Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Organization and Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Westbrook Scientology Collection
Dates: 1950-2015 and undated
Collection number: H.Mss.1067
Creator:
Westbrook, Donald A.
Extent:
15.25 Linear Feet
(11 document boxes, 1 oversized document box, 9 records boxes)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library. Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: Donald A. Westbrook (1985-) received his Ph.D. in Religion from Claremont Graduate University (CGU) in 2015. His dissertation,
“A People’s History of the Church of Scientology,” was produced with logistical assistance from the Church of Scientology
International in Los Angeles and based on formal and informal interviews with dozens of Scientologists across the United States,
with the largest number conducted in the Greater Los Angeles Area.
This collection includes books, lectures, periodicals, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents, and ephemera, as well
as a copy of Westbrook's dissertation, and was accumulated over four years by Westbrook as part of his intensive ethnographic
research on Scientology. Materials date as far back as 1950 when Hubbard authored a number of works, including
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.
Physical location: Please consult repository.
Language of materials: Languages represented in the collection: English and Japanese.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection open for research.
Technical Access
CDs and DVDs require CD/DVD player. Audio cassettes require cassette player. Headphones are required for listening in the
Reading Room. Patron computers in the Reading Room contain CD/DVD player. All other equipment must be brought by patron.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Westbrook Scientology Collection (H.Mss.1067). Special Collections, Honnold Mudd Library, Claremont
University Consortium.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Donald A. Westbrook, Ph.D., 2015.
Accruals
No immediate additions to the collection are anticipated; though the donor indicated a possibility of addiitions in the future.
Processing Information
Collection was received from Westbrook in folders and archivally sound boxes, so processing was minimal. Monographs, CDs,
DVDs, periodicals and other "loose" items were placed into folders. Folders containing too many items were broken into multiple
folders. Items too large for standard folders were removed to larger folders. Once a series arrangement was established
based on Westbrooks's groupings of materials, some folders were re-boxed. Monographs and related items were originally boxed
in early boxes (boxes 1-6). In anticipation that these items will be cataloged individually, these items were moved to the
later boxes (boxes 16-21). FBI files obtained through FOIA were received on a USB drive. Files were copied to repository
server for preservation and copied to CD and placed into folder for patron use. Due to the volume of these documents, only
the first page of each file was printed and placed into folder.
Biographical / Historical
Biography
Donald A. Westbrook (1985-) received his Ph.D. in Religion from Claremont Graduate University in 2015. His dissertation on
the history of Scientology was produced with logistical assistance from the Church of Scientology International in Los Angeles
and based on formal and informal interviews with dozens of Scientologists across the United States, with the largest number
conducted in the Greater Los Angeles Area. As of August 2015, Westbrook has completed ethnographic fieldwork on Scientology
in Los Angeles, CA; San Jose, CA; Clearwater, FL; Tampa, FL; New York, NY; Washington, DC; Phoenix, AZ; Las Vegas, NV; Salt
Lake City, UT; Florence, KY; Boston, MA; Portland, OR; Bay Head, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; and London and East Grinstead (England).
His Scientology monograph is forthcoming and he has written numerous articles and book chapters on the subjects of new religious
movements (NRMs) and Middle Eastern Christianity. He has lectured on these topics at universities in the United States, England,
Scotland, Belgium, and Estonia, and as of 2015 is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Church History at Fuller Theological Seminary
(Pasadena, CA). Westbrook received an M.A. in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary (2009) and B.A. in Philosophy from
the University of California, Berkeley (2006), where he studied as a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholar.
