Catholic Worker

THE CATHOLIC WORKER, both the movement and the newspaper, was founded in 1933 by Dorothy Day and Paul Maurin. The movement brought together the [Page 65]passionate Catholicism and personal strengths of each: Day converted to Catholicism in 1927 and for over a decade had been a journalist and freelance writer concerned with social justice; Maurin was a French immigrant with a vision of ideal Catholic social activism. Day provided the logistical development of the Catholic Worker movement and newspaper, but Maurin provided its theoretical and intellectual ideals.

The newspaper, envisioned as a journal for advocating social change, began first, but the formal Catholic Worker movement quickly followed. The first issue targeted unemployed workers and informed them about race relations, housing, strikes, and schools run by various ...