1950ies

Highlights

Dianetics Book released
First Attacks on Hubbard
FBI starts building a file on Hubbard/Dianetics
Scientology founded in Phoenix Arizona
Church of Scientology incorporated
Church of Scientology of California founded
Air Force's interested in Hubbard
Alaska Mental Health Akt
FBI started the Counterintelligence Program
IRS grants a tax exemption to the C of S of California
CIA starts a file on Hubbard
U.S. Department of Justice takes over the coordination of attacks against Scientology
First E-Meter released
Saint Hill Manor purchased

1950.8.3.

Alexis Valerie Hubbard born (mother is Sara Northrup). (The Roots of Scientology)

1950, April

Another mention of the upcoming article about the new science of Dianetics is made in "Astounding Science Fiction,": "A technique that gives any man a perfect, indelible, total memory, and perfect, errorless ability to compute his problems. A basic answer, and a technique for curing-not alleviating ulcers, arthritis, asthma, and many non-germ diseases. A totally new conception of the truly incredible ability and power of the human mind." (The Roots of Scientology)

Dianetics: Evolution of a Science published. (CofS)

A piercing scream against Dianetics arose before the first book was published in 1950. Press was hot against it before the first foundation was formed.

For seven months before there was personnel or personal troubles publicized, the bulk of articles against Dianetics had already appeared. At one time three national magazines were simultaneously on the stands screaming in lead articles about Dianetics and myself – and this was five months before and "divorce" publicity. (LRH: Terror Stalks, 13.4.61)

1950, May

The long awaited article on "Dianetics" appears in "Astounding Science Fiction" magazine. (The Roots of Scientology)

1950, May and later

In a letter to the Guardian Office from Febuary 28, 1972, LRH states a guy called Oberholser "blew the whistle on Dianetics when St. Elizabeth psychiatrists were just beginning to use it and were for the first time getting results on patients at the National Asylum. He forbade them to use it but they disagreed heavily and privately used it for many years under cover. This broke up introducing Dianetics on regular channels - May 1950."

"Thereafter, a violent and gory attack was mounted. It was begun by (Winfred) Oberholser, went over to George Washington University Psychology Department at once and there a student of the first Dianetics class (Dolly Jones) also a psychology student, was hypnotized, beaten, told to go crazy, did so and we had to hospitalize her.

We handled it so fast and so well no "Dianetics drove her crazy" could be campaigned and wasn't. This was the first hard flat out PR-Intelligence operation in Dianetics. Her state was not assisted by her husband, Col. Jones of US Army Intelligence, also a member of the first Dianetics Class.

From then on the NY Times Literary Section began an attack and a lot of violent track ran by which included Dr. Meyer-Zelig, a psychiatrist in San Francisco master-minding a kidnapping of me to fly me to St. Louis and be put away. His (Zelig's) plans miscarried.

Miles Hollister, formerly a psych student, got hold of Sara Northrup (really Komknoidominoff) (or ov) and handed her over to Zelig who put her in deep hypnosis, fixated her on the idea I was trying to kill her and spun her in, in which state she has remained since. This caused the final destruction of the HDRF [Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation] as national press only played up her divorce.

Gene Benton, secretary of the Young Communist League and others, were part of this.

So you see why I am interested in this bad hat Oberholser. He struck the first blow.

... We get a very out-pointy package on Oberholser: Majored in economics. Six weeks formal training as a head boiler, membership crossed to Council of Foreign Relations. All the best people and the "right societies" but they are very anti-Man.

... George Washington University altered and misreports my status to reporters. Once said I never went there now may have another tale.

This ties back to Oberholser by what you've dug up.

He is involved in Judicial degradations according to his works, fascinated with socking people in without trial. Siberia Bill included."

1950, 9 May

Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health published. (CofS)

In 1950 Ron Hubbard decided to write a popular handbook on Dianetics theory and therapy, and used his Science Fiction contacts to get it published. What emerged was 'Dianetics Modern Science of Mental Health'. It was a 400 page book divided into three sections. The first covered the fundamental philosophy, the second a theory of Dianetics and finally a practical therapy section.

The form of presentation contrasted strongly with the closely qualified academic style in which ideas on medical science are usually presented. Hubbard wrote the book with characteristic colorful phrasing and humorous asides. It is unfortunately marred by some extravagant claims for unvarying effectiveness, which were not subsequently substantiated. The book does however outline a theory and methodology which many found plausible, and were willing to try.

Groups of people eager to become practitioners of Dianetics sprang up in self-help groups throughout the United States and abroad. Ron Hubbard had said that Dianetics therapy techniques were accessible to all and that anyone with the common sense and guts to follow the instructions could help others. That is exactly what they did. Hubbard was now at the centre of a growing movement for self-improvement with an enormous number of requests for information and clarification being directed at him. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 4, pg. 13)

Until May, 1950 I received only favorable publicity – on expeditions or comings or goings. In May 1950 there was a concerted shriek from people who (a) had not read the books and (b) who knew nothing bad about me.

These howls came from both conservative and liberal groups alike – the AMA – The Commies, The Socialists, the Roman Catholics.

Many truly dangerous practices have risen up amongst man such as a new Indian version of whirling dervishism now rampant in England;

Brainwashing was introduced in the past eleven years by the Russians;

A dozen violent and harmful psychiatric treatments have been developed.

And no sustained protest has continued to be made in the press against these.

Looking at all of these things, then it would seem that protests against Dianetics and Scientology do not stem from a knowledge of myself, they do not stem from a knowledge of the substance of the work, they do not stem from conservative or liberal groups, and they are not a protest against philosophy, philosophers, or evil practices, and they are not an effort to protect the public. (LRH: Terror Stalks, 13.4.61)

LRH: Just about the time DMSMH hit the stands, I was in Washington DC, the very same city. A very high-ranking officer comes walking up the steps, on a Monday, and says to me, "Well, Hubbard, how are you? How would you like to work for the office of Naval Research?" I said, "Doing what?" "Oh, using what you know about the mind to make people more suggestible."

I won't announce this man's rank or name, not in public. But I said, "Well, sir," sir was in italics, "I'm not interested." The book had just been published, the foundation was just forming, we were just kicking off, and this guy wants to drag me into the Navy. He said, "You'd better watch out, because I can pull you back into service at your old rank." Here we go.

I got on the telephone. I had to find someplace in the United States a naval district that would let me resign and I found them - the Potomac River Naval Command. It was set up during the Civil War to patrol a Confederate state and was still a full Naval district. It had admirals and everything.

I went in coughing, I had a service record and my health record and resignation all written out. I showed the old Admiral how I could never be of any use again to the Navy. He says, "You poor fellow. Yes, I'll accept your resignation." They got an assistant to the Secretary of the Navy to OK it.

On Thursday when the high brass came back to see me again, he says, "Well, have you decided?" I said, "Yes, I've decided not to go in." He says, "Then I guess I have no other choice but to draft you in at your old rank." I said, "I'm very sorry," - omitting the sir, italicized - "but I am no longer a member of the armed services. Here it is." And that was an end to the beautiful friendship with the American government.

... Any government these days is terribly interested in how the mind works, but dead against anybody that knows more about it than they do. The commie doesn't like us, not because they wouldn't be happy to use the information, not because they're against anything we believe in, but I said no.

We have kicked in the teeth the Russian government and the American government. It goes right back to that engram, Office of Naval Research, "Hubbard said no. To hell with him." That's an important point. They didn't make up their minds that we were no good until we had said no.

We have not made friends or influenced people in those departments. But it has left us free and we are today probably the only free organization on the face of Earth. And that is saying something. We float free of political commitments. This is the one organization on Earth that isn't owned and owes no favors.

They have to think of their jobs or the party line or something of the sort, they have to be alert to what they say, they can never be totally honest.

If we are for something, we simply think it's a good thing to be for. If we're against something, we just think they're no good. We can be honest. (LRH: Tape Lecture 6012C31 AHMC-1 The Genus of Dianetics and Scientology)

1950, 1.6.

Alert watchdogs of the AMA began sniffing at Dianetics almost from the moment it first appeared in public.

Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health was published in May 1950. Within weeks, AMA strategists began secretly laying the groundwork for a full-scale attack on the new and uncanonical therapy. (O. Garrison, Hidden Story of Scientology, pg. 70)

On June 1, 1950, Dr. Austin Smith, then editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, sent a number of letters to doctors and medical societies throughout the U.S., asking their help.

In his letters to the profession, he solicited authoritative statements that would convince the layman that Dianetics was a new and dangerous form of quackery.

Dr. Smith also sent a memorandum to Oliver Field, director of the AMA's Bureau of Investigation, urging covert action against both Dianetics and its discoverer, L. Ron Hubbard.

