MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
Douglass, James Wilson, 1937-
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Descriptive Summary
Record Group: Section A - Correspondence
Dates of materials: 1965, 1967, 1983
Volume: 37 item(s); 47 pg(s)
Scope and Content
This is a file in the correspondence of Thomas Merton under the heading: "Douglass, James Wilson".
Biography
Jim Douglass is known for his theological writing and his activism in the area of non-violent resistance to war and especially nuclear arms. He was a friend of Daniel Berrigan and Dorothy Day. He served as a theological advisor on conscientious objection and nuclear war at the Second Vatican Council. He first met Merton while a professor at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Kentucky.
Usage Guidelines and Restrictions
Related Information and Links
See also letters published in The Hidden Ground of Love, pp. 159-67; and see also an unabridged version of the 17 April 1967 letter published in Signs of Hope, pp. 64-5.
Other Finding Aids
If the person in correspondence with Merton has full text records in the Merton Center Digital Collections, there will be a numeric link to them below.
31932
Series List
This Record Sub-Group is not divided into Series and is arranged chronologically.
Container List
| Series | Date | Type | To/From | First Lines | Pub | Full Text | Notes |
| | 1965/05/26 | TL[c] | from Merton | Your letter just reached me. I will be delighted to see you and Dan next Monday. The only thing is | Yes |
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| | 1965/06/19 | HLS | to Merton | Wednesday, July 14th would be good for us. We'll leave here about 11:30, after my morning class, | |
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| | 1965/07/06 | HLS | to Merton | Father John will come with us on the 14th. He's been a very good friend to both Sally and me -- | |
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| | 1965/08/16 | TLS[x] | to McGrath, Mark, C.S.C. | I hope you will recall me from our correspondence last fall in Rome in regard to Schema 13's | |
| [letter from Douglass to the Most Rev. Mark G. McGrath, Bishop of Santiago de Varaguas, Panama - not part of original file and not marked as copied to Merton, but it regards Schema 13 (also, Schema XIII, which went into Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) at the Second Vatican Council / Douglass recommends, among other things, "An Open Letter to the American Hierarchy" by Merton] |
| | 1965/10/03 | HLS | to Merton | Just a hurried note to let you know that the meetings in Rome went remarkably well. | |
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| | 1965/10/24 (#01) | HLS | to Merton | Thanks once again for another great afternoon. Being with you people for a few hours should be | |
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| [contents of the letter suggests the item is dated incorrectly as 1965/09/24 (1965 September 24) but should be October] |
| | 1965/10/24 (#02) | other[x] | | David John Miller returned yesterday to the job he took up last June at the Catholic Worker | |
| [copy of a <u>New York Times</u> article referred to in the Douglass letter of the same date: "David Miller and the Catholic Workers: A Study in Pacifism" by Edith Evans Asbury, (NYT 24 October 1965), p. 76] |
| | 1965/11/03 (#01) | HLS | to Merton | The apocalyptic symbols deepen. I was shocked by this. But now the mass media broadcast it -- | |
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| [newspaper clipping from the same date enclosed with this letter] |
| | 1965/11/03 (#02) | other | to Merton | Pacifist Burns Self To Death In Front Of The Pentagon; Baby Is Spared His Fate [-] WASHINGTON (AP) | |
| [newspaper clipping about Norman R. Morrison enclosed with letter of the same date] |
| | 1965/11/06 (#01) | TL[c] | from Merton | Thanks for your two letters, and the clippings. I got both, and I must admit that I agree with you. | Yes |
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| | 1965/11/06 (#02) | TLS | from Merton | Thanks for your two letters, and the clippings. I got both, and I must admit that I agree with you. | Yes |
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| | 1965/11/11 | TALS | from Merton | Today I sent telegrams to Dorothy Day and Jim Forest. To Jim I had to send one asking to remove my | Yes |
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| | 1965/11/16 | TLS | to Merton | I think your letter to Jim was, as you say, painful but necessary. A moral brake has to be applied. | |
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| | 1965/11/24 | HNS[x] | from Merton | This is an attempt only. Needs correction perhaps. The CFP and FOR are quite mad at me about my | Yes |
| [see Sub-Section D.9 for original essay of "Peace and Protest" inscribed by Merton to James Douglass and with Merton's corrections] the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Catholic Peace Fellowship angry at Merton for wanting to resign his sponsorship - John Heidbrink / does not think <u>Catholic Worker</u> would publish essay either / plans to publish essay in Louisville <u>Courier-Journal</u> and in local diocesan papers |
