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Archival description
Henri Nouwen fonds
Fonds · 1910-1997, 1964-1996 predominant

Fonds consists of 15 series:

  1. Manuscripts
  2. General files
  3. Calendar files
  4. Personal records
  5. Publisher files
  6. Financial files
  7. Teaching materials
  8. Nouwen’s education records and study notes
  9. Published works
  10. Video recordings of Nouwen
  11. Sound recordings
  12. Collected materials
  13. L'Arche Daybreak administrative files
  14. Ephemera and artifacts
  15. Photographs
Nouwen, Henri J. M., 1932-1996
Guides
CA ON00389 9.0-9.10 · Subseries · 1991
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Sub-series consists of one leader's guide to Nouwen's book Letter's to Marc about Jesus. The book was produced by the publisher of Nouwen's book as a learning aid. Through a series of questions and exercises it attempts to help the reader gain in their own spiritual life through Nouwen's book. The book has been described at the item level.

Books about Nouwen
CA ON00389 9.0-9.9 · Subseries · 1985-1994
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Sub-series consists of four books written between 1985 and 1994 about Nouwen or containing a chapter about Nouwen. The two books written in 1994 represent student theses-like material on Nouwen's life. The other two books reflect on the lives of many individuals; Nouwen is represented in one chapter of each book. The books have been described at the item level.

CA ON00389 9.0-9.8 · Subseries · 1974-1996
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Sub-series consists of books written between 1974 and 1996 of which Nouwen co-authored, contributed a chapter, provided excerpts from his previously published works, or was interviewed. As well, Nouwen also provided introductions, forewords, prefaces, and recommendations to many books also included in this subseries. In addition to the books are photocopies of Nouwen's contributions to two other books not owned by the Archives. Paper notes and inscriptions within the books suggest that many of the books were given to Nouwen from the authors or publishers.

Books by Nouwen
CA ON00389 9.0-9.7 · Subseries · 1969-1996
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Sub-series consists of hard and soft cover books or booklets written by Nouwen or containing Nouwen's words, published between 1969 and 1996. The Archives has a variety of editions, printings and translations of his books. It is not certain how Nouwen obtained most of the English versions since, other than a handful of presentation copies, few were personally inscribed to him. Although it may be presumed that some were publisher gifts, since many of the books still have their price tags, it is possible that they were purchased by Nouwen or his associates. The books have been arranged chronologically, with editions and translations of the same books kept together. The books are described at the item level.

Scrapbook 1965-1982
CA ON00389 9.0-9.6 · Subseries · 1965-1975, predominant 1970-1972
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Sub-series consists of originals and photocopies of published articles written by Nouwen, about Nouwen, about his books, or kept by Nouwen between 1965 and 1982. A pen and ink sketch of Nouwen by Prof. Bainton during a lecture in 1972 is found at p. 35. All articles are described to the item level except for an article by A.C. Ramselaar, Nouwen's uncle, and the book reviews which are described at the file level. The book reviews include those for Intimacy, Bidden om het leven, Creative ministry, Een levende heenwijzing, and Met open handen.

Scrapbook 1956, 1958
CA ON00389 9.0-9.5a · Subseries · 1956-1958
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Sub-series consists of four original published articles written by Nouwen in 1956 and 1958. All articles are described to the item level. Two articles are copies of those found in the other scrapbooks. It appears that Nouwen prepared this scrapbook while studying at Nijmegen (1957-1964) and gave it to his mother in July 1975.

Scrapbook 1956-1965
CA ON00389 9.0-9.5 · Subseries · 1956-1965, predominant 1956-1958
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Sub-series consists of original published articles written and cowritten by Nouwen, about Nouwen or of interest to Nouwen between 1956 and 1965. A majority of the articles are dated between 1956 and 1958 with others being undated and one article by Nouwen's uncle, Antonius (Toon) Ramselaar, written ca. 1965 (at p. 12). A photograph featuring a "Wayside Shine" in Dublin, Ireland is found on p. 8. All articles are described to the item level except for the two by Ramselaar.

Book reviews
CA ON00389 9.0-9.4 · Subseries · 1972-1996, predominant 1981-1996
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Sub-series consists of published articles as well as bookstore advertising, and transcripts of radio reviews regarding Nouwen's books, audio cassettes, and booklets. Also included are book reviews mentioning Nouwen's forewords and a book of which Nouwen was a contributing author. The articles are in various formats including entire publications, clippings, and photocopies as originally saved by Nouwen. This sub-series contains only those articles which Nouwen or his office collected.