Another colleague whose help Dr. Smith requested was organized medicine's man in government, Dr. Erwin E. Nelson, then director of the Food and Drug Administration.

In a very short time, the AMA had a full-scale propaganda offensive in operation. In keeping with established policy, the medical organization remained in the background, using other groups and agencies for the dissemination of false information aimed at discrediting the Dianetics movement.

As in other campaigns of the kind, the AMA's chief ally was the various media, covering the full spectrum of reader interest, from the Southern California Clergyman to the Wall Street Journal.

The modus operandi was to plant "background" material with news reporters and magazine writers and to commission stories by the in-house hacks who wrote for medical publications. Reprints of these derogatory, and sometimes libelous, articles were then distributed to a wider audience than that represented by the respective periodicals themselves. (Omar V. Garrison - Playing Dirty, pg. 17/18;

1950, 7 June

Hubbard Dianetics Research Foundation established. This was the first organization of Dianetics and headquartered, until 1951, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Branch offices were located in New York, Chicago, Washington, DC, Los Angeles and Hawaii. (CofS)

...the publication of 'Dianetics - Modern Science and Mental Health' in 1950 caused a wave of interest around the United States, At the same time the Hubbard Dianetics Research Foundation was set-up in Elizabeth, New Jersey. This was close to Bay Head, New Jersey where Hubbard was living at the time. The Board of Directors of the Foundation included Hubbard's main two supporters at the time, John W. Campbell, editor of 'Astounding Science Fiction', and Joseph Winter, a medical doctor.

During 1950 demand grew for auditing facilities. Branches of the Foundation were established in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Chicago and Honolulu.

The main auditor training centers were in New Jersey and Los Angeles. Graduates of the four week course were certified as professional auditors.

In parallel with this, 'grass-roots' groups emerged who began training themselves and co-auditing. Some publicized their activities in the papers, some wrote to booksellers or the Foundation to make contact with others in their area interested in Dianetics. Extensive written communication took place between the groups and with the Foundation. This correspondence discussed case histories, new ideas on therapy and practice, and ideas on development of the movement.

Groups started to produce their own newsletters and the Foundation produced its own journal. This included articles by Hubbard and other Foundation staff plus details of courses and books available.

There was no attempt however by the Foundation to control or structure the field groups. Auditors trained by the Foundation were left to apply their new skill how and where they wished. Some joined or led local groups, others set up as solo-practitioners.

None of the Board members of the Foundation were obviously good administrators and the central organization was not well managed. Hubbard himself was primarily concerned with research and lecturing at this time and was commuting between Los Angeles and New York. When he did get involved in administration, his authoritarian style antagonized other Board members.

Staff were recruited in large numbers and money was spent in the belief that the booming interest in Dianetics would continue. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 16/17)

LRH: In 1950, I’ll give you some background history on this, I started a Foundation. I didn’t have control of this Foundation, it was started by a number of business men who were in who believed in human betterment, and they began a Foundation called the Hubbard Research Foundation, Elizabeth, N.J.

At that time I wasn’t ever owning up to having done the research. I had written a book and it had become a bestseller, and they had taken over and the Foundation to continue the researches. I was actually at that time backing out of the whole thing… It was riding the top of the Best Seller list throughout the summer of 1950, it was a sellout all over the place and so I said all right I’d give them a hand until July, and then I would have to go on and do something that was more in my line of country, you see. (LRH Conference With The Investigators 17 August 1966)

1950, middle

LRH: The enemy objective is to discredit, in our case, and then build on this a denial of rights under law. Their first bad articles were in the New York Times Sunday magazine section in mid 1950. Their first blast was the San Francisco papers, Sept 1950, quoting the publisher Ceppos being critical of me (he was a Communist, publisher of Book One) followed by the LA papers, pushed then by the Sara Kamkesadamanov (alias Northrup) "divorce" actions, followed by attempted kidnapping of myself. Other details were pushed into it including murder of four and so on. This was a full complete covert operation. At the back of it was Miles Hollister (psychology student) Sara Kamkesadamanov (housekeeper at the place nuclear physicists stayed near Caltech) Gene Benton and his wife – secretary of the Young Communists League.

That was a full war against Dianetics. (To: The Guardian WW 2 December 1969)

1950, July

LRH: By July I found out that people were doing things with this technology which had been released which were not necessarily harmful just terribly off beat, messed up, and I saw that it was all about to go down the river, and the Board at that time begged me to stress the fact that I had done the research, and the work was basically mine, and that I should take some Administrative control for this. Well, so I took some Administrative control.

Well, if you ever saw a shambles it had begun right at that moment, not because I was in Administrative control but just shambles. It was so bad there were about 4 people killed out in California, there was an effort to kidnap me, which only my somewhat hard won knowledge of Judo and so forth got me out of – I put two blokes in the hospital – very very adventurous. A woman sued me for divorce to whom I was not married; she was the mistress of a scientist, an atomic scientist, and he had been my friend, and he had died. Well anyway, to make a long story short, she haunted me – and it was just too thick – offices were being robbed and Oh my goodness.

By this time there were 5 of these branch offices to the Foundation – I still had no Administrative control over this and the Boards would pass all sorts of resolutions and spend money in all different directions – I had no control over this, but I did have control over the fact that we were being knocked around badly, so I went down and saw a friend of mine who was an assistant of Hoover’s, J. Edgar Hoover, and he said "Well, Ron, I can’t do anything for you by telling you anything about your staff, but if you give me a list of all of your staff members of all of these Foundations, I will give you back a list which will startle you, and tell you which ones of them are not members of the Communist Party. I’ll give you back that list". That was news to me, what was this? So I gave him that list that included a 1000 staff members in these 5 organizations, and he gave me back a list and it had 257 names missing off it.

Well, he wised me up just to this point, "Communists", he said, "are under orders to infiltrate all sorts of organizations, and you are just getting more than your share of popularity and if they can bend this activity over to their own uses they would be very excited about it and so forth". (LRH Conference With The Investigators 17 August 1966)

1950, 24.7.

Time: Title: Of Two Minds
A new cult is moldering through the U.S. underbrush. Its name: dianetics. Last week, its bible, "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health," was steadily climbing the U.S. bestseller lists. Demand was especially heavy on the West Coast. Bookstores in Los Angeles were selling "Dianetics" on an under-the-counter basis. Armed with the manual, which they called simply "The Book," fanatical converts overflowed Saturday night meetings in Hollywood, held Dianetics parties, formed clubs, and "audited" (treated) each other.

1950, 5.8.

The Nation: A Cure for all Ills (MILTON R. SAPIRSTEIN)

... ORDINARILY, a new book which offers a generalized cure for all the ills of mankind - guaranteed, within twenty hours - would not be reviewed in these columns. This new book on "Dianetics," by L. Ron Hubbard, however, is in a class by itself. In the first place, the author seems honestly to believe what he has written. His own powerful conviction, in turn, seems to have convinced many others - apparently intelligent people who would be inclined to toss aside a book of this type.

... From a psychoanalytic point of view, one is willing to overlook the fact that Hubbard presents no conception of human relationships, that he has no psychodynamic point of view. One can also forgive him for encouraging neurotic people to avoid all professional sources of help, and even for deluding people into expecting salvation through guaranteed solutions for their problems. After all, there have been many other "faiths," movements, or special therapies which have failed to fulfill these criteria and have still helped people where the experts have failed.

The real and, to me, inexcusable danger in Dianetics lies in its conception of the amoral, detached, 100 per cent efficient mechanical man - superbly free-floating, unemotional, and unrelated to anything.

1950, 21.8.

Newsweek: BOOKS Industry: Best Seller

In June "Dianetics" began to sell in California. In July it sold 13,000 copies on the West Coast. Meanwhile Dianetics auditing groups appeared throughout the country; there are fourteen in New York City, 500 in the United States. Last month, sales were about 3,000 a week, and the book was climbing steadily on the best-seller lists. Three weeks ago they jumped to 4,000 a week. Total sales to date are 55,000, a Japanese edition has already been translated, French and German editions are being translated now, and a sequel, "Dianetics: What It Means to You," is scheduled for late fall.

1950, 9.9.

New York Times: Psychologists Act Against "Dianetics"

The American Psychological Association today called on psychologists, "in the public interest," not to use in therapy the techniques "peculiar" to a new approach to mental health called Dianetics. It is outlined in a book of the same name.

The action was taken in a resolution unanimously adopted by the association through the Council of Representatives, its governing body, at its closing session.

