Skip to main content

Peoples Temple Collection; Box 10, Virtual item 23, Q242 - Part 4,  Peoples Rally (August 19, 1978)

 Digital Record
Identifier: ms-0183_10.23 Part 4

Dates

  • Digitized: August 19, 1978

Creator

Summary Note

Recorded during an evening meeting of the Jonestown community in August 1978, this long tape includes Jones quizzing different (mainly unidentified) community members about the news of the day, recent movies, and important historical events, such as the execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg in the early 1950s and James Earl Ray's alleged confession of his assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King in 1968. There are also numerous preparations for the arrival of different visitors, including Temple attorney Mark Lane and author Don Freed, San Francisco newspaper publisher and Temple supporter Carlton Goodlett, and unnamed officials of the Guyanese government. Jones also reviews various legal and political actions taken against them, either in demonstrating the existence of a conspiracy against Peoples Temple, or in making points to bolster arguments for learning the news and strengthening the community. The tape opens with Jones instructing the people about being careful in answering questions posed by visitors; he says that he should answer the questions whenever possible, but gives people general guidance about the types of things to say about Jonestown. He'll help people make a point about the things they do within the community, but they should be aware of the impressions they make on guests. He adds that he catches things that they miss. Full summary of the recording available at Alternative Considerations of Jonestown website, along with the tape transcript.

Rights Statement Note

The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine.  Requests for permission to publish must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.

Physical Description Note

Original audio cassette tape recording digitized and made available as .mp3 audio file.

Publisher Note

Publisher: The Jonestown Institute

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections & University Archives Repository

Contact:
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego CA 92182-8050 US
619-594-6791