Dorothy Day: Journalist, Activist, Catholic Worker Movement Founder

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In 1924, journalist and political activist Dorothy Day lived in an apartment at 520 St. Peter Street while writing for the New Orleans Item. During her short time working at the newspaper, Day wrote articles generally concerned with the culture of dance halls, alcohol, and gambling in the city. Day also conducted interviews with personalities like Italian actress Eleonora Duse, Governor Henry L. Fuqua, and boxing legend Jack Dempsey. [1] 

Before her arrival in New Orleans, Dorothy Day was a political activist. Day was a suffragette, arrested for picketing the Wilson White House, and went on a hunger strike while imprisoned. In 1927, Day converted to Catholicism and later founded the Catholic Worker Movement in New York with Frenchman Pierre Maurin. [2] The Catholic Worker Movement is an organization dedicated to aiding the poor by engaging in labor organizing, nonviolent protests against war and violence, establishing cooperatives, and advocating for human rights. [3] In 1933, Day co-founded Catholic Worker, a radical Christian newspaper covering workers’ rights and social issues, and served as its editor until her death in 1980.