The Dorothy Day Library on the Web includes all of Dorothy Day’s writings in The Catholic Worker newspaper as well as selected articles published elsewhere and many of her books.
You can use the search form above, or browse the writings using one of the methods below.
For an additional list of resources about Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement, see the bibliography.
Note that these dropdown menus cover all posts on the CatholicWorker.org website. However, posts listed under 1981 or earlier are exclusively from Dorothy’s writings.
An account of the first five years of the Catholic Worker. Describes the C.W. not simply as a newspaper but as a movement. Explicates its position on labor and unions through Peter Maurin’s ideas on personalism. Much of the book, however, is taken up with the day to day experiences of the C.W., describing the soup lines, publication of the paper, picketing, farm communes, and the finances of the C.W. (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1939.
States the objectives of the Catholic Worker and defends it against the accusations of other Catholics and secular thought. Writes on such themes as marriage, sex, the human condition, poverty, economics and a variety of Church doctrines. All of these topics are treated from an orthodox Catholic point of view. The book is adapted from the diary she kept in 1948, when she spent the first four months with Tamar (daughter) and the rest of the year at Mott Street and the retreat farm in Newburgh. She noted that the book could be called a woman’s book, since parts of it are directed solely to women. As usual, much of the book dwells on the day-to-day happenings in her life.
An autobiography written as a letter to her brother John. Conversion story genre of her conversion from Communism to Catholicism. Compiled from articles in America and Preservation of the Faith. Discusses Dostoyevsky’s influence on her life and the lonely experience of her conversion Reads as a baptized version of The Eleventh Virgin, with emphasis on her religious experience throughout her life. Expounds on such topics as Eucharist, prayer, Marxism, capitalism, free will and St. Teresa of Avila.
Autobiographical novel of her pre-conversion years. Begins with family relationships, with emphasis on her mother. Proceeds through her radical years with the pacifist, birth control, socialist and suffrage movements, and ends with her abortion and break up with Lionel Moise (Dick Wemys). William Miller’s biography on D.orothyDay gives the real names of the characters. The New York Times reviewed the book as “just one more adolescent novel,” and D.orothy herself later called it a bad book.
Summary: A detailed account of the first houses of hospitality in New York where the works of mercy, prayer, work, and community intermingle. (The Catholic Worker, May 1939, 1, 3, 4. DDLW #342).
Summary: Tales of her travel to Rome to join twenty women on a ten-day fast for peace at Vatican Council II. Shares vignettes of friends, clergy, meetings, books, prayers, Masses, and accommodations. Describes the pain that accompanied her fast. (DDLW #835).
Summary: Expresses deep gratitude for Peter Maurin’s vision and life. Intermingles appreciations of Peter and St. Joseph’s gifts to the works of the CW. (The Catholic Worker, May 1956, 2.DDLW #704).
Summary: The tale of Felicia, a young Puerto Rican woman struggling to survive in the city living in a tenement with her husband and three children. Discovers they are being exploited to over pay for furniture which is already nearly worn out. Decries the exploitation of the poor, especially by other poor people. Concludes by pointing out the beauty of the spring and says “..God is not mocked.” (The Catholic Worker, April 1955, 1, 6. DDLW #684).
Summary: Reports on the hard life of Gulf fishermen in Pensacola, Florida. Underscores the need for study clubs and the need for the men to become owners through the cooperative movement as a way to change their lives. (The Catholic Worker, January 1940, 5. DDLW #353).
Summary: An interview with the Governor of Michigan and his role in settling strikes and labor disputes in a non-violent way. Highlights his views on law and order, but rejection of force and violence. Notes his membership in the Third Order of Franciscans. (DDLW #885: The Catholic Worker, October 1937, pp. 1,3).
Summary: Continues her car journey with observations about the geography of New Orleans. Tells of a miracle attributed to Martin de Porres and speaks of an interest in folk medicine. Admires efforts of families living on the land and their efforts at community. (DDLW #778). The Catholic Worker, February 1961, 1, 2, 7.
Summary: An account of the trip by a dilapidated car to Maryfarm, Newburgh, and the spiritual renewal of a subsequent four-day retreat. Rallies to the cause of Ruth Reynolds, on trial in Puerto Rico for sedition. Reflects on the death of William Randolph Hearst, whose newspapers she disdained. (DDLW #946). The Catholic Worker, September 1951, pp. 1,2
