Thomas Merton Collection

The Merton Collection has grown to over fifty thousand items, including the literary estate, twenty thousand pieces of correspondence to over 2,100 correspondents, nine hundred drawings, eleven hundred photographs and six hundred hours of audio taped conferences given by Merton to his community at Gethsemani (samples), and several hundred volumes from Merton's own library. It is the largest Merton collection in the world, incorporating items translated into thirty languages, over two hundred and sixty masters and doctoral theses, audiovisual materials, and a growing collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and fabric art depicting Merton.

In 1967, one year before his death, Merton established the Merton Legacy Trust, naming Bellarmine College as the repository of his manuscripts, letters, journals, tapes, drawings, photographs, and memorabilia. Two years later, in October 1969, the College established the Thomas Merton Center, with the Collection as its focal point. The Center serves as a regional, national, and international resource for scholarship and inquiry on Merton and his works and also on the ideas he promoted: contemplative life, spirituality, ecumenism, East-West relations, personal and corporate inner work, peace, and social justice. The Merton Center regularly sponsors courses, lectures, retreats, seminars, Road Scholar [elderhostel], and exhibits for scholars, students, and the general public.