Jacksonville Business Daily

What was the demographics of the people that died in Jonestown?

I can't seem to find information on the demographics of members of the People's Temple in Jonestown. I want to know all sort of information such as age, race and sex. This is for a psychology research paper that I want to write. I need to know a place that I can start looking before I go to my school's research library.

Public Comments

1. San Diego State University has the best site on the web about Jonestown. Link below. From SDSU: "As Jim had done in the United States, he made Jonestown an interracial and intergenerational community. “Regarding the demographic composition of this community, 75 percent were black, 20 percent were white, and 5 percent were Hispanic, Asian, and Native Americans; approximately, two-thirds were women, almost 300 were under the ace of eighteen, and over 150 were seniors over the age of sixty-five.”
2. The biography channel runs a very good documentary on Jim Jones, which includes the development of the People's Temple, their move to Guyana, and subsequent deaths. There are also interviews with survivors and with his only son by his wife, who now lives in Hawaii. (The son, not the wife, she died in Jonestown.) They were mostly from the lower socioeconomic level, mostly, but not all, black, with many elderly included. The place you should start is on line. Enter a search for Jim Jones and find out what books are available, then choose the ones that seem to fit your project best and get them from the library.