Norman Jacques is a graduate of Marquette's College of Journalism who personally knew Dorothy Day and her supporter, Nina Polycn Moore. The following is a letter Jacques sent to honor Moore, a notable graduate of Marquette. We agree with the importance of sharing Moore's contributions to the Marquette community and the Catholic Worker Movement:
"Newspapers customarily in late December review the lives of important persons who have died during the year. Unfortunately, that is when universities are closed between semesters. But 2007 should not be forgotten without the Tribune recognizing a Marquette University College of Journalism graduate of 1935 who died in February 2007. She is Nina Polcyn Moore who was probably one of the university's greatest graduates as an advocate for the poor.
In 1934 Nina read about Dorothy Day who was editor of the Catholic Worker and scheduled to speak in Chicago. Nina pleaded with J.L. O'Sullivan, dean of the College of Journalism, to bring her to Milwaukee. He did, and she came and stayed with Moore's parents.
In 1935, Moore graduated from Marquette and went to New York to volunteer at the Catholic Worker Hospitality House. She was assigned to the top floor where several bag ladies lived. She answered correspondence, washed dishes and windows and visited with the residents. She also worked for a Maternity Guild and went into tenements to call on pregnant women explaining the Guild to them.
Moore picketed the German consulate. The Catholic Worker was one of few papers recognizing the evils of Hitler four years before Germany invaded Poland for the start of World War II.
In 1936, with the help of some Marquette students and friends, she prepared to open a House of Hospitality at 1019 N. 5th St.
In her diary (now in the Marquette library) Moore wrote: "We were going to give the place two coats of paint, but in this movement, if you have two coats, you give one to the poor."
In 1962 the Marquette library became the recipient of Dorothy Day's papers and records for its archives section. Thirty years of correspondence between Day and Moore became available to scholars.
"She was a protege of Dorothy Day," said Roy Larson, former Chicago Sun-Times religion editor and columnist. "That was her great hero." "