Q & A with Dr. Rebecca Moore

Over the past several months, I've corresponded with Dr. Rebecca Moore. In case you don't recall, she is the sister of Carolyn Layton and Annie Moore, who were prominent figures in Peoples Temple and in Jonestown (Check out the Jonestown category/tag to read previous posts on this topic). Dr. Moore is also the co-founder and …

Harbor Terrace, Part Four: Carl H. Drew

CW: DISCUSSION OF VIOLENCE *NOTE: STARRED NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED OUT OF RESPECT FOR THEIR PRIVACY. HAVEN’T READ PART THREE YET? READ IT HERE. "Surely many would find what we involved ourselves in, as objectionable." - Carl Drew Carl H. Drew grew up on a farm in New Hampshire. It's been very difficult to find much …

Harbor Terrace, Part One: The Place I’ve Always Lived, and The Story I’ve Always Been Told

CW: Some Discussion of Graphic Violence Scroll to the bottom for a glossary of people in this story. *Note: Starred names have been changed out of respect for their privacy. Are you proud of your hometown? I have mixed feelings about mine. Certainly, there are many things about Fall River, Massachusetts that I'd consider positive …

Anger, Blame, Empathy, and Understanding in the Wake of Extreme Violence

CW/TW: Discussion of suicide and violence I felt compelled to write this opinion piece after recently reading Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple by Rebecca Moore, who is the sister of two prominent Temple members, Carolyn Layton and Annie Moore. After reading this book, I think that, in my anger over the death of so many …

Why I Often Think About Henry “Hank” Gafforio

As an avid consumer of the true crime genre, I obviously read about a whole spate of sad things. An occurrence that I find particularly sad, though, is when certain people who have been harmed seem to slip through the cracks, fading into obscurity over time as if they never existed. Society attributes greater or …

An Essay on Restorative Justice

The Well of College Papers and Essays will not be going dry any time soon, for I have made good use of Google Drive throughout my education. I am researching for a new piece; thought I'd share this in the meantime and jump head-first into the controversial! Feel free to comment your thoughts. Note: If …

An Essay on “Cyntoia’s Story”

For my first real post (real as in about something, other than just talking about myself), I thought it might be fun to share an essay I wrote in 2013 for a Criminology course I was taking. Since the exciting news of Cyntoia Brown's imminent release from prison, this essay might be an interesting lil' …