Ari J. Kane Papers, 1976-2016 - University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center - University of Michigan Finding Aids (2024)

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Summary

Creator:

Kane-Demaios, J. Ari, 1936-

Abstract:

The Ari J. Kane Papers (1976-2016) document the activities of the sex and gender studies therapist, educator, and advocate Ari J. Kane, who founded Fantasia Fair and the Outreach Institute for Gender Studies (OIGS). The collection contains personal materials such as correspondence, research materials, educational presentations created by Kane, and other miscellaneous materials from Kane's involvement in the LGBT community. Included in the collection are organizational correspondence and records relating to the Outreach Institute of Gender Studies and the Educational Institute for Sex and Gender Diversity. Also included are event programs, planning information, workshop materials, member lists, and correspondence from events and programs such as Fantasia Fair, the Gender Attitude Reassessment Program, GAYLA, and various professional organizations' annual meetings. The collection contains photographs from Kane's participation in events, parties, and travels around the United States.

Extent:

14.5 Linear Feet
29 manuscript boxes

Authors:

Lauren Paljusaj

Background

Scope and Content:

This collection documents the activities of Ari J. Kane, who founded Fantasia Fair and the Outreach Institute for Gender Studies (OIGS), and was a sex and gender studies therapist and educator. The collection contains personal materials such as correspondence, research materials, educational presentations created by Kane, and other miscellaneous materials from Kane's involvement in the LGBT community.

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It also contains materials documenting the OIGS, such as organizational correspondence; financial records; board of directors meeting minutes; endeavors with organizational support such as the Gender Attitude Reassessment Program (GARP), Fantasia Fair, and the Journal of Gender Studies; publications created by and collected by the OIGS; and miscellaneous promotional materials and flyers. Gender Attitude Reassessment Program materials consist of drafts; research materials; workshop proposals, exercise handouts, and transparencies; correspondence; and a completed manuscript. Fantasia Fair materials consist of event programs, member lists, correspondence, planning notes, newsletters, and flyers. Journal of Gender Studies materials consist of issue proofs, submissions and content to be published, flyers, and mailing lists.

The Educational Institute for Sex and Gender Diversity (EISGD) is also documented in the collection. The EISGD is an offshoot of the Outreach Institute for Gender Studies that formed around 2001-2002. These materials contain organizational correspondence and records such as meeting minutes, expense reports, brochures, and flyers.

The Conferences and Events series contains materials relating to events that Kane was a part of, as well as conferences she presented at or attended. The GAYLA subseries consists of event programs, correspondence, photographs, newsletters, member lists, and planning notes. GAYLA is an annual summer event for gay men held at Ferry Beach, Maine. The American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) subseries contains conference event programs, presentation proposals and submissions, correspondence, workshop materials, research articles, and AASECT publications. Most of the materials in this subseries relate to Dave Prok, a longtime board member of OIGS and EISGD and professor at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. Prok served as a conference proposal abstract reviewer for AASECT. The Easton Mountain subseries contains brochures, event programs, notes, newsletters, and materials relating to Gay Spirit Camp and the Maturing Gay Man series of workshops. Easton Mountain is a retreat in upstate New York. Ari J. Kane and Dave Prok collaborated on a workshop for aging gay men called the Maturing Gay Man that they presented at Easton Mountain. The Various Conferences subseries contains event programs, invitations, correspondence, proposals, and presentations from many different events.

The Photographs series consists of photographic prints and photograph albums. The photograph albums depict Fantasia Fair and GAYLA events. The photographic prints depict various events such as Fantasia Fair; GAYLA; Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality and American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists conferences; parties and celebrations; and various travels around the United States. People depicted in the photographs include Ari J. Kane, Jane Peabody, Carole Mayfield aka Dick Arms, Bob Cowart, Winnie Brant, Ron Roy, and Candy Scott, among others. The photographs remain in original order.

The Audiovisual Material series consists of VHS tapes, cassette tapes, floppy disks, and compact discs containing media from Fantasia Fair 1994 and 1996, The Sissy Show, the Gender Attitude Reassessment Program.

Biographical / Historical:

Ariadne "Ari" J. Kane was born Joseph DeMaios on January 12, 1936. Kane graduated with a B.S. in biophysics from the City College of New York and received a Doctor of Education degree in Human Sexual Science in 1998 from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, California. Kane founded the Outreach Institute of Gender Studies (OIGS) in 1975, under the original name of the Human Outreach and Achievement Institute, with the mission "to advance the understanding of gender identity and role development with a special focus on alternative gender lifestyles." The Institute was renamed to OIGS in 1996.

Along with other members of the transgender and crossdressing community, Kane founded Fantasia Fair in 1975. Held annually in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Fantasia Fair is an event for people of diverse gender identities to connect with each other, attend educational seminars, and participate in social activities, awards banquets, and workshops. Fantasia Fair was organized by OIGS until 2000, when it was turned over to Real Life Experiences. Other programs of the OIGS include the Gender Awareness Information Network (GAIN) and the Gender Attitude Reassessment Program (GARP). The Institute also published the Journal of Gender Studies and facilitated educational workshops. It appears that OIGS was renamed again in the early 2000s, to the Educational Institute for Sex and Gender Diversity (EISGD).

Throughout her professional career, Kane has been an advocate for transgender invdividuals and the larger LGBT community. She started Theseus Counseling and Consulting Service in 1985 to offer counseling and health care resources specializing in gender and/or sex related services.In addition to her counseling work, Kane has facilitated workshops on sexuality and gender diversity and given lectures at various universities on the topic. She has been a regular participant, speaker, and facilitator at the annual meetings of various professional organizations, including the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists; the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality; and the International Foundation for Gender Education. Kane was also a participant at many GAYLA events, held annually in Ferry Beach, Maine.

Acquisition Information:

Gift of Ari J. Kane, 2020.

Processing information:

In March 2022, Lauren Paljusaj re-housed and arranged the materials and described the collection in ArchivesSpace.

Arrangement:

The records are arranged in six series, four of which have been further arranged in subseries. The contents of each series or subseries are arranged chronologically. The series and subseries arrangement of the records is as follows:

Series 1, J. Ari Kane Papers, 1976-2016 Subseries 1, Correspondence, 1980-2016 Subseries 2, Research materials, 1976-2009 Subseries 3, Presentations and workshops, 1990-2005 Subseries 4, Miscellaneous, 1976-2012

Series 2, Outreach Institute of Gender Studies (OIGS), 1977-2014 Subseries 1, Correspondence, 1991-2008 Subseries 2, Administrative records, 1978-2001 Subseries 3, Gender Attitude Reassessment Program (GARP), 1994-2006 Subseries 4, Fantasia Fair, 1977-2014 Subseries 5, Journal of Gender Studies, 1992-2001 Subseries 6, Miscellaneous, 1979-2008

Series 3, Educational Institute for Gender and Sex Diversity (EISGD), 2001-2016 Subseries 1, Correspondence, 2001-2015 Subseries 2, Organizational records, 2002-2016

Series 4, Conferences and Events, 1985-2014 Subseries 1, GAYLA, 1992-2003 Subseries 2, American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT), 1991-2001 Subseries 3, Easton Mountain, 2004-2010 Subseries 4, Various conferences, 1985-2014

Series 5, Photographs, 1977-2003

Series 6, Audiovisual Material, 1994-2004

Rules or Conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

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