Yungblut, June (Johnson), 1925-1982

Scope and Content

Merton and Yungblut exchange letters regarding the Civil Rights Movement; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Albert Camus; and Samuel Beckett (who was the subject of Yungblut's doctoral dissertation). Merton writes a particularly long letter in defense of his identification with the "Christ of the Byzantine icons". Merton publishes some of Yungblut's writings in Monks Pond.

Biography

June Yungblut is a Quaker and scholar with graduate degrees from Yale and Emory. Her ancestry with the Society of Friends (Quakers) dates back to Thomas Fitzwater, who came to America aboard the Welcome alongside William Penn. At the time of writing to Merton, she was co-director of the Quaker House in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband John Yungblut. She and her husband were involved in the Civil Rights Movement and were friends of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. June Yungblut attempted to arrange a retreat for Martin Luther King, Jr. at Gethsemani Abbey; however, King was not able to come because of the situation in Memphis which culminated in his assassination. (Source: The Hidden Ground of Love, p. 635.)

#	Date	From/To	First Lines	Pub ✓	Notes
	y/m/d	Merton		Scan ✉
1.	1967/05/07	HLS to Merton	I'm sending to you under separate cover the Kalakowski article, "The Priest and the Jester."		[letter started 1967/05/07 and continued 1967/05/11] «detailed view»
2.	1967/06/22	TL[c] from Merton	The trouble with letters like yours that say so much is that they don't get answered, at least not	✓	[to John and June Yungblut] «detailed view»
3.	1967/07/08	TLS to Merton	I find that I have quoted you three times in Part I of my dissertation which is a section		«detailed view»
4.	1967/09/08	TL[c] from Merton	I just got John's letter. I have looked back to June's which has been waiting for an answer	✓	[to John and June Yungblut] «detailed view»
5.	1967/10/21	TALS to Merton	I have been slow to answer your good letter for a number of reasons. In early September, while your		«detailed view»
6.	1967/11/19	TL[c] from Merton	The presence of Fr Methodius from Conyers reminded me that I had been owing you a letter and that	✓	«detailed view»
7.	1967/12/03	TL[c] from Merton	This is to let you know that I have received the dissertation, which arrived safely, and I am about	✓	«detailed view»
8.	1967/12/06	TALS to Merton	How I hope the Abbot agreed to your mission with the AFSC team and the NLF representatives-		«detailed view»
9.	1967/12/12 (#01)	TL[c] from Merton	You have seen the globes. You have swum the Atlantic. You have spoken the unknown word.	✓	«detailed view»
10.	1967/12/12 (#02)	TLS[x] from Merton	You have seen the globes. You have swum the Atlantic. You have spoken the unknown word.	✓	«detailed view»
11.	1967/12/20	HLS to Merton	We're coming on the 28th - if that is really all right - by suppertime, I think/ John says he would		«detailed view»
12.	1968/01/03	HNS[x] from Merton	I hope you did not get caught in all this mess of snow and sleet! Here's the list. Maybe I should		«detailed view»
13.	1968/01/10	HLS to Merton	Thirty-six books plus innumerable articles! You really must stop writing if you're to be read		«detailed view»
14.	1968/01/16	TL[c] from Merton	Thanks June for yours of 11th. As a sunken continent overgrown with seaweed I gladly consent	✓	[to John and June Yungblut] «detailed view»
15.	1968/01/20	TL[c] from Merton	Beckett arrived in the midst of a flu epidemic and so it happened that last night, being holed up	🗷 ✓	«detailed view»
16.	1968/01/25	HLS to Merton	You make light of your illness but it will be a relief to us to know that you are well again.		«detailed view»
17.	1968/02/no?	TLS[x] from Merton	Fine letter, quick answer to only part of it. First I heard Martin L King went to jail sometime	✓	[on stationery stating, "From the Desk of Father Louis, OCSO" - under which Merton quips "as if I had a desk"] «detailed view»
18.	1968/03/02 (#01)	TLS[x] from Merton	I am mailing back the Jarvie book today and will keep the other until Monday as I am still working		«detailed view»
19.	1968/03/02 (#02)	TLS to Merton	Time and events have had me in an underwater tow since your note and articles arrived. I think I		«detailed view»
20.	1968/03/06 (#01)	TAL[c] from Merton	First reason for this letter is to get to you with information about dates for March-April.	✓	«detailed view»
