Peoples Temple records, 1922-1984

Summary

Creators:

Peoples Temple

Abstract:

Consists of materials collected by court receiver Robert H. Fabian in his efforts to identify and locate Peoples Temple assets and settle the more than 750 claims that arose from the events of November 18, 1978, when Congressman Leo Ryan, three journalists, and 914 Peoples Temple members died by murder or suicide in Port Kaituma, Jonestown, and Georgetown, Guyana. The collection includes manuscripts, realia, photographs, ephemera, legal documents, court depositions, financial documents, newspaper and magazine articles, and research materials. The first eight series comprise records removed by Fabian from the Peoples Temple offices on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco in the early days of the receivership. The bulk of these records document Peoples Temple operations in California and Guyana between 1965 and 1978, with some materials from the years before 1965, when the church was located in Indiana. The records reflect the church's involvement in all aspects of its membership, including maintenance of housing, medical, car and life insurance; real estate holdings and transfers; divorce, adoption, and custody cases; documents related to various corporations run by Peoples Temple; and materials generated in the procurement and settlement of Peoples Temple Agricultural Mission in Guyana, known as Jonestown. Series 9, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, and series 10, Federal Bureau of Investigation, include records obtained by the receiver from these agencies to aid in his investigation. Series 11, Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ v. Attorney General of California, and series 12, United States v. Peoples Temple, include documents generated from the receiver's office during operations to dissolve Peoples Temple. The materials generated by the reciever date from February 1979 to March 1984, though many files contain earlier materials used as supporting evidence for claims.

Extent:

145 linear feet

Language:

Collection materials are in English.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Peoples Temple Records, MS 3800, California Historical Society.

Background

Scope and content:

The Peoples Temple records consist of materials collected by Robert H. Fabian, the court-appointed receiver for Peoples Temple charged with identifying and locating Peoples Temple assets and settling the more than 750 claims that arose from the mass suicide/murder that occurred on November 18, 1978, in Guyana. The collection includes manuscripts, realia, photographs, ephemera, legal documents, court depositions, financial documents, newspaper and magazine articles, and research materials. The first eight series comprise records removed by Fabian from Peoples Temple offices on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco in the early days of the receivership, and their order is derived fundamentally from the record-keeping practices of Peoples Temple staff. The bulk of these records document Peoples Temple operations in California and Guyana between 1965 and 1978, with some materials from the years before 1965, when the church was located in Indiana. The records reflect the church's involvement in all aspects of its membership, including maintenance of housing, medical, car, and life insurance; real estate holdings and transfers; divorce, adoption, and custody cases; documents related to various corporations run by Peoples Temple; and materials generated in the procurement and settlement of Peoples Temple Agricultural Mission in Guyana that became known as Jonestown. Series 9, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, and series 10, Federal Bureau of Investigation, include records obtained by the receiver from those agencies to aid in his investigation. Series 11, Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ v. Attorney General of California, and series 12, United States v. Peoples Temple, include documents generated from the receiver's office during operations to dissolve Peoples Temple, and they remain in the order they were organized by Fabian and his staff. The materials generated by the receiver date from February 1979 to March 1984, though many files contain earlier materials used as supporting evidence for claims.

The earliest documents, in Series 1, Indiana, record Peoples Temple's beginnings in Indiana, and predominantly consist of financial and legal documents produced in the establishment of the church, originally known as Wings of Deliverance. Series 2, Operations, includes testimonials and letters of support for Jim Jones and the work of Peoples Temple from politicians and other notable persons. These letters were saved by Peoples Temple and repeatedly used for publicity and public relations purposes. Also included are letter campaigns organized by Peoples Temple and general correspondence dealing with the day-to-day administration of the church.

Series 3, Legal Counsel, contains legal files generated by Tim Stoen and Eugene Chaikin, attorneys for Peoples Temple who were also members, and by Charles Garry, attorney for Peoples Temple from 1977 to 1978. The records largely consist of letters written on members' behalf, and subject files dealing with lawsuits and court cases involving members.

Series 4, Finance, consists of the financial records of Peoples Temple created between 1968 and 1978. These records comprise approximately one-third of the collection and include details on members' personal finances; records of church-owned real estate and vehicles; the accounts of numerous subsidiary corporations; general expense records; and bank account information.

