Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton 1915-1996 (bulk 1962-1996) MS.1989.021 http://hdl.handle.net/2345/1131
Archives and Manuscripts Department John J. Burns Library Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill 02467 library.bc.edu/burns/contact URL: http://www.bc.edu/burns Table of Contents
Summary Information ...... 3 Administrative Information ...... 4 Related Materials ...... 4 Biographical Note: Jim Forest ...... 5 Biographical Note: Thomas Merton ...... 5 Scope and Contents ...... 6 Arrangement ...... 6 Collection Inventory ...... 7 II: Jim Forest papers ...... 7 I: Thomas Merton papers ...... 8
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
- Page 2 - Summary Information
Creator: Merton, Thomas, 1915-1968 Creator: Forest, Jim (James H.) Title: Jim Forest papers regarding Thomas Merton Collection Identifier: MS.1989.021 Date [inclusive]: 1915-1996, undated Date [bulk]: 1962-1996 Physical Description 3 Linear Feet (6 containers) Language of the English, German Material: Abstract: These papers document the friendship and scholarly relationship between twentieth-century Catholic authors Jim Forest and Thomas Merton. The papers contain Merton's correspondence, manuscripts, and photographs. Forest's papers include his own manuscripts, most on Merton or their mutual friend Dorothy Day, correspondence with others regarding Merton, newspaper clippings, articles, and a recording of a lecture he gave on Merton. Preferred Citation
Identification of item, Box number, Folder number, Jim Forest papers regarding Thomas Merton, MS.1989.021, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
- Page 3 - Administrative Information
Publication Information Processed by Ian Mulvany, 2001; revised by Edward Copenhagen, 2001; AnneMarie Anderson, 2010; and Ray Hartley in 2018. This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace.
Restrictions on access Collection is open for research.
Provenance Purchased from George Robert Minkoff in 1989 and transferred from University Archives in 2000.
Restrictions on use These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.
Related Materials
Related Materials Thomas Merton collection, MS.1986.063, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
M. Basil Pennington papers, MS.1996.019, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
H.A. Reinhold papers, MS.2003.060, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
- Page 4 - Biographical Note: Jim Forest
James H. "Jim" Forest was born in 1941 and is known as an author, peace activist, and friend of Thomas Merton. After leaving the Navy in 1961 as a conscientious objector, Forest became involved with Dorothy Day's Catholic Worker community, working as managing editor of the Catholic Worker newspaper. It was also during this time that he became acquainted with Thomas Merton. Dorothy Day encouraged Forest to write to Merton, and the correspondence blossomed into friendship. Merton dedicated his book Faith and Violence (1968) to Forest.
In the early to mid-1960s Forest was involved in the Catholic Peace Fellowship. From 1969-1970 he served a short prison sentence as a consequence of his involvement in the "Milwaukee Fourteen," a group of Catholic priests and lay people who burned draft cards. Later he worked for the Fellowship of Reconciliation, eventually serving as General Secretary for the International Fellowship of Reconciliation. Forest currently acts as secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship.
Forest's work includes Living with Wisdom: A Biography of Thomas Merton; Love is the Measure: A Biography of Dorothy Day; Praying with Icons; and The Ladder of the Beatitudes.
Sources:
Brussat, Frederic; Brussat, Mary Ann. "Review of Living with Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton by Jim Forest". Spirituality & Practice.
Forest, Jim. "Autobiography." In Communion. http://www.incommunion.org/jfbio.htm. (Active 12/10/01)
Forest, Jim. Living with Wisdom: A Biography of Thomas Merton. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1991.
Mott, Michael. The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984.
Biographical Note: Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton was born in 1915 in Prades, France to Owen Merton (an artist from New Zealand) and Ruth Jenkins Merton (an American artist). Merton studied both in Europe and America, and he graduated with an M.A. in journalism from Columbia University in 1939.
In 1938, Merton converted to Catholicism. He entered Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky in 1941 after teaching for two years at St. Bonaventure College in New York. Merton also became a prominent author of both poetry and prose, gaining international renown for his 1948 autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain. While maintaining his strict devotional life, he prolifically wrote books and articles on a wide variety of subjects ranging from literary criticism to Zen Buddhism.
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
- Page 5 - A significant voice for the renewal of the contemplative life in Catholic spirituality, Merton died suddenly on December 10, 1968 while attending the first Pan-Asian Monastic Conference.
