Historical Figure
Jim Jones
1931–1978
American cult leader and mass murderer (1931–1978)
Hear Their Voice
Original recordings and AI voice
"Jonestown Death Tape (FBI No. Q 042)" — November 18, 1978
Generated by Today in History
Talk to Jim Jones
Have a conversation with this historical figure through AI
Biography
James Warren Jones was an American cult leader, preacher, and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrated a mass murder–suicide that resulted in the deaths of over 900 people including 304 children, which he described as "revolutionary suicide", a term coined by Huey P. Newton, in his remote jungle commune at Jonestown, Guyana on November 18, 1978, including the assassination of U.S. congressman Leo Ryan. Jonestown had a defining influence on society's perception of cults.
Timeline
The story of Jim Jones, told in moments.
Founded the Peoples Temple in Indianapolis. Drew followers with a racially integrated congregation, radical for 1950s Indiana. Claimed faith healing powers.
Moved 900 followers to a jungle compound in Guyana he called Jonestown, fleeing media investigations into abuse at the San Francisco church.
Ordered the mass murder-suicide at Jonestown. 909 people died, including 304 children, from cyanide-laced punch. Congressman Leo Ryan was murdered on the airstrip hours earlier. Jones died from a gunshot.
In Their Own Words (15)
When God is Socialism, God is love. [...] Socialism means that all the means of production that man has [...] are owned by the same people, the family of man, the family of God. There is only one source of ownership—love. No one can privately own the land. No one can privately own the air. It must be held in common. So then, that is love, that is God, Socialism
Speaking to his followers, quoted in Walliss 2004, p. 48, Chidester 1988, p. 57, 2004
You've seen three people drop dead and you saw them resurrected. Their attitudes were prejudiced and they would drop dead, but I resurrected them. And I've done it sixty-three times in eleven months this year in a public meeting.
Speaking to his followers, quoted in Walliss 2004, p. 49, Chidester 1988, p. 58, 2004
I have failed [...] I live for my people because they need me. But whenever they leave, they tell lies about the place.
Talking to his attorney Charles Garry after the Leo Ryan visit, quoted in Walliss 2004, p. 71, 2004
For twenty-four times this year people up to ninety-six years of age have fell down, and they've gived up the ghost, and no God came out of the sky. Old nigger Jones just walked down, and said, "Arise! Arise! Take up your bed! Arise!"
Speaking to his followers, quoted in Chidester 1988, p. 58, 1988
I was ready to kill by the end of the third grade. I mean, I was so aggressive and hostile, I was ready to kill. Nobody gave me love, any understanding. In those days a parent was supposed to go with a child to school functions. There was some kind of school performance, and everybody's parent was there but mine. I'm standing there, alone. Always was alone.
Reiterman & Jacobs 1982, pp. 16–17, 1982
Artifacts (15)
Industrial Labor in the Colonial World: Workers of the Chemin de Fer Dakar-Niger, 1881-1963
This is the first major study of a pivotal episode in West African history, the great railroad strike of 1947-48, examined from the perspective of Africans who worked and lived along the Dakar-Niger...
Experiências que deixam marcas: Conceitos fundamentais sobre Customer Experience
Customer Experience (CX), ou Experiência do Cliente em português é uma tema complexo, que envolve diferentes áreas da empresa e uma gestão efetiva para obtenção de resultados sustentáveis no longo...
More from the Modern
Explore what happened on the days that shaped Jim Jones's life. Today In History connects historical figures with the events, births, and deaths that defined their era. Browse all historical figures or explore today's events.