Series 5, Agricultural Mission, details the operations of Peoples Temple in Georgetown and Jonestown, Guyana. The bulk of the records consist of correspondence from U.S. government officials and supporters of the move, and administrative records documenting the establishment of the agricultural mission in Guyana.

Series 6, Personal Records, consists of documents produced between 1972 and 1978 during the emigration of Peoples Temple members from the U.S. to Guyana. Files, arranged alphabetically by member name, contain all the assembled documents necessary to secure passports and visas for members traveling to Guyana, and some contain medical records, birth certificates, legal documents, and correspondence with a number of insurance companies, medical establishments, and state and local government offices.

Series 7, Media, contains articles and writings about Peoples Temple, as well as press releases, publications and other material produced by Peoples Temple for public relations purposes. Series 8, Subjects, consists of files arranged and assembled by the staff of Peoples Temple in their research on various subjects of interest to the church.

Series 9, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, includes records collected in response to a 1977 lawsuit against Peoples Temple and provided to the receiver for evidentiary use. Financial and real estate documents dating back to 1943 were sought as evidence, and new documents from interviews and investigations into the workings of Peoples Temple were created. Other records in this series consist of various operational documents taken from the Peoples Temple church and its subsidiary corporations.

Series 10, Federal Bureau of Investigation, contains FBI records released to the receiver and consists only of Peoples Temple bank account records from the Bank of Montreal. A more extensive FBI collection of records taken from Jonestown by the U.S. government and the government of Guyana after the events of November 18, 1978, were unsealed by Robert H. Fabian in September 1988. These related materials can be found in the FBI Collection of Peoples Temple Papers from Jonestown, Guyana, MS 3801.

Series 11, Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ v. Attorney General of California, and Series 12, United States v. Peoples Temple, document the receiver's work in locating and liquidating the assets of Peoples Temple in order to settle the lawsuits filed against it, including claims by survivors, families of members and others who died on the airstrip and in Jonestown, and the governments of the United States and Guyana. The extensive amount of evidence was accumulated during Fabian's appointment as receiver of the Peoples Temple estate, which started in the U.S. in January 1979 and in Guyana in 1980, and ended with the final settlement of claims and the dissolution of Peoples Temple as a California corporation in 1983. The assets of Peoples Temple were geographically dispersed and included assets throughout California as well as in Guyana, Canada, Switzerland, England, Venezuela, and Panama. The receiver's records include administrative documents; financial documents from Peoples Temple domestic and offshore accounts, often held in the name of one or more Peoples Temple members; personal documents of Peoples Temple members; legal documents, including transcripts of interviews and depositions of surviving Peoples Temple members and of Charles Garry, lawyer for Peoples Temple; and lists of claims and offers of compromise from the receiver's office.

The bulk of Series 12, United States v. Peoples Temple, consists of records produced in the lawsuit filed by the federal government in an attempt to recover the costs associated with the identification, forensic examination, removal, and repatriation of bodies from Guyana to the United States for burial.

Biographical / historical:

Peoples Temple began as a church founded by Jim and Marceline Jones and a small group of parishioners in Indianapolis in 1955. As pastor, Jim Jones preached to a racially-integrated congregation during Pentecostal-based services that included healings and sermons on integration and class conflicts. Peoples Temple conducted food drives; opened a "free restaurant" that served thousands of meals to the city's poor in the early 1960s; operated nursing homes; and hosted weekly television and radio programs featuring their integrated choir. The church became well known in the Indianapolis press for the members' integration activities and for their assertions of their pastor's gifts as a healer. The church became affiliated with the Disciples of Christ denomination in 1960.

In the summer of 1965, the Jones family and approximately one hundred Peoples Temple members relocated to Redwood Valley, a rural community eight miles north of Ukiah in Mendocino County. Peoples Temple conducted church services and meetings in rented and borrowed spaces until 1969 when they finished building their own church with a swimming pool, an animal shelter, gardens, and a community kitchen. By this time, the church's membership had grown to three hundred.

In 1970, Jim Jones began to preach in cities throughout California. Recruiting drives in African American communities in San Francisco and Los Angeles increased Peoples Temple membership to over twenty-five hundred by 1973. Some members lived in communal housing and worked full time for Peoples Temple. Others contributed significant portions of their income and property to the church. The church's operations included real estate management; home care facilities for seniors and youths; publishing and bookkeeping services; mail order services; and maintenance of a fleet of buses to transport members to services throughout the state and across the country. Tens of thousands of people, including politicians and members of other congregations, attended Peoples Temple services between 1970 and 1977.

