Abbey of Gethsemani Glass Negatives, ca. 1910s
Collection held by the Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky
Creator: Abbey of Gethsemani
Title: Glass Negatives, ca. 1910s
Rights: For more information regarding literary and copyright interest for this collection, contact the Collections Department at gro.lacirotsihnoslif@hcraeser.
Size of Collection: 2 boxes (28 items)
Location Number: 012PC27C
Finding aid created by: Hailey Brangers; Savannah Gross
Date finding aid created: 13 May 2026
Date finding aid last updated: 13 May 2026
Scope and Content Note
Collection of twenty-eight glass-plate negatives from the Abbey of our Lady of Gethsemani, or the Abbey of Gethsemani, a monastery of Cistercian Trappist monks in Trappist, Kentucky. Photographs are predominantly from the early 1900s during the tenure (1898-1935) of Dom Edmond Obrecht (1852-1935). Photographs include shots of the renovation of the cloister and gatehouse; destruction of the college after a fire in 1912; visitors to the Abbey; and Dom Edmond Obrecht and his successor, Frederic Dunne (1874-1948).
Contact prints of the negatives are stored with the collection in box 1.
Historical Note
Founded by French monks in 1848, the Abbey of Gethsemani in central Kentucky is the oldest continually operating monastery in America. It belongs to the Order of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance, a monastic branch of the Roman Catholic Church, also referred to as the Trappist tradition. Trappist Monks adhere to the Benedictine tradition of cloistered living, with an emphasis on manual labor in addition to the spiritual pursuits of daily worship and prayer.
At its peak in the mid-twentieth century, the Abbey was home to over 170 monks living and working across a 2,000-acre campus which included the Abbey, living quarters, guest houses, a library, museum, mill, gardens and farmland.
Notable theologian, writer, and activist Thomas Merton (1915-1968) joined the Abbey in December 1941 and began his lifelong work under the initial encouragement of Dom Frederic Dunne (1874-1948). Merton spent the remainder of his life at Gethsemani, publishing dozens of books and essays that popularized the Abbey and mystic Catholic philosophy to the outside world.
As of 2026, monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani continue worshipping, producing and selling food goods, and welcoming visitors for retreats to sustain their mission.
Sources
Aprile, Dianne. The Abbey of Gethsemani: Place of Peace and Paradox. Louisville, KY: Trout Lily Press, 1998.
Item List
Box 1
012PC27C.01: Monk with rosary standing in a gazebo with a Mother Mary statue
012PC27C.02: Monk in the snow near a trellis with a Mother Mary statue
012PC27C.03: Monk in front of the Abbey gatehouse in winter
012PC27C.04: Father Frederic Dunne (1874-1948) at a writing desk
012PC27C.05: Unidentified family standing on steps, possibly Abbey visitors
012PC27C.06: Unidentified family with man in suit on porch, possibly Abbey visitors
012PC27C.07: Large group of men, likely visitors, with a monk outside of Abbey gatehouse
012PC27C.08: Dom Edmond Obrecht (1852-1935) with unidentified man in suit near gazebo
012PC27C.09: Monk in a white habit holding a book outside of the Abbey
012PC27C.10: Dom Edmond Obrecht (1825-1935) and Father Frederic Dunne (1874-1948) with monks in front of the Abbey doorway
012PC27C.11: Dom Edmond Obrecht (1852-1935) and visitors inside Abbey cloister while under construction
012PC27C.12: Gethsemani College prior to its destruction by fire in March 1912
012PC27C.13: View of the Abbey of Gethsemani with Dom Edmond Obrecht (1874-1948) in the foreground
012PC27C.14: Studio portrait in profile of an unidentified man in suit
Box 2
012PC27C.15: Three monks worshipping in the newly renovated Abbey cloister
012PC27C.16: View of the Abbey of Gethsemani and gatehouse
012PC27C.17: Tree-lined entrance lane to the Gethsemani gatehouse
012PC27C.18: Two robed monks in the Abbey courtyard
012PC27C.19: Dom Edmond Obrecht (1852-1935) with two young boys in robes, possibly students at Gethsemani College, outside of the Abbey
012PC27C.20: View of the newly constructed gatehouse to the Abbey
012PC27C.21: Dom Edmond Obrecht (1825-1935) and Father Frederic Dunne (1874-1948) with monks and an unidentified man in front of the Abbey doorway
012PC27C.22: Monk with an unidentified man in suit near Mother Mary trellis statue
012PC27C.23: Dom Edmond Obrecht (1852-1935) and three monks outside of the Abbey doorway
012PC27C.24: Dom Edmond Orbecht (1852-1935) sitting at a desk in the Gethsemani library
012PC27C.25: Monk standing in a storage hall with robes on hooks
012PC27C.26: Dom Edmond Obrecht (1852-1935) and monks in work hats completing construction of the new Abbey gatehouse
012PC27C.27: View of the Abbey of Gethsemani with the gatehouse and cemetery
012PC27C.28: Dom Edmond Obrecht (1852-1935) and the Archbishop of Kentucky Denis O’Donaghue (1848-1925) standing with monks and visitors outside of the Abbey