DOROTHY DAY-CATHOLIC WORKER COLLECTION
DEANE MOWRER PAPERS, 1938-1989, UNDATED
Biographical Note
Best remembered as The Catholic Worker's "farm columnist" and the movement's first oral historian, Deane Mowrer had an earlier career as an
English teacher, poet, and literary critic. She was born as Jeannie Deane Mowrer in Unionville, Missouri on July 19, 1906. Mowrer received
her undergraduate degree in 1938 from Louisiana State University, where she was a student of Cleanth Brooks. It was through him, presumably,
that she was introduced to the literary circle that met at "Benfolly," the home of Carolne Gordon and Allen Tate in Clarksville,Tennessee. After
earring a master's degree from the University of Denver, Mowrer joined the faculty of the University of New Mexico as an instructor in English.
Her life there came to an abrupt halt when she began to lose her sight in the early 1950s. Moving to New York City, she soon took up residence.
at Peter Maurin Farm on Staten Island and began contributing the farm column in December 1960. It was renamed "Tivoli: A Farm with a View"
following the move there in 1964. Her column appeared in more than 170 issues of the paper, most under the byline Deane Mary Mowrer.
Deane Mowrer died on August 4,1989.
Scope and Content
The Deane Mowrer Papers are composed largely of letters she received after joining the New York Catholic Worker community. The private
correspondence dates from 1953, with the exception of letters from Kenneth Burke and Katherine Anne Porter (1939-1942). Other notable
correspondents include Dorothy Day, Jack English, Caroline Gordon, Judith Gregory, Helene Iswolsky, Anne-Marie Stokes, and Jacques
Travers.
DD-CW
Series W-14
| Series | Box | Folder | Folder Title |
| W-14 | 1 | 1 | Correspondence, General, 1939-1940, 1959-1980 |
| W-14 | 1 | - | Correspondence, Private |
| W-14 | 1 | 2 |
A-D, 1961-1986 |
| W-14 | 1 | 3-4 |
Day, Dorothy, 1957-1977, undated |
| W-14 | 1 | 5 |
E, 1963-1978 |
| W-14 | 1 | 6 |
English, Jack, 1970-1971 (includes tape-recorded letter of 7 February, 1971, with transcript) |
| W-14 | 1 | 6-8 |
F, 1961-1976. |
| W-14 | 1 | 9 |
Family Correspondence, 1960-1964 |
| W-14 | 2 | 1 |
G, 1960-1978 |
| W-14 | 2 | 2 |
Gordon, Caroline, 1963, 1965-1978 |
DD-CW
Series W-14
| Series | Box | Folder | Folder Title |
| W-14 | 2 | 3 |
Gregory, Judith, 1960-1962, 1965-1966, 1977-1978 |
| W-14 | 2 | 4 |
H-L, 1960-1978 |
| W-14 | 2 | 5 |
M, 1955-1978, 1989 |
| W-14 | 2 | 6 |
Martin, Sr. Therese, 1953-1975 |
| W-14 | 2 | 7 |
Maryhouse Women (St. Paul, MN), 1954-1976, undated |
| W-14 | 3 | 1 |
N-P, 1956-1976 |
| W-14 | 3 | 2 |
Porter, Katherine Anne, 1940-1942 |
| W-14 | 3 | 3 |
R-S, 1955-1978, 1986-1988 |
| W-14 | 3 | 4 |
Stokes, Anne-Marie, 1962-1978, undated |
| W-14 | 3 | 5 |
T, 1975 |
DD-CW
Series W-14
| Series | Box | Folder | Folder Title |
| W-14 | 3 | 6 |
Travers, Jacques, 1964-1978 |
| W-14 | 3 | 7 |
V-Z, Last Name Unknown, 1961-1976, 1983-1984 |
| W-14 | 3 | 8 | Diplomas and Transcript, 1938, 1947 |
| W-14 | 3 | 9 | Employment Contracts, 1947-1948 |
| W-14 | 3 | 10 | Letters of Recommendation (including letter from Cleanth Brooks), 1945 |
| W-14 | 3 | 11 | Manuscripts of Poems, ca. 1946, 1953, 1957-1958, undated |
| W-14 | 3 | 12 | Publication: "The Cracked Mirror and the Brazen Bull." New Mexico Quarterly Review 20 (Summer 1950): 233-247 |