The association stated that "in view of the sweeping generalizations and claims regarding psychology and psychotherapy made by L. Ron Hubbard in his recent book, "Dianetics," the American Psychological Association adopts the following resolution:

"While suspending judgment concerning the eventual validity of the claims made by the author of 'Dianetics,' the association calls attention to the fact that these claims are not supported by empirical evidence of the sort required for the establishment of scientific generalizations. In the public interest, the association, in the absence of such evidence, recommends to its members that the use of the techniques peculiar to Dianetics be limited to scientific investigations designed to test the validity of its claims."

1950, 16.9.

Publisher's Weekly: Psychologists Hit "Dianetics" - New Title Due This Winter

In what is believed to be the first concerted action against the science of mental health set forth by L. Ron Hubbard in the best-selling "Dianetics" (Hermitage Hourse), the American Psychological Association, meeting last week in State College, Pennsylvania, unanimously adopted a resolution cautioning its 8,000 members against utilizing the techniques of Dianetics except in scientific test of its "validity."

... In regard to the original title, which was published this spring, the following resolution was adopted by the American Psychological Association: "While suspending judgment concerning the eventual validity of the claims made by the author of 'Dianetics,' the association calls attention to the fact that these claims are not supported by empirical evidence of the sort required for the establishment of scientific generalizations. In the public interest, the association, in the absence of such evidence, recommends to its members that the use of the techniques peculiar to Dianetics be limited to scientific investigations designed to test the validity of its claims."

1950, 16.10.

NEWSWEEK: Poor Man's Psychoanalysis

But the majority of psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, and other doctors who have read the amazing volume refuse to dignify Dianetics as a serious scientific effort. The 39-year-old Hubbard has no medical degree. He is an engineer, explorer, and writer of science fiction and, as such, beneath the professional notice of practicing physicians. To most doctors, the Dianetics concept is unscientific and unworthy of discussion or review.

... "The writer of this weird volume suffers apparently from a cacoëthes scribendi," Fishbein writes. "Some of his paragraphs are lush outpourings of exuberant diction funnier than anything attempted in the verbal caricatures that distinguished Robert Benchley."

... "The United States is overwhelmed with mind-healing cults," Fishbein concludes. "A new one like Dianetics simply adds to the fun and the fury. Sooner or later some official agency will give this method a name -- either the practice of medicine, mind-healing, or some other classification covered by the laws of the individual states. Meanwhile, Dianetics is good stuff for resort conversation; perhaps by next summer something even more comical will come along."

1950, 5.12.

In an interview given shortly after the creation of Dianetics, Hubbard was more candid about his war wounds. The December 5, 1950, issue of Look magazine quoted him as saying he had been suffering from "ulcers, conjunctivitis, deteriorating eyesight, bursitis and something wrong with my feet." This description fits very well with Hubbard's Navy and Veterans Administration records. (Jon Atack: A Piece of Blue Sky, pg 85)

1950

Remaining copy of L. Ron Hubbard's first manuscript stolen, in Los Angeles. These thefts ap-parently connected with 1938 Russian offer. (FDA Findings, pg. 6)

1950s (attacks on Dianetics)

Of course, these psychs never even bothered to read the book. This document, we have since uncovered, illustrates the point:
It is from Dr. Wiprund - the Executive Director of the Medical Society of Washington DC - to the AMA. In this letter, Wiprund states that he hasn't read the book himself but that unnamed psych sources said and I quote: "Among the very best psychiatrists - Dianetics is nothing but the bunk!" Unquote.

...In any event - the AMA ran these words of wisdom in critical reviews in their own publications. Then they took these published reviews and handed them out to the press where they were promptly requoted as authority in magazines like "Slime" and "Tripe".

Having covered their tracks, the psychs then forwarded these new reviews to government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the FBI asking them to investigate Hubbard and his Dianetics Foundations. Only this year did we finally obtain the documents which prove the government did that, and more. They not only began investigations at the urging of the psych community, but we now know the Feds had an informant and infiltrator in the first Dianetics Foundation from the day it was formed. I say infiltrator because he wasn't just there to get information, but in fact had specific orders to disrupt the organization and destroy it. (David Miscavige's IAS speech, 8 October 1993)

LRH: ... we, innocently, moved forward in 1950 and came straight across this very very broad plot (talking about the secret influence groups in RJ67) . If there was a cure to mental illness, then people would say you had better send him to an auditor and would begin to ask questions if someone was electric-shocked or given a prefrontal lobotomy, for as only by electric-shocking and prefrontal lobotomies could they effectively remove their political enemies or objectors. (Ron's Journal 67)

1950 (E-Meter)

...during a series of lectures which he gave in California in 1950, an inventor and electronics expert named Volney G. Mathison heard Hubbard mention the problem and set to work constructing an instrument which would be capable, as Hubbard put it, "of measuring the rapid shifts in density of a body under the influence of thought and measuring them well enough to give an auditor a deep and marvelous insight into the mind of his preclear".

This first device was known as the Mathison Electropsycho-meter. During the ensuing years, the instrument was refined and modified through several generations and in accordance with data provided by continuing research. (Omar V. Garrison - Hidden Story of Scientology, pg. 65)

1950-51

Quote: But incomplete or not, the data and drills contained in HCO Policy Letters are a great advance over what Man had.

For instance, in 1950-51, using the crude organizational tech Man then had, the first board of directors of Dianetics Foundations failed utterly. Any and all-off-on-the-wrong-foot moves which became later woes to us were laid in at that time by some of the finest legal, accounting and PR experts one could retain. (HCO POLICY LETTER OF 11 APRIL 1970, Third Dynamic Tech)

1950-1953

Motivated by Soviet, Chinese, and North Korean use of Mind Control techniques, the CIA originated its first Mind-control human experimentation program in 1950 under the name BLUEBIRD, which morphed into ARTICHOKE and then by 1953 was referred to as MKULTRA. There were 149 sub-projects and another 33 closely-related programs in the US and Canada. April 13 1953 CIA Director Allen Dulles approved the MKULTRA program.

In the second half of the 20th century, these Mind-control projects funded by the CIA resulted in extensive political abuse of psychiatry. Many thousands of unknowing victims mostly innocent children, were subjected to unethical mind control experiments by leading psychiatrists and medical schools. Mind-control experimentation was not only tolerated by medical professionals, but published in psychiatric and medical journals. (Restored Republic via a GCR: Update as of Sat. 4 Nov. 2023)

1951

Dr. Winter is leaving Dianetics (Foundation).

A Doctor's Report on DIANETICS Theory and Therapy, by J.A. Winter, M.D.
Introduction by Frederick Perls, M.D., Ph.D., Julian Press, Inc., New York, copyright 1951

By October, 1950, I had come to the conclusion that I could not agree with all the tenets of Dianetics as set forth by the Foundation. I could not, as previously mentioned, support Hubbard's claims regarding the state of "clear." I no longer felt, as I once had, that any intelligent person could (and presumably should) practice Dianetics. I noted several points on which the actions of the Foundation were at variance with the expressed ideals of Dianetics: one of these points was a tendency toward the development of an authoritarian attitude. Moreover, there was a poorly concealed attitude of disparagement of the medical profession and of the efforts of previous workers in the field of mental illness. Finally, the avowed purpose of the Foundation -- the accomplishment of precise scientific research into the functioning of the mind -- was conspicuously absent.

1951, early

by early 1951 income started to drop as the difficulties of getting predictable and reliable results from Dianetics started to become evident There had also been hostile criticism by doctors and psychiatrists who pigeon-holed Dianetics with psychoanalysis and hypnotism. In addition there was a lot of publicity given to Hubbard's divorce from his second wife, a supposed 'Clear'. The biggest disappointment for many however was that the attractive state of Clear was not achieved as easily or quickly as the book had promised.

Gradually Hubbard's colleagues resigned from the Board and the Foundation moved towards bankruptcy. Another supporter of Dianetics Don Purcell, stepped in to provide a financial injection to the Foundation He closed down the branches and relocated the Foundation in Wichita Kansas. Purcell became President of the Foundation with Hubbard as Chairman of the Board and Vice-President. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 16)

1951

First Dianetics group formed in Australia. (CofS)

The New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners institute proceedings against Hubbard for teaching medicine without a license. Hubbard flees to LA to avoid prosecution. (The Roots of Scientology)

1951, January

Notes on the Lectures of L. Ron Hubbard published. (CofS)

Scientific American, January 1951 - By Isaac Isidor Rabiﾠ

DIANETICS: THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH, BY L. RON HUBBARD. Hermitage House ($4.00). This volume probably contains more promises and less evidence per page than has any publication since the invention of printing. Briefly, its thesis is that man is intrinsically good, has a perfect memory for every event of his life, and is a good deal more intelligent than he appears to be. However, something called the engram prevents these characteristics from being realized in man's behavior. During moments of unconsciousness and pain and at any time from conception onward, the "reactive mind" can still record experience, but experiences so recorded -engrams- are a major source of man's misery, his psychosomatic ills, his neuroses and psychoses, his poor memory, and his generally inefficient functioning. By a process called dianetic revery, which resembles hypnosis and which may apparently be practiced by anyone trained in Dianetics, these engrams may be recalled. Once thoroughly recalled, they are "refiled," and the patient becomes a "clear," who is not handicapped by encumbering engrams and who can thenceforth function at a level of intellect, efficiency and goodness seldom if ever realized before in the history of man. The system is presented without qualification and without evidence. It has borrowed from psychoanalysis, Pavlovian conditioning, hypnosis and folk beliefs, but, except for the last, these debts are fulsomely denied. The huge sale of the book to date is distressing evidence of the frustrated ambitions, hopes, ideals, anxieties and worries of the many persons who through it have sought succor.

