FROM THE FILES OF THE FBI #33
SAC, Anchorage
June 16, 1959
[BLACKED OUT]
On June 12, 1959, the above-captioned individual, accompanied
by his son, stopped at the Bureau and inquired if any information
could be furnished him concerning the Academy of Scientology, 1812
19th Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., or its founder L. Ron
Hubbard. [BLACKED OUT] explained considerable literature about the
Academy is being disseminated in Alaska and said inquiries have
been made of the State Police regarding the Academy. He explained
a member of the Metropolitan Police Department, [BLACKED OUT] told
him the Academy is one of the worst legal frauds that Department
has ever encountered. No information was promised to [BLACKED OUT]
however, he was advised if any data could be furnished him it would
be supplied through your office. [BLACKED OUT] were conducted on a
special tour of the Bureau, for which they were most appreciative.
Bufiles show we have conducted no investigation regarding
Hubbard or the Academy of Scientology, however, contain public
source data which is set out below. You should furnish this
information confidentially either to [BLACKED OUT] or one of his
superior officers. For your information, [BLACKED OUT] [illegible
word] he will return to Anchorage in about two weeks.
L. Ron Hubbard was the founder and president of the Hubbard
Dianetics Research Foundation, Inc. (HDRF), which was incorporated
in New Jersey during April, 1950. (62-94080)
The December 5, 1950 issue of "Look" magazine contained an
article entitled "Dianetics - Science or Hoax?" which reflected
that L. Ron Hubbard was an obscure writer of pseudoscientific pulp
fiction prior to the publishing of his book entitled "Dianetics."
Hubbard's book asserts that "the creation of dianetics is a
milestone for Man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior
to his inventions of the wheel and the arch...the intelligent
layman can successfully and invariably treat all psychosomatic
ills and inorganic aberration, according to Hubbard. "These
psychosomatic ills, uniformly [illegible][illegible]
NOTE: See Jones to DeLoach memo dated 6-15-59, captioned
[BLACKED OUT]
DWB:cr.
DWB:cr
(4)
[page 2]
Letter to Anchorage
Re: [BLACKED OUT]
therapy, include such varied maladies as eye trouble, bursitis,
ulcers, some heart difficulties, migraine headaches and the common
cold." According to the article, Hubbard's book has "outraged
scores of psychiatrists, biochemists, psychologists, physicians and
just-plain-ordinary scientists, who look upon the astounding claims
and the growing commercial success of this strange new phenomenon
with awe, fear and a deep disgusts...Hubbard's greatest attraction
to the troubled is that his ersatz psychiatry is available to all.
It's cheap. It's accessible. It's a public festival to be played at
clubs and parties." (62-94080)
During March, 1951, the Board of Medical Examiners, State of
New Jersey, had a case against the HDRF scheduled for trial on the
grounds that the organization was conducting a school, teaching a
branch of medicine and surgery, without a license. (62-94080)
In 1951 the HDRF established national headquarters at Wichita,
Kansas, and sponsored the Allied Scientists of the World, which
organization has as its avowed purpose "to construct and stock
a library ... in an atomic proof area where the culture and
technology of the United States could be stored in a state of
use by science and preserve it in case of attack." (62-95972)
The April 24, 1951, issue of the "Times Herald," Washington,
D.C., reflected that Hubbard's wife charged in a divorce suit that
"competent medical advisors recommended that Hubbard be committed
to a private sanitarium for psychiatric observation and treatment
of a mental ailment known as paranoid schizophrenia." (62-94080)
Allegedly during 1952, Hubbard formed the Hubbard Association of
Scientologists, an Arizona corporation, and reverted "dianetics"
back to its original name, "scientology." Thereafter, offices were
opened in New Jersey and London, England. (62-94080)
During the early part of 1956, HDRF, Silver Spring, Maryland,
was circulating a pamphlet entitled "Brain-Washing, A Synthesis
of the Russian Textbook on Psychopolitics." According to the book,
psychopolitics is the "art and science of asserting and maintaining
dominion over the thoughts and loyalties of individuals, officers,
bureaus, and masses, and the effecting of the conquest of enemy
nations through mental health.'"
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