Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
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- Textual record
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- Source of title proper: Title based on contents of the series.
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Class of material specific details area
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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1956-1996 ; predominant 1970-1996 (Collection)
- Collector
- Nouwen, Henri J. M., 1932-1996
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1956-1996 ; predominant 1970-1996 (Creation)
- Creator
- Nouwen, Henri J. M., 1932-1996
Physical description area
Physical description
4.92 m of textual records
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
Nouwen originally accumulated his own published works through subscriptions, news services, publishers, article authors, or friends. In 1975 he began to transfer this material to the Yale Divinity School Library where it was arranged and numbered. Nouwen's office continued to transfer his material to Yale until 2000. Additional published material was also accumulated at L'Arche Daybreak from 1986 and continuing after his death in 1996. The two sources of published material were brought together at the Nouwen Archives where they were merged in 2001-2002.
Scope and content
Series consists of published works written and collected by Nouwen during his lifetime. Although there are some of his earliest writings dating from 1956, the series is predominantly dating from 1970 to 1996.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
The series has been arranged in the following ten sub-series taking into account the author(s), subject(s), and format of the records:
9.1. Articles by Nouwen
9.2. Articles co-authored by Nouwen
9.3. Interviews of and articles about Nouwen
9.4. Book reviews
9.5. Scrapbook 1956-1965
9.6. Scrapbook 1965-1982
9.7. Books by Nouwen
9.8. Books contributed to by Nouwen
9.9. Books about Nouwen
9.10. Guides
Language of material
- Chinese
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- Finnish
- French
- German
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Spanish
- Swedish
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
Accruals
General note
Duplicates of some of the material are available in the archives.
General note
Any published work not collected by Nouwen, or published after his death in 1996 is located in the Special Collections of the Archives.
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)
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