1950, 30.3.

The New York Times: Zilboorg Denounces 'Dianetics' at Forum

The practice of "Dianetics," a theory for the treatment of psychosomatic and other ills, was attacked as "dangerous" last night by Dr. Gregory Zilboorg, psychiatrist, at a meeting held under the auspices of the Physicians' Forum at the New York Academy of Medicine, 2 East 103d Street. The attack on "Dianetics," the theories of which are expounded in a best-selling book of that name by L. Ron Hubbard, was said by a spokesman for the Physicians' Forum to have been the first by a physician at a public meeting in New York. Dr. Zilboorg declared the book was "unfair to human beings" in promising the hope of cures by persons without scientific or medical training. He said the theory advanced that all illnesses stemmed from a single source, engrams, was a dangerous one, and that its application would cause megalomaniacal phantasies. According to Mr. Hubbard, engrams are fixed in the reactive (subconscious) mind by unpleasant experiences, and when eradicated the cure or "clearing" of the patient results. The author declares that one who has mastered his book can act as an "auditor" for another person and get rid of the engrams by helping the patient to relive the unpleasant experience. Dr. Zilboorg said many of theories set forth in the book were Freudian and other well-known theories that had been given the terminology of the electronic age.

1951, May

Hubbard goes to Wichita, Kansas at the invitation of wealthy real estate developer Don Purcell. Soon after, with Purcell's backing, they open a Dianetics center in that town. (The Roots of Scientology)

1951, 4.5.

...the FBI agent in Wichita received an anonymous letter: 'Investigate No 211 West Douglas, under the "Hubbard Dianetics Research Foundation", they are conducting a vicious sexual racket. There are four women and a larger number of men. If they have moved go after them. They are bad, I know because I am one of the victims...' This execrable piece of rumor-mongering was added to Hubbard's FBI file, along with a memo from the special agent in charge in Wichita noting: 'General gossip at Wichita has it that the Los Angeles branch of the Hubbard Dianetics Research Foundation went broke and the cost of operation in New Jersey necessitated establishing headquarters of the organization in the central United States...' (Miller: "Bare-faced Messiah", pg. 188)

1951, 15.5.

Documented evidence indicates that as early as May 15, 1951, the FBI had begun building its file on Hubbard and his adherents. On that date the Special Agent in charge of the Bureau's Kansas City office sent a memorandum to J. Edgar Hoover, reporting what the memo itself indentifies as "general gossip" - the contents of an anonymous hate letter which accused the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation of operating a "vicious sexual racket." The FBI report admitted that the Foundation had broken no law, but suggested that the scurrilous information be put on file because "numerous inquiries are expected both at the seat of government and at the Kansas City office." (O.ﾠGarrison, Playing Dirty, pg. 19)

As early as 1951, the FBI began an internal security investigation of Hubbard and his organization. Documents reveal that "contacts" inside the Chicago branch of the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation (a precursor of the Church of Scientology) conducted a detailed investigation and supplied the Bureau with details as to the business affairs, office personnel, and procedures of various branches across the country. Later the FBI planted undercover agents in the church to spy upon its members and ministerial staff and to make regular reports to the agency. (O.ﾠGarrison, Playing Dirty, pg. 61)

1951, 28 June

Science of Survival released at the 1st Annual Conference of Hubbard Dianetics Auditors in Wichita, Kansas as a limited edition manuscript.

1951, Summer

Ron meets 19 yr. old Mary Sue Whipp in Wichita, she is a student at the University of Texas. (The Roots of Scientology)

1951, August

Self Analysis published.

Consumer Reports: dianeticsﾠ

A critical appraisal of a best-selling book that originated in the realm of science-fiction and became the basis for a new cult.

1951, October

Child Dianetics published. (CofS)

1951, November

Advanced Procedure and Axioms published in Wichita, Kansas. (CofS)

1951, December

Dianetics: The Original Thesis published. (CofS)

1952

First Dianetics groups formed in Israel and New Zealand. (CofS)

1952, early

In early 1952 Purcell and Hubbard split up. It was agreed that Hubbard would resign, sell his stock for a nominal figure to Purcell and set up an independent Hubbard College in Wichita. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 16)

1952, 12 February

The Hubbard College, the first organization established and controlled by L. Ron Hubbard, founded in Wichita, Kansas to train Dianetics auditors. (CofS)

Purcell and other members of the Dianetics board of directors vote Hubbard out for gross mis-management. (The Roots of Scientology)

LRH: Well, I slogged through the remainder of 1951 and eventually…I had no control of these organizations at all and they, through mismanagement and so forth by their existing Boards, they folded up and I went off down to Phoenix, Arizona, and I started a Scientology organization.

The name of the earlier subject was Dianetics, and you will find that is still in useful practice, but it was basically a healing subject. We got in bad with the healing professions because the publisher and a medical doctor, not me, said that any two people could use it and get well instantly, and it was Walter Winchell no less who said it was a greater development than the wheel and arch. That wasn't me. Now these people staring attributing these statements to me.

Well, I parted company with this field because I did not want to be mixed up with a healing activity because this was a philosophic line of research and I ran into Scientology and the basic subject from which Dianetics was derived, and I went on with this development down in Phoenix, Arizona, and I got the earliest Scientology Organization put together and I had control of that and it ran pretty well, and it has been prospering ever since. (LRH Conference With The Investigators 17 August 1966)

1952, March

Hubbard, by this time no longer in control of Dianetics, announces that he has a new device, called the "e-meter" that will figure prominently in his new science that he calls "Scientology."

He takes time out during this month to marry one of his followers, Mary Sue Whipp who is now at this time two months pregnant. (The Roots of Scientology)

1952, April

In April 1952 the Foundation finally went bankrupt. Its assets were bought by Purcell. These included the sole right to the name 'Hubbard Dianetic Foundation' and the publishing rights and copyrights on all the Foundation's publications, including 'Dianetics-Modern Science and Mental Health'. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 16)

LRH: That was a full war against Dianetics. It revived in 1951 and 1952 using the late Don Purcell, a millionaire oil man in Kansas who received $500,000 into his bank account the day after he threw the Wichita Foundations into bankruptcy. (To: The Guardian WW 2 December 1969)

Hubbard opens a Scientology office in Phoenix, Arizona. He discovers the state of OT (operating thetan). (The Roots of Scientology)

1952, May

The Wichita training center moved to Phoenix, Arizona. There, L. Ron Hubbard publicly announced the formal establishment of the philosophy of Scientology and the formation of the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International (HASI). (CofS)

Hubbard had meanwhile transplanted the Hubbard College to Phoenix Arizona, where he established Scientology. This seems to have been a conscious decision to abandon the Dianetics field for the moment.

The conflicts that had led to Hubbard's isolation, or isolation of himself, were fundamental. It was as if an isolated community living in an area surrounded by impenetrable mountains had built a flying machine which would let them contact surrounding valleys. The main inventor however now wanted to use this machine to go to the moon whereas his colleagues still wanted to fulfill the original objectives.

Most particularly Dr Winter wanted to get Dianetics accepted by the scientific and medical community. Hubbard's moves towards the spiritual and the apparently occult were felt to be making this goal unachievable. Purcell wanted a sound commercial operation which could provide the backing and support that the popular movement needed. Hubbard's impetuous and grandiose money raising schemes, such as 'Allied Scientists of the World', were out of keeping with the respectable image he wanted Hubbard's first major supporter, John Campbell, withdrew in reaction to Hubbard's authoritarian style and his unwillingness to accept the intellectual contributions of others. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 16/17)

From his new base in Phoenix, Hubbard started to establish the new subject of Scientology. As explained earlier this grew out of the further development work he did on Dianetics with more advanced auditing procedures.

