Other Research Collections

The largest research collections relating to Thomas Merton, besides the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University, are to be found at Columbia University, Harvard University and St. Bonaventure University.

• Columbia University
  • An extensive manuscript collection assembled primarily by Sister Therese Lentfoehr, Mark Van Doren, and Robert Shepherd.
• Harvard University
  • The personal papers of James Laughlin and the New Directions Publishing Corporation publishing and business papers are described in Houghton Library's Online Archival Search Information System (OASIS) and materials relating to Thomas Merton appear in the following collections:
    • The Papers of James Laughlin.
    • New Directions - Manuscripts and Proofs, 1937-1997.
    • New Directions - Records.
• St. Bonaventure University
  • The Merton archive at St. Bonaventure University include manuscripts and typescripts of his earliest journals, along with drafts of books and articles, letters, associated copies of printed materials and other special items.

Boston College, Syracuse University, University at Buffalo and the University of Kentucky have substantial Thomas Merton collections.

• Boston College
  • The John J. Burns Library at Boston College holds a collection of Merton materials including lecture and conference notes, correspondence, photographs, drawings, and proofs and original manuscripts of several books by Merton. The collection also holds materials donated by Jim Forest and Basil Pennington which relate to Merton. A finding aid for the Thomas Merton Collection at Boston College is available here.
• Syracuse University
  • The department of Special Collections at Syracuse University Library houses a collection which includes ten of Merton's working notebooks, some correspondence, essays and other materials.
• University at Buffalo, State University of New York
  • The majority of the Merton material in the Poetry and Rare Book Collection of the University at Buffalo came as a gift from Merton between 1948-1952. There is also some Merton material in their Kayak Magazine Collection and in their Jargon Society Collection. Details of these collections are not currently available on their web pages, though an inventory is available at the Merton Center.
• University of Kentucky
  • The Margaret I. King Library at the University of Kentucky holds correspondence between Merton and Erich Fromm, Boris Pasternak, Daisetz Suzuki, and Merton's friends Robert Lax and Carolyn and Victor Hammer along with holographs and typescripts, carbon copies and mimeographs of Merton's. Finding aids for the two main collections are available at:
    • Thomas Merton Papers.
    • Thomas Merton Collection.
    The following link provides all results from the Kentuckiana Digital Library. This search displays holdings at the University of Kentucky regarding Merton, but also includes a collection at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville.

A number of other Universities hold varying amounts of materials by Thomas Merton, frequently these Merton collections relate to other figures with whom Merton was in touch, such as Dorothy Day, Jacques Maritain, and Ed Rice, whose papers were subsequently donated to these institutions.

• Boston University
  • The Special Collections department of Boston University Library holds 3 manuscript boxes of writing by Merton including over 100 different articles, essays and reviews written by him. Many of these are mimeographs of typed pieces, but also include a fair number of typescripts in various drafts, some with handwritten corrections and notes. Details of this collection are not currently available on their web pages.
• Christchurch City Libraries, Christchurch, New Zealand
  • The Merton Collection was founded with donations made by two of Merton's aunts, Agnes and Beatrice Merton. The collection has been developed by the Library in subsequent years.
• Georgetown University
  • The Thomas Merton and Edward Rice Correspondence at Georgetown University.
• Notre Dame University
  • The Jacques Maritain Center holds Merton's correspondence with Maritain.
• Marquette University
  • The Dorothy Day - Catholic Worker Collection at Marquette University Library includes Merton's correspondence with Dorothy Day along with manuscripts Merton submitted for publication in the Catholic Worker.
• Northwestern University
  • A significant portion of the Michael Mott Collection at Northwestern University Library consists of materials related to The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton.
• Sisters of St. Joseph of Rochester Archive
  • The William H. Shannon Papers: Personal and scholarly files of Msgr. William H. Shannon, professor of religious studies at Nazareth College (1946-1982) and founding president of the International Thomas Merton Society.
• University of Mississippi
  • The Katallagete / James Y. Holloway Collection in University of Mississippi's Archives and Special Collections includes correspondence between Merton, James Holloway, and other figures associated with Katallagete, the journal of the Committee of Southern Churchmen. Merton was a contributor to Katallagete, and the collection holds some of the manuscripts he submitted and manuscripts sent to frieds at the journal, such as Will Campbell and James Holloway.