Walter J. Ong Archives at Saint Louis University Libraries

SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
Walter J. Ong Manuscript Collection
Collection code: DOC MSS 0064
Inclusive dates: 1912-2008

Accession number: 2004.0030
Processed by: John Walter, Christine Harper, John Waide
Date completed: June, 2009

Introduction

The majority of the material in the Walter J. Ong Manuscript Collection arrived in the University Archives in August, 2004, approximately one year after Father Ong passed away. Father Ong had indicated in a July, 1989, letter to the head of Special Collections of Pius XII Memorial Library, that upon his death, any material in his room in Jesuit Hall which could be of use to scholars, was to be deposited in the Saint Louis University Archives. In preparation for its transfer to the University Archives, the material in Father Ong's room was boxed up in precisely the same order that Father Ong had kept it. Each box and filing cabinet was clearly marked as to the location in his room of the items in that box or cabinet. Forty records center (cubic foot) boxes, four four-drawer file cabinets, one two-drawer file cabinet, and several smaller containers of material were moved to the Archives. When all of the material that was in file cabinet drawers was transferred to records center boxes in the Archives, the collection filled seventy boxes. Any material that was deemed to be of a personal nature, or thought to be related more to his family life or his activities as a priest, was sent to the Midwest Jesuit Archives in St. Louis.

Between 1990 and 1995, Father Ong transferred to the Archives numerous offprints of articles either that he had written or that had been sent to him by other scholars who believed he might be interested in them. He also sent to the Archives several dissertations about his work that had been sent to him by their authors as well as the texts of numerous talks he presented over the years. This material filled ten more records center boxes.

To help with the arrangement and description of the Ong material, Pius Library, in cooperation with the Department of English, selected a graduate student assistant from the English Department for a two year assistantship. The Library selected Mr. John P. Walter as the Ong graduate assistant, working twenty hours per week with the collection. In consultation with full time Archives staff, John devised a plan for the appraisal, arrangement, and description of the Ong material. John’s first task was to open every box received, perform a moderately thorough examination of its contents, and develop a preliminary inventory for each box or cabinet drawer. After John completed this initial inventory and discussed his findings with Archives staff, everyone reached the conclusion that Father Ong was an archivist’s dream. He was meticulous in the organization of his files, marking his own folder headings and leaving explanations of the contents of the various parts of the collection. Thus, the series and sub-series outline which was used for the arrangement and description of the collection is essentially the scheme that Father Ong had developed.

Upon completing the inventory and devising the arrangement scheme, John returned to the contents of the boxes to analyze the contents of the files and the relationships among them. As he reviewed the files, John wrote a description of the contents of each one. As John neared the completion of the second year of the assistantship, it became clear that he would not complete the description of the Ong collection. Thus, his assistantship was extended a third year, until the end of July, 2007. By the end of the third year, John had described the contents of virtually all of the “Scholarship” and “Index Card” series. Christine Harper, Assistant University Archivist, had completed descriptions for the “Invitations” series as well as the “References” sub-series of the “General Files” series. Since John Walter left, Christine and John Waide, University Archivist, assisted by Alice Faye Hubbard of the Archives staff and several student assistants, have continued to work on the processing of the Ong collection.

As of this date, the entire contents of six series in the collection have been reviewed, as well as one sub-series of a seventh series. The material has been arranged into file folders or small card file boxes, and the contents of each folder or box has been described. This material is currently available to users for research.

The six series which have been completed are:

Scholarship
General Files
Index Card and Ephemera Files
Invitations
Offprints Given to Walter J. Ong
Conference Sessions and Classes on Walter J. Ong

The “Offprints” sub-series of series 7, “Material Given to Saint Louis University Archives,” has also been reviewed, arranged, and described. The material in the Father Ong collection which has already been processed accounts for more than 95% of the collection. As the remaining contents are processed, descriptions will be added to this finding guide and the material will be made available to users.

Linear feet of space: Approximately 4,900 folders occupying more than 90 linear feet
Total number of items: More than 41,000 items
Access restrictions: Yes.

Access to the majority of the collection is unrestricted. There are restrictions to certain sub-series and to individual files, however. Access to files in the "References" sub-series of the "General Files" series requires permission of archivist. Access to certain folders in the Correspondence" sub-series of the "General Files" also requires permission of archivist.

