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Ernest Gordon Papers
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Ernest Gordon was a former Presbyterian dean of the chapel at Princeton University. During World War II, he was a Japanese prisoner of war and helped build the infamous "Bridge Over the River Kwai."
The collection consists of manuscripts of Gordon's writings and related correspondence: 1) the original autograph and typed manuscripts, galley proofs, and photographs of Through the Valley of the Kwai (1962), an account of Gordon's personal experiences during three-and-a-half years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Thailand during World War II and how those experiences led him to a vocation in the ministry; 2) typescripts of Meet Me at the Door (1969), based on Gordon's early years counseling students during his chaplaincy at Princeton; 3) unprocessed manuscripts of other works, including "Odyssey by the River Kwai" and "Nudged by Love," and correspondence with publishers and from readers/fans of Gordon's work; 4) Gordon's sermons, from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Unprocessed: Boxes 1-4 contain literary works and related correspondence; Boxes 5-7 contain miscellaneous sermons; Box 8 contains chronological sermons (1956-1962).
Publications: Through the Valley of the Kwai (New York: Harper, 1962), Meet Me at the Door (New York: Harper & Row, 1969)
Gift of the author. Unprocessed manuscripts and correspondence with publishers, along with sermons are a gift of the Princeton University Chapel. More sermons transferred from Mudd Library in 2010. "Solan" manuscript is a gift of the Chapel. AM 18485, 20475, 2009-64, 2010-3, 2011-7, 2012-8.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
Folder Inventory added by Hilde Creager '2015 in 2012.
No appraisal information is available.
Organization
Subject
- Church work with students -- New Jersey -- Princeton. -- 20th century
- College chaplains -- New Jersey -- Princeton. -- 20th century
- Prisoners of war -- Thailand. -- 20th century
- Prisons, Japanese
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Thailand -- Prisoners and prisons, Japanese
- Manuscripts. -- 20th century
Place
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2009
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
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