1. I want to subscribe or get a copy of The Catholic Worker newspaper.

The Catholic Worker newspaper is not online. Subscription or copy requests must be sent by regular mail to The Catholic Worker, 36 East First Street, New York, NY 10003, United States. Phone: 212-777-9617. The newspaper was started by Dorothy Day herself in New York City in the 1930s'. The price has been and will remain a penny a copy, excluding mailing costs. It is issued seven times per year and a year's subscription is available for 25 cents (30 cents for foreign subscriptions), though all donations in excess of that amount go to the hospitality houses associated with the paper, Maryhouse and St. Joseph House.

2. I want to volunteer in a Catholic Worker community.

Volunteer opportunities in Catholic Worker houses are rarely advertised. Occasionally you may find ads in the New York Catholic Worker newspaper or in Sojourners magazine. We advise interested persons to contact the Catholic Worker house they are interested in directly. An online directory of Catholic Worker houses with address, phone and occasionally a description of the community's activities, can be found at http://www.catholicworker.org/communities/commstates.cfm. In addition, the New York Catholic Worker newspaper publishes a list of houses in their May edition. See previous question for where to write.

3. I want to start a Catholic Worker house.

Anyone can start a Catholic Worker house. You do not need permission to call yourself a Catholic Worker. Before you do so, however, you would probably want to make sure that your philosophy and activities are generally in accord with The Aims and Means of the Catholic Worker. Our general advice is:

• Do an informal needs assessment of your community. Where are the unmet needs? What services does your house want to provide?

• Start small. You can always expand when you get more resources and people.

• Visit and live in an existing Catholic Worker for a while to make sure that this is really a lifestyle for you.

• Check out the zoning, occupancy, and public health laws of your community. Whether or not you choose to comply with them is up to you but it's good to know them in case you run into difficulties.

• Build a network of people, religious institutions, and charitable organizations who can support you. You can start a Catholic Worker house by yourself but working in community is a whole lot easier and most houses don't last very long without outside help.

• Know the laws and requirements governing tax exemption and charitable solicitation in your community. The Catholic Worker has traditionally refused tax exemption but some houses have departed from this philosophy for fundraising purposes. Again, whether or not you choose to comply with these laws is up to you.

• Pray, pray, pray.

When you have started a Catholic Worker house, please send information about your new house to The Catholic Worker newspaper (See Question 1), the online Catholic Worker Directory of Communities (See Question 2) and the Catholic Worker Archives (See Question 4).

4. I want printed information, photos, etc... about Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker.

All the information we have is on this Web site and those to which it is linked. You are welcome to download anything you want for personal use. Please observe any copyright restrictions. News media or publishers wanting photographs or scholars wanting primary materials for research are invited to contact the Dorothy Day-Catholic Worker Collection at Marquette University.

5. How do I get copyright permission to reproduce Catholic Worker art by Fritz Eichenberg, Ade Bethune, and others?

1. Fritz Eichenberg used to make his art work available free to any Catholic Worker publication when he was alive. Since he has passed on, his artistic estate is being managed by an intellectual property firm named VAGA: Visual Artists and Galleries Association, Inc. They do not share Eichenberg's philosophy and will charge you an arm and a leg to reproduce his work if you decide to contact them — even for nonprofit, non-commercial use. It's sad, really, and we would hope that some generous benefactor would buy the rights to Eichenberg's Catholic Worker pieces and donate them to the Catholic Worker Archives so that they might be publicly and freely available for non-commercial use as he had intended. Most CW newspapers with limited circulation don't know or don't care about this and continue to use Eichenberg's work as before. Contact:

   VAGA, Inc.
   350 Fifth Avenue
   Suite 6305
   New York, NY 10018
   (212) 736-6666 (phone)
   (212) 736-6767 (fax)

2. Ade Bethune makes any of her Catholic Worker art available for nonprofit, non-commercial use. She does ask that a donation, scaled to profit or non-profit use, be given to the College of St Catherine library for maintenance of her archives, the Ade Bethune Collection, which is a conduit for these requests. For particulars, see http://www.stkate.edu/library/spcoll/bethune.html.

3. For other Catholic Worker artists, we have no information and suggest you contact The Catholic Worker newspaper or the Archives for assistance.

6. I'm looking for a copy of the poster or the famous photo of Dorothy Day on the United Farm Workers picket line

The poster, with the quotation "Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy rotten system", is available online from Donnelly/Colt Progressive Resources Catalog at http://www.progressivecatalog.com/catalog/socjusposter.html.

The original photo on which the poster was based was taken by Bob Fitch. Information on reproduction of this and other photos of Dorothy Day by Bob Fitch is available from: Bob Fitch Photo, 515 Broadway, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. Tel: 831/460-0112. E-mail: bob@bobfitchphoto.com. Web site: http://www.bobfitchphoto.com/

7. Other Questions:

• Send all historical questions not answered by available online information, as well as requests for copies of old Catholic Worker articles and other archival documents to Phillip Runkel, Phil.Runkel@marquette.edu, at the Catholic Worker Archives. For articles by Dorothy Day, please check the Dorothy Day Library on the Web to make sure they are not already available online.

• Send all Catholic Worker house address changes, openings, and closings to Jim Allaire at jallaire@home.com.

• Send comments and suggestions for the Catholic Worker Home Page and report non-working links to agf@cais.com. Due to time constraints, I may not be able to answer all correspondence personally.

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