Peoples Temple Collection; Box 8, Virtual Folder 25 - Jones announces Ryan’s plans to visit Jonestown (November 9, 1978)

Digital Record

Identifier: ms-0183_08.25

Staff Only

Digital Object (mixed_materials)

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Dates

Digitized: 11/09/1978

Creator

Jones, Jim (Jones, James Warren) (Person)
Peoples Temple (Organization)

Summary Note

Recorded on November 7, 1978 - eleven days before the mass deaths in Jonestown - this tape divides Jim Jones' time between reading the news of the day and alerting the people of Jonestown about the plans of Congressman Leo Ryan to visit the community on an unspecified date in the near future. This tape may show some of Jones' earliest reactions to Ryan's plans, since the news of the pending visit seems fresh to Jones. He is most animated when he speaks of the possible arrival of the congressional party - which would include some of the "group of bad relatives who are working with the conspiracy" - to the degree that at one point, he hurries through a news item, mispronouncing the last word of the story, in order to talk more about the more immediate threat to the community. Jones is also confused about the congressman's name - perhaps because of its unfamiliarity, perhaps because, as evidenced in the slight impairment in his voice, he may be fighting fatigue or pharmaceutical haziness - and refers to him half the time as "Congressman O'Ryan." But the first time Jones identifies the congressman, he is quite emphatic: "His name is Congressman Ryan." Full summary of the recording available at Alternative Considerations of Jonestown website, along with the tape transcript.

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