Suggested citation for this collection:
Saint Louis University Archives. Walter J. Ong Manuscript Collection (DOC MSS 0064).

Biographical Sketch:

Reverend Walter J. Ong, S. J., (1912 – 2003)

Known for his work in Renaissance literature, intellectual history, and the evolution of consciousness, Walter J. Ong, S.J., was a Jesuit, a scholar, and a teacher. An author of over 450 publications and the perennially popular Orality and Literacy, Fr. Ong was a Saint Louis University Professor Emeritus, the William E. Haren Professor Emeritus of English, and Professor Emeritus of Humanities in Psychiatry. His scholarship has influenced numerous fields and countless scholars.

Walter Jackson Ong was born November 30, 1912, in Kansas City, Missouri. He completed undergraduate studies at Rockhurst College and worked in commercial positions for two years before entering the Society of Jesus in 1935. He then studied philosophy and theology at Saint Louis University, received his masters degree in English at Saint Louis University and his doctorate at Harvard University. Saint Louis University was among the many institutions to recognize Ong, bestowing him with its highest honor, the Sword of Ignatius Loyola, in 1993.

Fr. Ong's scholarship was recognized around the world. His seminal Orality and Literacy was translated into a dozen languages, both European and Asian. He gave lecture tours in Western Africa, Japan, and across Europe. Although they seldom honor teachers of English, The French Government named him Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques.

Fr. Ong's advice was sought across several fields of expertise. He served on the editorial boards of a number of academic journals, was a member of various national committees for the Modern Language Association, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Council on Education, and served as President of the Milton Society of America and the Modern Language Association. In 1967, he served on the 14 member White House Task Force on Education under President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Fr. Ong's work was deeply interdisciplinary, a fact recognized by Saint Louis University in 1984, when Ong was appointed University Professor, a unique placement directly under the University's central administration, reporting to no departmental chair or dean. His teaching and writing was difficult to classify by traditional lines of departmental demarcation. His students labeled his courses not English but "Onglish" to explain his vast treatment of topics in any class. He explained in a letter that he did his graduate work in English because "English seemed intellectually and culturally roomier and more open than other subjects. It could encompass what they did and more -- could open the way into almost anything."

A Jesuit Catholic priest, Walter J. Ong, SJ, was active in the ministry after ordination in 1946. For decades he celebrated daily Mass in St. Francis Xavier (College) Church in St. Louis, MO, and administered there and elsewhere the sacrament of Reconciliation. He regularly directed others in the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, in various forms: in groups and in one-on-one individual direction. At North House, a former Jesuit residence in St. Louis, he contributed to the free tutoring for young boys needing academic assistance. He also cared steadfastly for every houseplant in Jesuit Hall.

Fr. Ong was active until the end of his life. His last article, "Digitization Ancient and Modern: Beginnings of Writing and Today's Computers," published in 1998 in Communication Research Trends, won the Media Ecology Association's Walter Benjamin Award for Outstanding Article in the Field of Media Ecology in 2000. Fr. Ong died in 2003.

Scope and Content Note

The Walter J. Ong Manuscript Collection has been divided into 7 series. Most of these series are further divided into numerous sub-series. For the most part, these series and sub-series divisions reflect the organizational scheme which Father Ong had established for his own research material. These 7 series and the major sub-series are:

Series 1: Scholarship

A. Personal Bibliography
B. Publications
C. Lectures (typescripts)
D. Unpublished and Unfinished Works
E. Research Materials/Sources

Series 2: General Files

A. General Files
B. Correspondence
C. References

Series 3: Index Card and Ephemera Files

A. Alphabetized Index Card and Ephemera Files
B. Address Index Cards
C. Personal Bibliography Index Cards
D. Current Research Index Cards
E. Ramus Material Index Cards

Series 4: Invitations

Series 5: Offprints Given to Walter J. Ong

Series 6: Conference Sessions and Classes on Walter J. Ong

Series 7: Material Given to Saint Louis University Archives

A. Offprints

A detailed scope and content note is available for each of these series below in this finding aid in the series descriptions. The first three series, Scholarship, General Files, and Index Card and Ephemera Files, will probably be of the most interest to research scholars.

