Guide to the Catholic Worker Materials, Ade Bethune Papers

Creator: Bethune, Ade, 1914-2002
Title: Catholic Worker Materials, Ade Bethune Papers
Dates: 1906-2001 (Bulk, 1940-2000)
Quantity: 3.25 Linear feet (7 boxes plus 12 audiocassettes)

Language: English
Repository: Ade Bethune Collection, St. Catherine University Library

Preferred Citation: [Series], Catholic Worker Materials, Ade Bethune Papers. Ade Bethune Collection, St. Catherine University Library, St. Paul, MN 55105.

Ade Bethune was born in Brussels, Belgium on January 12, 1914. After World War I her family immigrated to the United States, settling in New York in 1928. Ade attended Cathedral High School in New York and later the National Academy of Design. Raised by progressive Catholic parents, from her earliest girlhood she was a devout Catholic who soon developed a strong feeling of social consciousness.

Ade first met Dorothy Day in 1933. She heard about the work the Catholic Worker was doing with the poor and also saw their newspaper, the visuals of which left her feeling unimpressed and rather let down. She quickly decided to help the struggling newspaper by making several black and white ink drawings and mailing them in, travelling herself to the Catholic Worker storefront the next day. She immediately found in Dorothy a lifelong friend and mentor who gave her an outlet for her feelings about social justice. Her work for the Catholic Worker was very influential, as her designs utilizing common, working class people to illustrate the Saints, the Catholic Works of Mercy, and Biblical scenes were very radical. They helped launch Ade’s artistic career and remain prominent in the Catholic Worker newspaper even today, though now the newspaper features many more prominent artists. Half a century later, in 1985, she redesigned the masthead which she had originally designed in 1934 to include a female worker. This illustrates both Ade’s artistic preeminence at the paper as well as her ability to adapt with the times.

The other founder of the Catholic Worker movement, Peter Maurin, also became a mentor and close friend to Ade. His philosophy, especially his easy essays, shaped her writing, her art, and her beliefs. It was Peter who encouraged Ade to speak in public, something she was very timid about at first. Ade eventually became a prolific public speaker, giving lectures not only for the Catholic Worker but also for many of her other causes and organizations.

Ade was a passionate advocate for the Catholic Worker beyond adding her artwork to the paper. She also became a public speaker, wrote articles, hawked the paper on street corners, and helped in the Houses of Hospitality. It is through much of this activity that she made contacts which she used in her businesses, developed her artistic voice and demonstrated her strong bent towards social justice. This commitment to the Catholic Worker stayed with her throughout her life, as she stayed active in the movement until her death in 2002.

The Catholic Worker movement was founded in New York City in 1933 by Dorothy Day, a radical journalist who had converted to Catholicism, and Peter Maurin, an itinerant French worker/scholar/philosopher with a vision to create a better world. It has evolved into an international faith-based, grassroots movement for peace and social justice through nonviolent direct action. While the movement encourages a variety of social justice programming and meetings, it is perhaps best known for its loosely-affiliated Houses of Hospitality, in which the poor and homeless are welcomed and served as guests and the Catholic Workers who serve them live in the same circumstances as their charges. The Catholic Worker newspaper, edited by Dorothy Day from 1933 until her death in 1980 and still published seven times a year by the New York community, remains the best known of numerous Catholic Worker publications. Day was proposed for sainthood in 1983, a process Ade Bethune was active in, and remains one of the most influential Catholic lay people of the 20th century.

These materials cover the Catholic Worker movement, from its humble beginnings in New York to its international presence. The collection spans most of the 21st century, though the bulk of the materials fall between 1940-2000. It includes correspondence; Catholic Worker publications, such as pamphlets, newspapers, and newsletters; other writings both by and about the Catholic Worker movement; and some of Ade Bethune’s artwork for the paper. This collection contains both personal materials illustrating Bethune’s relationship with Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker as well as more generic materials relating to the social movement in general. Items of particular note include the original correspondence between Ade Bethune and Dorothy Day (series 4), some of the correspondence she held with other Catholic Workers, especially Mary Paulson (series 1) and Hazen Ordway (series 5) and materials relating to the first large Catholic Worker conference held on the 50th anniversary of the movement’s founding, including audiotapes of most of the lectures from the event (series 6, boxes 5 & 8).

This collection is organized into seven series.

