James “Jim” Warren Jones was born on May 13, 1931 in Indiana. As a child, Jones was an avid reader, obsessed with religion and death. His mother, a Communist, was a big influence on Jones’ political ideology. He graduated from high school in 1948 and worked as an orderly at a local hospital. Jones met nurse Marceline Balwin and they married in 1949. She would die at Jonestown.
The Jones’ relocated to Bloomington, Indiana so Jones could attend Indiana University Bloomington. While there, he heard a speech by Eleanor Roosevelt about the plight of African Americans. After attending college for two years, he and Marceline relocated to Indianapolis in 1951. Jones would eventually earn a degree in secondary education from Butler University a decade later.
Once in Indianapolis Jones immediately joined the Communist Party USA. He and his mother would be harassed by the FBI during the McCarthy Era. Jones decided that the best way to convey his Marxist ideas was through religion. A Methodist district superintendent, fully aware that Jones was a Communist, got him a position as a student pastor at the Sommerset Southside Methodist Church. During his tenure he witnessed a faith-healing service at a Seventh Day Baptist Church. Seeing how lucrative faith-healing sermons were, in 1956 Jones organized a religious convention in Indianapolis’ Cadle Tabernacle, sharing the pulpit with healing evangelist and Pentecostal leader Reverend William Branham. Together they attracted an audience of 11,000. Copying Branham, Jones began telling supplicants their names and addresses before pronouncing them healed. People believed Jones had supernatural gifts and he developed a following.
In 1955 Jones opened the People’s Temple Christian Church Full Gospel, later shortened to the People’ Temple. In 1957 he was ordained as a minister by the Independent Assemblies of God. In 1964 he was ordained again by the Disciples of Christ. The key to each of his sermons was that he was the voice of God and that the end of the world was imminent. But he was also an unwavering advocate for social justice and equality, lending aid to the poor and tirelessly working for minority rights.
In 1960 Jones was appointed by the Indianapolis mayor as director of the city’s Human Rights Commission. He was instrumental in racially integrating churches, restaurants and government offices. But just a year later, convinced that the US was on the verge of imminent nuclear destruction, Jones left Indianapolis and traveled to Brazil where he believed it was safe. News that the Temple was on the verge of collapse, Jones returned from Brazil in 1963. He told his congregation that the world would be engulfed in nuclear war on July 15, 1967 and that the Temple had to move to Northern California. He and his flock settled in a small town outside Ukiah.
By 1970 Jones had become and atheist and was more open about his Marxist idealism, which appealed to many. He opened over a dozen branch sites of the People’s Temple throughout California, including San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 1971 he moved his headquarters to San Francisco at 1859 Geary.
Jones became a respected member of the community when he set up a free medical clinic and food and clothing donations. He gained the support of the media. He wooed the San Francisco Chronicle’s[1] chief editor Steve Gavin, who ultimately became a huge supporter and defended Jones after allegations of corruption surfaced. Herb Caen[2] was the Temple’s most widely read media connection. By 1977 he had over 8000 dedicated followers. He encouraged them to live a communal lifestyle, converting real estate owned by Temple members into communal living units. At least a dozen such residences were located throughout the Fillmore District. While Temple members were predominately African American, Jones’ leadership counsel was made up of six white women.
In 1975 Jones was influential in George Moscone’s mayoral bid. Jones delivered 200 Temple members to campaign for Moscone in the rougher neighborhoods. On the eve of the election, according to Jones’ son, he filled buses with Temple members from Ukiah and Los Angeles and had them transported to the City to cast ballots for Moscone. Moscone won the election by the slimmest of margins, and was asked by the Board of Supervisors to look into election fraud. He appointed newly elected District Attorney Joseph Freitas to investigate. Freitas appointed Assistant District Attorney and Temple member Timothy Stoen to lead the investigation. The final report found no evidence of election fraud. Jones and the People’s Temple weren’t mentioned. Meanwhile, Moscone appointed Jones as Chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission. When the Board of Supervisors threatened to void the appointment, Assemblyman Willie Brown proposed legislation that would have stripped the Board of Supervisors of its power over appointments. Jones was unanimously approved. The hallmark of his appointment was the fight against the eviction of tenants residing in the International Hotel[3]. In January 1977 Jones provided 2,000 volunteers who surrounded the building and barricaded the doors. Sheriff Richard Hongisto refused to execute the eviction notice, though the tenants would be forcibly removed eight months later.
