Video: 'Jonestown, Guyana - www.NBCUniversalArchives.com'

(Friday, November 17, 1978, at approximately 6:00 p.m. Atlantic Daylight Time) — U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan of California arrived today in Jonestown, a remote settlement established by the Peoples Temple, an American sect under the leadership of reverend Jim Jones, in north Guyana.

Ryan said the key purpose of his trip was to determine “whether or not Jonestown is a jail,” a charge made by parents who say their offspring are not allowed to come and go as they please after they join the sect.

Video: 'Seconds from Disaster Jonestown Cult Suicide (Full Documentary)' (Nov. 17, 1978, at 1:04)

Video: 'Jonestown - PBS documentary' (Nov. 17, 1978, at 59:09)