2024 – Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project

Shewolf: Dedicated to Lesbian Lands

Shewolf: Dedicated to Lesbian Lands

Shewolf formed lesbian community and worked for equal pay for women at University of Louisiana Lafayette, held feminist potlucks, and she was ahead of her time.

Posted on December 19, 2024 Posted in Lesbian Land Groups, Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers Tagged with Carefree, Cathy Groene, Directory of Wimmens Land Communities, Gina Razete, landdyke directory, lesbian, lesbian potluck, longleaf, lovern king, Maize: A Lesbian Country Magazine, Outland, Pagoda, Professor of Speech Therapy, pueblo rv park, Rainbow Village, RVing Women, Shewolf, Sister Spirit, Sugarloaf, Superstition Mountain Resort, Womanshare, WomanWorld, zoe swanagon

Theresa Barry and Labrys Books: Virginia’s First Feminist Bookstore

Theresa Barry and Labrys Books: Virginia’s First Feminist Bookstore

Terri Barry (left) and Joan Mayfield at the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, 1979.

Theresa “Terri” Barry came out in 1976 when she was in her early twenties in college, where she met her then-partner Joan Mayfield, starting a feminist bookstore with her. From 1977 to about 1980, she and Joan ran Labrys Books in the living room of their Richmond, Virginia, home. They chose the name Labrys, after the double headed ritual axe found in ancient Minoan depictions of the Mother Goddess. The bookstore was run with the support of the Richmond Lesbian Feminists, an organization that still exists today.

Posted on November 4, 2024 Posted in Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers Tagged with Beth Marschak, Colevia Carter, dance, Joan Mayfield, Labrys Books, Ladyslipper, Lammas Books, Laurie Fuchs, Mary Farmer, Richmond, Richmond Lesbian Feminists, Terri Barry, The New York Times, Theresa Barry, USA Today, Virginia, Washington D.C., Women’s Political Caucus, WomensBooks

Lenny Lasater: Coal Miner, Electrician, Musician, and Renaissance Butch

Lenny Lasater: Coal Miner, Electrician, Musician, and Renaissance Butch

Lenny Lasater Photo credit Candi Pollitt

Lenny Lasater was a trailblazer for women, first in the Birmingham coal mines, then, in the trade union for electricians, The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, when she was in Nashville, Tennessee, and later, in Atlanta, Georgia. She formed her own business, Lenny Lasater Electrical, in Atlanta, where she also got clean and sober. Also, she started a band that is now called “Just Roxie.” Throughout, she has been out and proud of who she is, “a very butch lesbian.”

Posted on September 7, 2024 Posted in Culture and the Arts, Lesbian-Owned Enterprises Tagged with Atlanta, Birmingham Alabama, Blue Creek number 3, Cherry Omega, Decatur Georgia, Georgia, IBEW, IEW 429, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Nashville Local Union 429, Jim Walter Modular Homes, Jimmy Carter, Just Roxie, Knoxville, Metropolitan Community Church, Nashville, pipefitters union, Savannah River Plant, Tennessee, These Friends of Mine, trade unions, United Mineworkers Local

My Mother Was Many Things

My Mother Was Many Things

June Arnold in 1977. Photo by Barbara Adams.

Roberta Arnold writes about her mother, June Arnold, novelist and founder of Daughters, Inc. publishing company. Julia Penelope once said that June filled out a form stating her religion as “Women,” and this was true. She was fierce in her devotion to the Women’s Movement.

Posted on September 7, 2024 Posted in Lesbian-Owned Enterprises, Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers, Social and Political Groups, Social Justice, Women’s Health, and Social Services Tagged with 5th street building takeover, Alice Echols, and Naiad Press, Applesauce, Barbara Adams, Bertha Harris, Big Mama Rag, Black Maria, Charlotte Bunch, Connie Samaras, Daughters Inc., Deborah Ritchey, Diana Press, Fanny Arnold, Feminist Presses & Feminist Politics, Gus Arnold, Iowa City Women’s Press Collective, Jaime Harker, judy grahn, June Arnold, Kate Arnold, Lesbian Connection, Lesbian feminist activist, Lover, Monique Wittig, Nancy Stockwell, off our backs, Parke Bowman, Patty Bowman, Quest, Quest: A Feminist Quarterly, Reeni Goldin, Roberta Arnold, SEWSA, Sinister Wisdom, Sister Gin, Southeastern Women’s Studies Association, The Cook and the Carpenter, The Lesbian South, The Opoponax, the women’s movement