The leadership of Peoples Temple voted to establish an agricultural and rural development mission in Guyana, South America in the fall of 1973. Over the next two years, members traveled to Guyana to scout a location for the mission; establish a residence in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana; clear the land; and begin construction at the site. The building plans for the community which became known as Jonestown included farm buildings, a large communal kitchen, medical facilities, schools, dormitory-style housing, small cabins, a day care center and a large open-air pavilion that became the community's central meeting place.

By 1976, Peoples Temple had moved its headquarters from Redwood Valley to San Francisco and had become involved in citywide electoral politics. They published their own newspaper, Peoples Forum; staged rallies and events for local and national political figures; and were vocal in their support of causes such as freedom of the press, affirmative action, and gay rights. In the fall of 1976, recently elected Mayor George Moscone appointed Jim Jones to the San Francisco Housing Authority. Jones served as its chairman until he left for Guyana the following year.

In 1977, former members and relatives organized a group called the Concerned Relatives to protest Jones's treatment of church members. Child custody issues and living conditions in Jonestown were at the center of the conflict between Peoples Temple and the Concerned Relatives. Both sides filed lawsuits, sought public support through the media, and appealed to government officials for protection. Media coverage of Peoples Temple practices and political activities led the government to investigate the church's financial and social welfare programs. Peoples Temple began to close many of their businesses, sell their properties, and relocate hundreds of their members to Guyana.

In response to issues raised by the media and former members, California Congressman Leo Ryan scheduled a trip to Jonestown in November 1978. By this time, more than a thousand Peoples Temple members were living in Guyana. His staff, members of Concerned Relatives, Embassy officials, and journalists accompanied Ryan on an overnight visit to Jonestown. As the congressional party left for the airstrip at Port Kaituma, sixteen disaffected Jonestown residents accompanied Ryan. As the group boarded two small airplanes at the airstrip, Peoples Temple members drove up on tractors and began shooting. They killed Ryan, three journalists, and a Peoples Temple member. That same day, November 18, 1978, more than nine hundred people died, most by cyanide poisoning, in Jonestown; four other members died in Georgetown.

More than eighty Peoples Temple members survived the deaths in Guyana: people who lived through the airstrip shootings; Jonestown residents who left the community before and during the poisonings; and members who were in Georgetown and on boats. Hundreds of Peoples Temple members had remained in the U.S., many of them in California.

After the deaths, Peoples Temple members in San Francisco provided the government with records to assist in identifying the dead. All Peoples Temple assets were frozen and placed under court supervision and the process of dissolving Peoples Temple began. The court oversaw the burial of hundreds of unclaimed and unidentified bodies from Jonestown. The court also set up a system to handle what would ultimately total $1.8 billion in claims filed against the Peoples Temple estate. Claims were filed by the governments of Guyana and the United States; people injured at the airstrip; relatives of the deceased; and people who had turned over property to Peoples Temple. In 1979 and 1980, Congress held hearings on the death of Congressman Ryan and on cult phenomenon in the U.S.

By 1983, the court recovered and disbursed over $13 million, including interest, in assets recovered from cash found in the U.S. and Guyana, from international accounts found in Panama, Caracas, Grenada and other countries, and from the sale of Peoples Temple properties and assets. In June 1983, the court approved the transfer of the records of Peoples Temple to the California Historical Society.

After November 18, 1978, it was necessary to begin the process of winding-up the financial affairs of Peoples Temple. Generally, the legal procedure to dissolve a charitable organization requires the board members of the organization to initiate a lawsuit naming the State Attorney General as respondent. The surviving board members of Peoples Temple filed the original petition for the case Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ v. the Attorney General of California through the Temple's attorney Charles Garry. On January 26, 1979 Superior Court Judge Ira Brown filed a minute order to appoint Robert H. Fabian as receiver, an action that followed a series of rulings by Brown to freeze the remaining assets of Peoples Temple and place them under court supervision.

