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Merton's Correspondence with:

James Wilson Douglass; Jim Douglass; James Douglass; Douglass, Jim

Douglass, James Wilson, 1937-  printer

 
 

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

Please click here for general restrictions concerning Merton's correspondence.

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

Click icons for links: ✓="Published | Library Record", ✉="Scanned" | 🗷="Scanned, Viewable Only at Merton Center"

#DateFrom/ToFirst LinesPub ✓Notes
 y/m/dMerton Scan ✉ 
1. 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 ✓ «detailed view»
2. 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, ✉ «detailed view»
3. 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 -- ✉ «detailed view»
4. 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] «detailed view»
5. 1965/10/03 HLS to Merton Just a hurried note to let you know that the meetings in Rome went remarkably well. ✉ «detailed view»
6. 1965/10/24 (#01) HLS to Merton Thanks once again for another great afternoon. Being with you people for a few hours should be ✉ [contents of the letter suggests the item is dated incorrectly as 1965/09/24 (1965 September 24) but should be October] «detailed view»
7. 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 New York Times 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] «detailed view»
8. 1965/11/03 (#01) HLS to Merton The apocalyptic symbols deepen. I was shocked by this. But now the mass media broadcast it -- ✉ [newspaper clipping from the same date enclosed with this letter] «detailed view»
9. 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] «detailed view»
10. 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. ✓ «detailed view»
11. 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. ✓ «detailed view»
12. 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 ✓ «detailed view»
13. 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. ✉ «detailed view»
14. 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 ✓ [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 Catholic Worker would publish essay either / plans to publish essay in Louisville Courier-Journal and in local diocesan papers «detailed view»
15. 1965/12/03 (#01) TLS from Merton First of all I was extremely sorry to hear about your clash with the Holy Name societies ✓ «detailed view»
16. 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 ✓ [typed annotated statement to friends and to the members of the Catholic Peace Fellowship - enclosed in December 3 letter - published with "Circular Letters"] «detailed view»
17. 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 ✉ «detailed view»
18. 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 ✓ «detailed view»
19. 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 ✓ «detailed view»
20. 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 ✓ «detailed view»
21. 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 ✓ «detailed view»
22. 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 ✉ «detailed view»
23. 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 ✓ [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] «detailed view»
24. 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 ✓ [an abridged version of the letter was published in The Hidden Ground of Love with a full version published in Sign of Hope] «detailed view»
25. 1967/06/16 TLS to Merton I just finished reading your very beautiful article in Fellowship, "Blessed Are the Meek: ✉ «detailed view»
26. 1967/06/30 (#01) TLS from Merton I am returning the two chapters with thanks. The one on the Council is really first rate, ✓ «detailed view»
27. 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, ✓ «detailed view»
28. 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. ✉ «detailed view»
29. 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 «detailed view»
30. 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 ✓ «detailed view»
31. 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 ✓ «detailed view»
32. 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 «detailed view»
33. 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] «detailed view»
34. 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] «detailed view»
35. 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 «detailed view»
36. 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 «detailed view»
37. 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 The Hidden Ground of Love] «detailed view»
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