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Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was an American writer and Trappist monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey near Bardstown, Kentucky, little more than an hour from Louisville. Merton is the author of more than seventy books (including the classic “The Seven Storey Mountain”, still in print after more than 50 years) that include poetry, personal journals, collections of letters, social criticism and writings for peace, social justice and ecumenism.

The Thomas Merton Center traces its origins to November, 1963 when, with Thomas Merton’s cooperation, a Merton collection became part of the library at Bellarmine University, 2001 Newburg Road. The Center is the official repository of Merton’s artistic estate, which includes over 1200 photographs and 800 drawings in addition to his writings. The Center archives over forty thousand Merton-related materials. It is the largest Merton collection in the world, incorporating items translated into twenty-eight languages, two hundred masters and doctoral theses, audiovisual materials, and a growing collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and fabric art depicting Merton. In November 1967, Thomas Merton established the Merton Legacy Trust to administer the literary rights to all of his unpublished manuscripts, journals and art work. The Merton Legacy Trust became irrevocable upon Thomas Merton’s death in December 1968.

The Thomas Merton Center is located on the second floor of Bellarmine’s new W. L. Lyons Brown Library, which opened in January, 1997. Merton’s own drawings and photographs are on display, together with a variety of artistic renderings and photographs of Merton. A special room in the Center, dedicated to Merton’s parents, contains a collection of watercolors by Merton’s father, Owen.

The Merton Center at Bellarmine University is only five minutes from Pinecrest Cottage and Gardens, and is open from 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. and from 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. Monday through Friday. For more information, contact Dr. Paul M. Pearson, Director and Archivist at (502)-452-8177, or log onto the site at www.merton.org.

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