John C. Cort was born on December 3, 1913 in Woodmere, New York to Ambrose and Lydia (Painter) Cort. He was educated at a public school in Hempstead, New York. Cort was raised Episcopal and attended the choir school of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City from the age of ten. He completed his secondary education at the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut. Cort graduated from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1935, and converted to Catholicism shortly after.
Cort became active in the Catholic Worker Movement, living in the Catholic Workers’ New York City Hospitality House for the homeless, and writing articles for the Catholic Worker. He helped found the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists (ACTU) in 1937, also editing their periodical, the Labor Leader. Cort served on the staff of Commonweal magazine from 1943 to 1959. In 1943, he met fellow ACTU volunteer Helen Haye, and they married in 1946. Cort was active in the ACTU throughout the 1950s. In 1961, he administered a Peace Corps program in the Philippines, moving there for three years with his wife and their nine children. Upon returning to the United States, Cort was appointed the first ever director of an experimental state-sponsored Service Corps, nicknamed the “Baby Peace Corps”. Cort also administered Great Society social programs in Massachusetts, including the Lynn Model Cities Program.
Cort became active in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in the 1970s, playing an important role as the DSA’s liaison to The International League of Religious Socialists (ILRS). He edited the DSA’s newsletter, Religious Socialism, and published articles in Catholic magazines and journals. In 1988, his book, Christian Socialism, was published. Cort’s second book, an autobiography entitled Dreadful Conversations: The Making of a Catholic Socialist, was published in 2003. Cort died on August 3, 2006 in Nahant, Massachusetts.
