Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
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- Textual record
- Graphic material
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Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1956-1996 (Creation)
- Creator
- Nouwen, Henri J. M., 1932-1996
Physical description area
Physical description
5.75 m of textual records.
88 photographs.
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Henri Nouwen was born in Nijkerk, The Netherlands to Maria (nee Ramselaar) and Laurent Nouwen on January 24, 1932, the eldest of four children. He was ordained to the Catholic priesthood on July 21, 1957 for the diocese of Utrecht. Immediately following his ordination, Nouwen began studying psychology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen completing a doctorandus degree cum laude in 1964 (February 3rd, 1964 in Psychology; primary subject: psychology of religion, secondary subjects: sociology, social geography).
Following his studies in psychology Nouwen became a Fellow in the program for Religion and Psychiatry at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas from 1964-1966. During this year he participated in Martin Luther King's civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Following his studies at the Menninger, Nouwen was invited to join the newly formed Faculty of Psychology at Notre Dame University where he taught for two years.
In 1968 he returned to the Netherlands to take positions as Staff member of the Amsterdam Joint Pastoral Institute and member of the faculty of the Catholic Theological Institute in Utrecht. From 1970-1971 Nouwen pursued an advanced degree in theology at the University of Nijmegen, focusing on the work on Anton T. Boisen. A doctorandus degree was received in 1971. After completing his theology degree he accepted a position in the Yale Divinity School. For ten years (1971-1981), he taught such courses as Christian Spirituality, Pastoral Care and Counselling, Life and Work of Thomas Merton, Ministry and Spirituality, Ministry of Vincent van Gogh and Ministry to the Elderly. He spent one semester in Rome teaching at the North American College in 1978 and became a fellow at the Ecumenical Institute at Collegeville, Minnesota.
In 1981 he resigned from his tenured position to work with the Maryknoll brothers in Peru as well as visiting Bolivia and Nicaragua. In addition to exploring his vocation in Latin America, Nouwen explored the possibility of joining several different Christian communities, with extended stays at the Abbey of the Genesee in 1979 and 1982. In 1983, following a speaking tour about Nicaragua, he accepted a Letz Lectureship at Harvard Divinity School, a position he held until his resignation in 1985. He went on to teach a summer course at Boston College and later to L'Arche Trosly-Breuil in France at the invitation of Jean Vanier, the founder of L'Arche (a network of more than 100 communities where people with developmental disabilities live in homes with assistants).
In 1986 he accepted the position of pastor as L'Arche Daybreak in Richmond Hill, Ontario. In addition to his duties as pastor, Nouwen co-taught with Daybreak members at Regis College, Toronto a course entitled "Communion, Community and Ministry" in 1994, the last course he would teach at a university.
In addition to teaching Nouwen was a prolific writer, authoring more than 40 books and hundreds of articles related to the Christian spiritual life including contemplative spirituality, prayer, the desert mothers and fathers, icons, ministry, theological education, peacemaking, prayer, death and the trapeze. A selection of his titles include The Wounded Healer, Reaching Out, Genesee Diary and The Return of the Prodigal Son. He was a sought-after speaker and travelled extensively to address participants at retreats, convocations, conferences and other public events.
Nouwen died on September 21, 1996 while visiting family in Holland.
Custodial history
Scope and content
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.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
The series has been arranged into two sub-series:
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- Books and articles
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- Talks and sermons
Each of these sub-series has sub-sub-series, files, and items. They have been arranged chronologically.
Language of material
- Dutch
- English
- French
- Italian
- Spanish
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Access to some material is restricted, as content is personal. See file level descriptions for more details.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
No reproduction of this material without permission of the Archivist.
No publication of this material, in whole or in part, without the permission of the Literary Executrix.
Associated materials
Accruals
General note
Other records related to the Manuscript series can be found in the General Files, Calendar Files, Publisher Files and Teaching Materials series. See sub-sub-series and file level descriptions for links between related material.
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Nouwen, Henri J. M., 1932-1996 (Subject)
- Boisen, Anton T. (Anton Theophilus), 1876-1965 (Subject)
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Language of description
- English