Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1964-1966, 1968, 1970 (Creation)
Extent
1 folder, 11 items, 14 pages
Name of creator
Biographical history
Merton remembered Nancy Hauck Boettcher when he was young and she was a baby in Long Island. After the death of Merton's mother Ruth in 1921, Nancy's grandmother, Freida "Nanny" Hauck came to help Merton's grandparents take care of Thomas and John Paul Merton. Nancy's aunt Elsie married Merton's uncle Harold Jenkins. Harold and Elsie took care of Nanny Hauck at first. According to Nancy, they "threw her out of their house", and she came to live with Walter and Ruth Hauck, Nancy's parents. The difficult situation of her parents taking care of Nanny is the subject of the first letter. At this time, Nancy was married, had a couple of children, and was unable to assist her parents with the care of Nanny. (Source: «The Road to Joy», pp. 57 and 65.)
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Merton had a close relationship with Nancy Hauck Boettcher's grandmother, who helped raise Merton and his brother. Nancy begins writing Merton when her grandmother, Freida "Nanny" Hauck, was living with Nancy's parents and causing strain on them. Nanny's condition worsens and she dies. Though Nancy was, as was Merton, close with Nanny, she sees Nanny's death as something of a blessing given Nanny's suffering and the hardship endured by her parents in caring for her.
System of arrangement
Records are arranged chronologically. Records are not divided into Series.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Regulations governing use of the collection can be found here: (‹https://bellarmine.libraryhost.com/index.php/rules›).
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Languages of the material
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
See also published letters from Merton to Nancy Hauck Boettcher in «The Road to Joy» (‹https://bellarmine.on.worldcat.org/search?queryString=no%3A26858205›), pp. 65, 66, 69-71, and 76.