From Indiana To Jonestown

Before it became a tragedy, it was a plan. From Indiana To Jonestown: The Making Of Rev. Jim Jones traces how a sincere, integrationist ministry in Indianapolis evolved-step by step-into a system of control that ended in Guyana.

Historian Joe Clark (a documented eighth cousin, twice removed of Jones) rebuilds the timeline from contemporaneous newspapers, city records, Temple documents, and survivor accounts-without rumor or sensationalism.

Inside you'll find:

The Indiana origins: interracial worship, charity programs, and the early turn to spectacle.

How logistics became power-buses, kitchens, schedules-centralized under one leader.

The California machine: Redwood Valley "mother church," Geary/Alvarado acquisitions, and political influence.

Exposure and enclosure: the New West expos?, mass migration to Guyana, "White Nights," the Ryan visit, and the aftermath.

Meticulously sourced and unsentimental, this is the paper trail of how good intentions were leveraged into obedience-and what that history asks of us now.