Survivor Profile: Lee Ingram


Lee Ingram was an African-American man who joined Peoples Temple in 1970 while the group was in Ukiah, California. Ingram was originally from Bedford-Stuyvesant in New York state (Reiterman, Raven, 157). When he joined Peoples Temple, he was living with Sandy Bradshaw, a white woman and the two quickly married at Jones’ request. As an interracial couple in Ukiah, the two would have been quite noticeable (Reiterman, Raven, 157).

In Guyana, Ingram was a member of the Planning Commission along with a secret group of five Planning Commission members called The Triumpherate (Serial 1681-22). Ingram was also the head of security at Jonestown and was one of the members allowed to operate the radio (Serial 1131-2). As head of security he was very close to Jones, Johnny Franklin referred to him as Jones’ right hand man. Franklin also stated that Ingram “was in charge of money and security” (Serial 1131-2). Needless to say, Ingram was one of the highest ranking members of Peoples Temple in Jonestown and would have been one of the closest to Jim Jones.

Ingram was also the coach of the Peoples Temple basketball team. He was in Georgetown on the day of the suicide along with the rest of the team, including Jones’ own son Stephan. There was an order sent out via radio for their return to Jonestown on the day of the suicide but Stephan and the team decided not to obey. While they were aware that a White Night may have been taking place, they did not know of the events that were going to transpire (Reiterman, Raven, 474-475). After the night of the suicide, Ingram apologized to the people of Guyana for “disturbing their peace” (Barbash).

This photo of Ingram was taken shortly after the suicides in an interview with MSNBC.

Serial 1131-2, FD302 Interview with Johnny Franklin. Accessed from https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=91219.

Serial 1681-22, FD302 Interview with Jim Bogue. Accessed from https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=71508.

Barbash, Fred. Fear and Suspicion Split Jonestown Survivors. Accessed from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/11/28/fear-and-suspicion-split-jonestown-survivors/56fe59d1-9a6b-402d-9af2-9a164ee04162/.

Image from https://www.flickr.com/photos/peoplestemple/4734056878.

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