Day, Dorothy (1897-1981)

Dorothy Day, cofounder of the Catholic Worker movement, was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 8, 1897. The Catholic Worker movement centers on the idea of providing hospitality for the homeless and needy while remaining committed to the values of poverty, prayer, fighting injustice, and most importantly, nonviolence.

Day was baptized into the Episcopalian Church, but was not heavily involved in the church during her younger years. She received a scholarship to attend the University of Illinois and studied there for 2 years where she became extremely interested in issues of social justice and grew disenfranchised with organized religions. She explained her disenfranchisement with the Church by stating, “Where were the saints to try to change the social order, not just to minister to the slaves but to do away with slavery?” Day was concerned with ministering to the poor, but she also was tremendously involved with writing and speaking about the need to change society and the social order so that the issue of poverty could be eradicated. After Day left college, she moved to New York and began reporting for The Call, which was New York City's socialist newspaper, though throughout her life she never claimed any particular political party.

An important turning point in her life was the birth of her daughter, Tamar, in 1927. Day decided to baptize Tamar into the Catholic Church because “if belonging to a Church would give her so inestimable a grace as faith in God, and the companionable love of the Saints, then the thing to do was to have her baptized a Catholic.” Day felt that her pregnancy with Tamar was a miracle because she had experienced an abortion in the past, which left her unsure if she would be able to conceive a child again. Following Tamar's baptism, Day was also baptized into the Catholic Church.

On December 9, 1932, Day met Peter Maurin, who was a former Christian Brother. Maurin convinced Day to begin a newspaper that would help others see how society could be transformed through nonviolence. On May 1, 1933, the first issue of The Catholic Worker, which numbered 2,500 copies, was distributed in Union Square. Shortly thereafter, Catholic Worker communities began in various cities. The goal of a Catholic Worker house is to promote nonviolence and to provide the poor with shelter, food, and a community. Once, when asked how long individuals were able to stay at a Catholic Worker house, Day responded, “Once they are taken in, they become members of the family. Or rather they always were members of the family. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ” and therefore there is no limit to how long they can stay. This helps illustrate the never-ending hospitality and Christian values present in the Catholic Worker philosophy. More than 180 Catholic Worker communities thrive today.

Day passed away in 1981. Her autobiography, The Long Loneliness, and numerous other works on her life have been published and widely read. Her impact on society through the Catholic Worker movement and the numerous individual lives that she touched through her speeches, writings, and encounters is extraordinary.

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