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: Explains how illnesses in her family kept her from a planned speaking trip. Describes a walk with a friend through push-cart lined streets in the neighborhood. (The Catholic Worker, March 1952, 1, 2. DDLW #631).
Summary: Enumerates all the things people send, especially clothes, that are rapidly distributed. Laments that “Holy Mother the State” requires them to submit an accounting since they make appeals. Notes the need to keep voluntary poverty in mind and thanks all who send anonymous gifts. (The Catholic Worker, February 1956, 8. DDLW #699).
Summary: Asked to visit a woman committed to the psychopathic ward of Bellevue Hospital for an anti-Semitic remark, she recalls harrowing experiences with the mentally disturbed and tales of unjust incarcerations in psychiatric hospitals. These memories, plus an unpleasant encounter with one of Bellevue’s doctors, prompts her interest in studying Belgium’s decentralized methods for dealing with the mentally ill. (The Catholic Worker, May 1945, 1, 2, 6. DDLW #410).
Summary: Details about caring for workers during the seamens’ strike–the need for large amounts of food, space to sleep, illness, high rent, and the threat of violence. Says unions need a supernatural outlook for “without a fatherhood of God, there can be no brotherhood of man.” (The Catholic Worker, January 1937, 4, 6. DDLW #314).
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: Reflecting on the themes cover in the book, she acknowledges all that has been accomplished and distinguishes the role of the State and personal responsibility. Enumerates the many strikes they supported. Calls for a greater use of prayer and the desire to be saints. Speaks about what individual workers are doing in New York and is encouraged by houses around the country. Concludes by recalling Peter Maurin’s fundamental ideas–voluntary poverty and the works of mercy. Prays that they continue on “the downward path which leads to salvation.” (DDLW #450).
Summary: Asks for help, reminding us that we get what we need since “God is not to be outdone in generosity.” Notes their Lenten fasting and the results they can expect. (DDLW #685). The Catholic Worker, April 1955, 2.
Summary: Short vignette about the House of Hospitality in Seattle, a cooperative house of unemployable men, and a generous family’s little farm. (The Catholic Worker, May 1940, 7. DDLW #359).