By 1952 he had moved beyond the exclusive area of the human mind to dealing with its 'animator'. This animator is the concept of a spiritual being that determines the action of the mind and body. In our normal experience our spiritual awareness becomes largely obscured by the physical and mental inefficiencies that we pick up during our growth to adulthood. With the development of techniques for increasing our awareness of existing as a spiritual being, separate from our body and mind, Scientology was born.

Hubbard established the Hubbard's orbit as the HAS, in Phoenix. He began Scientology auditing and training of interested members of the Dianetics community there. He also started a periodical called the Journal of Scientology.

From this new platform he began to attack Purcell's Dianetic Foundation in Wichita, claiming that it was profiteering from Dianetics. He made a strong appeal to Dianetics followers which produced many converts to Scientology.

As the HAS grew it changed its name to Hubbard Association of Scientologists International (HASI) and became tougher in the control it exerted over its members using Scientology techniques. Hubbard was obviously determined to avoid a repeat of the uncontrolled evolution of field auditors and groups that had happened with Dianetics. Only organizations affiliated to the HAS were permitted to have and use Scientology materials. To qualify as an affiliated group all members had to be individual members of the HASI and monthly reports of activities were required. Groups that did not toe the line had their certificates withdrawn and became ineligible for new Scientology materials. Independent practitioners were similarly controlled and these now included quite a few former Dianetics practitioners who were drawn back into to be individual members of the HASI and monthly reports of activities were required. Groups that did not toe the line had their certificates withdrawn and became ineligible for new Scientology materials. Independent practitioners were similarly controlled and these now included quite a few former Dianetics practitioners who were drawn back into. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 16/17)

CBR on infiltration of Orgs with psych cases (Quote): ... the Boss told me, he said, "Hey, they tried to do the same thing on the Org in Phoenix in 1952." And he said he had to take care of the nuts they kept sending into the Org. The "psychs" were all working on the outside and sending implanted people into the Org. And he had to be very discerning in those days to make sure that somebody coming in was really there to be audited and not being sent to go crazy, and to cause a big flap. (CBR-debrief from 1982)

1952, 30.6.

As AMA's Operation Catspaw continued, Oliver Field, director of the medical fraternity's Bureau of Investigation, compiled an impressive file of published material attacking Dianetics (and later, Scientology) and defaming its founder. From this "black propaganda", he selected those items which apparently he felt would be most damaging to the Scientologists, and these were sent out as enclosures in all his correspondence concerning them. Eventually, he devised a kind of form letter which repeated over and over identical statements to doctors, laymen and casual inquirers alike.

Only in a few instances did Field so far forget his role of psychological warrior as to inject personal statements which, had they become known to Hubbard at the time, would almost certainly have landed the AMA executive in court charged with slander.

For example, in a letter dated June 30, 1952, replying to a query by a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, Field wrote: "From information in our file, we wonder if Mr. Hubbard is not in need of some psychiatric treatment himself."

Again, in a written communication addressed to a lawyer in Currituck, North Carolina, Field stated: "It is our understanding that Mr. Hubbard, the originator of all this has spent some time in a mental institution."

On at least two occasions, Field told his correspondents that Scientology was "a scheme to victimize gullible persons.

When newspapers published inaccurate allegations made against Hubbard in a domestic relations court case, Field had the stories photocopied and sent them as additional hand-outs to various correspondents. (Omar V. Garrison - Hidden Story of Scientology, pg. 78/79)

1952, July

Scientology: A History of Man published. (CofS)

1952, September

Hubbard and wife move to London, England. (The Roots of Scientology)

1952, 21 September

L. Ron Hubbard began delivery of the first training course for auditors in England. He also established the first British Scientology organization, and a London branch of the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International. (CofS)

In the UK the development of Dianetics followed a similar pattern to the early days in the United States. The loose coordinating body was the British Dianetic Association which was succeeded by the Dianetic Association Ltd. Their main function was to get hold of American material and distribute it in the UK. In 1952 the Dianetic Association Ltd was absorbed by the Dianetic Federation of Great Britain. Like its American counterpart it exercised virtually no control over the multitude of field groups and auditors. Very few of these auditors had been to the United States to be trained at the Foundation. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 17)

1952, November

Scientology 8-80 published. (CofS)

1952, 1 December

The first lecture of the Philadelphia Doctorate Course was delivered by L. Ron Hubbard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he presented the first copies ofScientology 8-8008. (CofS)

Hubbard returns to the US to give a series of lectures in Philadelphia.

There he is arrested for wrongfully withdrawing $9,286.00 from the now bankrupt Wichita Dianetics Foundation. He agrees to pay restitution and the matter is dropped. (The Roots of Scientology)

1952, 22.12.

Time magazine: Title: Remember Venus?

When L. Ron Hubbard gave Dianetics to a wondering world (TIME, July 24, 1950), it looked as though he had claimed everything in sight, and more. "The hidden source of all psychosomatic ills and human aberration has been discovered," he wrote then, "and skills have been developed for their invariable cure." But to Science Fictioneer Hubbard, these achievements soon seemed like kid stuff. He broke with the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation in Wichita, "to further pursue investigations into the incredible and fantastic," as the foundation puts it. Now, the founder of still another cult, he claims to have discovered the ultimate secrets of life and the universe, and to be able to cure everything, including cancer.

For the cult, L. (for Lafayette) Ron (for Ronald) Hubbard has whipped up the bastard word "scientology," which he defines as "knowing about knowing" or "the science of knowledge." His latest ology is compounded of equal parts of science fiction, Dianetics (with "auditing," "preclears" and engrams), and plain jabberwocky.* Hubbard has preached his gospel to the British; he spent last week drumming for converts in Philadelphia. Awed by his own accomplishments, Hubbard has awarded himself the degree of "D. Scn." -- doctor of scientology.

* Sample, from Hubbard's new tract, Scientology: 8-80: "An individual who cannot get out of his body immediately can look around inside his head and find the black spots and turn them white..."

1953

In 1953 the following books were published: 'This is Scientology The Science of Certainty'; 'Introduction to Scientology' and 'Self Analysis in Scientology'. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 19)

Hubbard awarded a Pd.D. from the "University of Sequoia," a diploma mill run by a LA Chiropractor who conferred degrees on anyone that he felt worthy. (The Roots of Scientology)

1953, 6 January

Geoffrey Quentin McCaully Hubbard born. (The Roots of Scientology)

1953, 3.2.

Another FBI report, dated February 3, 1953, reveals that the Bureau files now included a newspaper story quoting Hubbard's ex-wife during divorce litigation as saying L. Ron Hubbard was "hopelessly insane". This spiteful slander, made in anger and later recanted in a sworn statement by the woman who had originated it, was thereafter cited by the FBI in countless memoranda throughout the world. Twenty-three years later, an FBI memorandum dated February 22, 1974, contains the same calumny, still being maliciously circulated by the Bureau. (O.ﾠGarrison, Playing Dirty, pg. 19/20)

1953, April

How to Live Though an Executive published. (CofS)

1953, 30 September

L. Ron Hubbard lectured at the First International Congress of Dianeticists and Scientologists in Philadelphia. (CofS)

1953, November

Hubbard gets Dianetics back under his control when former business partner Don Purcell, tired of the endless litigation, gives up the fight. (The Roots of Scientology)

1953, Dec.

Church of Scientology, Church of American Science and Church of Spiritual Engineering incorporated in Elizabeth, New Jersey by L. Ron Hubbard. Co-signatories were Mary Sue Hubbard, L. Ron Hubbard Jr. and Henrietta Hubbard. (Timeline of Scientology versus the IRS)

1954

Mary Suzette Rochelle Hubbard born. (The Roots of Scientology)

LRH: Now in 1954, I got my first clue, and this is where you start coming in, I got my first clue as to the actual type of personality that gave us a slugging around. Earlier in doing research on the mind, and so on, I had become a special officer of the Los Angeles force for awhile… My beat was South Main and Alvarado and that is the toughest district there is down there, and I got a little insight into the criminal intelligence and then I began to find out that I didn’t run across Communists who didn’t have a slightly or largely tainted criminal background. This was big discovery to me… and as time has gone on I have gotten a deeper and deeper insight into the type of personality which raises the devil with this type of work, and it isn’t 90% of the human race, it is a figure as small as 20%. Of that 20%, only 2 ½ % of the 100, the other being 17 ½ %, the 2 ½% are really institutional cases. They are utterly mad.