Series Descriptions

This processed portion of the collection is organized into 7 series:

Series 1: Scholarship
Series 2: General Files
Series 3: Index Card and Ephemera Files
Series 4: Invitations
Series 5: Offprints Given to Walter J. Ong
Series 6: Conference Sessions and Classes on Walter J. Ong
Series 7: Material Given to Saint Louis University Archives

Series 0001 : Scholarship

The “Scholarship” Series of the Walter J. Ong Manuscript Collection contains the most intellectually important and the largest volume of material in the collection. Virtually all of the items in this series are directly related to Father Ong’s scholarly activities and products throughout his career. Although important items related to Father Ong’s scholarship may be found in other series within the collection, any researcher desiring even a general understanding of his scholarship should begin with this series. The “Scholarship” series consists of 5 sub-series:

1. Personal Bibliography
2. Publications
3. Lectures
4. Unpublished and Unfinished Works
5. Research Materials/Sources

1. Personal Bibliography Sub-series—Father Ong kept this Personal Bibliography set of files (sub-series) together immediately before his Publications files. The sub-series title, “Personal Bibliography,” is somewhat misleading in that the material in these files is not really a bibliography at all. What Father Ong apparently meant by collecting these folders under the heading “Personal Bibliography” is that these items all held some importance to Father Ong, but they did not neatly fit into another series category. This notion of personal importance seems to be the common characteristic, whether the item is a publication containing a reference to his work, a brief summary or discussion of his work, a short statement he made about someone else’s publication, or a text of a talk or paper he never intended to publish.

2. Publications Sub-series—This sub-series is the largest, and probably the most interesting and important sub-series within the entire collection. Consisting of nearly 1,000 folders, the Publications sub-series contains copies of virtually every published book review or article that Father Ong wrote. The Publications sub-series also contains typescript or press copies of many of his book publications, including, Ramus, Method and the Decay of Dialogue, Ramus and Talon Inventory, The Barbarian Within, In the Human Grain, Presence of the Word, Interfaces of the Word, and Orality and Literacy. In addition to copies of publications or typescripts of books, the folders in this sub-series contain correspondence, clippings, comments, flyers, advertisements, etc. related to each individual publication. The Publications sub-series maintains Father Ong’s arrangement scheme of separating the publications into three types, translations, book reviews, and articles and books, and then chronologically within each type. Thus, this sub-series can provide the researcher with a quick glimpse of the history of Father Ong’s scholarly output.

3. Lectures Sub-series—Father Ong described the contents of this sub-series in a note he wrote in 1995. “Copies of lectures delivered by Walter J. Ong, SJ, over the past several decades, with appropriate modifications for various audiences—many of the audiences, but not all, indicated on the drafts here. Many or most of these drafts were subsequently published, often in somewhat revised form and/or under differing titles.” Father Ong divided these lectures into the following categories: Current; Theological; Reviews and Short Pieces; Ramism; Miscellaneous.

4. Unpublished and Unfinished Works—This sub-series consists of scholarly research items which Father Ong never published, either because he never intended them to be published in the first place or because he never completely finished them or refined them to the point that they were ready for publication. One might also look at the “Texts of Various Talks” sub-sub series in the “Personal Bibliography” sub-series of the “Scholarship” series for other items which Father Ong never intended to have published.

Probably the most interesting items among the folders in this “Unpublished and Unfinished Works” sub-series are the materials related to Father Ong’s manuscript for a planned book, Language as Hermeneutic: A Primer on the Word and Digitization. In 1990, Father Ong had contacted Harvard University Press about his work on the book. Harvard expressed an interest in publishing the book for Father Ong, but Ong never felt completely satisfied with his manuscript.

5. Research Materials/Sources—This sub-series is an interesting grouping of materials which might be best described as items which Father Ong used as reference materials for his own research and work. It consists of offprints, photocopies of articles, newspaper clippings, announcements, flyers, etc. which Father Ong considered helpful enough for his own research that he saved them in his files. Father Ong had organized the majority of the items (nearly 270 folders) in this “Research Materials/Sources” sub-series into 12 topical categories.

