Jim (1931) Jones

American cult figure, the Leader of The People's Temple. In 1977, he led his followers from San Francisco to Guyana. Jones was known as a manic-depressive who suffered from paranoia and delusions. However, he held an incredible power of persuasion and led nearly 1000 people, including himself, to a mass suicide on 19 November 1978, Georgetown, Guyana.

Jones' mother, Lynetta Jones, was a young anthropologist trying to decide between her career or marriage. A dream of her dead mother telling her she would bear a son who would right the wrongs of the world helped make her decision. She was convinced that her child was a messiah. His father, James Thurmond Jones, was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and died when Jim was young. His mother worked in a factory and kept the vision of her dream. Jim was raised a Methodist and played pretend-church as a child. At seven, a neighbor recalled he would lace his speeches with calls for strict discipline. His high-school classmates recall that he was popular but not a leader, noticing his growing interest in religion.

After graduating from Richmond High School, near Lynn, Indiana, Jones had ten years of on-and-off studies before receiving his BA degree from Butler University. He worked part-time as a hospital orderly, also becoming pastor of a Methodist church in Indianapolis, Indiana where his strong views on integration made him a target of bigots. Disenchanted with the Methodist faith, he created his own church, the Community National Church.

By 1956, he opened the first Peoples Temple in Indianapolis. The Temple formed a soup kitchen, an employment desk to help people find jobs, and a nursing home. His mother's dream seemed to be self-fulfilling. In 1961, Mayor Boswell appointed Jones as director of the Indianapolis' Human Rights Commission. Soon he was noticed for his power to relate to people and for building their self-esteem.