Series 1: New York Catholic Worker
Series 2: Minneapolis Catholic Worker
Series 3: Other Catholic Worker Communities
Series 4: Dorothy Day Correspondence
4.1 — Originals
4.2 — Photocopies
Series 5: Other Catholic Worker Correspondence
Series 6: Catholic Worker Events
Series 7: Secondary Sources

Publication Information

St. Catherine University Library May 2007
2004 Randolph Ave.
St. Paul, MN, 55105
651-690-6599
bethune@stkate.edu

Revision Description
Finding Aid revised by Deborah Kloiber September 2010

Acquisition

Ade Bethune donated her personal and business papers, sketches, artwork, books, and artifacts to the College of St Catherine (now St. Catherine University) over the period from 1984-2002.

Processing Information

The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Preeti Gupta, November 2008-February 2009.

The Marquette University Library holds the Dorothy Day - Catholic Worker Collection.

Personal Name(s)

• Day, Dorothy, 1897-1980
• Maurin, Peter
• Ordway, Hazen
• Paulson, Mary

Subject(s)

• Catholic Worker Movement

Title(s)

• Catholic worker

An index to the correspondence in Series 4 is available.

Series 1: New York Catholic Worker

1/2 box

Contents:
This box contains materials from the New York City Catholic Worker community, the primary Catholic Worker community. The materials consist of newsletters, corresondence, writings, pictures, and newspaper articles about the NY Catholic Worker community.

Arrangement:
Ordered alphabetically by title

Series 2: Minneapolis Catholic Worker

1981-1990
1 1/2 boxes

Contents:
Materials from St. Joseph's House of the Minneapolis Catholic Worker community. The materials consist of newsletters from the House and the community's newspapers.

Arrangement:
Ordered chronologically

Series 3: Other Catholic Worker Communities

1+ boxes

Contents:
This series contains materials from Catholic Worker communities outside of New York City. The materials consist mainly of newsletters, correspondence, writings, pictures, and newspaper articles about the communities.

Arrangement:
Ordered alphabetically by state with Canada at the end

Series 4: Dorothy Day Correspondence

1 box

Contents:
This series contains corresondence with Dorothy Day. THe first sub-series holds original correspondence, the bulk of which is with Dorothy Day. This correspondence is sometimes personal and sometimes in Day's role as the editor for the New York Catholic Worker newspaper. There is also some original correspondence with other Catholic Worker chapters and Catholic Workers in general. The second sub-series contains copies of correspondence, again mostly with Dorothy Day (also both personally and as the newspaper editor). This sub-series also contains copies of correspondence with other Catholic Workers for a wide variety of purposes.

Organization:
This series contains two groups: Original Correspondence and Correspondence Photocopies.

Within a group correspondence is arranged chronologically; undated correspondence and correspondence covering multiple years is at the end of each group.

Additional Information:
An index to the correspondence in this series is available.

4.1: Originals

1934-1975 (Bulk, 1934-1956)

Contents:
This series contains original letters, postcards, and newsletters from Dorothy Day. They are sometimes personal and sometimes in Day's role as the editor for the New York Catholic Worker newspaper. There are also some letters from Tamar (Day's daughter), other Catholic Worker chapters, and Catholic Workers in general.

4.2: Photocopies

1934-1975 (Bulk, 1934-1961)

Contents:
This group contains copies of the letters in 4.1, along with photocopies of letters from Bethune to Day, providing a more complete record of the correspondence between the two.

Location of Originals:
Copies of Bethune's letters to Day are duplicates of originals housed at Marquette University Library in the Dorothy Day Papers.

Series 5: Other Catholic Worker Correspondence

1/2 box

Contents:
This series contains Ade Bethune's correspondence with Catholic Workers and about the Catholic Worker movement. It excludes that correspondence which is concerned mainly with the New York Catholic Worker.

Arrangement:
Ordered alphabetically by last name of the main correspondent; folders with multiple correspondents are located at the end of the series.

Series 6: Catholic Worker Events

1983-2001
1/2 box; 12 audiocassettes

Contents:
This series contains materials relating to Catholic Worker events, which consist mainly of national Catholic Worker gatherings or conferences. It also includes art show fundraisers, where artists such as Ade Bethune would donate art in order to help raise funds for a Catholic Worker community. The materials in this series are primarily correspondence, event information, pictures, and writings by various Catholic Workers. In addition, there are 12 audiocassettes (from a set of 14--the first 2 are missing) of sessions and lectures from the 1983 national Catholic Worker gathering.

Arrangement:
Ordered chronologically

Series 7: Secondary Sources

1 1/2 boxes

Contents:
The materials in this series consist of writings about the Catholic Worker movement. These take the form of both publshed and unpublished pamphlets, scripts, articles, and book manuscripts. Also included are interviews by various people with Ade Bethune to gain background information about Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, and the Catholic Worker movement. Many of the unpublished manuscripts and interviews also contain Ade Bethune's revisions to the text.

Arrangement:
Ordered alphabetically by author or title