Decorated Pillowcase from Jonestown
Guyana 1978
U.S. diplomats at posts around the world provide consular services to Americans living and working abroad as a core part of their mission. Sometimes that work is especially tragic, challenging, and dangerous.
In 1978, officials from the U.S. Embassy in Guyana were making periodic consular visits to The Peoples Temple settlement, known as Jonestown, on behalf of concerned relatives in the United States who were worried about their family members and the insular group. On one such visit, U.S. consular officer T. Dennis Reece received this decorated pillowcase as a gift from a Peoples Temple member.
Only a few weeks later, on November 18, Jonestown became the scene of a shocking mass murder-suicide. U.S. diplomat Richard A. Dwyer was present in Jonestown on the 18th and was injured by gunfire just feet away from where visiting Congressman Leo Ryan was fatally shot.
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Decorated Pillowcase from Jonestown. 1978. National Museum of American Diplomacy, https://diplomacy.state.gov/items/decorated-pillowcase-from-jonestown
Chicago Format
Decorated Pillowcase from Jonestown, 1978, National Museum of American Diplomacy, Washington, DC, https://diplomacy.state.gov/items/decorated-pillowcase-from-jonestown
APA Format
(Decorated Pillowcase from Jonestown). 1978 [Object]. National Museum of American Diplomacy, Washington, D.C., United States. https://diplomacy.state.gov/items/decorated-pillowcase-from-jonestown