Merril Mushroom - Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project

Celebrating the Anniversary of the Herstory Project

May and June 2024 are multiple anniversaries for the SLFA Herstory Project. It’s the fifteenth anniversary of our first Herstory Project planning workshop at Womonwrites. It’s the tenth anniversary of our first special issue of Sinister Wisdom. And it’s the second anniversary of the launching of this website.

We celebrated the publication of our sixth and final Sinister Wisdom volume two years ago. The six special volumes contain a treasure trove of collected stories, interviews, timelines, and photographs from three decades of twentieth-century, lesbian-feminist activism in Southern states. Now, we are focusing on making these edited interviews available online as we continue to add new interviews.

The herstory of lesbian-feminist activism in the South was rapidly being lost as these stories of unsung sheroes were not being reported in any of the memoirs and histories of the women’s liberation movement in the twentieth century.

Rose Norman: Finding Lesbian Community in Alabama

Rose Norman, author, grew up in rural Alabama during the civil rights era. She finally found lesbian culture when she was forty, and it changed her life forever for the better.

Posted on January 22, 2024 Posted in Lesbian Land Groups, Social and Political Groups, Spirituality and Religion Tagged with Aggies, Autobiographies of American women writers in the 19th century, Baptist church, Betty Clemens, Black Womens Autobiography, Bloody Lowndes, British literature, civil rights activism, College Station, Coretta Scott King, Corp of Cadets, director of Business and Technical Writing program, dissertation, DISTAR Direct Instruction Reading Intervention PrograM, English, english composition, feminist approaches to literature, feminist criticism, Fort Deposit, Fort Deposit Academy, fort Deposit Elementary, Fortex, Fun with Quarantina, George Wallace, Haneyville, HBCU Historically Black College or University, Head Start, Huntsville Alabama, Huntsville Feminist Chorus, IBM Selectric typewriter, in store credit, Joanne Braxton, Job Corps, Jonathan Daniels, Judson College, Justine Shrider, Knoxville Tennessee, Literary London, Lowndes County Alabama, Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power PBS, Lowndes County Training School, LydiaBetty Giardini, Marion Alabama, McGovern, Merril Mushroom, Nancy finley, National Television, NOW National Organization for Women, pajama factory, Pam Siegler, privileged, racist, Renaissance drama, Rock Hill South Carolina, Rose Norman, Royal Shakespeare Company, Sacred Heart Monastery Cullman Alabama, Sandra Carpenter, segregated, Sherry Mercieca, Sister Maurus, SNCC Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, South Carolina, Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project, step sings, Stratford, teachers aide, teaching assistant, tech writer, tenure track job, Texan, Texas A&M, Tom Coleman, Unitarian Universalist Church, University of Alabama, University of Tennessee, Viola Liuzzo, violence, Virginia Woolf seminar, Winthrop College, women in American History, Women in European History, Women Spirit Rising, womens college, Womens Getaway Weekend retreat at Sacred Heart

The Pagoda: A Lesbian Community by the Sea–Interview with the Book’s Author, Rose Norman

The Pagoda was a lesbian residential community and cultural center on the beach near St. Augustine, Florida, from 1977 to 1999. Rose Norman interviewed founders, residents, and guests for the story of how it came to be and how it lasted so long.

Posted on December 6, 2023 Posted in Lesbian Land Groups, Lesbian-Owned Enterprises, Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers, Social and Political Groups, Social Justice, Women’s Health, and Social Services, Spirituality and Religion Tagged with Alapine, alcoholism, Changing the Hymns to Hers, controversial issues, cultural center, Deeply Held Beliefs, Dykewriters, Elethia, Emily Greene, Flash Silvermoon, Gaia’s Guide, Gainesville Florida, Goddess church, healing place, Heresies, incorporated feminist church, intentional communities, Landykes of the South, Lavender, Lee Lanning, lesbian battering, lesbian community, Lesbian Connection, lesbian culture and community movements, Lesbian Home Movie Project, Lesbian Land, Lesbianima Rising, Martha Strozier, mental health counselors, Merril Mushroom, Morgana, Nett Hart, no boy children allowed, on the beach, Pagoda cottages, Pagoda story for Landykes of the South, Pagoda supporter, Rainbow Williams, Ree’s Seashore Cottages, Rena Carney, Rose Norman, sadomasochism, Second Sunays, separatism, shared mortgage, Sharon Thompson, Shorty Res, Sinister Wisdom, Southern Lesbian Activist Herstory Project, St Augustine Florida, Sugarloaf, SW104, tax-exempt, temple of Love, The Backstage Bar, The Mother Church in Florida, the Pagoda, The Pagoda: A Lesbian Community By The Sea, theatre at the Pagoda, Toni Head, University of Florida archive, vegetarian, Wiccan feminist spirituality, women’s music circuit, women’s studies, Womonwrites, WordWeavers

Tag: Merril Mushroom

Celebrating the Anniversary of the Herstory Project

Rose Norman: Finding Lesbian Community in Alabama

The Pagoda: A Lesbian Community by the Sea–Interview with the Book’s Author, Rose Norman