Jones’ large donations, ability to produce volunteers with as little as six-hours notice, and charisma gave him political clout. In the fall of 1976 Jones and First Lady Rosalyn Carter shared the stage at the opening of San Francisco’s Democratic Headquarters, followed by a private dinner at the Stanford Court. He not only won over the First Lady and Mayor Moscone, but Reverend Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial[4], Board Supervisor Harvey Milk and future mayor Willie Brown as well. Willie Brown, then in the Assembly, served as Master of Ceremonies at a testimonial dinner for Jones that was attended by high ranking politicians including then Governor Jerry Brown.
In 1977, as word got out that New West magazine was about to publish an article exposing the People’s Temple’s inner workings, Jones and about 1,000 members of his flock abruptly left the United States and relocated to Jonestown in Guyana. San Francisco officials were left confused and rattled. The article, written by a Chronicle reporter, accused the Temple of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, backed by testimonials from former members. It also accused the People’s Temple of fraud and kidnapping.
Most of Jones’ political allies broke off ties after the New West article was published and Jones and his congregation moved to Guyana, though there were many who would continue to defend him. Herb Caen questioned the validity of the article. Milk wrote to President Jimmy Carter, defending Jones’ character. Willie Brown would continue to fundraise for him. After the article was published, Supervisor Quentin Kopp asked for an investigation into Temple activities. Mayor Moscone once again turned to District Attorney Freitas and after a six week investigation, his office reported that, while “unsavory”, there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
Without Jones leadership, attendance at the San Francisco People’s Temple dropped. The building on Geary became a supply depot for Jonestown. It would sustain major structural damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta quake[5] and be demolished. A post office now stands at the site.
Life in Guyana was like a prison. Once there, no one could leave. Offenders of even minor infractions were locked into an underground cubicle for days. Vocal dissidents were heavily drugged. In the fall of 1977 several Temple defectors formed a “Concerned Relatives” group. Assistant District Attorney Timothy Stoen, no longer a Temple member, traveled to Washington DC in January 1978 and submitted a White Paper outlining his concerns. It got the attention of California Congressman Leo Ryan. Ryan flew to Jonestown with two San Francisco newspaper reporters, a Washington Post reporter and an NBC news team to conduct a fact finding mission into potential human rights abuse. They were warmly received at the commune with a reception dinner, but they departed quickly the next afternoon after one of the Temple members attacked Ryan with a knife. They took 15 Temple members who requested safe passage, and drove to an air strip. Once there, Jones’ armed guards arrived in a separate vehicle and began shooting at them. One of the supposed defectors drew a weapon and started shooting as well. In the end, five people, including Ryan, were killed. Ten were injured.
Realizing that there was no escape once the massacre at the airstrip was made public, Jones orchestrated a mass murder-suicide. Flavor Aid was laced with cyanide which Jones had been stockpiling in Jonestown for years. He had obtained a jeweler’s license that allowed him to buy cyanide in bulk (it is used to clean gold). Those who resisted were forcibly injected. It remains the largest mass suicide in history. Jones is seen on camera opening up a large container of Kool-Aid, which became the source for today’s phrase “drinking the Kool-Aid”. Jones shot himself. His body was cremated and his ashes scattered into the Atlantic Ocean. 412 unclaimed victims were buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland where a memorial with the names of all the victims, including Jones, was erected in 2011.
Back in San Francisco, every family in the Fillmore District knew someone who died in Jonestown. Mayor Moscone broke down in tears when he was given the news. He ultimately became the only member in political circles to admit an error in judgement. He and Harvey Milk would be assassinated nine days later. Willie Brown (1934 – ), who remained a staunch supporter until Jones’ death, was not affected politically. Graduating from San Francisco State in 1955 and earning a law degree from Hastings in 1958, Brown spent several years in private practice before being elected to the California State Assembly in 1964. He would serve over 30 years in the Assembly, 15 of them as Speaker. He was elected mayor of San Francisco in 1996 and served two terms. He retired from politics when term limits prevented him from running a third time.
Three years after the mass suicide and the assassination of Moscone and Milk[6], state and federal investigators began looking more closely into Moscone’s closely won mayoral election. When the Register of Voters was asked for voting rosters, the records had mysteriously disappeared.
[1] San Francisco Chronicle: story coming January 16th
[2] Herb Caen: story coming April 3rd
[3] International Hotel: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4053
[4] Cecil Williams and Glide Memorial: story coming September 22nd
[5] Loma Prieta Quake: story coming October 17th
[6] Moscone/Milk assassinations: story coming November 27th
