Bob Kouns and Dee Dee Kouns papers

Collection

Identifier: Coll823

Staff Only

Content Description

The collection consists of the papers of Bob Kouns and Dee Dee Kouns, primarily relating to their involvement in the anti-crime movement from the 1980s to the 2000s. In addition to administrative records of Crime Victims United, the organization founded by the Kounses, the collection includes materials relating to other organizations that the Kounses belonged to or that were concerned with the criminal justice system. Also included are government records concerning criminal justice and criminal justice legislation, and papers and clippings about crime and criminal justice that Bob Kouns and Dee Dee Kouns produced or collected. The collection also contains personal papers, including Dee Dee Kouns' handwritten notes, which illustrate her personal views on criminal justice and other social issues.

Dates

1973-2017
Majority of material found within 1982-2007

Creator

Kouns, Bob (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases, permission for use may require additional authorization from copyright owners.

Biographical Note

Doris Doreen Dunn McDonald Kouns, known as Dee Dee, was born in 1928 in Corvallis, Oregon. In 1947, she married Navy veteran Karen Roy "Mac" MacDonald. The couple had three children: Michael McDonald, Patrick McDonald, and Valerie McDonald. Karen Roy McDonald died in a swimming accident in 1954. Subsequently, Dee Dee Kouns remarried, to Robert "Bob" Kouns; they had a son, Kevin Kouns. In 1969, the family moved to Portland, Oregon, where Bob Kouns and Dee Dee Kouns lived until 1999.

In 1980, Dee Dee Kouns' daughter Valerie McDonald went missing in San Francisco, California. Following a two-year investigation, police determined she had been murdered. Bob Kouns and Dee Dee Kouns' frustration with how the investigation was handled spurred them to become active in the anti-crime movement. They founded the group Crime Victims United, which lobbied for stricter sentencing laws and victims rights legislation. Bob Kouns and Dee Dee Kouns officially retired from the group in 1997, but remained active as advisors to the organization. Bob Kouns died in 2004; Dee Dee Kouns died in 2017.

Administrative History

Crime Victims United was founded by Bob Kouns and Dee Dee Kouns in 1983 in Portland, Oregon. The organization lobbied for legislation relating to criminal justice, including stricter sentencing laws and initiatives to add a victims rights clause to the Oregon state constitution. One of the more significant laws sponsored by the organization was Measure 11, which passed in the 1994 election, and which imposed mandatory minimum sentences without the possibility of parole for a number of criminal offenses, applicable even to first-time offenders.

Extent

18.45 Cubic Feet (15 record cartons; 2 legal document cases; 1 flat box (11x14))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers of Bob Kouns and Dee Dee Kouns, primarily relating to their organization Crime Victims United and their activism in the anti-crime movement. Bob Kouns and Dee Dee Kouns were Portland, Oregon, residents who, following the murder of their daughter, became active in lobbying for crime victims' rights and mandatory sentencing laws during the 1980s and 1990s.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged in seven series: Series 1. Crime Victims United records; Series 2. Papers on and by other organizations; Series 3. Records by government agencies and offices; Series 4. Legislation and political campaign papers; Series 5. Conference and meeting papers; Series 6. Papers on criminal justice issues; Series 7. Personal papers.