Fabian took the oath on February 1, 1979. The duties of the receiver were to locate and liquidate Peoples Temple assets and process the many claims brought against the Temple. As receiver, Fabian's job was to recommend to the court the payment or rejection of claims. Judge Brown had authority to approve the expenditure of any funds necessary for Fabian to complete this task. One of Fabian's first actions was to recommend the law firm Bronson, Bronson, and McKinnon to act as his counsel.

Although the eventual worth of Peoples Temple was determined to be approximately $10 million, the receiver initially located only $750,000 in the form of cash, property, and other assets in California. The sale of the church at 1859 Geary Boulevard in San Francisco brought $300,000, and a forty-acre ranch in Mendocino County and another property sold for $226,000. Fabian organized an auction to sell assets found at the Geary Boulevard church and other locations, including forty-two tons of wheat that was ready to ship to Jonestown in Guyana, motorcycles, cars, and sailboats. The auction netted $75,000.

The remainder of the money was located in a complicated network of accounts, under various names, that took Fabian and his staff to six countries. The task was difficult since no surviving person knew the whereabouts of all the different accounts, and when they were discovered, Fabian had to convince the appropriate authorities to release the funds to his control. Two accounts were discovered in Panama and one each in Venezuala and Grenada. Further investigations found money to have at one time been in Switzerland as well. Finally, the Guyanese government sued Peoples Temple for damages, including the airplane that was sabotaged at the Port Kaituma airstrip. The assets of the Temple that were in Guyana were totaled and a compromise gave Peoples Temple 35% and the Guyanese government 65%, or about $1 million. The $10 million recovered was placed in interest-bearing accounts where it accrued nearly $3 million.

Claims against Peoples Temple numbered about 750, and consisted mainly of wrongful death and personal injury cases brought by relatives of deceased members and those injured at the airstrip. The total amount of claims came to $1.8 billion and included $66 million sought by the children of the late U.S. Representative Leo Ryan and $4.298 million in the case U.S.A. v. P.T., in which the federal government sought compensation for removing the bodies from Guyana, identifying them, and preparing them for shipment back to the United States and burial. After discovery it was found that the government had actually accrued expenses of only $2.8 million. The final payment was $1.6 million, although it was also decided that the government should honor the endorsed social security checks recovered in Jonestown. The federal government, however, exercised its authority to receive its payment before all other claimants.

The claims were studied, categorized and passed on to the court with recommendations. In addition to those who filed personal injury and wrongful death claims, other people claimed that they had been coerced out of property or that Peoples Temple owed them service debts. The receiver dismissed cases that lacked documentation and then applied standard actuarial tables, similar to those used by insurance companies, to make the awards. No legal challenge was made against the receiver's disbursement formula, which resulted in awards that represented approximately 60% of the original claims.

On March 22, 1983, four and a half years after the deaths in Guyana, Robert Fabian began writing claimant checks. Payments ranged from $29 to $360,000. Fabian and his staff received $480,000 and Bronson, Bronson, and McKinnon received about $1 million for overseeing the receivership.

Final wind-up consisted of delivering the records of Peoples Temple and the receivership operation to the California Historical Society, along with a check for $20,000, taken from the assets, for processing the records. In accordance with California state law that requires remaining assets to be given to charitable organizations, approximately $10,000 was given to the Board of Trustees of the Glide Foundation, and $10,000 to the San Francisco Council of Churches for its role in comforting relatives.

Acquisition information:

The Peoples Temple Records were given to the California Historical Society by orders of the California Superior Court and of the Guyana High Court, facilitated by Robert H. Fabian in June 1983. Additions were made in May 1986.

Custodial history:

The documents that together comprise the Peoples Temple records were gathered by Robert H. Fabian, the court-appointed receiver, from a number of locations:

Records in the first eight series were removed from the Peoples Temple offices on Geary Boulevard during the beginning of the receiver's operations. The offices and the church building on Geary Boulevard continued to be used by surviving members without restriction until February 1979. Many records were removed from the offices during this interim period.

Many records were taken to Jonestown during the resettlement; these, and other documents, were confiscated by the FBI for the investigation into the death of Congressman Leo Ryan and trial of Laurence Layton. The originals of these documents are now held by the FBI. A complete set of photocopies of these documents can be found in MS 3801.

Charles Garry, attorney for the Peoples Temple, had legal files in his offices. Many of these documents remained there as they did not pertain to finance, and hence were not needed by the receiver to resolve the financial matters of Peoples Temple, his primary assigment.

