In November 1978 a series of events in the small nation of Guyana cascaded to result in one of the most tragic episodes in American history. The assassination of a congressman and the death of nearly 1000 members of Peoples Temple Agricultural Project in the jungle commune of Jonestown shocked and confused the American consciousness.

The members of Peoples Temple, led by Reverend Jim Jones, collected and recorded thousands of documents including sermons, letters, receipts, and evidence of what they thought was a conspiracy against the Temple.

Digital Jonestown is a digital project to digitize and annotate the most important of these documents to make them readily available and comprehensible to anyone interested in learning more about Peoples Temple, their vision for a just and equitable society, and the events that led to its tragic end.

There are several Pathways to access the documents and learn the story of Peoples Temple and the many members who devoted their lives to making the world a better place. Under the Pathways menu  are links to several ways to view the digitized and annotated documents.

Explore, learn, dig deeper into the lives and legacy of the community of Jonestown.