These have been grouped into a "Filed" sub-sub-series. The 12 categories are:

1. Agression, Play
2. Man, Evolution of Universe, Origins
3. Sex Differences
4. Insecurity, Male Bonding
5. Violence
6. Apophthems
7. Electronics
8. Magazines
9. Orality
10. Orality and Literacy
11. Hopkins, Self, and God
12. Senses

Series 0002 : General Files

The "General Files" series is essentially a group of subject files. In Father Ong's original organizational scheme, there were no sub-series in the "General Files" series. The archivists processing the collection decided to divide this series into three sub-series:

1. General Files sub-series
2. Correspondence
3. References

This decision was made primarily because two of these categories or sub-series, the "Correspondence" and "References," were so large and contained so many items. In Father Ong's scheme, these two sub-series were simply filed in order as part of the larger "General Files" series. The "General Files" and "Correspondence" sub-series have been sub-divided into two sub-sub-series, those documents already filed by Ong (the "Filed" sub-sub-series) and those found loose in Father Ong's room and arranged wholly by archivists (the "Unfiled" sub-sub-series). As Father Ong's health declined over the last few years of his life, he was unable to file away newly received material into his already established categories and organization. By far, the largest and most important sub-sub-series in both the "General Files" and "Correspondence" categories is the "Filed" sub-sub-series. Arrangement in all of the sub-series is generally alphabetical and reverse chronological thereunder, but where there are anomalies, such as in the succession of folders on English courses in the "General Files" sub-series, the order is Ong's original order. Folder descriptions list items from the back of the folders to the front in order to establish historical continuity over the range of items kept by Ong in reverse chronologcal order.

The "General Files" sub-series may best be described as Father Ong's true subject files. Among other categories, Father Ong filed numerous items under the following headings: colleges or universities, professional organizations, scholarly journals, professional awards, and personal names. Of particular interest to scholars will be the items filed beginning with the "English" heading which include notes and other materials related to college/university courses which Father Ong both took and taught.

Although one will find many pieces of correspondence within the "General Files" sub-series, the "Correspondence" sub-series actually contains the bulk of the important correspondence in the Father Ong Collection. In addition to more personal correspondence with family members and friends, this sub-series contains correspondence between Father Ong and numerous scholars. Among the notable scholars with whom Father Ong corresponded are: Noam Chomsky, John Hope Franklin, Northrop Frye, Eric Havelock, Marshall McLuhan, Perry Miller, and William Wimsatt. Please be aware that there may be correspondence with these scholars, and others, within other series in the collection, particularly the "Scholarship" series.

The "References" sub-series contains letters of reference or recommendation which Father Ong wrote for individuals. The purpose for which the letters were written included applications for jobs, graduate school, fellowships, awards, etc. This sub-series is arranged alphabetically by the last name of the person for whom the letter of reference was written.

The "General Files" and "Correspondence" sub-series are both sub-divided into two sub-sub-series, those documents already filed by Ong (the "Filed" sub-sub-series) and those found loose in Father Ong's room and arranged wholly by archivists (the "Unfiled" sub-sub-series). As Father Ong's health declined over the last few years of his life, he was unable to file away any newly received material into his already established categories and organization. By far, the largest and most important sub-sub-series in both the "General Files" and "Correspondence" categories is the "Filed" sub-sub-series. Arrangement in these two sub-sub-series is generally alphabetical.

Series 0003 : Index Card and Ephemera Files

Throughout his career, Father Ong maintained numerous "index card" files. Although many of these files contain traditional 4" X 6" index cards, many of the "cards" are slips of ordinary paper cut to the 4" X 6" size. Father Ong kept most of these index card files in metal files with 4" X 6" drawers. Father Ong maintained five different categories (sub-series) of cards. A brief description of each of these sub-series follows below. This same description of the sub-series may be found in a descriptive record for each sub-series.