Records in the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation series were obtained by the receiver from these agencies. Documents in the last two series were generated from the receiver's investigations, the dissolution of the church, and the resulting court cases and settlement of claims.

Processing information:

Processed by Sandra McCoy Larson in 1985. Before processing, records were stored in metal file cabinets with location numbers on each drawer such as 1A, lB, etc. These numbers have been transferred to the upper, right corner of most records.

The collection was rehoused in 2006 by Denice Stephenson; box numbers have been changed from earlier processing. Otherwise, order of collection has been maintained.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into twelve series: Series 1: Indiana; Series 2: Operations; Series 3: Legal Counsel; Series 4: Finance; Series 5: Agricultural Mission; Series 6: Personal Records; Series 7: Media; Series 8: Subjects; Series 9: Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office; Series 10: Federal Bureau of Investigation; Series 11: Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ v. Attorney General of California; and Series 12:United States v. Peoples Temple.

The divisions and subdivisions in Series 1-9 derive fundamentally from the recordkeeping practices of Peoples Temple staff. The state of the records when removed from the Peoples Temple offices by the receiver made it necessary to re-create some of the arrangement. In addition, most files that contained correspondence with other types of records were separated, and the correspondence placed in front of the files for research and preservation purposes.

Series 10-12 reflects the arrangement of documents in the order required to provide evidence to the court and for the settlement of claims. The arrangement was imposed by the receiver and his staff.

Physical location:

Collection is stored onsite.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

Manuscript Collections:

Federal Bureau of Investigation Collection of Peoples Temple Papers from Jonestown, Guyana, 1931-1978, MS 3801

Moore Family Papers, 1968-1988, MS 3802

John R. Hall Research Materials on Peoples Temple, 1954-2003, MS 3803

Ross E. Case Collection pertaining to Peoples Temple, 1961-1984, MS 4062

Margaret T. Singer Materials on Peoples Temple, 1956-1998, MS 4123

Peoples Temple Ephemera and Publications, 1959-1979, MS 4124

Newspaper Clippings on Peoples Temple: photocopies, 1953-1978, MS 4125

Peoples Temple Miscellany Collection, 1951-[ongoing], MS 4126

Photography Collections:

Photographs from Peoples Temple Records, 1941-1983, MSP 3800

Photographs of Peoples Temple in the United States and Guyana, 1967-1978, PC 010

Separated material:

Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection. Books received with the collection, but not retained, are listed in the 1983 publication of the Guide to Peoples Temple Records, available at the Reference Desk of the North Baker Research Library, 678 Mission St., San Francisco.

Some ephemera items have been transferred to Peoples Temple Ephemera and Publications, MS 4124.

Photographs have been transferred to the Photography Collection, shelved as MSP 3800.

Alternative form available:

There are no alternate forms of this collection.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Jonestown Mass Suicide, Jonestown, Guyana, 1978.
Governmental investigations--Guyana--Jonestown.

Names:

Peoples Temple Agricultural Mission.
United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Peoples Temple--Estate.
Peoples Temple--Trials, litigation, etc.
Fabian, Robert H.
Jones, Jim, 1931-1978
Ryan, Leo J.--Assassination.

Places:

Jonestown (Guyana)

Indexes:

Index

Indexed corporation names include media organizations such as television, radio, and newspapers, as well as political and governmental organizations. Not included in the corporate name index are the individual names of the many religious and charitable organizations that Peoples Temple corresponded with, or donated to.