21.	1968/03/06 (#02)	TALS[x] from Merton	First reason for this letter is to get to you with information about dates for March-April.	✓	«detailed view»
22.	1968/03/12	HLS to Merton	Sunday I gave a lecture on your writing on Camus and in The New Man placing it within		«detailed view»
23.	1968/03/23	TALS[x] from Merton	This to acknowledge receipt of the mss. Beckett article fine, will fit it in to MP iii or iv	✓	«detailed view»
24.	1968/03/29 (#01)	TL[c] from Merton	I'll send some more of MPOND when I get a chance to sort and staple some more. Right now I have	✓	«detailed view»
25.	1968/03/29 (#02)	TLS[x] from Merton	I'll send some more of MPOND when I get a chance to sort and staple some more. Right now I have	✓	«detailed view»
26.	1968/04/05	TL[c] from Merton	By a strange coincidence I happened to be out in Lexington when Martin was shot and I heard all	✓	«detailed view»
27.	1968/04/06 (#01)	HLS to Merton	Some of us have been at Coretta's house since the assassination. The city is quiet. Ralph Abernathy		«detailed view»
28.	1968/04/06 (#02)	HLS to Merton	En route to Coretta. Have your letter for her. Take care of yourself. I think of spirits like		«detailed view»
29.	1968/04/09	TL[c] from Merton	Today is the day of the funeral. The other day I offered Mass for Martin, and two Anglican friends	✓	«detailed view»
30.	1968/04/11	TALS to Merton	I am going to take your fine letter with the music and songs over to Coretta today. Harry Belafonte		«detailed view»
31.	1968/04/15	TL[c] from Merton	Your long and moving letter came today, with the two postscripts-- (but not the telegrams, which I'd	✓	«detailed view»
32.	1968/04/28	TALS to Merton	Coretta does approve the memorial TV program you suggested with the offering of your freedom poems		[also includes a handwritten note from 1968/04/30] «detailed view»
33.	1968/05/09	HLS[x] from Merton	Your fine letter reached me out here in the California Redwoods. I am giving a few conferences	✓	«detailed view»
34.	1968/05/18	TLS to Merton	Good news! Bishop Bernadin just called to tell me that Martin Work, of the National Conference		«detailed view»
35.	1968/05/23	TL[c] from Merton	I am writing this in the awareness that you are in the middle of everything now in the Poor Peoples'	✓	«detailed view»
36.	1968/07/02	TLS to Merton	John is in prison. The enclosed carbon of a letter, very confidential, will describe		«detailed view»
37.	1968/07/13	TL[c] from Merton	I was a bit distressed by the news that John had been jailed-- more because of the circumstances	✓	«detailed view»
38.	1968/07/19	TALS to Merton	Father Al Clarke, who saw Phil in the Maryland jail, telephoned this morning for me and found		«detailed view»
39.	1968/07/29	TL[c] from Merton	I much appreciate your letter of a week ago. I did not know Nhat was possibly in Thailand.	✓	«detailed view»
40.	1968/08/20	telegram to Merton	Concert powerful and moving [-] Congratulations from Alexis and me. Signed June		[from Washington, D.C., after performance of Merton's "Freedom Songs"] «detailed view»
41.	1983/03/23	TLS[x] from Shannon, William / to John Yungblut	I am a professor at Nazareth College of Rochester and an author. I have been appointed		«detailed view»
42.	1983/04/05	TLS from Yungblut, John / to William Shannon	Thank you for your letter of March 23 concerning the correspondence between June Yungblut and Thomas		«detailed view»
43.	1983/04/10	TLS[x] from Shannon, William / to John Yungblut	I want to thank you for answering so quickly my letter to you regarding the Merton correspondence.		«detailed view»
44.	1983/05/05	TLS from Yungblut, John / to William Shannon	Thank you for your friendly letter of April 10. I appreciate your being sensitive to my feelings		«detailed view»
45.	1983/05/19	TLS[x] from Shannon, William / to John Yungblut	Thank you for your kind letter of May 5th which came while I was away in Louisville working		«detailed view»
46.	1983/07/05	TLS[x] from Shannon, William / to John Yungblut	By now I presume you have returned from England. I hope that you [sic] talk was successful		«detailed view»
47.	undated/no/no	other[x]	DR. JUNE J. YUNGBLUT [-] Born a Southerner. Ancestor, Thomas Fitzwater, Quaker preacher,		«detailed view»
48.	undated/no/no	other[x]	The light plane took off side-slipping more than ascending and I felt the familiar		[article by Yungblut on memories and significance of Merton] «detailed view»

The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

Merton's Correspondence with:

Yungblut, June (Johnson), 1925-1982

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