1950s

Summary: Serving a month-long sentence for protesting civil defense drills her letters describe conditions in jail. Says there protest was a refusal to participate in psychological warfare and a way of showing responsibility for the common good. (The Catholic Worker, July-August 1957, 3. DDLW #725).

Summary: Describes the Catholic Worker as “an inn by the side of the road” and explains the attraction it has for people who want to do the works of mercy. Also talks about visitors, diminished interest in May Day rallies, groups for the mentally ill, and a delightful week of caring for her grandchildren. (The Catholic Worker, June 1957, 2, 8. DDLW #723).

Summary: Witnesses the ugly harassment of the inter-racial farming community, Koinonia, during an extended visit. She shares in the daily work and is shot at while standing watch late at night. Says integration will move forward as others take up similar work. Keywords: civil rights, blacks, African-Americans, segregation (The Catholic Worker, May 1957, 3, 6. DDLW #722).

Summary: An anniversary remembrance of the Catholic Worker’s origins and how war and labor issues continue in the present. Recalls Peter Maurin’s opposition to the modern State, his emphasis on the principle of subsidiarity, clarification of thought, and the common good. (The Catholic Worker, May 1957, 2. DDLW #721).

Summary: Begs for help as they are about to begin their 25th year of serving the poor. Compares the Catholic Workers to the desert fathers in their humility, gentleness, and the way their actions show a standard of values that turn the world upside down. (The Catholic Worker, April 1957, 2. DDLW #720).

Summary: A collection of stories: her daughter Tamar’s search for a new farm, the gift of looms, a book by Eric Fromm on community, labor and civil rights picketing, her profession as a Benedictine oblate, and the injustice of Morton Sobell’s trial for espionage with the Rosenbergs. (The Catholic Worker, April 1957, 1, 6. DDLW #719).

Summary: A detailed account of her attendance as an observer at the Communist Party Convention. She identifies with their ends–a just social order–but not their means or beliefs (violence and atheism). Prods Catholics to “hard study” of those working for peace and justice, learning with her “of incorporating social thinking into the works of mercy.” Keywords: prison (The Catholic Worker, March 1957, 3, 6. DDLW #718).

Summary: Describes her stay in prison after protesting air raid drills and notes it was comfortable. Decries the many women there because of drug charges. Mourns the sudden death of Paulina Sturm and writes appreciative obituary of her involvements with the Catholic Worker and work for justice. (The Catholic Worker, February 1957, 1, 2, 7. DDLW #717).

Summary: Meditates on suffering and nonviolence in light of fighting in Hungary. Harshly criticizes clergy who do not prepare the laity to use spiritual weapons. Doubts the criteria of the just war theory can be met. Desires to grow in love so as to understand the mystery of suffering and forgiveness. (The Catholic Worker, January 1957, 1, 2, 8. DDLW #716).

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

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: 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: 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: 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: 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).