John Cort

Who was John Cort?

John C. Cort, was a longtime Christian socialist writer and activist. He was the co-chair of the Religion and Socialism Commission of the Democratic Socialists of America. He was based in metropolitan Boston, Massachusetts. He fathered 10 children with his wife, Helen Haye Cort, and he still cantored in his local parish at the age of 92.

Soon after graduating from Harvard College and converting to Catholicism, he was moved by a speech by Dorothy Day. He was one of the earliest Catholic Workers who started at the Mott Street House in 1936. He worked with the Catholic Worker for a few years. For several years he edited the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists' Labor Leader. He served on the editorial staff of Commonweal magazine from 1943 to 1959. He was an assistant director of the Peace Corps. In the 1970s he directed the Model Cities Program in Lynn, Massachusetts.

He wrote several books and articles for magazines. He was the founding editor of the Religion and Socialism Commission's Religious Socialism magazine. He contributed to the American Friends Service Committee's Peacework Magazine.