Source:
Shenker, Israel. "Thomas Merton is dead at 53; monk wrote of search for God." The New York Times, December 11, 1968.
Scope and Contents
The Thomas Merton papers include manuscripts, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and photographs, many of which he supplied to Forest as sources for his biographies.The majority of the manuscript material consists of typescripts of prose works written by Merton between 1963 and 1968; however, there are also some carbons, mimeographs, and one hand-written German-language translation of "Target Equals City." Some manuscripts feature editorial comments by Merton and Forest. Subjects addressed include philosophy (Western and Eastern), Catholic theology and practice (primarily monasticism, prayer, and social awareness), contemporary social and political issues, and literature. The correspondence includes typed letters to Jim Forest as well as photocopied correspondence to and from Dorothy Day, Pope Paul VI, Tom Cornell, John Heidbrink, Shonzo Hamai (Mayor of Hiroshima), and A. J. Muste. The photographs include images of Merton's childhood, his family and acquaintances (including Forest and the Dalai Lama), monastic life, and Gethsemani Abbey. Many of the photographs were used in Forest's Living With Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton and Thomas Merton: A Pictorial Biography.
The materials in the Jim Forest papers contain manuscript material, correspondence, newspaper and article clippings, and a videocassette recording of a 1995 lecture on Thomas Merton given at Boston College. The manuscript material consists almost exclusively of typescripts on the life and teachings of Thomas Merton. There are also two reviews of books on Dorothy Day and one photocopied mock-up of Forest's Thomas Merton: A Brief Biography. The correspondence includes letters with Forest's publisher (the Paulist Press), Brother Patrick Hart (secretary to Thomas Merton), Naomi Burton Stone (Merton's agent), Edward Rice, Michael Mott, James Laughlin, Henri Nouwen, J. F. Brouwer, W. H. "Ping" Ferry, Anne H. McCormick, Bob Giroux, Father John Eudes Bamberger, Robert Lax, John Howard Griffith, and Gerry Twomey. The remainder of the collection consists of newspaper articles and clippings by or about Jim Forest.
Arrangement
Arranged into two series: I. Jim Forest papers and II. Thomas Merton papers.
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
- Page 6 - Collection Inventory
Series II: Jim Forest papers, 1968-1996, undated
Subseries A: Correspondence, 1968-1988 Arrangement
Alphabetical.
General, 1968-1988 box 5 folder 9-10
"The Mustard Seed" newsletter by Naomi Burton Stone, 1978 box 5 folder 11 August-1979 January
Regarding Merton: A Film Biography, 1984 January-July box 6 folder 5
Regarding Thomas Merton, 1979 box 5 folder 14-16
Regarding works on Merton by Forest and other authors, box 6 folder 7 1982-1984
To Robert Grip regarding FBI file about the Catholic Peace box 6 folder 6 Fellowship, 1985 September 23
With Brother Patrick Hart, 1970-1979 box 5 folder 12-13
With the Paulist Press, 1976-1988 box 5 folder 17-18 box 6 folder 1-3
With the Paulist Press regarding image rights for Merton book, box 6 folder 4 1979 October-1980 February
Subseries B: Boston College lectures, 1995-1996
"Thomas Merton, His Faith and His Time," Lowell Humanities box 6 folder 9 Series, typescript and video recording, 1995 November 13 Physical Description box 5 folder 6 1 videocassette (VHS). Conditions Governing Access
The video recording is not available for playback due to format impermanence and has not yet been reformatted.
"Thomas Merton's Advice for Peacemakers" typscript, 1996 box 5 folder 7 November
Subseries C: Manuscripts, 1973-before 1989
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
- Page 7 - Arrangement
Alphabetical.
Book reviews of Dorothy Day and the Permanent Revolution, box 5 folder 1 by Eileen Egan; A Harsh and Dreadful Love: Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker by William D. Miller, 1984
"Some Thoughts About Dorothy Day" revised typescript, 1973 box 5 folder 2 February
"Thomas Merton: A Brief Biography," two typescripts, between box 5 folder 4-5 1979-1988
"Thomas Merton: Bridging Prayer and Activism" article for box 5 folder 3 Reconciliation Quarterly, typescript, between 1980-1988
"Thomas Merton's Struggle with Peacemaking," revised box 5 folder 8 typescript, probably 1983
Subseries D: Newspaper clippings and box 6 folder 8 articles by and about Forest, 1969-1981
Series I: Thomas Merton papers, 1915-1984, undated
Subseries A: Correspondence, 1960-1968
General, 1960-1968 box 3 folder 22-23
To Jim Forest, 1962-1968 box 3 folder 21
Subseries B: Manuscripts, 1939-1968, undated Arrangement
Alphabetical.
