Planned series outline |
 The Walter J. Ong, SJ Manuscript Collection, housed in the St. Louis Room of Pius XII Memorial Library, currently exists in two parts, the material donated prior to 2004 and the material donated in 2004. As the Collection is processed, described, and cataloged, the two sections are being merged and the majority of the material will be made available to the public once this work is done.
The pre-2004 collection consists of material Fr. Ong gave to the University Archives prior to 1990 and material sent to the University Archives by others. It includes press copy typescripts of some Fr. Ong’s books, off-prints (both his and others), a number of lecture typescripts (some of which have never been published in any form), some source material, audio recordings, and nearly 200 slides taken by Walter Ong as he traveled through Europe in 1950-53 and 1969.
 The 2004 material, which makes up the bulk of the collection, consists of the items donated to SLU in August 2004 by the Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus, as per Fr. Ong’s request. This material includes Fr. Ong’s personal library (over 1,600 books), his academic files, personal correspondence, class and lecture notes, research materials, and related items. Included in the collection are a number of unpublished articles and lectures; audio and video recordings of Fr. Ong; library cards from around the world; souvenirs from his trip to the 1929 Boy Scout World Jamboree; correspondence with family, friends, and colleagues; textbooks with Fr. Ong’s notes taken while a student; sketches and drawings; hundreds of photos and slides of Ong, family, friends, and places he visited; and personal items such as his typewriter and his mother's rosary.
 We hope to have a the preliminary work done and the finding aid completed around the end of 2007. When this initial work is finished, the finding aid will be made available on this site. In the meantime, the Planned Series Outline is available. This outline should give researchers a general idea of what the Ong Collection contains until the more comprehensive finding aid is ready. Once the Ong Collection has been processed, it will be opened to the public.
|
