JONESTOWN:THE LIFE AND DEATH

On November 17, 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan traveled to Guyana to investigate alarming stories focusing on a jungle compound known as Jonestown, a group called the Peoples Temple, and its leader, Rev. Jim Jones. According to news filtering back to America, US citizens were being held against their will in prison camp conditions.There were allegations of physical and sexual abuse and even rumors of a planned mass suicide. Congressman Ryan, an impassioned human rights advocate, decided to get the facts for himself.Within forty-eight hours, Ryan, Jones, and over 900 Jonestown settlers were dead – casualties of the largest mass murder-suicide in history. In the next few days, grizzly details of cyanide-laced soft drinks and disturbing images of children poisoned by their parents emerged from the jungle. American Experience goes beyond the headlines to provide a portrait of Jones, his followers, and the times that produced the calamity in the Guyanese jungle.