The Kathy Kouzmanoff Papers primarily concern her leadership in the establishment, development, and operation of the Mind's Eye Institute, with a few papers pertaining to her husband's social and political activism. Although the papers are likely to be of greatest interest because of their representation of various “New Age” ideas, and the Mind's Eye Institute certainly exhibited some of these characteristics, Kouzmanoff more often described herself as a proponent of Jungian analysis. The Kouzmanoff Papers consist of MIND'S EYE INSTITUTE RECORDS and JOHN KOUZMANOFF PAPERS.
The MEI organizational records include articles of incorporation and by-laws, brief minutes of board of directors and staff meetings, publicity, newsletters, a photocopy of the MEI web page, and video recordings of several special programs. Despite the presence of board minutes which are generally considered as key historical documentation for any organization, these minutes are only moderately helpful in understanding the MEI philosophy because of their brevity. This is compensated for in part by the video cassettes which document complete proceedings of several Mind's Eye's gatherings.
Kouzmanoff's life and ideas apart from her role in MEI are difficult to distinguish in the collection. For example, the sound recordings of her in the collection and several videocassettes fail to clarify whether she was speaking for herself or as an officer of MEI. Of special interest among them are tape recordings of Kouzmanoff offering advice to a call-in radio audience, then a popular broadcast format. A few papers that also document Kouzmanoff's career apart from her association with MEI include published writings, a photocopied career scrapbook, and miscellaneous biographical information.
John Kouzmanoff, who was born on April 23, 1930, was a civil rights activist and like his wife, a real estate agent. He worked with her in the administration of MEI. His career is sparsely documented here. Included is a transcribed 1985 recollection of his participation in several civil rights marches in Chicago that were led by Martin Luther King, Jr. and political memorabilia. Most complete among the memorabilia are the materials about his support for the Presidential candidacy of Jesse Jackson in 1988. These include mass mailings and information on the delegate selection process in Wisconsin.