Abzug, Bella S.,	folders 8, 1213
Ackman, Margaret,	folder 1001
Agnos, Art,	folder 17
Alioto, Joseph L.,	folders 11-13, 1213
American Civil Liberties Union,	folders 10-16, 20, 1198
American-Russian Institute,	folder 21
American Nazi Party,	folder 7
American Indian Movement,	folder 12
Anderson, Jack,	folders 10, 14, 1257
Atlanta Constitution,	folder 12
Anti-Defamation League,	folders 8, 10
Banks, Dennis,	folders 36, 1003, 1260, 2216
Barbagelata, John J.,	folders 18, 20
Bay Guardian,	folder 18
Bayh, Birch,	folder 8
Bergland, Bob,	folder 17
Bingham, Jonathan B.,	folders 8, 1213
Black Graduate Caucus, U.C. Berkeley,	folder 18
Blumenthal, W. Michael,	folders 18, 21
Bond, Julian,	folders 13-15, 18
Boswell, Charles H.,	folder 7
Bradley, Tom,	folders 11-12, 14-15
Bradley, Mrs. Tom,	folder 13
Brown, Edmund G., Jr.,	folders 15-16
Brown, George E., Jr.,	folders 11, 13, 1001
Brown, Harold,	folder 17
Brown, Willie L., Jr.,	folders 23, 1003
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior,	folder 74
Burke, Yvonne Brathwaite,	folders 11-12, 1003
Burnham, Linden Forbes,	folders 52, 1002, 1003, 1205
Burton, Phillip,	folders 25, 1213
Burton, John L.,	folder 24
CBS news,	folders 18, 149
Caen, Herb,	folders 8-9, 10, 14, 16, 19, 21-22, 51
Califano, Joseph A., Jr.,	folders 18, 21, 51-52
Carter, Jimmy,	Foldes 36, 51-52, 1003
Carter, Rosalynn,	folders 36, 51
Castro, Fidel,	folders 54, 1002
Chicago Tribune,	folder 13
Christian Science Monitor,	folders 10, 12, 14
Cincinnati Enquirer,	folder 10
Clausen, Don H.,	folders 11-13, 1001
Cleaver, Eldridge,	folders 18, 1218
Coleman, Lee,	folder 13
Collier, Randolph,	folder 42
Collins, Cardiss,	folder 13
Concerned Relatives,	folder 1208
Coughlan, Lawrence,	folders 10, 17, 19
Coughlin, Lawrence,	folder 11
Cranston, Alan,	folder 26, 36, 1003, 2213
Davis, Grace,	folder 14
Dellums, Ronald V.,	folders 8, 17-18, 20, 1213
Diggs, Charles C., Jr.,	folder 8
Dymally, Mervin,	folders 27, 1002-1003, 1213
Eason, Jim,	folder 16
Eckhardt, Bob,	folders 8, 1213
Edwards, Don,	folders 8, 1213
Ellsberg, Daniel,	folder 1202
Ervin, Sam J., Jr.,	folders 8, 10, 1213
Federal Bureau of Investigation,	folders 20
Federal Communications Commission,	folders 10, 13, 52, 90
Fienstein, Dianne,	folders 15, 17
Finkle, Alex L.,	folder 28
Fonda, Jane,	folder 20
Fong, March K.,	folder 9
Ford, Betty,	folder 36
Ford, Gerald,	folder 36
Ford, Harold,	folder 14
Freed, Donald,	folder 1202
Fresno Bee,	folders 16, 18
Freitas, Joseph,	folders 15, 17-18, 21, 85
Friedman, Jeffrey M.,	folder 13
Gain, Charles,	folder29, 158
Goodlett, Carlton B.,	folders 30, 1002, 1258
Gould, Charles L.,	folder 10
Gravel, Mike,	folders 8, 9, 1213
Guyana Council of Churches,	folders 141, 1001-1003, 1012
Hall, Joseph E.,	folder 14
Harris, Patricia Roberts,	folder 21
Hart, Philip A.,	folders 12, 1213
Hatcher, Richard Gordon,	folder 13
Hawkins, Augustus F.,	folder 11
Hayakawa, S.I.,	folder 18
Hearst, Patricia,	folder 1208
Hearst, Randolph, A.,	folder 31
Herald-Dispatch,	folders 10, 12
Herald-Examiner,	folder 10
Holland Roberts Center, American Russian Inst,	folder 1459
Hongisto, Richard,	folders 10-11, 15, 17, 56
Hoppe, Arthur,	folder 12
Houston Chronicle,	folder 10
Houston Post,	folder 10
Humphrey, Hubert,	folders 9, 15, 21, 1213
Hunter, Kathy,	folder 1212
Indianapolis Star,	folders 8, 10
Insight,	folders 14-15
Indianapolis Times,	folder 7
Internal Revenue Service,	folders 8, 20, 52, 2215
International Human Rights Commission,	folders 22, 52
Irvin, Karl,	folders 32, 68, 1213
Jackson, Henry,	folders 1213
Jagan, Cheddi,	folder 1002
Jewish Federation Council,	folder 13
Jewish Welfare Federation,	folder 14
Karabian, Walter,	folder 12
KCBS,	folder 1212
Kennedy, Edward M.,	folders 8-9, 12
KFAX,	folders 8-9, 1212
KGO,	folders 10-12, 16-17, 19, 149, 1212
