This article profiles Dorothy Day, a pacifist and a champion of the rights of women, the poor, and the oppressed, who challenged generations of social and political orthodoxies. Day believed in a social revolution that did not begin with government programs, but from the bottom up. Day's life of voluntary poverty, her writings and actions on behalf of the poor, and her stance on pacificism have served as inspiration for people of many faiths. In her later years, Dorothy's efforts were recognized when the Jesuit magazine, "America" (11/11/72), devoted an issue celebrating her accomplishments, and the University of Notre Dame presented her with its Laetare Medal thanking her for "comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable."