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: Some thoughts on death after the sudden passing of a co-worker. Tells of Workers returning from war, painting chores, and prayers for conversions. Speaks of wanting to finish a novel that includes themes from the retreat given at Maryfarm and which has drawn criticism. (The Catholic Worker, October 1945, 1, 2. DDLW #415).
Summary: Ill and ordered to rest she reflects on sickness, life, and death. Tales of life at Peter Maurin farm–the gift of 45 chickens, a blizzard, and smog. (The Catholic Worker, December 1953, 1, 7, 8. DDLW #660).
Summary: On the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary she appreciates the work of mothers and the practice of the presence of God in the smallest acts. Describes Tamar’s family and their house where she is caring for the grandchildren while Tamar and David have a vacation. Describes life with the children and lauds “manual labor as part of a penitential aw well as creative life.” (The Catholic Worker, July-August 1952, 2, 7. DDLW #636).
Summary: Updates readers about recent events in her daughter’s family. Decries the disbanding of a multi-national and interracial fraternal association because of its Communist connections. Says they oppose “atheistic communism,” not economic communism based on mutual aid. (The Catholic Worker, February 1952, 4. DDLW #629).
Summary: Recounts the life and vocation of Charles de Foucauld who inspired the foundation of the Little Brothers and Little Sisters of Jesus. She is especially attracted to their living with the poor in poverty and their devotion to manual labor. (The Catholic Worker, August 1959, 2, 7, 8. DDLW #755).
Summary: Writing from Albuquerque she contrasts two types of hospitality–the “grand gesture” that doesn’t last and the “unspectacular” that perseveres. Opposes a top down governmental approach to helping the poor and is critical of excessive spending for airbases and for Church decorations. Witnesses the brutal breakup of the civil rights march in Selma, Alabama and relates several incidents of violence and segregation in Mississippi. Keywords: Negro, Black (DDLW #823). The Catholic Worker, March 1965, 1, 2, 6.
