- Peoples Temple and Jonestown

Catalog description

Peoples Temple (1955–1978) was one of the largest Black and interracial political movements in the United States, a legacy that has been largely overshadowed by the movement’s tragic ending in Guyana and its lasting image as a symbol of cult violence. Yet the movement’s complex socialist engagement with religion, race, class, and politics; the expanding body of archival materials documenting its history; and continued media fascination with both the community and Rev. Jim Jones positions Peoples Temple as a culturally significant religio-political movement deserving of serious study and thoughtful analysis. This course offers a focused historical exploration of Peoples Temple and Jonestown with an emphasis on the varied lived experiences of Black members and survivors. Throughout the course, students will contribute to the Jonestown Transcription Project—an initiative supporting the Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple, a digital archive hosted by San Diego State University—by transcribing and verifying letters written by Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana to access the critical, and often overlooked or dismissed, perspectives of Peoples Temples members.