"The Advent Mystery," Novitiate, 1963 box 1 folder 1
"Aids to Mental Prayer", undated box 1 folder 2
"The Answer of Minerva: Pacifism and Resistance in Simone box 1 folder 3 Weil", before 1965 March
"Answers on Art and Freedom", undated box 1 folder 4
"Anthology of Irish Poetry", 1963 September box 1 folder 5
"Apologies to an Unbeliever", 1966 April box 1 folder 6
"Atlas Watches Everything", 1963 July box 1 folder 7
"Atomkrieg und Christliche Verantwortung", undated box 1 folder 8
"Baptism in the Forest: Wisdom and Initiation in William box 1 folder 9 Faulkner", 1967 January
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
- Page 8 - "Black Revolution: Letter to a White Liberal", 1963 July box 1 folder 10
"Blessed Are the Meek", 1966 January box 1 folder 11
"Camus and the Catholic Church", 1966 August box 1 folder 12
"Christian Action in World Crisis", undated box 1 folder 13
"Christian Ethics and Nuclear War", undated box 1 folder 14
"Christian Worship and Social Reform", undated box 1 folder 15
"Christianity and Defense in the Nuclear Age", approximately box 1 folder 16 1963
"Christianity and Mass Movements", undated box 1 folder 17
"Christianity and Totalitarianism", undated box 1 folder 18
"Classic Chinese Thought", undated box 1 folder 19
"The Church and the Godless World", 1965 December-1966 box 1 folder 20 January
"The Climate of Monastic Prayer," Novitiate, 1964 box 1 folder 21
"Climate of Monastic Prayer, Revised Edition", 1965 October box 1 folder 22
"Cold War Letters", approximately 1964 box 3 folder 20
"Conference on Prayer", 1968 October box 1 folder 23
"Cross Fighters: Notes on a Race War", 1967 November box 1 folder 24
"Contemplation and Ecumenism", 1965 May box 1 folder 25
"Council and Monasticism", 1965 March box 1 folder 26
"Danish Non-Violent Resistance to Hitler", 1963 April box 1 folder 27
"Easter Homily", 1967 September box 1 folder 28
"Edifying Cables", 1966 September box 1 folder 29
"Eight Freedom Songs", 1964 November box 1 folder 30
"An Enemy of the State", before 1964 December box 1 folder 31
"Ethics and War: A Footnote", undated box 1 folder 32
"Events and Pseudo-Events", 1966 February box 1 folder 33
"Examination of Conscience and Conversatio Morum", 1963 box 1 folder 34 September
"Excerpt for a Letter", undated box 1 folder 35
"Foreword to Marcel and Buddha", 1967 January box 1 folder 36
"Forty-Three Signatures: An Exhibit of Drawings", undated box 1 folder 37
"From Pilgrimage to Crusade", 1964 August box 1 folder 38
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
- Page 9 - "The Good Samaritan", undated box 1 folder 39
"Honest to God: Letter to a Radical Anglican", 1964 box 2 folder 1
"Identity Crisis and Monastic Vocation", 1964 October box 2 folder 2
"In Acceptance of the Pax Medal", before 1963 October box 2 folder 3
"An Introduction to the English Mystics", undated box 2 folder 4
"Ishi: A Meditation", 1967 February box 2 folder 5
"The Jesuits in China", before 1962 June box 2 folder 6
"The Legend of Tucker Caliban", 1963 July box 2 folder 7
"Letter of Guigo on the Solitary Life", before 1963 April box 2 folder 8
"Man is a Gorilla with a Gun: Reflections on a Bestseller", 1964 box 2 folder 9 September
"A Martyr for Peace and Unity: Father Max Josef Metzger box 2 folder 10 (1887-1944)", undated
"Marxist Theory and Monastic Theoria", 1968 box 2 folder 11
"Monastic Vocation and the Background of Modern Secular box 2 folder 12 Thought", 1964 October
"The Monk in the Diaspora", 1964 January box 2 folder 13
"Mystery of the Church in St. Ignatius of Antioch", 1962 March box 2 folder 14
"The Name of the Lord, Pascal Time", 1963 box 2 folder 15
"Nature and Art in William Blake", 1939 February box 2 folder 16