Now when I found out that they are in the minority I began to investigate whenever we started to take a shellacing, whener we started to be beaten around I would get a private investigator in the area and have a look around and see who was at this and that activity, is (it) the suits, no, but that activity of investigation is the only thing which has tamed down attacks on Scientology. Not even a punitive action after the investigation was concluded but just the fact of investigation. (LRH Conference With The Investigators 17 August 1966)

1954, 18 February

The first Church of Scientology founded in Los Angeles, California. (CofS)

The Church of Scientology of California is founded. It acts as the mother church. It is initially granted tax exempt status. (Criminal Time Track: Issue III, (detail)

The most obvious question that springs from this period is why did the Scientology movement take on the title of a church and thus a religion? Also why did Ron Hubbard move from the United States to the UK in 1959?

A significant paragraph appears in the section on Ron Hubbard's life history in the Church's book 'What is Scientology'. This says that in the early 50's the US government tried to monopolize his researches to use them for mind control of people. It then says that after the government failed to get Hubbard's agreement to this, it embarked on a campaign of covert attacks on his work. This is the earliest reference In the Church's published history to deliberate discrimination and attacks by government- backed agencies. Most frequently referred to are the efforts of the American Psychiatry Association to discredit the movement. This belief in a campaign of covert attacks has grown into massive paranoia within the Church over the years.

It could be that these real or imagined pressures were more important in deciding to become a Church rather than a belief that Scientology needed to be a Church to be effective in doing its job of Improving the mental and spiritual health of people. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 20)

1954, 5.4.

The earliest document disclosing the Air Force's interest in Hubbard and his group is dated April 5, 1954. It is a report by Col. Leroy Barnard of a special investigation undertaken at the request of an Air Force base commander in Colorado, "predicated upon information received" to the effect that a Dianetics Society in Colorado Springs was "composed of homosexuals, Communists, or both." (O.ﾠGarrison, Playing Dirty, pg. 20)

1954, late

The Wichita Foundation had not thrived since Hubbard's departure and was having to contend with law suits from Hubbard. In late 1954 Purcell decided he would give up Dianetics and he would switch his support to the breakaway group, Synergetics. He agreed to return the Dianetics copyrights and publishing rights to Hubbard. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 18)

1954, December

Dianetics 55! published. (CofS)

Among the books published in 1954 were: 'Group Auditors Handbook' (Vols I & II) and 'Dianetics 55'. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 19)

1955

Alaska Mental Health Act, introduced in the U.S. Congress in 1955. (Wikipedia)

As an unabashed circumvention of the American Bill of Rights, this measure was without precedent in the legislative history of that country. Under its terms, anyone at any time is subject to seizure and involuntary commitment to a mental institution without recourse to due process guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

A prominent Los Angeles jurist, Superior Court judge Joseph M. Call, who made a careful study of the act from the legal stand-point, characterized it as "totalitarian government at its best".

"Under this section [104(b)], any health, welfare or police officer who has reason to believe that an individual is mentally ill and therefore likely to injure himself or others if not immediately restrained pending examination and certification by a licensed physician, may take the individual into physical custody and transport him to a mental asylum. This section, in effect, practically nullifies every constitutional safeguard to be found in the Federal Constitution for the protection of the individual. It is the police state working at its best.

It permits no examination of any type.
No statement of probable cause need be filed under oath to support the issuance of a warrant of arrest or apprehension.
No judge or magistrate need issue a warrant of arrest.
No examination is permitted of the patient by the patient's own physician.
No examination is provided for by any physician.
No trial is permitted by a judge.
No trial is permitted by a jury.

"This section under these conditions permits the patient to be held in custody and without bail up to a period of 5 days under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the head of the hospital. By the end of 5 days the head of the hospital is authorized to designate an examiner to make an examination, and upon the certification of the examiner that in his opinion the patient (1) is mentally ill or (2) is likely to injure himself or others if allowed at liberty, he is forthwith committed to further confinement and custody under this certificate. (O. Garrison, Hidden Story of Scientology, pg. 97...)

Hubbard called the measure the Siberia Bill because, be said, under its provisions any man, woman, or child could be seized and transferred without trial to an Alaskan Siberia being set up under authorization of the Act. There, the allegedly mentally ill person, deprived of all human and civil rights, could be detained forever. A cleverly legalized way of railroading political enemies, personal opponents and other "undesirables" into permanent oblivion à la USSR. (O. Garrison, Hidden Story of Scientology, pg. 101)

LRH: The rest of their apparent program (talking about the secret influence groups in RJ76) was to use mental health - which is to say, psychiatric electric shock and prefrontal lobotomy - to remove from their path any political dissenters. They were the people behind the Siberia bill, which almost passed the House of Representatives in the United States, and did pass, if I remember rightly, the Senate, which gave the power to any governor in -- of any state in the United States simply to pick up anyone on the street and send him to Alaska. We defeated this Siberia bill and many other mental health quote-unquote "acts" of this character, but never really before knew from whom they were coming. (Ron's Journal 67)

1955, 28 January

The Church of Scientology of Auckland, New Zealand founded. (CofS)

1955, April

The Creation of Human Ability published. (CofS)

In 1955 there followed nine books including 'Scientology- Its contribution to knowledge: The Elementary Scientology Series' and 'The Creation of Human Ability'. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 19)

1955, 21 July

Founding Church of Scientology of Washington, DC founded along with the first Academy of Scientology. To assist in the publishing and dissemination of Dianetics and Scientology books, a distribution center was also formed at this time. (CofS)

1955, 15 November

Church of Scientology of New York founded. (CofS)

1956

When the Founding Church of Scientology (founded 21.7.55) first applied to the Internal Revenue Service in 1956 for exemption from Federal income taxes, the IRS granted the application owing to the fact that the Church was duly incorporated as a religious and educational organization in the District of Columbia. (Garrison: Hidden Story of Scientology, pg. 178)

1956-1971 and later

The FBI started the program "Cointelpro" (Counterintelligence Program). The FBI announced that for "security reasons" it was terminating the Program as of April 27, 1971.

The "dirty business" included unauthorized bugging and wiretapping; mail opening; warrantless break-ins ("black bag jobs"); anonymously mailing reprints of newspaper and magazine articles (some of them planted in the press by the Bureau itself); disseminating defamatory information regarding individuals, much of it false; encouraging street warfare between violence-prone groups; contacting an employee with derogatory information about a person to get the target fired; using the IRS to harass individuals and organizations by audit; and so on.

As one newspaper writer put it, "almost nothing - beyond lack of imagination - appears to have limited the range of dirty tricks' used by the FBI..."

The explanation offered by the Bureau for its illegal acts was that the agency found them to be necessary to protect national security (a catch-all pleading invoked by all federal agencies to justify their lawless conduct); and to prevent violence.

In the program's later phases, it became clear that it was being used against persons and organizations whose beliefs were repugnant to the Bureau. In short, Cointelpro was J. Edgar Hoover's secret war against what he considered "dangerous" ideas, or sometimes against individuals who were unpopular with his friends and supporters.

Whether the Church of Scientology was formally a part of the Cointelpro or not, many of the same techniques used by the FBI during the 15 years that those programs were in operation, were also employed against Scientologists.

During more than 20 years, the Bureau conducted a deliberate smear campaign against the church, one which has had lasting effects. The agency became an avid collector of unfavorable news stories and magazine articles concerning Scientology and its founder. Enquiries from individuals, other agencies and foreign governments were all provided with these materials and referred to other sources of derogatory allegations.

To conceal the fact that the FBI was the source of the slander, Hoover would introduce the libel with the statement that "No investigation has been conducted by this Bureau concerning Hubbard [or "Scientology"]. However, our files reveal that... There would then follow a deadly selection of venomous gossip, rumor and false published reports from the copious FBI files, but attributed to other founts.

Sometimes, the Director would close his letter with the words: "I am enclosing some material which I thought you might like to have."

The "material" referred to would be a packet of black propaganda in the form of raw data accumulated by the Bureau.

Over the years, the defamatory reports thus generated by the FBI began to percolate among other governmental agencies and departments which, in turn, built their own files and became new centers for further diffusion of the falsehoods. The exchange was a contagion that eventually spread to the remotest corner of the world. (O.ﾠGarrison, Playing Dirty, pg. 53/60)

Documents reveal that the FBI (as well as other federal agencies) had secret operatives at work in virtually every branch of the Church of Scientology. Material obtained under the Freedom of Information Act also makes it clear that in some instances, church members were coerced into supplying the agency with confidential information, by the threat of, or offer of immunity from criminal prosecution on some charge unrelated to Scientology.

In addition to paid spies, spiteful rumor mongers, and coerced informants, intelligence agencies of the Government made use of illegal wiretapping and bugging in their war fevered assault on the Church of Scientology. (O.ﾠGarrison, Playing Dirty, pg. 66)

The nature and extent of this global, electronic eavesdropping will never be known. Many of the guilty weasels have been too adroit at covering their tracks.

