Hyacinth Thrash was an African-American woman who entered Peoples Temple in 1957 while the church was still located in Indianapolis. She joined with her sister, Zipporah Edwards, and was attracted to the integrated nature of the church. They followed Jones to Ukiah in 1967. Hyacinth purchased a house in California which she turned into a care home for women with “mental problems” (The Onliest One Alive, 64 ,67). In San Francisco, Hyacinth never held any leadership roles regardless of her long time with the church.
In July 1977, Hyacinth and her sister moved to Jonestown. In her memoir, she describes the inequality and hypocrisy of Jones. He had access to the best foods, air conditioning, warm water, window screening, and more. Meanwhile, Hyacinth and others did not have such luxuries (The Onliest One Alive, 89, 93, 99). On the day of November 18th, Hyacinth recalls her sister coming into her cottage and telling her to come to the pavilion (The Onliest One Alive, 109). She refused because she was sick and ultimately fell asleep the night of the suicides (Serial 1068-2). Hyacinth woke up the next morning and found the people of Jonestown dead, including her sister. She hid in her cottage until Guyanese soldiers found her the next day (The Onliest One Alive, 111-112).
Following the suicides, Hyacinth temporarily moved with her nephew to Los Angeles. She returned to church approximately seven to eight months after the massacre. By 1981, Hyacinth relocated to Indianapolis to live with her nieces. In 1995, she published a memoir, The Onliest One Alive, detailing her experiences with the Peoples Temple and in Jonestown. She died November 18th, 1995, on the seventeenth anniversary of the Jonestown massacre.
Thrash, Catherine, and Marian Kleinsasser Towne. The Onliest One Alive: Surviving Jonestown, Guyana. M. Towne, 1995.
FD 302. Serial 1068-2. Accessed at https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=91061.