Born November 8, 1897
Brooklyn, New York

Died November 29, 1980
New York, New York

Journalist, advocate for the poor

Dorothy Day. ©Bettmann/CORBIS. Reproduced by permission.

"For those who think that there is no hope for the future, no recognition of their plight—this little paper is addressed."

From the first edition of the Catholic Worker

The Great Depression, the worst economic crisis in the United States, had a stranglehold on Americans in May 1933. Newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945; served 1933–45; see entry) had launched his New Deal legislation to attempt to begin to pull America from the depths. On May 1, Dorothy Day, a tall, slender, thirty-five year old, walked among people at Union Square in New York City distributing for a penny a copy the first edition of her newspaper, the Catholic Worker. The edition boldly proclaimed: "To Our Readers: For those who are sitting on park benches...