Kilduff, Marshall,	folder 1198
Kinsolving, Lester,	folder 149
Koch, Edward I.,	folder 8
Kopp, Quentin L.,	folders 17, 19
KPIX,	folders 5, 12
KPOO,	folder 16
KQED,	folders 7, 10, 18-19
Krebs, Max,	folder 1001
Kreps, Juanita M.,	folder 18
KRON,	folders 16-17, 20
KSFO,	folders 18, 1003, 1198, 1212
Lane, Mark,	folder 1202
Leggett, Robert L.,	folder 8
Lewis, Jerry (Muscular Dystrophy Association),	folder 17
Licht, Frank,	folder 8
Lightner, Clarence E.,	folder 12
Los Angeles Herald Examiner,	folder 10
Los Angeles Times,	folders 10, 13-15
Luckhoo, Lionel,	folders 1001-1002, 1389
Marks, Milton,	folder 33
McCall, Tom,	folder 11
McCarthy, John F.,	folder 7
McCarthy, Leo T.,	folders 12, 1213
McCoy, Richard,	folders 52, 1003
McGovern, George,	folders 8-9
Magnuson, Warren G.,	folders 8, 1213
Mann, Lawrence,	folders 52, 1001-1002, 1012
Mazor, Joseph,	folder 21
Mendocino Grapevine,	folders 52-53
Miami Herald,	folder 10
Milk, Harvey,	folders 10-15, 17, 21-22, 1003
Miller, George,	folder 21
Mink, Patsy T.,	folders 8, 11, 1213
Mitchell, Parren J.,	folder 8
Molinari, John L.,	folder 16
Mondale, Walter,	folder 36, 1213
Morales, Vincente,	folder 22
Moscone, George R.,	folder 34
Moyer, Bill,	folder 18
Muhammed, Elijah,	folders 14-16, 18
Murdock, Rupert,	folders 20, 149, 1198
Murphy, George,	folder 7
NAACP,	folders 11, 13-14, 16-17, 19, 51, 1002
National Enquirer,	folder 149, 1213
National Organization for Women,	folder 1003
Nelder, Alfred J.,	folder 7-8, 17
New Times,	folder 21
New York Times,	folders 10, 14
New West,	folder 149
New York Post,	folders 149, 1198
Newsweek,	folder 149
Nixon, Richard,	folder 36
Oakland Tribune,	folder 10
Panama,	folders 1459-1463
Petris, Nicholas C.,	folder 13
Poage, W.R.,	folder 21
Poff, Richard H.,	folder 8
Press Democrat Publishing Company,	folder 10
Proxmire, William,	folder 7, 1213
PUSH,	folder 14
Reagan, Ronald,	folder 36
Reid, Ogden R.,	folder 8
Reid, Ptolemy,	folders 52, 1001-1003
Reiterman, Tim,	folders 149, 1202
Richardson, Elliot L.,	folder 10
Riles, Wilson,	folders 12, 22
Rosenthal, Benjamin S.,	folder 8
Rousselot, John H.,	folder 7
Ryan, Leo J.,	folder 21
Sacramento Bee,	folders 21, 1199, 1213
Sacramento Union,	folders 9, 149
San Francisco Council of Churches,	folders 14-17
San Francisco Chronicle,	folders 9-10, 13-16, 21
San Francisco Examiner,	folders 10, 14, 20-21, 51, 149, 1199
San Francisco Housing Authority,	folders 16, 18-20, 1198
Santa Rosa Press Democrat,	folders 10, 51, 149
Saulsbury, Donn D.,	folders 10, 12
Schrunk, Terry P.,	folder 9
Scott, Donald M.,	folders 8-9, 1213
Shriver, Sargent,	folder 9
Smith, Margaret Chase,	folder 9
Sparkman, John,	folders 21, 52
Stark, Fortney H. (Pete),	folder 12
Starr, Kevin,	folder 1198
Stennis, John C.,	folder 16
Stokes, Louis,	folders 8, 1213
Sun Reporter,	folders 15, 30
Synanon,	folder 21
Talbot, Frederick H.,	folder 1001
Thurman, John E.,	folder 14
Thieriot, Charles de Young,	folders 10, 22
Tracy, Phil,	folder 1198
Tumminia, Frank,	folders 52, 1003
Tunney, John V.,	folders 8, 12, 1258, 2213
Ukiah Daily Journal,	folders 10, 16, 149, 1212-1213
United Farm Worker's of America,	folder 21
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights,	folders 9, 12, 1213
Unruh, Jesse M.,	folder 7
Van de Kamp, John,	folder 51
Vance, Cyrus R.,	folders 21, 52
Veysey, Victor V.,	folder 9
Voropaez,	folder 52
Waldheim, Kurt,	folder 52
Waldie, Jerome R.,	folders 8, 1213
Washington Post,	folders 9-10, 14
Washington Star-News,	folder 13
Welsh, Matthew E.,	folder 7
Widener, Warren,	folders 8, 21-22
Williams, A. Cecil,	folder 37
Wirth, Timothy,	folders 21-22
Wirtz, W. Willard,	folder 7
World Council of Churches,	folder 11
Worrell, Claude,	folders 1001-1002, 1012, 2213
Young, Coleman A.,	folders 12-13
Younger, Evelle,	folders 12, 51
Zablocki, J.,	folder 2432