CA ON00389 9.0-9.3 · Subseries · 1974-1996, predominant 1983, 1987-1996
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Sub-series consists of published articles representing interviews of and articles written about Nouwen between 1974 and 1996. The articles are in various formats including entire periodicals, offprints, clippings, and photocopies as originally saved by Nouwen. Specific publications include Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Catholic Times, Katholiek Nieuwsblad, Trouw, and Zaken die God raken. Articles from church newsletters and other sources with limited publication are also included. This sub-series does not contain all of the published interviews of and articles about Nouwen as is evident by several incomplete article series.

CA ON00389 9.0-9.2 · Subseries · 1970-1986, predominant 1970s
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Sub-series consists of published articles co-written by Nouwen between 1970 and 1986. The articles are in various formats including entire periodicals, offprints, newsletters, clippings and photocopies. In addition to featuring unique writings including a book review, the articles also represent published material that has been excerpted, and reprinted from Nouwen's books, articles, and lectures. Specific books excerpted include Intimacy, Aging, and Compassion.

Articles by Nouwen
CA ON00389 9.0-9.1 · Subseries · 1960-1996, predominant 1974, 1976-1996
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Sub-series consists of published articles written by Nouwen between 1960 and 1996. A majority of the articles are dated between 1975 and 1996 probably because in 1975 Nouwen began transferring the articles for storage at Yale. The articles are in various formats including entire periodicals, offprints, clippings, and photocopies as originally saved by Nouwen. Specific publications include Pastoral Psychology, Sojourners, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Feu et Lumiere, The New Oxford Review, National Catholic Reporter, Weavings, and Zaken die God raken. Articles from church newsletters and other sources with limited publication are also included. In addition to featuring unique writings, the articles also represent published material that has been excerpted, condensed, adapted and reprinted from Nouwen's books, articles, and conference speeches. This sub-series contains only those articles written by Nouwen which he collected and does not contain all of his published articles as is evident by several incomplete article series.

Photographs
CA ON00389 15.0 · Series · 1947-1996
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Series consists of colour and black and white photographs (including negatives) accumulated by Nouwen, and colour slides taken by him and others. Photographs not taken by Nouwen were gathered mainly from friends and acquaintances through correspondence, over a period of approximately 30 years. The photographs were stored by Nouwen and his administrative assistant(s) in files, or displayed on one of several large bulletin boards Nouwen used in his office and photograph albums compiled. Some photographs that arrived with correspondence were kept in the General Files series with their letter of origin, while others which were not clearly attached to a letter were separated and added to this series.

Subject matter depicted in the photographs include professional portraits of Nouwen; Nouwen in both his professional and private capacities at: the Yale and Harvard Divinity Schools, and at L'Arche Daybreak (leading church services, at birthdays and Christmas celebrations), religious events (baptisms, first communions, ordinations and weddings); as well as his travels to Peru and Bolivia, the United States, France, and other countries; and with his family in the Netherlands both as a child and as an adult. Photographs also depict Nouwen's friends, their families, and L'Arche Daybreak assistants and core members. In addition, a large number of photographs in this series (approximately one fifth), document Nouwen's time spent in Germany with a flying trapeze troupe, The Flying Rodleighs.

Slides were taken by Nouwen of Martin Luther King, Jr’s civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, AL, in March 1965; of the University of Notre Dame; vacations, including a trip to Greece; and of Nouwen with Rodleigh Stevens of The Flying Rodleighs in 1995.

Nouwen, Henri J. M., 1932-1996
Ephemera and artifacts
CA ON00389 14.0 · Series · [1957-1996], predominant 1980-1996
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Series consists of ephemera and artifacts collected by or given to Nouwen throughout his lifetime, including awards and honourary degrees, materials kept in his office and home, promotional materials, artwork, postcards, religious artifacts, and personal artifacts.

CA ON00389 13.0 · Series · 1982-1997
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Series consists of administrative resources files which were maintained for Nouwen by Nouwen's administrative staffs from 1983 to 1997. These files contain materials collected by Nouwen in order to assist him with his roles as pastor, writer, researcher, and friend. In addition to subject-based material such as newspaper clippings and brochures, it is evident that Nouwen's administrative assistants at Daybreak used these files to hold administrative material related to liturgical events such as Christmas, Lent, and Easter, as well as other aspects of Nouwen's duties in the community. These files were likely maintained as a resource for Nouwen regarding his daily work.

Collected materials
CA ON00389 12.0 · Series · [1960?]-1996 ; predominate 1971-1995
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Series consists of material collected by Nouwen on topics, people, and issues of interest. Nouwen used this material for articles, books, lectures, talks, sermons, general interest, and as reference for his duties as pastor, friend, researcher, and writer. Includes journal articles, books, sound recordings, newspaper clippings, photographs, newsletters, and manuscripts. See sub-series level descriptions for more detail.

