Sharon Thompson – Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project

Merril Mushroom: Lifelong Feminist Butch, Radical Advocate, and so much more

Merril Mushroom at her present home in 2022. Photo by Jill Spisak.

Merril Mushroom came out in the 1950s in Miami Beach, Florida, where she experienced homophobia and racism while learning the rules of being butch or femme. A lifelong butch, she has written scores of articles about lesbian life, including a play, Bar Dykes, that has been produced in San Francisco, California; New York City; and other cities in between. Her interview describes growing up Jewish in a city with signs saying “No Jews Allowed,” teaching elementary school in Harlem in the 1960s, and moving to rural middle Tennessee, where she has lived since the 1970s.

Posted on May 5, 2025 Posted in Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers, Social Justice, Women’s Health, and Social Services Tagged with AAUW, adoption, Alabama, ALFA, American Association of University Women, Anti-war movement, antisemitism, Association for Mentally Ill Children, Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance, Bank Street School, Brown v Board of Education, Caffe Cino, Camp Skytop, Charlie Johns, Coleman Younger, Dowelltown, Duke archives, Ed Sullivan, Feminist activism, feminist movement, Florida, Florida State University, Francis Lee, Freedom Bus, Gadsden, Gainesville, Girlfriends magazine, Gloria Steinem, Greenwich Village, Harlem, head shop, Jack, Jewish, John Harris, Johns Committee, Julia Penelope, Julia Penelope Stanley, Knoxville, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, lesbian, Lesbian Home Movie Project, Lincoln Legion of Lesbians, LSD, McCarthy hearings, Miami Beach, Millbrook Group, motorcycle messenger, New York, New York City, New York MIX Festival, OLAC, old lesbians organizing for change, Paranoia, Penny Stanley, photoanimator, psychedelics, puppeteer, racism, Ram Dass, Raspberry Exercises, Rosman, Sharon Thompson, Sinister Wisdom, Southeast, southern, Tampa, Tennessee, Tennessee Red Book, Timothy Leary, Toast of the Town, Tommy Trent, University of Florida, University of Miami, vaudeville

Kathleen “Corky” Culver: Activist, Organizer, Filmmaker, Landyke, Poet

Corky Culver has been a leader and a documenter since the early days of modern lesbian feminism, cofounding a women’s land group, organizing cultural and political events (especially peace activism), publishing poetry, and singing with others at every possible opportunity.

Posted on April 14, 2025 Posted in Culture and the Arts, 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 Abby Bogomolny, Blue Lunden, C.A. Culver, Cathy Drompp, chem-free, consciousness-raising, consensus decision-making, Corky Culver, CR group, croning, Culla Culver, Denise Matthews, documentary filmmaking, Donna Dyke, Dore Rotundo, FAN, FAN Feminist Action Network, feminist, Feminist Action Network, Ferron, Finding the Well, Flash Silvermoon, Gainesville Florida, Gractia Culver, Harvard Film Archive, Joan Larkin, Julia Dragonfly, Kathleen Anne Walsh, Kathleen Culver, Katura Carey, Kentucky, LEAP, lesbian, lesbian archives, lesbian CR group, lesbian feminism, Lesbian Home Movie Project, lesbian websites, Lesbians Empowered for Action and Politics, Lorelei Esser, Marie Steinwachs, Michigan Womyn’s Music Festivals, Minnie Bruce Pratt, North Forty, Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project, Red House, rural lesbians, Ruth Dreamdigger, Savannah River Peace Camp, Sharon Thompson, slfahp, southern, Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project, SPARC Sexual and Physical Abuse Resource Center, The Natural Law of Water, Theresa Carr, Thoreau, women’s land, Women’s Peace Walk, Women’s Renaissance Festival

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: Sharon Thompson

Merril Mushroom: Lifelong Feminist Butch, Radical Advocate, and so much more

Kathleen “Corky” Culver: Activist, Organizer, Filmmaker, Landyke, Poet

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