Brief History of Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology traces its founding to Los Angeles (1954), where it was incorporated on the basis of the religious
philosophy of writer L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986). Scientology’s intellectual antecedent was Dianetics, which enjoyed grassroots
and popular success in the early 1950s as a result of Hubbard’s
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
(1950). The earliest Dianetics centers and Scientology churches of the 1950s were incorporated in the United States, for
instance in Elizabeth and Camden, NJ (1953) in addition to Los Angeles, CA (1954). However, by the late 1950s, the church
had a significant and growing international presence, in part due to Hubbard’s travels and lectures abroad and the relocation
of international Scientology headquarters to London and then East Grinstead (England). By 1967, the locus of Scientology operations
shifted again when Hubbard created the Sea Organization (Sea Org), the church’s fraternal order and most senior management
body, originally based on ships in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. In 1975 Hubbard and the founding members of the Sea Org
returned to the United States, eventually settling in Clearwater, FL, now home to the second-largest concentration of Scientologists
in the world (after the Greater Los Angeles Area). Until his death in 1986, Hubbard continued to develop and systematize the
theology and practices of Scientology. After his passing, the administration and oversight of the church has carried on through
a number of ecclesiastical entities established in the early 1980s. The most prominent of these is the Religious Technology
Center (RTC), which holds the trademarks of Dianetics and Scientology and is responsible for the pure and orthodox application
of the religion. The head of RTC, and the ecclesiastical leader of Scientology, is David Miscavige (1960-), a second-generation
Scientologist who worked with Hubbard and has held numerous other senior positions within the Sea Org.
Source: Donald A. Westbrook, Ph.D.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The collection consists of materials accumulated by Westbrook while researching his dissertation on the history of Scientology
and includes books, lectures, periodicals, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents, and ephemera, as well as a copy of
Westbrook's CGU dissertation (2015).
Books include rare and first edition books as well as miscellaneous or rare secondary sources and are part of the Publications
series along with course packs and periodicals. Lectures and other CDs and DVDs comprise a large series of audio/visual materials.
Ephemeral materials come from Los Angeles, the Delphian School (Oregon), Saint Hill Manor (United Kingdom), Washington, D.C.,
the Flag Service Organization (Florida), the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, and the International Association of Scientologists.
Documents obtained from the CIA and FBI under the Freedom of Information Act and Westbrook’s dissertation are included in
the Research series.
Materials date as far back as 1950 when Hubbard authored a number of works, including
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. The bulk of the materials are authored by L. Ron Hubbard, the Founder of Dianetics and Scientology. Most of the copyrights
of these materials belong to the L. Ron Hubbard Library and are published by Bridge Publications, Inc. or Golden Era Productions.
Some of the materials, in particular the ephemera, include trademarks and service marks held by the Religious Technology Center.
Organization and Arrangement
The collection was arranged into subseries by Westbrook . The subseries were then grouped into one of four series based on
genre and format as follows:
- Series 1: Audio/visual materials
- Subseries 1.1: Lectures
- Subseries 1.2: Other CDs and DVDs
- Series 2: Ephemeral materials
- Subseries 2.1: Citizens Commission on Human Rights
- Subseries 2.2: Clearwater, Florida
- Subseries 2.3: Delphian School, Sheridan, Oregon
- Subseries 2.4: International Association of Scientologists
- Subseries 2.5: International Association of Scientologiests and Los Angeles, miscellaneous
- Subseries 2.6: Los Angeles
- Subseries 2.7: Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, England, United Kingdom
- Subseries 2.8: Washington, D.C.
- Series 3: Publications
- Subseries 3.1: Course packs
- Subseries 3.2: Miscellaneous/rare secondary sources
- Subseries 3.3: Periodicals
- Subseries 3.4: Rare and first edition books
- Series 4: Research
- Subseries 4.1: Donald A. Westbrook dissertation
- Subseries 4.2: Freedom of Information Act documents
Series, subseries, and titles are arranged in alphabetical order.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library’s online public access catalog.
Subject Terms
Church of Scientology (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Church of Scientology International
Hubbard, L. Ron (La Fayette Ron), 1911-1986
Miscavige, David
Dianetics
New religious movements
Scientology
Scientology Doctrines
Scientologists
Religion
Religion & modern culture
United States
Genre and Form of Materials
Audiotapes
Compact discs
DVD-Video discs
Ephemera
Periodicals
Publications