The first sub-series is “Alphabetized Card and Ephemera Files.” These files were originally kept in 5 metal file drawers. They are now maintained in 5 card file boxes. Box 1 holds files from "Alpha Sigma Nu" through "Date Books." Some of the topics include: Bibliography, personal; Bibliography, some studies of Ong's work; Bibliography, some studies making pivotal use of Ong's work; Bibliography, some studies making some use of Ong's work; Bibliography, disseratations and theses directed or passed on at universities other than Saint Louis University; Bibliography, students' directed publications (far from complete); Bridge; Correspondence. Researchers should be aware that Father Ong's "auto-bibliography" on index cards is NOT found here in this file but in its own file elsewhere in this same "Index Card and Ephemera Files" series, under "Personal Bibliography Cards" subseries. Ephemera includes: American Red Cross cards; an American Red Cross pin; Alpha Sigma Nu cards; date books, 1989-1997; drivers licenses. Interesting cards include: Summaries of scholarship using Ong's work; "Some studies making some use" cards, he began compiling in 1970 and he ceased making additions in 1989. It is "quite incomplete."

Box 2, holds files from E to En. This box contains many syllabi and course related material. Courses include: "Methods of Teaching English"; "Orality and Literate Cultures"; "The Origins and Study of Literature"; "Polemic in Literary and Academic Tradition: A Historical Survey"; "The Practice of Interpretation of Prose/Practical Criticism: Prose"; "The Practice of Interpretation: Poetry/Practical Criticism"; "Literature and the Nature of the Word"; "Interdisciplinary Studies: Media and the Developments of Character, Plot, and Genre"; "Modern Critical Theories"; "The Study of Language"; "History of the English Language"; "Technology and the Creation of Literature"; "The Renaissance in England"; "Renaissance Poetry and Prose"; "Renaissance Literature: Prose"; "Formation of the Renaissance Mind"; "From Dialogue to Enlightenment"; "Studies in Renaissance Literature: Poetry Exclusive of Drama and Epic"; "Seminar in Renaissance Literature: Prose Writers and Techniques"; "Studies in English Prose Developments: Renaissance Prose and the Educational Tradition"; "Renaissance Literature: Genre and Society"; "Seminar on Renaissance Literature: Literature and Rhetoric"; "Seminar in Renaissance Literature: The Reader and Sixteenth Century Literature"; "Seminar in Renaissance Literature: The Age of Milton"; "Seminar in Nineteenth Century Literature: Hopkins' Poetry and Theology"; "Themes in Literature: Existentialism"; "Language as Hermeneutic."

Box 3 contains files from En to Ph. This box contains some syllabi and course related materials. Also contains passports, library cards, and lecture citations (list of lectures Ong gave from 1994 - 1996; not comprehensive).

Box 4 holds files from Ph to Rs. In this box are prescriptions for some of Father Ong's medications. These prescription files are RESTRICTED. Also in this file are teaching notes for several literature texts as well as materials related to retreats, sermons, and homilies.

Box 5 contains files from Rs to Z. This file continues the material related to retreats and sermons. It also contains various ordination and first Mass cards.

The second sub-series is the “Address Index Cards,” and the first sub-sub-series is the “Current” address cards. These cards were originally kept in one card file drawer in alphabetical order with dividers separating each letter. Some supplies were kept in the drawer (extra cards, carbon paper, dividers). While these are being called "cards," some are actually slips of paper cut to the size of an index card. The content of a card can be as sparse as a simple name and address or as detailed as name, address, birthday, names and ages of children, how Father Ong met the person. The people listed on the cards may be professional acquaintances of Father Ong's or they may be personal friends. Some cross referencing of cards occures. As some of the information in these cards may be considered personal, there are access RESTRICTIONS to this file. The researcher might also want to look at the "Address Cards. Obsolete" sub-sub-series which contains cards to which no additions were made after 1954.

As with Father Ong's "Current" address cards, these cards were kept in alphabetical order in the same drawer as the "Current" cards. These "Obsolete" cards did not have any information added to them or changed since 1954. The researcher should also look at the "Address Cards. Current" sub-series. Many of these cards contain multiple entries, and many are organized by place or group (France, Harvard and Radcliffe, etc.) As there is some information on these cards which might be considered personal, RESTRICTIONS on access to these files exist.

The “Personal Bibliography Index Cards” sub-sub-series contains bibliographic cards with typed and handwritten annotations. Most, but not all, of Father Ong's publications are included on these cards. Interspersed among the bibliography cards are comment and direction cards which Father Ong created to direct those who might work on an online bibliography. Dr. Thomas M. Walsh, Department of English, Saint Louis University, used these cards as the basis for his published bibliography of the works of Father Ong. These cards had been kept originally in 2 wooden index card boxes. The dates given here in the label description are the dates of the publications represented on the cards, not the dates of the creation of the cards.

