Jim Jones

===Education and marriage===
In high school, Jones continued to stand out from his peers.{{sfn|Guinn|2017|pp=35–36}} Jones went by the nickname 'Jimmy' during his youth,{{sfn|Guinn|2017|p=20}} and almost always carried his Bible with him.{{sfn|Guinn|2017|p=41}} Jones was a good student who enjoyed debating with his teachers. He also had the habit of refusing to respond to anyone who spoke to him first and only engaged in conversations when he started them. In contrast to his peers, Jones was known to dress in his Sunday church clothes every day of the week.{{sfn|Guinn|2017|pp=35–36}} His religious views alienated him from other young people. He frequently confronted them for drinking beer, smoking, and dancing.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=25–27}} At times, he would even interrupt other young people's events and insist that they read the Bible with him.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=25–27}}

Jones did not enjoy participating in sports because he detested losing, so he coached teams for younger children instead. Jones was disturbed by the treatment of the African Americans who were in attendance at a baseball game he attended in Richmond, Indiana.{{sfn|Guinn|2017|p=41}} The events at that baseball game brought [[Racism against Black Americans|discrimination against African Americans]] to Jones's attention and influenced his strong aversion to [[racism]].{{sfn|Hall|1987|p=5}} Jones's father belonged to the [[Indiana Klan|Indiana branch]] of the [[Ku Klux Klan]], which enjoyed considerable support in Indiana during the Great Depression. Jones described how he and his father had a disagreement about race and added that they had not spoken for "many, many years" as a result of his father forbidding one of Jones' black friends from entering his home. Ultimately, Jones' involvement in organising baseball leagues ended when he callously killed a dog in front of players by dropping it from a window.{{sfn|Hall|1987|p=5}}

Jones' parents [[marital separation|separated]] in 1945 and they eventually divorced.{{sfn|Chidester|2004|p=3}} Jones moved to Richmond, Indiana with his mother, where he graduated from [[Richmond High School (Richmond, Indiana)|Richmond High School]] in December 1948 early and with honors.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=27}}{{sfn|Guinn|2017|p=43}} Jones and his mother lost the financial support of their relatives following the divorce.{{sfn|Guinn|2017|p=44}} To support himself, Jones began working as an orderly at Richmond's [[Old Reid Hospital|Reid Hospital]] in 1946. Jones was well-regarded by the senior management, but staff members later recalled that Jones exhibited disturbing behavior towards some patients and co-workers. Jones began dating a nurse-in-training named Marceline Mae Baldwin while he was working at Reid Hospital.<ref name="pbs.org" />{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=30}}

Jones moved to [[Bloomington, Indiana]] in November 1948, where he attended [[Indiana University Bloomington]] with the intention of becoming a doctor, but changed his mind shortly thereafter.{{sfn|Guinn|2017|pp=45, 52}} During his time at University, Jones was impressed by a speech which [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] delivered about the plight of African-Americans, and he began to espouse support for [[communism]] and other radical political views for the first time.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=33–38}}<ref name="pbs.org" />

Jones and Baldwin continued their relationship while he attended college, and the couple married on June 12, 1949. Their first home was in Bloomington, where Marceline worked in a nearby hospital while Jones attended college.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=36}} Marceline was [[Methodist]], and she and Jones immediately fell into arguments about church. Jones's strong opposition to the Methodist church's racial segregationist practices was an early strain on their marriage, and throughout the duration of their relationship, Jones frequently emotionally and psychologically abused Marceline.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=34}}{{sfn|Guinn|2017|pp=53–54, 57}} Jones insisted on attending Bloomington's Full Gospel Tabernacle, but eventually compromised and began attending a local Methodist church on most Sunday mornings. Despite attending churches every week, Jones privately pressed his wife to accept [[atheism]].{{sfn|Guinn|2017|p=57}}{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=37}}

Through the years, Jones's marriage was affected by his insecurity. He often felt the need to test Marceline's love and loyalty, and at times he used sadistic methods to do so. One recurring tactic he used was to tell her that one of her close friends or family members had suddenly died, and then comfort her over the loss, before finally admitting to her the story was untrue.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=38}}

After attending Indiana University for two years, the couple relocated to [[Indianapolis]] in 1951. Jones took night classes at [[Butler University]] to continue his education, finally earning a degree in secondary education in 1961.<ref>{{cite web|author=Knoll, James|year= 2017|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=33164|title= Mass Suicide & the Jonestown Tragedy: Literature Summary|website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple|location= US|publisher= [[San Diego State University]]}}</ref> In 1951, the 20-year-old Jones began attending gatherings of the [[Communist Party USA]] in Indianapolis.{{sfn|Wessinger|2000|p=32}} Jones and his family faced harassment from government authorities for their affiliation with the Communist Party during 1952. Jones later asserted that in one event, his mother was harassed by [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agents in front of her co-workers because she had attended a communist meeting with her son.<ref name="q134">{{cite web|author=Jones, Jim|year= 1999|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27339|title= Q134 Transcript|website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple|location=US|publisher=San Diego State University}}.</ref> Jones became frustrated with the [[Red Scare#Second Red Scare (1947-57)|persecution]] of communists in the U.S.<ref name="horrock">{{cite news|author=[[Nicholas M. Smith Jr.|Horrock, Nicholas M.]]|date= December 17, 1978|title=Communist in 1950s|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Reflecting back on his participation in the Communist Party, Jones said that he asked himself, "How can I demonstrate my [[Marxism]]? The thought was, infiltrate the church."{{sfn|Wessinger|2000|p=32}}<ref name="q134"/>