"Nicholas of Cusa: Dialogue about the Hidden God", 1963 box 2 folder 17
"Notes for a Statement on Aid to Civilian War Victims in box 2 folder 18 Vietnam", undated
"Original Child Bomb", undated box 2 folder 19
"The Other Side of Despair", 1965 July box 2 folder 20
"Passivity and Abuse of Authority", undated box 2 folder 21
"Peace and Protest", 1965 November box 2 folder 22
"Peace in the Post Christian Era" (2 copies), 1962 box 2 folder 23-24
"A Picture of Lee Ying", before 1962 July box 2 folder 26
Preface to Japanese Edition of Seven Story Mountain, 1967 box 2 folder 27
Preface to the American Edition of The Life of Father Joseph box 2 folder 28 Cassant, 1963
"The Prison Meditations of Father Delp", undated box 2 folder 29
"Prophetic Ambiguities", 1966 October box 2 folder 30
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
- Page 10 - "Rafael Alberti and His Angels", 1966 December box 2 folder 31
"Readings from Ibn Abbad", 1965 October box 2 folder 32
"Red or Dead: The Anatomy of a Cliché", undated box 2 folder 33
"Redeeming the Time", 1965 January box 3 folder 1
"Reflections on the Character and Genius of Fenelon", 1964 box 3 folder 2 November
"Religion und die Bombe", undated box 3 folder 3
"Rites for the Extrusion of a Leper", undated box 3 folder 4
"A Ruler's Examination of Conscience", undated box 3 folder 5
"The Sacred City", 1967 October box 3 folder 6
"St. Anselm and His Argument", 1963 July box 3 folder 7
"Schema Thirteen: An Open Letter to the American Hierarchy", box 3 folder 8 1965 July
"Seven Words", 1966 May box 3 folder 9
"Shotgun in the Backyard Shelter", undated box 3 folder 10
"Some Poems of Raissa Maritain", undated box 3 folder 11
"Spiritual Direction", undated box 3 folder 12
"The Spiritual Fathers in the Desert Tradition", 1966 February box 3 folder 13
"Target Equals City", 1962 box 3 folder 14
"Target Equals City," German Translation, undated box 3 folder 15
"Ten Poems of Alfonso Cortes", undated box 3 folder 16
"The Universe as Epiphany", undated box 3 folder 17
"Varieties of Unbelief", 1964 December box 3 folder 18
"What Are We Seeking?", undated box 3 folder 19
"What To Think When it Rains Blood", 1962 December box 3 folder 19a
"Woods, Shore, Desert: A Notebook", 1968 May box 2 folder 25
Subseries C: Newspaper and article clippings, 1957-1984
About Merton, 1978-1984 box 3 folder 26-27
By Merton, 1957-1962 box 3 folder 24-25
Subseries D: Photographs, 1915-1980s, undated
Sub-Subseries 1: By Merton, undated
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
- Page 11 - Hook hanging over field, undated box 4 folder 76
Fireplace in Merton's hermitage, undated box 4 folder 78
Wooden wheel, undated box 4 folder 77
Sub-Subseries 4: Of Gethsemani Abbey, 1968 December, undated Arrangement
Alphabetical.
Abbey chapel, taken by Brother Patrick Hart, undated box 4 folder 55
Cross, taken by Ron Seitz, undated box 4 folder 56
Cross over monk's grave, taken by Ron Seitz, undated box 4 folder 57
Gethsemani, undated box 4 folder 53
Gethsemani Abbey, taken by Jim Forest, undated box 4 folder 52
Horizon, undated box 4 folder 60
Merton's funeral mass, 1968 December box 4 folder 30
Merton's grave, taken by Brother Patrick Hart, undated box 4 folder 32
Merton's hermitage, taken by Jim Forest, undated box 4 folder 35-36
Merton's hermitage, taken by Ron Seitz, undated box 4 folder 33-34
Monk with sheep, undated box 4 folder 58
Monks at refectory table, undated box 4 folder 59
Novices gathering wood, undated box 4 folder 63
Novitiate and infirmary buildings, undated box 4 folder 54
Sculpture, taken by Ron Seitz, undated box 4 folder 61-62
Sub-Subseries 2: Of Merton, 1915-1968 Arrangement
Alphabetical.
