Archives Report
New Collections at the University of Notre Dame Archives in 2016
Last February we received 115 linear feet of records from The Grail, as I reported in an earlier Cushwa Center newsletter. In October we received another 15 linear feet, with records representing Woman Church, 1983–1992; the Grailville Long Range Planning Group, 1975–1980s; Grailville Employees, 1980s; Grailville Farm, 1936–1971; Grailville Building Fund, 1947–1961; publications and manuscripts, 1945–2005; Janet Kalven Papers, 1952–1998; Eileen Schaeffler Papers, 1964–1996; Cay Charles and Maxine Bontje Papers, 1969–1974; correspondence, 1950s; personnel files; resource files, 1987–1997; and International Grail Aggiornamento Process files, 1962–1965.
Last March Brother David Klingeman of the St. John’s Abbey Archives sent us records of NoVa, a Northern Virginia Christian community in the Diocese of Richmond. The documents in this small collection (six linear inches) date from 1967 to 1978, are arranged chronologically, and consist chiefly of liturgies, with some correspondence and reports. NoVa hoped that a renewal might be effected through liturgical experimentation and active participation of a largely lay community, a renewal that would ultimately lead to Christian social action.
In April Michael Diebold brought us 19 compact discs containing containing oral history interviews he conducted documenting the experience of Boys Haven (later Boys and Girls Haven) residents, counsellors, directors, and board members. He also donated digital documentation of the institution, including a binder of clippings and memorabilia representing the life of Father James C. Maloney, founder of Boys Haven; correspondence from the late 1940s about the founding and early years; highlights of board meetings; newsletters; annual reports; a ledger containing the roster of residents; a photo album; and related files. Finally he donated two pamphlets about the life of Father Maloney and Boys Haven and two autobiographical books written by a former resident.
In June Mario A. Pasin donated a collection (.5 linear inch) of letters from Sebastiano Cardinal Baggio to his cousin, Anna Baggio Pasin, dating from 1966 to 1989, with a few related items such as post cards, Christmas cards, and images, including an 11-by-13 inch matted and signed black-and-white portrait of Cardinal Baggio, Apostolic Delegate in Canada.
In September Father Joseph Merkt donated five linear inches of textbooks and Roman Echoes yearbooks from the North American College and the Gregorian University in Rome, along with a few explanatory or related documents, and some photographs scanned and printed out on plain 8.5-by-11 inch paper. According to Father Merkt, these concern American seminarians in Rome “all born into the pre-Vatican II Church, who studied in Rome during Vatican II’s second through fourth sessions.” He says that they “were the first generation to begin implementing the changed liturgy, and are now living in the age of Pope Francis.” Father Merkt also donated the cassock and Roman clerical hat he wore during his years as a student in Rome.
In October Father Kenneth Taylor and other board members of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus donated 21 linear feet of NBCCC records dating from 1964 to 2016. Some of these files were preserved and organized by eminent historian Rev. Cyprian Davis, O.S.B., who served as archivist for the NBCCC. The collection includes files from board meetings and general meetings, chronological files, membership lists, newsletters, printed ephemera, correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports, clippings, photographs, and other documents concerning the activities and interests of the organization.
In December E. Jane Doering donated eight linear feet and more than 200 megabytes of the Bernard E. Doering Papers, consisting of correspondence, writings, teaching material, and research material, along with books, pamphlets, and periodicals containing his writings. Bernard E. Doering wrote Jacques Maritain and the French Catholic Intellectuals, edited The Philosopher and the Provocateur: the Correspondence of Jacques Maritain and Saul Alinsky and The Story of Two Souls: the Correspondence of Jacques Maritain and Julien Green, and translated Maritain’s Untrammeled Approaches and Jean-Luc Barré’s Jacques and Raïssa Maritain: Beggars for Heaven.
Wm. Kevin Cawley
Senior Archivist & Curator of Manuscripts
Archives of the University of Notre Dame
archives@nd.edu
visit archives.nd.edu for more information