - US military support to Guyana incident - (183k - 2 jpgs)
  • State 299132 - Arrangements for return of survivors - (178k - 2 jpgs)
  • State 301207 - Report of DCM's Dwyer - (110k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 4041 - DCM Dwyer's report on Codel Ryan's visit to Jonestown and subsequent murder - (2,300k - 17 jpgs - 32k - html)
  • Georgetown 4171 - Recollections of DCM Dwyer on May 10 visit to People's Temple with Consul McCoy - (369k - 3 jpgs)
  • State 309905 - People's Temple - (43k - jpg)
  • Georgetown 4405 - Jury verdict at coroner's inquest into Jonestown mass deaths - (159k - jpg)
State Department Press Briefings Search and Rescue/Body Recovery/Disposition of Remains


All digital jpg scans, html coding and formatting © copyright 1998 Brian Csuk



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