John Howard Griffin papers, 1920-2004

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Series VI: The Decade of the Fifties, 1950s



Box 4 Folder 161 Griffin, John Howard What happened in Mansfield: a report of the crisis situation in Mansfield, Texas, resulting from efforts to desegregate its school system, Mansfield, TX,, [1956], 17 pages t.ms. (mimeograph

[This document gives us the background in Mansfield and the historical chronology of the situation from 1948 through 1956; this portion runs for six and one-half pages, followed by one and one-half pages of personal impressions by Griffin. The remainder of the document is made up of interviews with some of the participants, as well as further analysis.


Box 4 Folder 162 Copies of the Baptism and Confirmation certificates of Griffin's conversion to Catholicism., TX,, 1951


Box 4 Folder 163 Copy of marriage certificate of John Howard Griffin, with press clipping re. marriage, Texas,, 1953, 2 pages photocopy


Box 4 Folder 164 News stories re. Griffin regaining his sight, Texas, 1957, 7 pages photocopies


Box 4 Folder 165 Milhaud, Darius To John Howard Griffin, [n.p.], [1953]

[The French composer, who was a close friend of the Casadesus family, responds to a letter from Griffin (no carbon of that Griffin letter was in the archives).


Box 4 Folder 166 Poulenc, Francis To John Howard Griffin, 1954-55, 3 pages t.ms. (translations), 4 t.l. (carbons

[There are no original Poulenc letters. Poulenc, thinking Griffin was a priest, bared his soul to the young American during the time he was composing his great religious work, "Dialogue of the Carmelites." Included in this folder is a photocopy of Griffin's article, "The Poulenc Behind the Mask," published in Ramparts, in 1964. This piece sets the letters in context and provides perspective to the relationship.


Box 4 Folder 167 Griffin, John Howard To Gerald Vann, Mansfield, Texas, 6 April 1957 - 5 May 1963, 7 t.l. (carbons

[Dominican theologian. Father Vann was an early champion of Griffin's first novel,The Devil Rides Outside, defending the book against the criticism of Catholic clergy in the United States and England (Vann was British). Griffin considered Vann to be among his spiritual mentors (along with Jacques Maritain and Thomas Merton), and he was greatly influenced by Fr. Vann's commentary on The Book of John (The Eagle's Word)


Box 4 Folder 168-171 Murphy, Father Stanley To John Howard Griffin, Windsor, Ontario, 1957-1967, 76 t.l.s. & a.l.s., In 4 folders

[Father Murphy was director of the Christian Culture Series for nearly 30 years and on the faculty of Assumption University, Windsor, Ontario. Griffin spoke in the series a half dozen times and was awarded the Christian Culture Medal (1966). These letters are vibrant, personal and intelligently opinionated. Fr. Murphy was a loyal defender of Griffin's work and was a radical critic of racism in the Catholic Church. The men were close friends, visited each other every year, and were together with Jacques Maritain and Thomas Merton when those two friends visited for the last time at the Abbey of Gethsemani, in 1966


Box 4 Folder 171 Murphy, Father Stanley "The Born, the Unborn, and the Still-Born," along with an offprint of the essay published by The Basilian Teacher (a magazine of the Basilian order)., Windsor, Ontario,, [1962], 7 page t.ms. (carbon), 1 pamphlet

[Includes promotional materials from the Christian Culture Series


Box 4 Folder 172-174 Griffin, John Howard To Father Stanley J. Murphy, Mansfield, Texas, 1957-1963, 71 t.l. (carbons), In 3 folders

[Included is a significant 8 page letter from 1957; there are 40 letters from 1962, many concerning racism andBlack Like Me


Box 4 Folder 175 Turner, Decherd To John Howard Griffin, Dallas, Texas, 1961-1966, 5 t.l.s., 2 page bibliography (carbon

[The bibliography is of Griffin's writings


Box 4 Folder 176 Griffin, John Howard To Decherd Turner, Mansfield, TX, 1954-1962, 15 t.l. (carbons


Box 4 Folder 177 Griffin, John Howard To Nelson Gonzales, [Mansfield, Texas], 12 September 1957, 1 page t.l. (carbon

[Inquiring about the possibility of writing a novel of the southwest that "will observe a picture of the daily lives and customs of the Spanish-Americans." However, nothing came of this project.


Box 4 Folder 178 Crossman, Jerome K., et al. Circular letter relating to the controversy between the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and a group known as the Dallas County Patriotic Council., Texas,, 1956, 1 page mimeographed letter, signed