Originals of materials are in the possession of Dr. Brilliant.
Dr. Ashleigh Brilliant was born December 9, 1933 in London, England. He came to the US in 1956 and became a naturalized citizen in 1969. Dr. Brilliant received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1964 and arrived at Central Oregon College in September, 1964 as an Assistant Professor of History. In October of 1964, he formed the Parnassus Society, an informal group that met to share an appreciation of art, music and history. Due to controversy generated by the Parnassus Society and, in particular, the playing of a recording of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl,” Dr. Brilliant’s contract was not renewed at the end of the 1964-65 school year. From 1965-1967, he was a Professor of History at Chapman College, Floating Campus Division (later known as the Semester at Sea program). In 1967, Dr. Brilliant settled in San Francisco and started Brilliant Enterprises, the company through which he produces epigrammatic “Pot-Shots” postcards and related products, including the “Brilliant Thoughts” series of books.
The collection includes the papers of Dr. Ashleigh Brilliant relating to the circumstances of his departure in June, 1965 from Central Oregon Community College, then known as Central Oregon College (COC). The circumstances of Dr. Brilliant’s departure were controversial; local and national media covered the story and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) investigated. The papers include Dr. Brilliant’s narrative, Dr. Brilliant’s correspondence, meeting notes, ACLU records, contemporary media coverage and the text of a speech Dr. Brilliant delivered at COCC in April, 2002.
The collection is arranged in 5 folders, with two loose items.
The text of Dr. Brilliant's 2002 speech, entitled "Free Speech in Bend and Beyond" is available at his website.
Central Oregon Community College is the owner of the materials in the Barber Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. COCC does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. Written permission must be obtained from the copyright holder before any publication use.
Reproductions of the materials were provided by Dr. Ashleigh Brilliant in 2001.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.