Year: 1956

Summary: Reports on the many religious serving poor Negroes in Mississippi in schools, parishes, and aid associations. Stories of segregation and small victories for equal rights. Keywords: African-American, colored, blacks, civil rights (The Catholic Worker, December 1956, 1, 6, 7. DDLW #715).

Summary: Tales of three guests–a reconciled death, a desperate mother, and a hijacked worker. (The Catholic Worker, November 1956, 5. DDLW #713).

Summary: Reminds readers that love is an exchange of gifts and that helping the poor reveals God and leads to a better social order. Speaks of the continuing struggle to remove segregation. (The Catholic Worker, November 1956, 2. DDLW #712).

Summary: Depicts the plight of black sharecroppers in Mississippi–efforts to drive them off the land, economic injustice, intimidation, and lack of ownership. Tells of efforts to speak out and organize. Before arriving in the deep south she visits Catholic Workers in Memphis. Keywords: segregation The Catholic Worker, November 1956, 6, 8. DDLW #714).

Summary: Describes minor trials with the housing department. Admires the work of religious communities and other groups on a trip that included days of recollection, time with her grandchildren, speaking engagements, and conferences. (The Catholic Worker, October 1956, 2, 7. DDLW #711).

Summary: Graphic description of a visit to a prisoner on death row and other stories of terrible deaths in their neighborhood. Asks “Where to lay the blame?” Lashes out against “this rotten, decadent, putrid industrial capitalist system” calling for building up all forms of mutual aid. (The Catholic Worker, September 1956, 6, 7. DDLW #710).

Summary: Admires new pictorial lives of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Ignatius giving a brief biography of each saint noting their work and radical conversions. (The Catholic Worker, September 1956, 5. DDLW #709).

Summary: Describes her and 18 others’ arrest and court appearances for civil disobedience after demonstrating and not taking shelter in an air raid drill. Speaks of the courage and suffering needed in battle and in using spiritual weapons. Going to jail is one way of visiting the prisoner. (The Catholic Worker, July-August 1956, 1, 8. DDLW #243).

Summary: Discusses the tendency to rewrite history to suit our present purposes with examples about Stalin and union organizing. “Who tells the truth nowadays?” Links finding truth to taking time to be quiet, alone, and getting enough sleep. (The Catholic Worker, July-August 1956, 7. DDLW #245).

Summary: Meditation on the struggle between heaven and earth, between God and man, and between worship and action. Juxtaposes images of an atomic bomb test, the mentally ill, the Mass and worship, and quotes from writers. Argues for decentralization of government services, most especially for the decentralization of mental hospitals, and personal responsibility over state aid. Explains how all must atone for sin through suffering. (The Catholic Worker, June 1956, 2. DDLW #707).

Summary: Reflects on a variety of items–the gift of a statue of Mary, expensive house repairs, appeal to help Puerto Rican children, the crafts of bookbinding and spinning, encouraging children to explore nature, and the plight of the mentally ill. (The Catholic Worker, June 1956, 6, 7. DDLW #708).

Summary: Appeals to readers for money to assist children from East Harlem to spend a summer at the beach. (DDLW #688).The Catholic Worker, June 1955, 5

Summary: Responds to a newspaper article about herself and the Catholic Worker movement. Disagrees with elements of the articles, in particular the description of those who are served and the workers as “derelicts.” Urges an understanding of the poor that embraces Christ’s message. Discusses Orwell’s and Tolstoi’s views of the poor. Describes the rich life of those who participate in the Catholic Worker movement and contrasts elements of the Worker program to that found in city missions. (The Catholic Worker, May 1956, 7. DDLW #706).

Summary: Review of a book on hand weaving. Discusses spinning and weaving engaged in by herself, her daughter Tamar and friends. Says using our hands is a way to discover the sacramentality of things. (The Catholic Worker, May 1956, 4. DDLW #705).

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: Tells the story of their travails with the city courts after being fined for operating “a fire trap.” Reaffirms personal responsibility as the way to care for the poor, decrying “Holy Mother the State’s” taking over such care. (The Catholic Worker, April 1956, 3, 6. DDLW #702).

Summary: Attends a conference on establishing Christian communities, especially of families on the land. Admits that Catholic Worker attempts have not been successful because the “vision of community is not yet clear” and the spiritual foundation has not been laid. Recommends Edmond Wilson’s book To The Finland Station* on communities. (The Catholic Worker, April 1956, 6. DDLW #703).*

Summary: Criticizes a raid on the communist paper, The Daily Worker, as a blow against freedom guaranteed by the constitution. Says it is a sin to keep silent and that “freedom in general is essentially a religious concept.” (The Catholic Worker, April 1956, 2. DDLW #701).