Author will share insight on Dorothy Day
Author Robert Ellsberg will present “Dorothy Day: A Radical, a Journalist, a Saint for Our Time,” at the Nieman Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 2, at 4 p.m. in the Beaumier Conference Center of Marquette University’s John P. Raynor, S.J., Library, 1355 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Ellsberg, who recently edited The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day, will be available before the presentation to sign copies of the book, which will be available for sale at a cost of $42. Before the free, public event, tours of the Dorothy Day-Catholic Worker Collection will be available from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Marquette University Archives on the third floor of Raynor Library.
The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day was published by the Marquette University Press to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the first issue of The Catholic Worker newspaper. Day, who passed away in 1980, had specified that her diaries and family correspondence be sealed for 25 years after her death. In 2004, Marquette’s archival staff selected Ellsberg, publisher of Orbis Books, to edit the Day diaries project.
Ellsberg was part of the Catholic Worker community in New York City for five years and served as managing editor of The Catholic Worker. He edited Dorothy Day: Selected Writings and Fritz Eichenberg: Works of Mercy and also co-edited A Penny a Copy: Readings from The Catholic Worker. While biographical and spiritual information about Dorothy Day is widely available, notes Matt Blessing, head archivist at Marquette, the diaries show the human, everyday side of Day.
Ellsberg said he remembers Day as someone with a tremendous capacity for joy and gratitude. Somebody who taught me that every moment is an opportunity for peace making, and that it begins in our response to our neighbor and the person next to us.
The Nieman Lecture is organized by Dr. Bonnie Brennen, the newly appointed Nieman Chair in Marquette University’s J. William and Mary Diederich College of Communication. Brennen previously served as vice provost of academic affairs and as chair of the department of journalism at Temple University, and her research focuses on the cultural history of media workers. In addition to the lecture, Brennen will organize the Nieman Symposium next spring and will teach an undergraduate course in ethics and a graduate seminar in communication theory.
About the Dorothy Day-Catholic Worker Collection
The Catholic Worker Movement, founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933, calls upon Christians to take personal responsibility and direct action to create a new society through service. The Marquette University Archives began to acquire the records of the Catholic Worker Movement in 1962. The collection now comprises more than 200 cubic feet, including the personal papers of Day and Maurin; records of past and present Catholic Worker communities; photographs; and audio and videotapes of interviews, speeches, television programs and peace demonstrations.
About the Nieman Lecture and Nieman Chair
The Nieman Lecture is organized by the Nieman Chair in Marquette University’s J. William and Mary Diederich College of Communication. The Neiman Chair and its supporting programs were endowed in honor of Lucius W. Nieman, who founded the Milwaukee Journal in 1882 at age 24 and served as the paper’s long-time editor-in-chief.
Previous Nieman Lecture presenters include: Alan Barth, Washington Post, 1962; George E. Reedy, 1979; David S. Broder, Washington Post, 2000; Roxanne Jones, CNN, 2002; and Terence Smith, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, 2004.
Previous holders of the Nieman chair include: Warren Price, University of Oregon, 1963; Albion Ross, foreign correspondent for the New York Times, 1963-72; George Reedy, reporter and press secretary to President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1972-1991; Richard H. Leonard, retired editor-in-chief of the Milwaukee Journal, 1991-1996; Scott Klug, former U.S. Congressman and CEO of Trails Media Group, 1998-99; and Phil Seib, political analyst and commentator who is now on the faculty of USC’s Annenberg School of Communication, 1999-2004.
Media wishing to arrange an interview with Robert Ellsberg should contact Andy Brodzeller at the Office of Marketing and Communication at (414) 288-0286.
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