A Rare Glimpse Inside the Lives of Jim Jones’ 909 Followers in Jonestown, Just Before the Deadliest Cult in American History

40 years ago today, more than 900 people died in the jungles of Guyana. Most were poisoned. Some drank the cyanide-laced liquid willingly. Others, including children, were forced to take it. They were following the orders of the charismatic leader of a group called the Peoples Temple, a man from the San Francisco area named Jim Jones. The year before, Jones had fled with his flock to South America when questions were raised about abuses at the congregation.

In 2010, the Jonestown Institute, made up of former residents and members of the Peoples Temple, filed a request to the FBI to release the thousands of documents and photographs collected from Jonestown. Images from the early years showed hand built houses and boys sinking perfect three pointers in the tropical sunshine. But as always, Jonestown was more than it appeared. Most of the images were staged as part of a propaganda campaign by the Temple’s leader, Jim Jones, to deflect the mainland US’s growing concern. The reality was the residents were severely malnourished, sleep deprived and worked to the bone seven days a week in the scorching tropical sun. Jones collected the savings and welfare checks of all of the members, and spread terrifying rumors and fake news about the US descending back into a state of racial segregation, revoking the rights of African American citizens. The Peoples Temple was originally founded on the premise of racial equality, and three quarters of its victims were African American. Jonestown was carved out of the jungle as a socialist utopia where “all races, creeds, and colors find a hearty welcome.”

Ultimately, as Jones descended into psychosis, kool-aid laced with cyanide was an escape from a life of terror and psychological torture. Despite the sensationalist media headlines we are all familiar with, it wasn’t a blind leap of faith. The hope of many of the victims, recorded in secret suicide notes, was that their deaths would bring attention to the fact that ultimately, they had all felt more welcomed by Jonestown and its promise of racial equality than by the United States.

Over the decades, the intentions of that act has been obscured by the punch-line, but staged or not, these photos show real people, friends and families who all just wanted a chance to live in a better world.

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Horrible Photos From the 1978 Jonestown Massacre, the Worst Mass Murder-Suicide in U.S. History

November 18 marked the 40th anniversary of the mass murder-suicide of more than 900 people, most of them Americans who were members of a California-based cult called the Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ, run by the reverend Jim Jones. Until 9/11, it was the largest loss of American citizens in a single incident.

Jim Jones, an evangelist from San Francisco, had founded Jonestown in the South American nation earlier in the 1970s. He chose Guyana as the site for his “utopia” to get out of the reach of U.S. authorities and news media, and because the government of Guyana offered a hands-off posture, as long as the right hands were greased.

Jones was not your ordinary evangelist. Unlike many of his counterparts of the day, who were often regarded as cult leaders, he easily moved among the movers and shakers of California. He was appointed chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority by the mayor, and was even honored at a testimonial dinner attended by the governor.

Jones had founded the Peoples Temple in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the late 1950s as a “socialist paradise.” But he met with resistance because of his politics. He moved the church to San Francisco. But the move also exposed the church to increased media scrutiny, so Jones chose the remote Guyana site.

Throughout the 1970s, he recruited hundreds of members to move to what was dubbed Jonestown and begin building the colony. Pressure began to build back home, however, as relatives of Peoples Temple members claimed the members were being prevented from leaving Jonestown.

In November of 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan of San Francisco led a delegation that included the media and family members to Jonestown. They were initially denied entry, but Jones later relented. While Ryan and his party were there, a member slipped NBC News reporter Don Harris a note saying they were being held captive.

Ryan and his party, along with about a dozen defectors, departed for a nearby airstrip. But before they could board the planes, they were ambushed by Peoples Temple gunmen. Ryan, Harris and several others were killed on the runway.

Back at the colony, Jones, knowing his days were numbered, ordered a pre-planned mass suicide. This was carried out by forced-feeding of cyanide-laced grape drink to members, which included many children. Many people, including Jones, died of gunshot wounds.

When U.S. authorities arrived, they found almost 1,000 bodies (including some 300 age 17 and under), bloated by the jungle heat. Most of the remains were buried in a mass grave near San Francisco, and the jungle reclaimed the site.

This led to the phrase “drinking the Kool-Aid,” often directed to somebody who holds unquestioned beliefs. Ironically, authorities determined Jones used Flavor-Aid, a similar product, for the poison. All these years Kool-Aid has been getting a bad rap.

An aerial shot of the mass suicide of the religious cult, The Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones, 1978, Jonestown, Guyana. (AP Photo)

Dead bodies lie near the compound of the People’s Temple cult on Nov. 18, 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana after over 900 members of the cult, led by Reverend Jim Jones, died from drinking cyanide-laced Kool Aid; they were victims of the largest mass suicide in modern history. Bows and arrows in the foreground which were used by fanatical followers of Jim Jones to keep people from running away. (Photo: David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)

The mass suicide of the religious cult, The Peoples Temple, led by Jim Jones, Nov. 18, 1978, Jonestown, Guyana. (AP Photo)

Jonestown, Guyana, mass suicide cult led by Jim Jones on Nov. 18, 1978. (AP Photo)

Bodies lie about a building at the People’s Temple Commune in Jonestown, Guyana, Nov. 18, 1978 after more than 400 people committed suicide in one of the decade’s worst tragedies. (AP Photo/Frank Johns)

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