Sound recordings
CA ON00389 11.0 · Series · 1972-1996
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Series consists of audio cassettes of Nouwen giving lectures at universities, speaking at churches, conferences and other engagements, parts of and complete books on tape and recordings from radio shows and interviews. Some of the material was professionally produced and some are amateur recordings.

Calendar files
CA ON00389 3.0 · Series · 1980 - 1996, predominant 1990 - 1995
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Series consists of files containing correspondence and other material related to Nouwen's day to day engagements. Nouwen received dozens of invitations each month to give lectures or talks, lead retreats, preside at religious occasions, and provide spiritual direction. Requests came from a wide range of institutions, organisations and individuals, the majority having some sort of religious affiliation. Invitations from institutions included university divinity schools, seminaries, hospital pastoral departments, churches, and Christian retreat centres. Invitations from organisations included the National Catholic AIDS Network, the Ministry of Money, and the Archdiocese of Toronto. Invitations from individuals included requests for Nouwen to preside over masses, weddings, funerals, baptisms and ordinations, and those interested in personal spiritual direction. Such requests often came from priests, ministers, pastors, and chaplains. The majority of Nouwen's engagements took place in the Northeastern United States, Southern Ontario, and Holland. However, he also attended events in Illinois, Texas, California, British Columbia, Quebec, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Ukraine. After Nouwen's move to L'Arche Daybreak in 1986, files were created to plan and document special events associated with his role as pastor. There are files regarding community meetings, community weekends, assistant workshops, visits to other L'Arche communities and meetings of the International Federation of L'Arche.

The files were created between 1980 and 1996, however, the file titles themselves extend to 1998 because events were often scheduled two or more years in advance. There are no files for January 1982 to April 1985. The files from 1985 contain invitations only from March to August grouped by month. There are no files for June 1987 to May 1990. Approximately 74% of the files in the series are for June 1990 to August 1995. Their are only a small number of files for September 1995 to October 1998, this is likely because Nouwen was on sabbatical from September 1995 to September 1996. The files contain gaps and inconsistencies due to Nouwen's frequent movement between 1982 and 1986 as well as changes in Nouwen's support staff and their differing recordkeeping techniques.

This series provides an excellent overview of Nouwen's schedule of events and specific information regarding his participation at those events. Noteworthy are the handwritten and typed notes used for speaking engagements (some are unpublished) as well as copies of outgoing letters written by Nouwen.

Nouwen, Henri J. M., 1932-1996
Teaching materials
CA ON00389 7.0 · Series · 1966 - 1985, 1994; predominant 1971 - 1981
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Series consists of materials created by Nouwen for use in his capacity as a professor and instructor. These materials include notes for lectures, reading notes, class lists, handouts for students, class schedules, course evaluations, audio recordings of lectures, and records related to the administration of courses.

Nouwen, Henri J. M., 1932-1996
Manuscripts
CA ON00389 1.0 · Series · 1956-1996
Part of Henri Nouwen fonds

Series consists of draft manuscripts and typescripts of more than 150 books and articles, forewords and introductions, sermons, and talks by Henri Nouwen. The date range of the materials is from 1956 to 1996. The series contains drafts of 49 of his articles and drafts of 41 books (Nouwen published over 300 articles and 39 books in his lifetime). In addition to handwritten drafts or typescripts some files may also include loose notes (usually background reading notes), galley and print proofs, administrative papers, correspondence regarding the materials, and photographs and artwork used in the process of publication.

The materials in the Series reflect Nouwen’s general writing process: for the most part he hand-wrote his works on foolscap or in hard-back journals, often he created reading notes pertaining to the subject he was writing on, drafts were typed by an administrative assistant and then circulated to friends and other readers for comment. He saved all of the drafts, often incorporating the notes made by himself and other readers, in order to create one final work.

Common themes present in the drafts include: spirituality, love, God, psychology, theology, relationships, prayer, ministry, and Christian life. Nouwen often reflected on his own spiritual journey and experiences in his works in journal form. This writing was often deeply personal and it is for this reason that some of the manuscripts and drafts are restricted from use, including Man at the Watershed, A Spiritual Journey, Taken, Blessed, Broken, Given (parts of which were published in Life of the Beloved), The Inner Voice of Love, Adam, and Sabbatical Journey.

With exception of the sermons, most material has been published. Eight transcripts have been identified as unpublished, including a book on Anton T. Boisen based on Nouwen’s doctoral thesis, a draft of a work about Nouwen’s friend Richard Alan White, and notes for a book Nouwen began in 1991 regarding the trapeze and the spiritual life as well as some of the restricted material listed above. See file descriptions for more information on each work.

Nouwen, Henri J. M., 1932-1996