On Saturday, a longtime reader of the Underground Bunker who lives in Chicago volunteered for what we hoped might be an exciting assignment.
A flier posted by Mike Rinder at his blog called on “all Scientologists” in the area to come to the Union League Club’s Crystal Ballroom for a “special announcement about the Chicago Ideal Org.” Mike wondered if this might be an announcement opening up the Ideal Org on Clark St, and we agreed that he had good reason to think so.
At the New Year’s event, Scientology leader David Miscavige announced that he would open four new Ideal Orgs in the first quarter of 2023, and that window was rapidly going by. The Chicago facility has been ready the longest — it was ready to go even before the pandemic put a temporary stop to any grand openings.
Our reader volunteered to stand outside the Union League Club on Saturday afternoon and photograph people going inside, so we might get an idea of the size of the crowd.
But after standing around for a couple of hours, and well after the event had been scheduled to start, he had only seen maybe half a dozen people go into the place. (The photo above gives you a pretty good idea of what he witnessed.) And we couldn’t even be sure which of those few people were there for the Scientology event or some other reason for going to the club.
He also went by the Ideal Org building itself, which showed no change in its appearance, which has been pretty constant for several years.
UPDATE: Our thanks to reader Chukicita who found Facebook images showing that the gathering at the Union League Club was held and appeared to be only a handful of people who were once again pressured to raise money for an Ideal Org coming “reeeeal soon!”
Meanwhile, the Ideal Org still isn’t open, and now Miscavige has less than seven weeks to meet his goal of opening up four new orgs. [End of update.]
But we wanted to thank our man in Chicago for at least stepping out to give us a sense of the scene Saturday, and to tell you a little more about him.
For years, he’s specialized in hunting down obscure newspaper articles about Scientology from decades past. He’s really good at it, and we thought we’d share a couple of his recent finds, because they are directly related to Scientology’s presence in the Windy City.
The first is from 1950, when Dianetics was new. It’s a fairly gushing story in the Chicago Sun-Times talking about L. Ron Hubbard and his new invention that we hadn’t seen before. The first third of it is the usual folderol about Hubbard, a “mathematician and philosopher” who had come up with a new science of the mind. But then things get more interesting when it describes the situation in Chicago…
Chicago Sun-Times, Sunday, Oct 22, 1950
Science or Quackery? Dianetic Disciples Claim Cures
By Robert S. Kleckner
Is it science — or quackery?
Thousands of persons in Chicago — and other thousands over the world — insist it's science. Millions are dubious. Recognized scientists in medicine and psychiatry are positive. To the latter it's quackery.
Dianetics is what we are talking about.
The subject — dianetics — was formulated by a "shoemaker who didn't stick to his last" and came up with a new theory which he and his adherents claim can cure all the psychosomatic ailments which afflict man.
And they are plenty. They are the diseases and maladies which have their basis in emotional disturbances, and run quite a distance over the medical horizon.
But more about that later.
The author of "Dianetics — the Modern Science of Mental Health" — is L. Ron Hubbard, mathematician and philosopher.
Hubbard is about 40; a burly, good-looking red-headed, six-footer who did some of his scientific expounding in the shocker type of "science" publications. As to his background, his own publications merely say:
"L. Ron Hubbard was born March 13, 1911, in Tilden, Neb. He has traveled widely over the world, particularly in Asia. Educated at George Washington University as a mathematician, he began his studies of philosophy in 1934 and completed dianetics in 1947. He is a member of the Explorer's Club and the Gerontological Society." (The latter studies the problems of old age.)
But the first sentence to the synopsis of his book shouts:
"The creation of dianetics is a milestone for Man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his inventions of the wheel and arch." Adds the synopsis:
"The hidden source of all psychosomatic ills and human aberration has been discovered and skills have been developed for their invariable cure."
That "invariable cure," in the opinion of Hubbard and his followers, is dianetics, stemming from the Greek word thought, or science of the mind.
The whole theory of dianetics is based on the assumption that you — and every cell of you — is composed of protoplasm, with which no scientist will argue. Protoplasm is the basis of living matter.
But dianetics insists that there is a kind of memory impressed on the cells, which we do not perceive which is "filed away" from the time of conception, through the prenatal period and on to your present being.
A lot of these memories are pain, etc. Because of these "unperceived" memories, the body and the mind get themselves into a lot of jams; hence, psychosomatic illness and emotional upsets.
If these memories can be erased, his theory goes, through reliving them in sort of a "conscious trance," then the things the long-time impressions are causing, also will be erased.
Psychiatrists — all medical men — recognize that memories of many things may have a bearing upon well-being. But they try to eliminate those memories through conscious effort.
Dianetics depends upon an "auditor" — one who listens and helps interpret — to bring those memories to the present, have the patient relive them, and thus erase them.
Through this system, it is claimed, such ailments as migraine headaches, some forms of heart trouble, arthritis, high blood pressure, hay fever, asthma, peptic ulcer and certain other maladies not only may be controlled, but cured.
The dianetics group now is nationwide.
At a walkup on the third floor at 111 E. Oak there is a sign on the door: “Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation.”
