“We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.” These words from Dorothy Day’s autobiography The Long Loneliness frame this icon of the trailblazer.

Dorothy Day (1897 - 1980) was an American journalist, community activist, and founder of the Catholic Worker movement, a pacifist movement that combined aid and non-violent direct action on behalf of the poor. As part of her work, she co-founded the Catholic Worker newspaper in 1933 and served as editor until her death in 1980.

In her early years, Day lived a rather Bohemian lifestyle and settles on the Lower East Side of New York City where she worked as a journalist for several Socialist and anarchist publications. She converted to Catholicism in 1929 after the birth of her daughter, Tamar. In 1932, she met Peter Maurin with whom she co-founded the Catholic Worker movement. Proceeds from the Catholic Worker newspaper supported the founding of “hospitality houses,” Catholic Worker homes that provided food, clothing, and shelter to the poor. The first was opened on New York’s Lower East Side and also offered shelter and employment on farms outside the city for those looking for communal living outside of the city.

Her autobiography, The Long Loneliness, was published in 1952 and made Day one of the most prominent American Catholics of the 20th century.

$10 of every purchase supports the mission of Bethany House, a Catholic Worker house in Rochester, NY which provides temporary housing, assistance, and support to women and children.