File 193 - Letters from Mary Carney

1 cm of textual records

Mary Carney, a hospice nurse in Camden, CT, first met Henri Nouwen when he was one of her supervisors in a Clinical Pastoral course at Yale Divinity School. She became a great friend of Henri’s and continued to document and photograph his life and achievements during after his time at Yale University, considering it one of her responsibilities to record his life in this way.

File consists of correspondence between Henri Nouwen and Mary Carney in the form of typed and handwritten letters; postcards; cards; and magazines Nouwen sent to Carney.
File also includes a letter from Nouwen to Walter Gaffney with a paragraph on Mary Carney.
Two of the letters include:

1. One typed letter dated January 12, 1989 from Connie Ellis of L’Arche Daybreak to Mary Carney regarding a “Christmas Parade” sent by Carney for Henri Nouwen to borrow, as well as Henri’s application of Landed Immigrant Status.
2. One typed letter dated February 11, 1994 from Henri Nouwen to Mary Carney regarding her friendship with and support of Connie Ellis’ family upon her death and Carney’s visit to L’Arche Daybreak for Henri’s birthday.

Letter dated October 20, 1988 and enclosed material with that letter is restricted.

Title based on contents of the file.

Added by T Wong, 7 March 2023
Revised by L Whitehead, 18 November 2025