House of Hospitality

New York/London: Sheed & Ward. Good in Fair dj. 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. [fading to cloth at spine and along edges of both covers, some deterioration to binding at both ends of spine, upper corners bumped and worn, discoloration in gutters but otherwise internally clean; the jacket is moderately soiled and heavily edgeworn, red title lettering faded at the spine (still bright on the front panel), with multiple small chips, most notably at the lower right-hand corner of the front panel (see scanned image)] The radical pacifist and co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement (and long-pending candidate for sainthood) here tells the story of how the "Catholic Worker" newspaper, which she co-founded in 1933, proved to be the impetus behind the establishment of "houses of hospitality" in slum areas of New York and, eventually, other cities. The idea behind these facilities was to provide assistance to the poor and homeless regardless of their religious beliefs (or lack thereof) -- a radical idea at the time, since most such relief until then had been conducted as a "missionary" activity. There are still many such houses (some dubbed "Dorothy Day Hospitality Houses") in operation today, and the general concept has also been adopted by organizations outside the Catholic Worker Movement itself. .