Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 5.11 Religion and Activism
Presentation #1 Title
Dorothy in the Coalfields: The Catholic Worker Movement and Appalachia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Dorothy Day was a woman of infinite variations, a journalist, a memoirist, an activist, and most famously the co-founder and leader of the Catholic Worker movement. From the movement’s inception in 1933 to her death in 1980, her commitment to pacifism, non-violent activism, and social justice took her all over the world, including the poverty-stricken mining communities of Appalachia. She advocated for desegregation, worker’s rights, and unions, often spending days and weeks in jail for her protests. Although she did not convert to Catholicism until her thirties, a desire for social justice shaped her entire life. At the age of nineteen she interviewed Trotsky for a socialist newspaper and at the age of seventy-five, she marched with Cesar Chavez in the grape fields of California. As both a journalist and protestor, she visited mining communities in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Her writings about the unsafe working conditions, poor housing, and rampant poverty that she encountered appeared in her articles for the Catholic Worker newspaper between the 1940’s-1970’s. She denounced the hypocrisy of mine owners, offered portraits of community leaders, and encouraged Catholic support for the United Mine Workers of America, reminding her readers that Christ too had been a poor worker. In this paper I utilize Dorothy Day’s diaries, letters, memoirs, and articles to explore the Catholic Worker Movement's doctrine of non-violent change in the context of mining labor disputes and Appalachia.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Laura Michele Diener is an Assistant Professor of History at Marshall University where she teaches courses on Medieval Europe. Her research interests include female spiritual writing, medieval religious culture, and textile history.
Dorothy in the Coalfields: The Catholic Worker Movement and Appalachia
Harris Hall 136
Dorothy Day was a woman of infinite variations, a journalist, a memoirist, an activist, and most famously the co-founder and leader of the Catholic Worker movement. From the movement’s inception in 1933 to her death in 1980, her commitment to pacifism, non-violent activism, and social justice took her all over the world, including the poverty-stricken mining communities of Appalachia. She advocated for desegregation, worker’s rights, and unions, often spending days and weeks in jail for her protests. Although she did not convert to Catholicism until her thirties, a desire for social justice shaped her entire life. At the age of nineteen she interviewed Trotsky for a socialist newspaper and at the age of seventy-five, she marched with Cesar Chavez in the grape fields of California. As both a journalist and protestor, she visited mining communities in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Her writings about the unsafe working conditions, poor housing, and rampant poverty that she encountered appeared in her articles for the Catholic Worker newspaper between the 1940’s-1970’s. She denounced the hypocrisy of mine owners, offered portraits of community leaders, and encouraged Catholic support for the United Mine Workers of America, reminding her readers that Christ too had been a poor worker. In this paper I utilize Dorothy Day’s diaries, letters, memoirs, and articles to explore the Catholic Worker Movement's doctrine of non-violent change in the context of mining labor disputes and Appalachia.
