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: States St. Therese, the Little Flower, is not a “sentimental” saint but one to “dread” once one gets to know her. Responding to critics, itemizes the cost of Peter Maurin’s funeral. Says “We should prepare for death with joy, as for our nuptials.” Notes they heard talks on three great Russians: Dostoevsky, Tolstoi, and Soloviev. (The Catholic Worker, October 1949, 1, 3. DDLW #474).
Summary: A new year’s reflection on the ways they have failed Peter Maurin’s vision. Concludes “About all the above failures, I must say that I am not much concerned. I think that such failures are inseparable to a work of this kind, and necessary for our growth in holiness.” Stresses trying to put ideas into action, more clarification of thought, continuing this “tiny work.” (The Catholic Worker, January 1954, 3, 6. DDLW #236).
Summary: Fr. Daniel Lord, who recently died, is remembered for his work with youth in the fields of Catholic Action and contentious objection. Describes her time at the farm attending conferences and caring for her grandchildren. Ruminates about human freedom in relation to involuntary poverty. Keyword: pacifism (The Catholic Worker, April 1955, 2, 7. DDLW #686).
Summary: Chatty account of a trip with her daughter to Alabama where she visits St. Peter Claver, union halls, and the local bishop who is involved with work on behalf of seamen. Misses being home in New York and is grateful for the news of a good Christmas there. (The Catholic Worker, January 1940, 1, 4, 5. DDLW #352).
Summary: Reflects on a number of economic themes: the building of churches; problems with the IRS; why they are not tax-exempt; personalist/anarchist writers and projects; Ade Bethune’s Community Corporation in Rhode Island. Extols all forms of mutual aid. (The Catholic Worker, February 1974, 2, 8. DDLW #538).
Summary: After describing their search for a farm and the move to Mott Street, most of the chapter is a clarification of why they support organizing and striking workers. Contrasts their peaceful methods with the communist calls for violence in a class war. Asserts a spiritual foundation based on the dignity of man, a philosophy of labor, and the unity of the Mystical Body of Christ. Wants workers to become owners and lauds the cooperative and back-to-the-land movements. (DDLW #443).
Summary: Delights in the refreshing mornings for study and prayer at their beach houses on Staten Island, in spite of noisy children in the evening. Observes that many priests disapprove of Ammon Henacy’s long fasts for peace. Suggests that the modest an prudent keep their work going more than the extremists they often attract. (The Catholic Worker, July-August 1958, 1, 2, 7, 8. DDLW #741).
Summary: Restates the central vision of the Catholic Worker Movement as working for “a new heaven and a new earth, wherein justice dwelleth.” This vision recognizes the “primacy of the spritual” and the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ. The Catholic Worker is “a new way of life” involving Houses of Hospitality for the daily practice of the Works of Mercy and Farming Communes where each person can take responsibility of doing their part. (DDLW #182). The Catholic Worker, February 1940, 7.