Judging from the documentary evidence available, however, the coordinated efforts of the following agencies have been massive and widespread: the

National Security Agency, the
U.S. Justice Department,
FBI,
FDA,
CIA,
IRS,
Bureau of Customs,
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA, formerly the BNDD), the
Department of Defense, the
Defense Intelligence Service,
Interpol,
U.S. State Department,
U.S. Post Office,
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service,
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF),
Department of Labor;
Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), the
Secret Service, and the
police departments of 26 American cities, from New York to Honolulu; from Montpelier, Vermont to Dallas, Texas. (O.ﾠGarrison, Playing Dirty, pg. 66/67)

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that police departments throughout the United States participated in the federal conspiracy against the Church of Scientology. There is documented evidence that police in New York, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Los Angeles and Eureka, California engaged in surveillance of the church. At the same time, they received from, and disseminated to, the federal agencies information obtained from various sources. (O.ﾠGarrison, Playing Dirty, pg. 61)

A rough quote from an FBI memorandum obtained through the Freedom of Information Act in 1978:

"To infiltrate the Church and move our agents up to Board of Director positions. We must also prevent the spread of Scientology to China and Japan as it is so similar to Buddhism it would spread like wildfire". (CBR: SOB 12)

1956, Jan. (Alaska Bill)

All the while these attacks continued. But finally a response was in order if these psychs were to be prevented from creating a slave society in January of 1956, a plan the psychs had hatched many years before was about to come to fruition. They had formulated a plan to infiltrate all levels of society so that they - and they alone - were the decision makers as to what was right and wrong. In this way they could do away with the influence of religion and even the family in matters of morals and mores of the civilization. I'm not joking here. This is all a matter of public record. Their plan for the US was simple. They would purchase a million acres of land in Alaska which they would use as a huge mental health colony then they would change the commitment laws so that they could arbitrarily commit any citizen to this facility one didn't need to violate a law or do anything wrong. All it would take was a psych deciding you weren't desirable and off you would go with no recourse.

This is very convenient for a government wanting to control its populace. And the obvious force to implement this plan was psychiatry. In fact, such a plan already had precedent. It was doing wonders to keep the populace quiet! Where? In Stalinist Russia of course. They called it: Siberia! Unbelievably the House of Representatives had already passed the bill to create this facility in Alaska and by all indications it would fly through the senate. The press and public were asleep and the politicians were drooling. And then out of nowhere a force they never contemplated came on the scene.

That force was LRH and Scientology naming it for what it was, LRH dubbed the plan: "Siberia USA". He began a campaign to alert the public and the press to the true meaning of this grand plan. The press finally woke up and the words "Siberia USA" were seen everywhere as a slogan to defeat this danger to personal rights and freedom.

How did the psychs manage to recruit the IRS?

More easily than you can imagine. You've already seen how the government was working hand in glove with the psych movement. But the connection was even more tangible. The DC Medical Society was the sponsor of the Siberia USA plans. Their attorney was a woman named Charlotte Murphy and when their grand plan of Siberia USA fell through she needed a new job. She joined the Internal Revenue Service and was posted in the office of their chief counsel which is the in-house attorney firm for the IRS. And just that simply the IRS became the active force to destroy Scientology because Charlotte Murphy's assigned functions - at her request - were to deal exclusively with any matters Scientology in nature. A task she wasted no time getting active with. She made her intentions clear in this document she wrote to the district director of the Washington branch of the IRS:

In this document regarding the Founding Church in Washington DC, she asks:

"whether there are any local statutes and ordinances available as tools to curtail or close down the operation."

She went on a rampage to do anything in her power to destroy Scientology in the US and abroad. For her efforts she was awarded handsomely and even was promoted years later and became a judge in the US tax court.

... Denial of tax exemption makes an organization fair game for the IRS. So, Murphy's first act was to arrange for the arbitrary denial of tax exemption to every existing Church of Scientology in the United States. She then spent the next ten years spearheading IRS attacks on our churches, in order to ensure that the Church did not regain tax exemption. The primary tactic utilized was the creation and broad dissemination of false and derogatory reports on LRH and Scientology. These reports were designed to ensure that government agencies receiving these reports in the US and abroad would immediately take adverse action and instigate inquires and other serious actions. In fact, Congress later said:

"...these reports were used to stigmatize, to set a group of individuals and organizations apart as somehow inherently suspect and likely to be in violation of the tax statutes or other laws."

Indeed, years later we learned that IRS-created false reports were at the bottom of such infamous attacks as the Australian inquiry, the UK and South African inquiries, and attacks on the Flagship Apollo.

You've heard about false reports being spread through the world. And often we have talked of Interpol being the conduit for these reports abroad. That is all true. But it was always the IRS creating the documents and sending them out in the first place. Don't forget - the IRS hadn't found the Church doing anything wrong. They just wanted to get us. So they had to resort to pure lies. (David Miscavige's IAS speech, 8 October 1993)

1956, September

Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought published. (CofS)

In 1956 there were again many advanced technical publications, usually presented in the form of 'Professional Auditors Bulletins and also Scientology The Fundamentals of Thought'; 'Creative Learning - A Scientological Experiment in Schools' and 'The Problems of Work'. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 19)

1956, 30 November

Church of Scientology of Seattle, Washington was founded. (CofS)

1956, December

The Problems of Work published. (CofS)

1957

From this point on, contact with the White House increases as it occasionally requests and is given further information on data ranging outside ordinary areas of religious practice but which had resulted from years of Scientology educational and Pastoral Counseling discover-ies within the researches of the Founding Church. (FDA Findings, pg. 7)

1957

Hubbard's personal income now estimated a $250,000 per year. (The Roots of Scientology)

1957, 2.1.

The Internal Revenue Service grants a tax exemption to the Church of Scientology of California (CSC) (Timeline of Scientology versus the IRS)

1957, 11 March

Church of Scientology of Miami, Florida founded. (CofS)

1957, April

... in that month he hired the Royal Empire Society Hall in London in order to preside over the 'London Congress on Nuclear Radiation and Health'. The various lectures delivered at this extraordinary event were later condensed into an even more extraordinary book titled All About Radiation and written by 'a nuclear physicist' and 'a medical doctor'.

The doctor was anonymous, but the 'nuclear physicist' was none other than L. Ron Hubbard... Hubbard had devised a vitamin compound called 'Dianazene'... 'Dianazene runs out radiation - or what appears to be radiation. It also proofs a person against radiation to some degree. It also turns on and runs out incipient cancer.

...The Food and Drugs Administration in the United States was inclined, after studying a copy of All About Radiation, to disagree. FDA agents swooped on the Distribution Center Inc, a Scientology company in Washington, seized 21,000 Dianazene tablets and destroyed them, alleging that they were falsely labeled as a preventative treatment for 'radiation sickness'. (Miller: "Bare-faced Messiah", pg. 228)

1957, May

All About Radiation published. (CofS)

1957, June

The CIA starts a file, No. 156409, on Hubbard. (The Roots of Scientology)

1957, July

Hubbard addressed the 'Freedom Congress' at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington; during the lecture he carried out a christening ceremony for the first time. (Miller: "Bare-faced Messiah", pg. 228)

The same month as the Freedom Congress, the Central Intelligence Agency opened a file, No. 156409, on L. Ron Hubbard and his organization. CIA agents trawled through police, revenue, credit and property records to try and unravel Hubbard's tangled corporate affairs. It was a task of herculean difficulty, for the Church of Scientology was a cryptic maze of ad hoc corporations. The printed notepaper of the Academy of Scientology gave only a hint of its labyrinthine structure - on the left-hand side of the page was a list of no less than seventeen associated organizations, ranging from the American Society for Disaster Relief to the Society of Consulting Ministers.

Agents traced a considerable amount of property owned either by Hubbard, his wife, son, or one of the daunting number of 'churches' with which they were associated, but the report quickly became bogged down in a tangle of names and addresses: 'The Academy of Religious Arts and Sciences is currently engaged as a school for ministers of religion which at the present time possesses approximately thirty to forty students. The entire course consists of $1500 to $1800 worth of actual classroom studies... The public office is located at 1810-12 19th Street N.W. The corporations rent the entire building...

'The Hubbard Guidance Center, located at 2315 15th Street, N.W., occupies the entire building which consists of three floors and which was purchased by the SUBJECT Organization. The center also rents farm property located somewhere along Colesville Road in Silver Spring, Maryland, on a short-term lease. The center formerly operated a branch office at 8609 Flower Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland. In addition to the Silver Spring operation, the center has a working agreement with the Founding Church of Scientology of New York, which holds classes at Studio 847, Carnegie Hall, 154 West 57th Street, New York City. Churches of this denomination number in excess of one hundred in the United States...'

