Series XVI: Kunkin Publications, 1973-1974, 1998

The Arthur Kunkin / Los Angeles Free Press Collection (1919-2020) contains 551 boxes and approximately 330 Linear feet of material that document Arthur (Art) Glick Kunkin’s career as an editor, journalist, socialist organizer, alchemist, and esotericist from his childhood in Bronx, New York to his passing in Joshua Tree, California in 2019. Though this collection covers the entirety of Art Kunkin’s professional, political and spiritual life, the surviving Los Angeles Free Press records documents the administration and the business operations of the newspaper from 1964-1973 and beyond. This includes correspondence with authors, letters to the editors, printing operation records, legal correspondence, case records, article manuscripts, and photographs as well other areas of interest to Kunkin and the Free Press. This collection includes 103 boxes of records from the Los Angeles Free Press. The collection consists of 17 Series and 49 Sub-Series.

Series I: Los Angeles Free Press Records (1964-2008) includes material related to the publishing and operations of the Los Angeles Free Press under Art Kunkin's ownership from 1964 to 1973 Material. This series is separated into nine sub-series. The material in this series includes financial records, business meeting minutes and notes, business notes, business correspondence along with internal correspondence and memos, letters to editors, advertisement records, telephone messages, manuscripts (14 boxes), notebooks of various authors, and legal documents including case summaries and correspondence. Beyond the Los Angeles Free Press records, this series also contains business records from other businesses (Free Press/Kazoo Bookstore, Contact Books, Alfred’s Mimeograph Company, Alfred’s Newspaper Printing Co., and Continuum Graphics) that Kunkin operated alongside the Free Press.

Series II: Los Angeles Free Press issues (1964-2020) contains volumes of the Los Angeles Free Press from its initial publishing run from 1964-1978. This series contains the majority of the issues from 1964 to 1973 when Kunkin served as publisher and owner. The series contains sporadic issues of the Free Press from 1974 to 1978 when the Los Angeles Free Press changed ownership multiple times. This series also contains the revitalized Los Angeles Free Press that Art Kunkin began republishing in 1999 to 2006 off and on. This series also contains a 2020 issue of the Los Angeles Free Press published after Art Kunkin's death in 2019 that was provided to the archives when the collection was acquired.

Series III: Personal Papers (1943-2019) contains personal papers and items pertaining to the life of Art Kunkin. Personal papers include material related to Kunkin's education, military service, businesses, and family, including his first wife Abby Rubinstein (Addis), his second wife (Valerie Porter Stancin), and his third wife (Elaine Wallace) as well as his daughters Anna and April. This series is arranged into three sub-series. Sub-Series A contains daily planners and the calendars of Art Kunkin along with notes from his work over the years ranging from socialist organizing and journalism to esoteric class notes. Sub-Series B contains general personal papers of Art Kunkin. Sub-Series C contains the financial records of Art Kunkin including bank statements and tax records. Sub-Series D contains biographical material on Art Kunkin. This includes articles written about Art Kunkin as well as some articles and biographies Kunkin wrote himself.

Series IV: Socialist Papers (1933-1964) contains material related to Art Kunkin's time as a Socialist organizer and editor within the Socialist Workers Party, The Johnson-Forest Tendency, and the Los Angeles Socialist Party This material includes: article manuscripts, book manuscripts, notebooks and research notes, newspaper clippings, correspondence and circulars among members of the Johnson-Forest Tendency as well as the Socialist Workers Party and Socialist Party – Social Democratic Federation.

Series V: Editorial / Publishing Files (1956-2006) contains material related to Kunkin's editorial, journalist, and publishing work beyond his work with the Los Angeles Free Press along side his teaching and other business endeavors. This series includes the manuscripts of Art Kunkin over the course of his life including the manuscripts and notes for an unpublished book on the history of the Los Angeles Free Press. This series also contains the business files of Kunkin's other editorial work including the short-lived LA Weekly News and Hollywood Daily News as well as his editorial work for Elysium Field's periodical Journal of the Senses and his work for the street newspaper The Big Issue. Series IV: Also contains the files from Kunkin's mimeography business before the Free Press, his teaching career at California State University Northridge, and his other smaller business endeavors that he did throughout his life.

Series VII: New Age Papers (1974-2019) contains material related to Kunkin's businesses related to his in spiritualism, esotericism, alchemy, and other New Age practices he studied and practiced in his life. This includes the business files of The Temple of Esoteric Science, a meditation group that Kunkin co-led with Andrew Da Passano, as well as the files of Kunkin's meditation classes and alchemical classes that he taught from the 1980s to the 2000s. This series also contains Kunkin's files from Paracelsus College where he studied alchemy in Salt Lake City and the records of his short-lived newsletter, Life Extension Newsletter. This series also contains Kunkin's files from his time serving as president of the Philosophical Research Society and the files of his work at the Institute of Mentalphysics, where he lived until he passed away in 2019. This series contains memo, business correspondence, manuscripts, drafts, flyers, mailers, marketing material, notes, and financial records.

Series VII: Personal Correspondence (1946-2010) contains the personal correspondence of Art Kunkin. Material in this series contains letters to and from Art Kunkin. Correspondents include family, friends, business colleagues and notable people throughout Kunkin's life. This series is arranged into three sub-series. Sub-Series A contains family correspondence, Sub-Series B contains correspondence with friends and notable people, and Sub-Series C contains general correspondence and letters.

