Tess Kehoe's blog

The Sullivan cult existed of around 500 members in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Led by Saul B Newman, a Spanish Civil War veteran and his wife, Dr. Jane Pearce, a self- taught marxist therapist. Neither of them had any formal training in the field of psychology but started the Sullivan Institute in 1957, a therapy and polygamy center which attracted many artists and intellectuals in the ‘60’s. Newton’s goal was to establish an alternative to the traditional nuclear family, which he thought to be the main cause of social anxiety. Sullivanians, as the members were called, were forbidden from being in exclusive relationships, everyone was encouraged to have sexual relationships with each other. Children born into the movement would be sent off to boarding school or have caretakers, only seeing their parents for an hour or two a day. Members were also encouraged to cut off all relationships with outside people, including family members, except in the event of needed monetary support.

Over the years, the movement became more authoritarian and destructive. In the 70’s Newton replaced his first wife, Jane, with Joan Harvey, an actress. Sullivanians joined forces with a theater group and wanted to sign a lease on a theater space. When the occupants refused to vacate, hundreds of Sullivanians flooded the theater and ascended the space with chaos, destroying sets, resulting in 3 arrests. After the Three Mile Island accident, a nuclear power plant disaster in Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, Sullivanians went to Orlando for a few weeks to avoid the destruction of Manhattan. When they came back, anyone who did not go on the trip was ostracized by Newton. Things changed drastically. Newton became extremely paranoid and even requested a room at their new facility be built with quarter in steel plated walls so Joan Harvey could edit her new film without the CIA interfering. Because Newton thought the world was out to get him, he resorted to intimidation and violence.Throughout the ‘80’s, therapists used intimidation and fear tactics to get the members to conform and act as they wished. They desired to control who had kids and how many and who with. One account of when a member tried to leave, two Sullivanians tracked the man down to the subway and dangled him over the tracks threatening to kill him if he left the movement. One of those men was Newton’s son. The movement slowly crumbled throughout the ‘80’s, with several court cases revealing the brutalities and controversial practices around raising children. The cult ultimately ended in 1991 with Newton’s death.