| | 1965/12/03 (#01) | TLS | from Merton | First of all I was extremely sorry to hear about your clash with the Holy Name societies | Yes |
| |
| | 1965/12/03 (#02) | other | from Merton to Friends | STATEMENT. For many years, idle rumors have claimed that I had left the monastery of Gethsemani | Yes |
| [typed annotated statement to friends and to the members of the Catholic Peace Fellowship - enclosed in December 3 letter - published with "Circular Letters"] |
| | 1965/12/07 | HLS | to Merton | Thanks so much for your letter and for the good statement to the CPF, which I'm returning. I think | |
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| | 1965/12/14 | TAL[c] | from Merton | I think your piece on Vietnam was really first class. Dorothy wrote a good letter saying she likes | Yes |
| |
| | 1965/12/26 | TLS | from Merton | First of all, thanks for the letter and for the Council text. But I am very sorry to hear about | Yes |
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| | 1967/03/24 (#01) | TL[c] | from Merton | Ping Ferry sent me what is evidently a chapter of a new book of yours and I just want to say how | Yes |
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| | 1967/03/24 (#02) | TALS | from Merton | Ping Ferry sent me what is evidently a chapter of a new book of yours and I just want to say how | Yes |
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| | 1967/03/29 | TALS | to Merton | Thank you for the great letter. Such words keep one going. During this year or so in the north | |
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| | 1967/04/17 (#01) | TALS | from Merton | Thanks for sending the new chapter (which I return). I like it, and find the last part especially | Yes |
| [contains underlining and notes by James Douglass - an abridged version of the letter was published in The Hidden Ground of Love with a full version published in Sign of Hope] |
| | 1967/04/17 (#02) | TL[c] | from Merton | Thanks for sending the new chapter (which I return). I like it, and find the last part especially | Yes |
| [an abridged version of the letter was published in The Hidden Ground of Love with a full version published in Sign of Hope] |
| | 1967/06/16 | TLS | to Merton | I just finished reading your very beautiful article in <u>Fellowship</u>, "Blessed Are the Meek: | |
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| | 1967/06/30 (#01) | TLS | from Merton | I am returning the two chapters with thanks. The one on the Council is really first rate, | Yes |
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| | 1967/06/30 (#02) | TL[c] | from Merton | I am returning the two chapters with thanks. The one on the Council is really first rate, | Yes |
| |
| | 1967/07/05 | HLS | to Merton | I'm glad to hear "Blessed Are the Meek" will appear as a CPF pamphlet. It is really fine. | |
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| |
| | 1967/08/08 | TLS[x] | to Forest, Jim | Thanks for your letter. I'm enclosing the essay, retitled for your purposes, "War, Conscience, | |
| [from Jim Douglass writing from Hedley, British Columbia, to "Jim" (likely Jim Forest)] article by Douglass, "War, Conscience, and the Gospel" / Paul Ramsey and Just War theory / Betty Bartelme / Thomas Merton pamphlet / Joan Baez |
| | 1967/10/03 (#01) | TLS | from Merton | I am doubly sorry for having delayed about your chapter-- the last one-- because now I haven't got | Yes |
| |
| | 1967/10/03 (#02) | TL[c] | from Merton | I am doubly sorry for having delayed about your chapter-- the last one-- because now I haven't got | Yes |
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| | 1983/03/29 | TLS[x] | from Shannon, William | I am a professor at Nazareth College of Rochester and have been appointed by the Merton Legacy Trust | |
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| | 1983/04/21 | TLS | to Shannon, William | Thank you for your letter inquiring about my correspondence with Thomas Merton. I am glad that | |
| [vita of James Douglass enclosed with letter] |
| | 1983/04/27 | TALS[x] | from Shannon, William | Thank you for your prompt reply to my letter and for sending on the additional Merton letters, | |
| [questions for Douglass enclosed with letter] |
| | 1983/06/12 | TALS[x] | to Shannon, William | I'm sorry to be so slow in replying to your thoughtful letter with the two Merton letters I had lost | |
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| | 1983/07/04 | TLS[x] | from Shannon, William | This seems a fitting day to write you - a day of national celebration that for more and more people | |
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| | undated/no/no | other | | TO JAMES DOUGLASS [-] JAMES DOUGLASS [-] While he is recognized as a theologian and a writer, | |
| [biographical statement and end notes for William Shannon's <i>The Hidden Ground of Love</i>] |
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