Series VIII: Photographs (1928-2010) contains photographic prints, negatives, and slides. This series has been arranged into two sub-series. Sub-Series A contains the photographic material of the Los Angeles Free Press. Subject matter of these photographs includes demonstrations, concerts, political life, the Vietnam War, student demonstrations, and other material covered by the Free Press. This sub-series also contains promo photographs submitted to the Free Press and negatives of the newspaper. Sub-Series B contains Art Kunkin's personal photographs. Photographs range from Kunkin's early life to his final years in Joshua Tree.

Series IX: Audiovisual, Multimedia, and Hardware (1953-2007)organized by media type: Audio Tape Reel, 8mm Film Reel, Audiocassettes, VHS, U-Matic KC30, Sony Video Reel, Records, and Floppy Discs. The open reel audio tapes consist of recordings related to the Chicago Seven Conspiracy Trial, featuring detailed audio of trial proceedings and testimonies from key defendants including Bobby Seale, Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Tom Hayden, and defense attorneys such as William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass. The collection also contains a significant number of reels documenting the Russell Tribunal, an international people's tribunal on war crimes during the Vietnam War. Additionally, there are recorded interviews from figures such as Mark Lane, Timothy Leary, and Elridge Cleaver. The 8mm film reels contains footage of Alfred's Newspaper Printing and the operations of the Los Angeles Free Press, footage of Art Kunkin speaking at an event, and personal family films of Kunkin’s immediate family. The audio cassettes primarily consist of recordings relating to esoteric science, alchemy, spirituality, and New Age teachings. A large portion of the tapes consist of recordings from the Temple of Esoteric Knowledge (aka the Temple of Esoteric Science and/or the Way of the Magus) regarding stop aging, astral project, meditation, kundalini, and herbology. Other notable recordings include interviews of Thane of Prosperos, interviews of Mae Brussel, and lectures led by Andrew de Passano. Topics other than New Age material covered are Underground Press History, FBI, Organized Crime and Conspiracies. The VHS and U-Matic KC30 tapes primarily feature teachings by Art Kunkin, focusing on life extension, personal empowerment, alchemy, and ancient wisdom.

Series X: Subject File series (1877-2009) contains a wide range of topics that reflected Art Kunkin's interests, careers, and business ventures over his lifetime. The series includes esoteric and spiritual topics, such as alchemy, Tibetan Buddhism, astrology, and occultism. It also includes content related to self-improvement and self-realization, as well as organizations like the Erhard Seminars Training (EST) and the Philosophical Research Society. In addition, there are materials on communes, environmental and health issues, conspiracy theories, the Underground Press Syndicate, journalism, printing, and typography. The series includes material regarding several significant social movements, including the Civil Rights Movement, the New Age Movement, the Anti-War Movement, the Farmworkers' Movement, the Chicano Movement, and the Women's Rights Movement. The series also addresses religious, spiritual, and theological organizations and ideas such as Scientology, the Prosperos, Gnosticism, Hinduism, Mentalphysics, and Rosicrucianism. The series also contains materials on various political parties and ideologies, such as the Youth International Party (Yippies), the Black Panther Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, and the Green Party. Additionally, the series includes materials on notable figures such as Timothy Leary, Larry Flynt, Manly P. Hall, Mary Bauer Hall, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy. The materials within this series encompass a variety of formats, including memoranda, letters, news clippings, photographs, flyers, brochures, interview transcripts, pamphlets, newsletters, scrapbooks, magazines, books, booklets, and small press chapbooks, among other items.

Series XI: Underground/Alternative Publications (1948-2015) contains underground and alternative periodicals. The majority of the publications in this series are from the 1960s and 1970s but also contains publications from the 1940s to the 2010s. This series contains periodicals from the Underground Press Syndicate, countercultural periodicals, student periodicals, conservative and white supremacist periodicals, subculture periodicals, community periodicals, and alternative periodicals. This series has been arranged chronologically.

Series XII: Spiritual and Esoterica (New Age) Periodicals (1901-2007) contains periodicals that focused on spiritualism, esotericism, occultism, Eastern religions, or other topics that have been historically viewed as "New Age" within the context of 21st century United States. This series was originally named New Age Periodicals and arranged accordingly but was renamed due to the limited nature of labeling interests and beliefs as New Age. Subject matter of these periodicals include alternative health and medicine, alchemy, philosophy, religion, occultism, spiritualism, and alternative lifestyles such as nudism. This series contains periodicals that Kunkin served as editor. This includes Essentia, Whole Life Times. Life Extension, and Journal of the Senses.

Series XII: Socialist/Leftist Publications (1900-2007) contains periodicals and booklets published by Socialist, Communist, and other Leftist organizations. This series is arranged into two sub-series. Sub-Series A contains periodicals and Sub-Series B contains booklets and small press. Sub-Series A contains periodicals Kunkin served as editor on. This includes Correspondence and News and Letters, periodicals from the Johnson-Forest Tendency that Kunkin was an active member of.

Series XIV: Socialist Bulletins (1930-1973) series contains bulletins from various socialist and communist parties and tendencies. Some of these bulletins contain marginalia written by Kunkin. This series is arranged into sub-series by political parties.

Series XV: Street newspapers (1994-1999) contains periodicals produced for/by and sold by unhoused people. The periodicals in this series come from Art Kunkin's time while serving as a consulting editor of The Big Issue and when the revitalized Los Angeles Free Press was briefly housed at Dome Village in Los Angeles, California. This series only contains a brief volume range of the included street newspaper, many from the North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA).

Series XVI: Kunkin Publications (1973-1974, 1998) contains smaller periodicals that Kunkin served as editor that do not fit into underground/alternative periodicals, socialist periodicals, or spiritual periodicals.