There under Leo West, a soft-spoken, graying former school teacher with no medical training, Chicagoans gather to become trained in “auditing.” That means they learn to diagnose themselves and others.
Of course, there is a “certificate” that may be had to show they are bona fide auditors. That takes up to 15 basic sessions at a cost of $250. But really to become a graduate, one still must go to the foundation headquarters either in Elizabeth, N.J., or Los Angeles for another course which runs up to six weeks at a cost of another $500.
West said: “Sure, there are some people in Chicago now doing auditing. We don’t demand they take courses. Anyone who reads and understands the book and has a psychological understanding can operate as I see it.”
Some Chicago newspapers now are taking advertising from persons who “audit” patients. The charges they make are neither suggested nor supervised by the foundation, according to West.
West, also a onetime copydesk man on a Detroit newspaper, got interested in the subject when he went to St. Joseph, Mich., “to write a novel.” There he met Dr. J.A. Winter, medical graduate of Marquette University, who had become interested in the Hubbard theory. Winter is now at the Elizabeth (N.J.) headquarters. He is one of the few medical men associated with the group.
“He sort of used my family for experiments — and they worked,” said West. “I got interested, saw what dianetics did and here I am.” His wife, he said, had had eye trouble and couldn’t do her sewing any more. Now she can sit through a movie with no bad eye trouble.
The novel, West confided, still hasn’t been sold, and meanwhile he’s introducing Chicagoans to dianetics.
Come Nov. 3, the first class will be “graduated” at the Oak St. address. Some 26 have taken the course. Whether they go on in advanced work remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, says West, between 1,000 and 1,500 Chicagoans have become interested in the effectiveness of dianetics. They all have written headquarters for more information.
He is a little more cagey than Dr. Winter, interviewed on Aug. 15 by The SUN-TIMES. Dr. Winter claimed many cures had been made on ill people, including one woman who had lost the sight of one eye. The woman now can see light in the eye, he asserted, and before long, he felt, she would have effective vision.
West contented himself with saying he had seen improvement, not only in his wife and family, but among some people who even had lost the sense of tasting food. As an afterthought, he added:
“Some musicians who couldn’t hear music so well also are greatly improved.”
Dr. Morris Fishbein, SUN-TIMES family physician, in a recent editorial in the scientific publication, Postgraduate Medicine, said: “The United States is overwhelmed with mind-reading cults. A new one like ‘dianetics’ simply adds to the fun and the fury. It’s good stuff for resort conversation.”
Heh. That’s a good one. “Mind-reading cults.” And that assessment was made in 1950.
Our Chicago friend had another gem from the archives, another one we’d never seen before and that we thought you’d enjoy. Stick with it for the twist.
Chicago Daily Tribune, Apr 5, 1957
Couple Admit Cremating Son in Fear of Law
A married couple arrested Thursday for shoplifting items valued at less than $7 admitted to Chicago police yesterday that they bilked air lines out of thousands of dollars in the last five months, and cremated their ailing newborn son in an incinerator after he died without receiving medical attention.
The couple, Stanley Gottlieb, 30, or New York City, and his wife, Therese, 24, were questioned by Sgt. Frank Hanley and Detective James Scully of the confidence detail after they were arrested for stealing a shirt and a pair of scissors from a Loop department store. Police found several air line tickets in Gottlieb’s pockets, which led to the couple’s admission under questioning.
Mrs. Gottlieb said that a baby boy was born to her last November in New York City.
“In February, the baby got sick but we were afraid we would be arrested if we called a doctor,” Mrs. Gottlieb said. “The baby died. We were afraid to bury the baby so we put it in an apartment building incinerator.”
Sgt. Hanley placed charges of shoplifting and larceny against them. The larceny involves theft of $90 and a wallet last month from Triangle fraternity of Illinois Institute of Technology, 3222 Michigan Ave. Hanley said federal authorities intend to question the couple today.
The Gottliebs’ daughter Joy Linn, 2, was placed in St. Vincent’s orphanage.
Mrs. Gottlieb, originally from Appleton, Wis., said she met Stanley four years ago in Milwaukee, where she was studying art. Gottlieb at the time was teaching a subject called “Scientology” to small groups of students.
The Gottliebs went to Dallas, Tex., where they were married, and began traveling about the country, with Gottlieb selling encyclopedias. Mrs. Gottlieb said her husband, who had studied drama and psychology at Denver University, decided to start burglarizing fraternity houses.
She said he stole cash, which they lived on, and student identification papers, which he used to write phony checks to purchase air line tickets.
The couple traveled with their daughter throughout the country by plane. They seldom stayed in any city more than three weeks.
Asked why the couple traveled all over the country, Mrs. Gottlieb said they wanted to “straighten out our problems.”
Asked what her problems were, she said: “Marriage. Scientology.”
Thank you for reading today’s story here at Substack. For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:
Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history
Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea
Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time
Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology
Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain
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While anecdotal evidence is not all there is to it, I think we can safely say that for the last couple, $cientology was indeed part of the problem, not the solution - no matter what is claimed in the book.
Never heard anyone describe Hubbard as a “burly, good-looking red-headed, six-footer” before 😂 Glad the article ends with doubt of it being a cult, but man, I wouldn’t be surprised if that journalist ended up taking some courses