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Peoples Temple Collection; Box 16, Virtual Item 19, Q569- Part 2, Jones meeting with Jonestown settlers

 Digital Record
Identifier: ms-0183_16.19 Part 2

Creator

Summary Note

This tape of conversation between the "pioneers" of Jonestown — those who were constructing the buildings and houses in anticipation of the immigration from the U.S. — and the Temple leadership, including Jim Jones, was probably made in the course of one meeting during Jones' visit. There are two distinct edits, and the tone of the voices shifts from one segment to the next. Because the people in attendance seem to be the same throughout, and the overall subject matters similar, it is probably a single meeting. The FBI initially withheld this tape from disclosure, due to its lengthy discussions of money, smuggling, and guns. A lot of the conversation on these subjects seems amateurish — Jones talks about coming into the country with money in his crotch, adding, "I always keep my money in my crotch" — although the discussion of coding messages between Jonestown and the U.S. also indicates that they preferred no one outside of the meeting to know what they were doing. The tape begins with Jones talking about the problems involved in getting people to Jonestown. He is especially concerned about costs: how much it would cost to bring everyone over, how much it would cost to get the place ready, how much they can afford to spend. "We're getting ready to pour several million dollars into this place... if I move all these people. I'm talking about assets that I can get my hands on, about four million dollars." Full summary of the recording available at Alternative Considerations of Jonestownwebsite, 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 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 i

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections & University Archives Repository

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