Harry James Cargas Papers: Selected Writings

The writings below provide some insight into the thought of Harry James Cargas. Letters are used with permission of his estate.

 

Governor John Ashcroft of Missouri

Ashcroft was Governor of Missouri from January 1985 through January 1993. He later represented the state as a United States Senator and served as U.S. Attorney General in the G.W. Bush administration.

 

• Letter dated February 18, 1992: full-text

Daniel Berrigan

Cargas' letter references Berrigan's imprisonment for digging holes in the White House lawn. The incident was part of a protest against the proliferation of nuclear weapons on Nov. 26, 1975.

 

• Undated letter: full-text

Bob Costas

Dr. Cargas shared a love of sports with Bob Costas, a sportscaster and television host.

 

• Letter dated January 19, 1997: full-text

Brother David Darst

Darst was active in the anti-war protests of the Vietnam War. In November 1968, he was sentenced to two years in prison for taking part in the burning of Selective Service files in Baltimore.

 

• Letter to Darst dated April 8, 1968: full-text
• Letter to Tunny dated October 18, 1968: full-text

Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O. (aka Father Louis)

Merton was a well-known Catholic writer who died in 1968. Dr. Cargas supplied the forwards to two of Merton's books, Introductions East and West: the Foreign Prefaces of Thomas Merton and Honorable Reader: Reflections on My Work.

 

• Letter dated October 18, 1965: full-text

Elie Wiesel

In 1975, Elie Wiesel wrote a review of a book chronicling the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Dr. Cargas' letter to Wiesel focuses on the last line of the review: "Dead or alive, Jews are alone." (Wiesel, E. (1975, June 8). The savage Olympic game, the program of the J.D.L.: the mood of Israel. New York Times, p. 250.)

 

• Undated letter: full-text