First-hand Accounts
Six Years with God: Life Inside Revered Jim Jones' Peoples Temple by Call Number: BP605 P46 M54ISBN: 0894790463Publication Date: 1979
Awake in a Nightmare - Jonestown by Call Number: BP605 P46 F44 1981ISBN: 0393014312Publication Date: 1981
Newspaper Sources
Search the full-text of various newspaper collections for contemporary news reports of the events at Jonestown and the aftermath. Use the advanced search option to limit by date, in addition to using quotation marks around organizations ("peoples temple") or individual names ("jim jones", "leo ryan", "timothy stoen") to focus your search.
- New York Times: 1923-2018Select "advanced search" for the best search interface.
- Washington Post: 1974-2006Select "advanced search" for the best search interface.
- Chicago Tribune: 1963-1996Select "advanced search" for the best search interface.
- African American Newspapers, Series 1 This link opens in a new windowSearch the full text of newspapers published by or for African Americans between 1827-1998 to gain insights into African American history, culture, and daily life. Includes page images. Coverage: 1827-1998
Archival Collections
- Peoples Temple at JonestownArchival collection of Jonestown related materials held at San Diego State University. Includes a link to the finding aid for the archival holdings.
- Jonestown Institute: Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples TempleArchival collection from San Diego State University. Contains personal accounts, audio tapes, images, and other primary source materials from Jonestown. Also includes some secondary analysis and reports utilizing their primary source documents.
- Photographs of Peoples Temple in the United States and GuyanaColor images of activities, people, and locations related to Peoples Temple in both California and Guyana. Collected by the University of California/California Historical Society.
- Audio and Video of Peoples TempleAudio and video collection of singing, preaching, and daily activities of the Peoples Temple. Collected by the California Historical Society.
Documents of Protest Movements Through the 1970's
These are examples of primary source databases at ZSR. Please see our full list of primary source documents and manuscripts databases here.
- Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984 This link opens in a new windowContains Justice Department and FBI files on a wide range of African American organizations, people, and activities from 1928-1984. Includes Malcom X, W.E.B. Dubois, NAACP, and more. Coverage: 1920-1984
- Greensboro Massacre, 1979: Shootout between the American Nazis and the Communist Workers Party This link opens in a new windowThis collection of documents from the FBI, local and state police, and other law enforcement agencies provides insights into the 1979 Greensboro Massacre, including the motivations of the Communist organizers, the shootings, subsequent investigations, and efforts to heal the Greensboro community. Coverage: 1979-1981
- Republic of New Afrika: Independence, Reparations, and Citizenship This link opens in a new windowThis collection provides documentation collected by the FBI and chronicles the activities of the social movement organization The Republic of New Afrika (RNA), including activities of national and local leaders, power struggles within the organization, its growing militancy, and its affiliations with other Black militant organizations. Source Library: Federal Bureau of Investigation Headquarters Library. Coverage: 1968-1980
- We Were Prepared for the Possibility of Death: Freedom Riders in the South, 1961 This link opens in a new windowFreedom Riders rode interstate buses into the segregated South to test the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Boynton v. Virginia, which outlawed racial segregation in terminals serving buses that crossed state lines. The Freedom Rides bolstered the credibility of the Civil Rights Movement and called national attention to violent disregard for the law in the southern United States. Source Library: Federal Bureau of Investigation Library. Coverage: 1961
- Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600 to 2000 This link opens in a new windowIncludes primary documents, books, images, scholarly essays, book reviews, Web site reviews, and teaching tools, all documenting the multiplicity of women’s activism in public life. Also includes a searchable online edition of the highly respected research tool "Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary" (5 volumes, 1971–2004), fully integrated into the broader Women & Social Movements database.
- Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new windowSignificant primary documents central to U.S. foreign and military policy since 1945. Contains declassified documents that have been gathered through the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Coverage: 1945-2002
- Federal Response to Radicalism in the 1960s This link opens in a new windowContains FBI files on a wide range of organizations, people, and activities of some of the most prominent American radical groups and their movements. Includes files on Abbie Hoffman, Ceasar Chavez, The Weather Underground, Students for a Democratic Society and more. Coverage: 1956-1971
- Mass Observation Online This link opens in a new windowMass Observation was a social research organization formed in 1937 to study the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. This collection includes studies and publications, diaries and personal writings, photographs, and interactive maps. It describes everyday life in the words of ordinary people, with interviews and records of overheard conversations, rather than through polls. Coverage: 1937-1965