Jonestown and Synanon - a Compare/Contrast Presentation - jonestownsurvivor jonestownsurvivor

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Source: https://jonestownsurvivor.com (Inactive)

This is the archive of a large website of articles and blogs published in conjunction with the book, Jonestown Survivor: An Insider’s Look. The book and all the material in this archive were written by Laura Johnston Kohl, a member of Peoples Temple who survived the tragedy in Jonestown by being in Guyana’s capital city of Georgetown on 18 November 1978.

Following the twentieth anniversary of the Jonestown tragedy, Ms. Johnston Kohl became a prolific writer and active public speaker, work she continued to do until shortly before her death on 19 November 2019. She also made herself available to family members of those who perished in Guyana and scholars who try to understand the calamity of the ending. Finally, she was a generous contributor of articles and remembrances for the Alternative Considerations site, all of which may be found here.

In the interest of preserving the information from her site for future generations of Jonestown scholars and researchers, the managers of this site obtained permission from Laura’s husband Ron Kohl to archive her work in its entirety. Both the archive and the book itself are published with his permission.

Jonestown and Synanon – a Compare/Contrast Presentation

June 11, 2012

COMMUNAL STUDIES ASSOCIATION PRESENTATION:
On October 5, 2012, My husband and I will do a Joint Presentation at the Communal Studies Association Conference in Oneida, New York. Here is the “working” Abstract:
In the three decades from 1960-1990, there were two modern residential communities that came and went. As former residents of both Synanon and Peoples Temple, we will introduce the communities, compare and contrast them, and have an in-depth discussion about the roles of women in the two communities.

Background:
I lived in Peoples Temple for about ten years, and then moved into Synanon for ten years.

Ron Kohl is a native New Yorker with Puerto Rican parents. He moved into Synanon in 1970 as a “square” to join his brother who had moved into Synanon as a drug addict. When Ron came home from the Navy, he didn’t see a future for himself in New York, and was drawn to the excitement and vision of Synanon. He lived in Synanon for twenty years.

We have been married thirty years this 4th of July – “Independence Day”.

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Jonestown and Synanon – a Compare/Contrast Presentation