The Constance Cumbey collection consists of her publications, research files and other material related to her investigations of alleged connections between New Age cults and the New World Order and various politicians, organizations and institutions. There are also files documenting her interest in Christian fundamentalism and prominent evangelists and their ties to cults. The collection has been divided into three series: Topical Files (three subseries), Personal Files, and Other Media.
Constance Elizabeth Cumbey, nee Butler, was born 29 February 1944 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Cumbey was raised as a Seventh Day Adventist and as an adult converted to the Baptist faith. She completed her pre-law studies at Michigan State University and Wayne State University. In 1975 she received her juris doctor degree from Detroit College of Law. Constance Cumbey's professional activities include working as a legislative analyst for William A. Ryan, speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, from 1969 to 1970, being employed as a consultant to the Governmental Efficiency Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee for the Michigan State Senate, serving as corresponding secretary and treasurer of the National Association of Women Lawyers, and acting as chairperson of the Family Law Committee of the General Practice Section of the American Bar Association. She has continuously served by appointment on the Public Advisory Committee of the State Bar of Michigan since 1978. Cumbey has been active in the litigation, criminal, family law, and general practice sections of the American Bar Association. In 2003 she was appointed to serve a three year term to plan future State Bar meetings by the State Bar of Michigan. From 1992 to 2004 Constance Cumbey hosted Law Talk, a call-in radio program on a Christian radio station.
Between the years 1981 and 1988 Constance Cumbey ceased her law practice and dedicated her life to investigating the New Age Movement. Cumbey's The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, published in 1983, was a best-selling Christian book and was one of the first works to criticize the movement from a fundamentalist Christian perspective. A sequel, A Planned Deception: The Staging of a New Age Messiah, was published in 1985. She also circulated a newsletter titled Constance Cumbey's New Age Monitor.