As an infant, 1915 box 4 folder 1
At four years old, taken by Ruth Merton, 1919 box 4 folder 2
Columbia University yearbook photograph, 1939 box 4 folder 6
Contact prints, undated box 4 folder 41
Merton lying in state, taken by Dom Cees Tholens, 1968 box 4 folder 26-28 December
Merton's sandals, taken by Jim Forest, 1965 box 4 folder 37
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
- Page 12 - Negatives, taken by Jim Forest, 1964-1968 box 4 folder 39-40
Passport, undated box 4 folder 14
Portrait, taken by John Howard Griffin, approximately box 4 folder 3-4 1967-1968
Seated next to plant, taken by Jim Forest, approximately box 4 folder 7 1960-1968
Seated wearing habit, taken by Jim Forest, 1965 November box 4 folder 11
Seated wearing habit, taken by Jim Forest, 1965 November box 4 folder 12
Standing in field, taken by Ed Rice, undated box 4 folder 5
Standing wearing habit, undated box 4 folder 13
Stole worn by Pope John XXIII, given to Merton, 1964 box 4 folder 38 November
Unidentified individuals at Merton's wake, 1968 December box 4 folder 29
Walking with a book near a field, taken by Jim Forest, box 4 folder 9 approximately 1960-1968
Walking with a book near woods, taken by Jim Forest, 1965 box 4 folder 10
With a group of monks and nuns, Bangkok, taken by Dom box 4 folder 24 Cees Tholens, 1968 December
With Bob Cumare and John H. Yoder, taken by Jim Forest, box 4 folder 17 1965
With Brother Patrick Hart, taken by Philip Stark, box 4 folder 20 approximately 1960-1968
With Daniel Berrigan, SJ, taken by Jim Forest, approximately box 4 folder 15 1960-1968
With four men, St. Bonaventure graduation, 1941 box 4 folder 25
With Miguel Grinberg at Gethsemani Abbey, 1964 March box 4 folder 18
With Robert Lax, approximately 1930s box 4 folder 21
With the Dalai Lama, 1968 November box 4 folder 16
With Thich Nhat Hanh and unknown man by the Fellowship box 4 folder 19 of Reconciliation, 1967
With unidentified man in suit, undated box 4 folder 22
With unidentified woman standing by the gates of Gethsemani box 4 folder 23 Abbey, undated
Writing, taken by James Forest, approximately 1960-1968 box 4 folder 8
Sub-Subseries 3: Of other individuals, 1930s-1980s, undated
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
- Page 13 - Arrangement
Alphabetical.
Catherine de Hueck Doherty, 1930s box 4 folder 44
Jim Forest, taken by Janet Charles, undated box 4 folder 45
Jim Forest and Pope John Paul II, 1980s box 4 folder 46
"Old Curiosity Shop," painting by Owen Merton, 1965 box 4 folder 48
Owen Merton, undated box 4 folder 47
Ruth Jenkins Merton, undated box 4 folder 49
Tom Cornel, 1960s box 4 folder 42
Tom Cornel with three men, undated box 4 folder 43
Unidentified man, undated box 4 folder 50
Unidentified man in bulldozer, undated box 4 folder 51
Sub-Subseries 5: Of other locations, undated Arrangement
Alphabetical.
Albi, France across the bridge from St. Cecile Cathedral, box 4 folder 64 undated
Brahma bull, undated box 4 folder 65
Bronze cross, taken by Brother Patrick Hart, undated box 4 folder 31
Clare College, Cambridge, England, taken by Jim Forest, box 4 folder 66-70 undated
Friendship House, Harlem, New York, undated box 4 folder 71
Palais de la Barbie in Albi, Tarn, France, undated box 4 folder 72
St. Antonin, France, taken by Jacques Boulas, undated box 4 folder 73
St. Cecile Cathedral, taken by Klaus Eschen, undated box 4 folder 74
Unidentified locations, undated box 4 folder 75
Jim Forest Papers regarding Thomas Merton MS.1989.021
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