The “Current Research Index Cards” sub-sub-series consists primarily of annotated bibliographic citation cards, some of which are dated while others are not. The dates given in the description are approximate--there may be earlier or later items. These cards were originally kept in a metal index card file. While not labeled by Father Ong as such, based upon the categories and dates, it appears that these are research cards for Ong's post 1990 work. The sources are divided into categories and some categories have a "cross reference" card--in effect, this file constitutes an index card database. The categories include: [uncategorized]; communication (including media, chronology, etc.); computers; cosmology; Dali, Salvador and The Persistence of Memory; deconstruction; desire; dialogue; digitization; discourse; displacement; electronics; "facts"; fiduciality; hermeneutic; "I" ("you"); Information Age; mathematics; fractals, etc.; myths; names; narrative; orality-literacy-electronics; post orality-literacy bibliography; postmodern; praise; presence dotation-connotation; proverbs; rhetoric; self; sight, knowledge as; "shifters"; speech, speech acquisition, ethnography, language acquisition, kinds of speech; sound; technology; television; violence; writing, literacy, text, reading, etc.

While no precise date can be determined regarding the origin of the in the last sub-sub-series, “Ramus Material Index Cards,” it is reasonable to assume that most date between the time Ong began work on his dissertation and the publication of Ramus, Method, and the Decay of Dialogue and Ramus and Talon Inventory. Father Ong created 11 divisions for the cards: 1. Ramus: Agenda (0 bundles of cards or entries in division); 2. Ramus: Author (81 bundles/entries); 3. Ramus: Author (Manuscripts, etc) (7 bundles/entries); 4. Ramus: Procedure (64 bundles/entries); 5. Ramus: Subject (145 bundles/entries); 6. Ramus: Bibliograph by dates (22 bundles/entries); 7. Ramus, allusions to, by subject (see also "Ramus: Terms and Special Questions" file) (32 bundles/entries); 8. Ramus' mileu; authors on (only-including education, etc) (148 bundles/entries); 9. Ramus, Forerunners of (430 bundles/entries); 10. Ramus, Forerunners of: University of Paris scholastics (124 bundles/entries); 11. Ramus: Ramist, anti-Ramist, syncretic check list (435 bundles/entries).

Series 0004 : Invitations

The "Invitations" series consists of invitations sent to Father Ong for the following reasons: give lectures, apply for jobs, review proposals, attend or present at a conference, contribute to a journal or collection, attend a special event, etc. Many of the invitations contain Father Ong's annotations or responses. Father Ong kept these invitations filed generally in reverse chronological order, and that order is being maintained here. Originally he kept these invitations in 7 boxes the size of a ream of paper. Each year, or portion of a year, makes up a "sub-series" in this arrangement scheme.

Series 0005 : Offprints Given to Ong

This series, arranged alphabetically by author's name and chronologically thereafter, contains manuscript as well as published copies of works sent to Ong for his enjoyment or criticism. Some of the works are accompanied by correspondence between Ong and the authors. The items in this series were in Father Ong's room in Jesuit Hall when he died in 2003. Please note that there is another collection of offprints sent to Father Ong in the "Offprints" sub-series of the "Material Given to Saint Louis University Archives" series, series number 7. These offprints had been sent to the University Archives in Pius Library by Father Ong in 1991.

Series 0006 : Conference Sessions and Classes on Walter J. Ong

This series, arranged alphabetically with the exception of the first folder of miscellaneous material, contains programs for, copies of papers presented at, and articles about conference sessions dedicated to the work of Ong.

Series 0007 : Materials Given to Saint Louis University Archives

This series contains miscellaneous material related to Father Ong or his work which have been sent to the University Archives over the years. At this point, only the “Offprints” sub-series has been completely processed. The contents of this sub-series is virtually identical to the contents of the “Offprints Given to Father Ong” Series (Series 5). The reason for the separation of these offprints is that the offprints in this sub-series had been sent to the University Archives by Father Ong in 1991. The offprints in Series 5 did not arrive in the Archives until 2004, after Father Ong had passed away.