Restrictions:

California Historical Society collections have been transferred to Stanford University Libraries. Collections will be unavailable as Stanford accessions them and updates records. Please contact chscollection@stanford.edu with any inquiries.

All researchers must sign the Access Agreement form, confirming that they have read and understood the restrictions outlined in the document Restricted Materials in the Peoples Temple Records, MS 3800. This document, and the Access Agreement form, are available at the reference desk or can be sent electronically.

Restricted Materials in the Peoples Temple Records, MS 3800

Open but subject to restrictions on disclosure:

Records throughout the collection contain personally identifiable information of a personal or confidential nature such as social security numbers and bank account information. Publication or disclosure of such information is strictly prohibited, unless researcher can show proof that the person is deceased, or has provided proof of permission by the party named to CHS.

Require advance review by CHS reference librarian or archivist:

Personal Records, Boxes 66-74, folders 1078-1196, and Box 112, folders 2007-2013. These files contain information about each member traveling to Guyana, including application forms, liability releases, birth and marriage certificates, passport applications, and medical information. The medical forms and any supporting documentation such as doctor's correspondence, medical bills, etc., are closed.

All other documents pertaining to former members that are still living require the permission of that person to be released. The researcher must locate the individual and present CHS with proof of permission, either by email or written letter.

Members' Legal Papers, Boxes 123-125, folders 2195-2244. Legal restrictions on former members' legal papers may be reevaluated, if a researcher can show proof that the person is deceased, or has provided proof of permission by the party named to CHS. The researcher must locate the individual and present CHS with proof of permission, either by email or written letter.

Permanently sealed and closed:

Medical records listed have been permanently closed and sealed, in accordance with federal law:

Beck medical records, Box 9, folder 122; Member's medical records, Box 17, folders 294-297; Box 18, folders 298-300; Speier medical records, Boxes 116-117

Legal documents can be found throughout the collection, but are permanently closed and sealed in the following files:

Kay Rosas file, Box 10, folder 140 [sealed in envelope]; Advice Correspondence, Boxes 121-122, folders 2160-2186 [Note: These files contain correspondence from the public at large to Peoples Temple attorneys, requesting legal assistance].

Payroll documents are permanently closed and sealed in the following files:

Box 121, folders 2146, 2153

Sealed and closed until 2085:

Personal notes are sealed and closed until 2085 in the following files:

Tim Stoen Files, Box 8, folder 87 [sealed in envelope].

Terms of access:

CHS is the lawful owner of Peoples Temple documents and photographs, by orders of the California Superior Court and of the Guyana High Court. CHS is not aware of any other copyrights or other rights associated with this material. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with any person intending to use an item.

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials, and all digital representations of these original materials, must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Library and Archives, North Baker Research Library, California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.

Reproduction of collection materials may be restricted at the discretion of CHS library staff.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Peoples Temple Records, MS 3800, California Historical Society.

Location of this collection:

Stanford University, California Historical Society Collection at Stanford

Department of Special Collections, Green Library

557 Escondido Mall

Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US

Contact:

(650) 725-1022

chscollection@stanford.edu

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