One agent was assigned the thankless task of reading through all Hubbard's published work at the Library of Congress in order to gain an 'insight' into Scientology. 'Hubbard's works', he noted glumly, 'contain many words, the meaning of which are not made clear for lay comprehension and perhaps purposely so.'

The District of Columbia Income Tax Division reported that the 'church' had applied for a licence to operate as a religion in Washington DC probably in an attempt to claim tax-free status, and the Personal Property Division reported that it was having difficulty persuading the church to produce its records so that a personal property tax could be levied. Repeated telephone calls had produced nothing but excuses as to why the records could not be produced.

In the end, the CIA file could do no more than chronicle a multitude of vague suspicions; it certainly uncovered no hard evidence of wrong-doing and it revealed curiously little about the remarkable career of the founder of the Founding Church of Scientology. 'Dr Hubbard', it noted simply, 'received a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1954 and throughout his adult career has been a minister.'

The increasingly obvious success of Scientology from 1957 onwards unquestionably prompted federal agencies to keep a closer eye on Hubbard. The Washington Field Office of the FBI, for example, maintained an extensive file which included film and sound recordings as well as photographs and doggedly noted every example of Hubbard's exuberant irreverence to authority. (Miller: "Bare-faced Messiah", pg. 228-229)

1957, 11 November

Church of Scientology of Johannesburg, South Africa founded. (CofS)

1957, December

Control and the Mechanics of Start, Change, Stop published. (CofS)

1957, 3 December

Scientology: Clear Procedure, Issue One published. (CofS)

1958

In a letter to the Guardian Office from Febuary 28, 1972, LRH states: "Now, when we hit and wrecked his Siberia Bill, Oberholser must have revived pressure. That funny dead man Brock Chisholm (undoubtedly connected as same societies) is reported by NAMH (National Assoc. for Mental Health) head South Africa to have said (1958?) "Scientology is dangerous" and the attack on us suddenly went all out mounting up to the FDA raid and finally all the "bans."

Now WFMH (World Federation for Mental Health) is about to die, most of these old birds are carrion and we are making rapid headway once more.

From all this sorting out of detail I hazard that we ran into and hit a massive plan to escalate the destruction of human liberty by psychiatry and didn't just dent it but are now approaching a total wreckage of their political-judicial decimation of the world scene."

tax exemption 1956

Hidden Story of Scientology

178

1958, 8 June

Arthur Conway Hubbard born. (The Roots of Scientology)

1958, Summer:

Hubbard purchases and moves into Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, Sussex, England. Formerly owned by the Maharajah of Jaipur it is was built in 1733 by a wealthy landowner. (The Roots of Scientology)

1958, August:

The local paper, the "Courier" reports the "nuclear scientist, Dr. Hubbard," was experimenting with the growing of vegetables. A picture of Hubbard with an e-meter attached to a tomato plant appeared in "Garden News," and when the British press heard about it there was a scramble to the gates of St. Hill. This famous picture of Hubbard eventually found itself into "Newsweek," magazine in the US. (The Roots of Scientology)

1958, late

... the U.S. Department of Justice took over the coordination of attacks. Late that year, Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Troxell met in his office with Capt. Ernest Jefferson of the D.C. Police Department's Narcotics and Vice Squad; and representatives from the Post Office Department, the FDA, the HEW, and U.S. Army Intelligence.

The attendees at this preliminary coven drafted a master plan for the illegal monitoring, entrapment, and ultimate destruction of the church. The various schemes for "getting something on the Scientologists," discussed at the meeting included placing mail covers on all the church mail; planting an AMA physician spy in the church; setting up a phony correspondence course; an inspection (actually, a warrantless search) of church premises by the FDA; and a program of surveillance, including electronic intrusion. (O.ﾠGarrison, Playing Dirty, pg. 20)

1959

In March FDA hires spy Taylor Quinn to enroll as a pretended student of the Academy of the Founding Church of Scientology. (FDA Findings, pg. 7)

1959

HCO Manual of Justice

Some Quotes:

People attack Scientology; I never forget it, always even the score.
People attack auditors, or staff, or organizations, or me. I never forget until the slate is clear.
... never punish beyond our easy ability to remedy by auditing and restoration.
Judging must be done on the basis of clear-cut evidence and the person to be guilty must be guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Only then, punish.
Remember this: we are a theta line. Leave the entheta to others. Act on entheta but don't add to it.
Shoot the offender for the public good and then patch him up quietly.
Axe him - but rehabilitate him too.

L. Ron Hubbard

Release of the Hubbard Mark I E-Meter. (CofS)

ek_1_2

Hubbard alarmed to find out that his oldest son "Nibs" had left Scientology complaining that although his father gave him a lot of duties, titles and responsibilities his father didn't pay him enough money to earn a living. (The Roots of Scientology)

1959, Spring

Saint Hill Manor purchased by L. Ron Hubbard. Located in East Grinstead, Sussex, England, the manor served as Mr. Hubbard’s residence, and as the communication center of Scientology. (CofS)

In the later 50's Hubbard made more visits to Britain and in the Spring of 1959 purchased Saint Hill Manor, in Sussex. This was to become home and the centre of Scientology operations for the next few years. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 5, pg. 19)

1959-1966

SAINT HILL 1959-66

During the six years that Hubbard lived at Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, he was engaged on several major projects.

There was however a minor project which drew disproportionate attention and lives on in a curious way. As part of his research into the nature and behavior of different life forms, he undertook son experiments with tomato plants. This included taking readings of the state of well-being on the E-meter. ...

As a result of talking to these tomato plants and checking their responses on the meter, Hubbard conducted a form of auditing on them. The plants are said to have responded by growing to unusual size and giving abundant crops of tomatoes. Although it is now more readily believed that plants respond to being talked to, when this work was published it was greeted with derision. As a result some of the local people living around East Grinstead have been known to describe Scientologists as Tomato Worshippers.

During this period international expansion of Scientology was continuing. Churches, more usually known as Organizations and referred to as 'Orgs', were opened in Paris, London, Capetown, Port Elizabeth, Detroit, Seattle and Hawaii. Hubbard's clear intention was to set up a centre for running Scientology worldwide at Saint Hill. In addition to the Management Centre, an International Council for Dianetics and Scientology was set-up there in 1959.

It may have been at this time that the goal of the movement was established. This is to 'Clear the Planet'. The word Clear is used in the sense that an individual can be cleared' of his irrational reactions an impulses. It is these irrational responses that are seen as the source r criminal and other acts harmful to oneself or society. A cleared Planet would be one where all the population was free to behave rationally and society was free of all anti-social behavior. Moving towards this goal was seen as not only being desirable for individual happiness and well-being but also as the best preventative action against a degenerating society and even nuclear war.

Saint Hill became an international centre in another sense. People came from all over the world to learn the theory and practice of Dianetics and Scientology techniques. The enormous quantity of discoveries and therapies were at this time being streamlined into a workable system which would enable an auditor to process individuals from whatever physical and mental state they found them in, by gradual steps of improved awareness and ability, to Clear and beyond.

The priority given to this work of systematization was to ensure that every step was proven and would produce predictable results. This introduction of certainty of benefit to the broad area of psychotherapy led to the term 'technology' being applied to methods and processes used. So emphatic was Hubbard that the proven workable processes should be used in an unvarying manner that the term 'Standard Tech' was coined and became the motto on the Auditors' badge and certificates.

The out-buildings at Saint Hill Manor were converted into classrooms and auditing rooms. One of the most memorable legacies of this period is the special course which Ron Hubbard assembled, known as the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course, which is still delivered there today.

The methods by which a person studies a subject effectively and efficiently came under Ron Hubbard's scrutiny at this time. The principles evolved were very practical and ensured that students on these courses understood and could apply the materials they were working on, before they moved on to the next stage.

So effective were these methods that people on courses at Saint Hill could not believe how easy it became to study. This was in sharp contrast to most people's experience at school or college. Another feature was how enjoyable it was to study. People exhibited great enthusiasm to study and at the end of set study periods shower! little inclination to finish promptly.

In parallel to making Saint Hill the most advanced study centre of Dianetics and Scientology in the world, Hubbard also set up and ran a processing and training centre or Org, for the local population. This was to be the prototype of the way Church Orgs were to be run throughout the world. (The Sad Tale of Scientology, Eric Townsend, Chapt. 6, pg. 23-26)

1959, 26 June

Hubbard Communications Office Worldwide was established at Saint Hill Manor. (CofS)

1959, 26 October

Church of Scientology of Paris, France founded. (CofS)

1959, 23 November

International Council for Dianetics and Scientology appointed. (CofS)

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