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: Depicts the loving work of Dorothy and Bill Gauchat with “the saddest, most hopeless, most incurable of crippled children. Says she couldn’t put their book down until she finished the last page.”The story is a picture of what could be done.” (DDLW #915). The Catholic Worker, December 1975 4,7
Summary: On a hot and humid August day she describes their neighborhood and the many visitors coming and going. Longs for the country and the beach. Mentions several Workers who participated in freedom rides in the South as part of the civil rights movement. Mentions several conferences on third-world development noting that “some kind of ownership which gives security” is needed in the U.S. as well as elsewhere. (DDLW #784). The Catholic Worker, September 1961, 3, 7.
Summary: Expounds on the value of manual labor and the opening of new Catholic Worker houses. Argues that it is right that the Catholic Worker campaign against the underlying social injustices which cause hunger, poverty, homelessness, and war. Asks for respect when views differ. (The Catholic Worker, May 1941, 1, 4. DDLW #372).
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: “Those of you who read this, those of you who have helped us before, help us.” A thousand poor people come for food each day–“. . .they are Christ appearing to you.” In spite of their dire straits, war and preparation for war, she calls for rejoicing in nature and for what they have and God sends. (DDLW #364). The Catholic Worker, July-August 1940.
Addresses the issue of supporting the Cuban revolution while the Church is being persecuted there. Reaffirms solidarity with the poor and is critical of clergy who ignore the poor. Affirms opposition to violent revolution and the ultimate triumph of good over evil. (DDLW #246: The Catholic Worker, July-August 1961, pages 1, 2, 7, 8).
Summary: An obituary for Hans Tunnesen who live and worked at the Catholic Worker for thirty years. Sketches his life, portraying him as a wonderful bread-baker, lover of work, carpenter, and a man of faith. (DDLW #528). The Catholic Worker, February 1973, 2, 5.
Summary: Discusses the C.W.’s means to achieve a better social condition in comparison to communist means. Exhorts “the rich to become poor and the poor to become holy.” Criticizes capitalism’s unbalanced distribution of wealth and admits a certain compatability exists between Marx and Christianity. (DDLW #166). The Catholic Worker, November 1949, 1,2,4.
