Rose Norman – Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project

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

Águila Talks about Her Memoir

Maria Cristina Moroles, known now by her ceremonial name Águila, is an Indigenous curandera, shaman, and landyke who has lived at Santuario Arco Iris, rugged women’s land in the Ozark Mountains near Ponca, Arkansas, since 1974. The land offers over a hundred acres of sanctuary for women and children, especially women and children of color. In 2000, she founded the Arco Iris Earth Care Project, a nonprofit that preserves 400 acres of neighboring wilderness land.

Remembering Shay Youngblood

Shay Youngblood

On June 11, 2024, Shay Youngblood died after an extended illness. Loved ones surrounded her as she went to meet her ancestors. Novelist, poet, and playwright, Shay Youngblood got her start at Charis Books & More in Decatur, Georgia, at the Charis Circle Young Women Writers Group. From reading her poetry at Charis to publishing her first book, Big Mama Stories (1989) with Firebrand Press, to producing her plays at Little 5 Points Horizon Theatre, she left us a rich legacy.

Posted on July 8, 2024 Posted in Culture and the Arts, Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers Tagged with Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Charis Books & More, Charis Circle, Daniel Alexander Jones, Kelley Alexander, Linda Bryant, Shay Youngblood, Young Women Writers Group

Southern Sisters, Inc.: Women in Print, a Feminist Outpost

Southern Sisters, 411 Morris St., Durham, NC (1988-1995). Photo courtesy of Melody Ivins.

We didn’t know squat about books. If we’d known what it was going to take, we wouldn’t have done it! You had to be passionate and crazy.

Posted on February 19, 2024 Posted in Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers Tagged with childrens books, Inc. – Women in Print—A Feminist Outpost, Southern Sisters

Author: Rose Norman

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

Águila Talks about Her Memoir

Remembering Shay Youngblood

Southern Sisters, Inc.: Women in Print, a Feminist Outpost