University of Florida – Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project

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

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

Marie Steinwachs: Waste Warrior and Environmental Champion

Marie Steinwachs: Waste Warrior and Environmental Champion

Marie Steinwachs’s activism confronted authority and educated on environmental issues and sustainability practices, earning awards for her pioneering work.

Posted on February 11, 2025 Posted in Social and Political Groups, Social Justice, Women’s Health, and Social Services Tagged with Ann Arbor Michigan, anti-nuclear work, antinuclear work, Arkansas, Big Mountain, Bioregional Congress, Bureau of Land Management, California desert, Colorado, Damascus, Desert Center, Fayetteville Arkansas, feminism, feminist, Friends of the United Nations Environment Programme Award, Gainesville Florida, hazardous household waste, Hazardous Waste Commission, Hog Farm, Household Hazardous Waste Project, incinerators, International Conference on Women and Environment, LBGTQ, lesbian, Little rock, Little Rock Chapter of the Dogwood Alliance, local sustainability efforts, Love Canal, NABC, New Destiny Federation of Co-ops, New Life Farm, North American Bioregional Congress, OACC, Ozark Area Community Congress, Ozark Regional Land Trust, Ozarks, preventing pollution, Rodale, Springfield Community Task Force, Springfield Missouri, Steamboat Springs, The Guide to Hazardous Products Around the Home, Three Mile Island, University of Florida, University of Michigan, University of Missouri, University of Missouri Extension, Venice Florida, water quality, Yellowstone Park

Dore Rotundo: Architect and Land Dyke

Dore Rotundo: Architect and Land Dyke

Dore Rotundo

Dore Rotundo, an original, broke barriers in architecture, created community, loved women, and always found ways to spread joy.

Posted on April 17, 2023 Posted in Culture and the Arts, Lesbian Land Groups, Social and Political Groups Tagged with architectural Design, Architecture, Building skills, Community, Corky Culver, discrimination, Dore Rotundo, feminism, Florida, Found Art, Gainesville Florida, gay marriage, John O’Connell Technical High School, lake swan, LEAP, Lesbian Land, Lesbians Empowered for Activism and Politics, life estate, Long Beach Washington, Marcella Benson, Martha Strozier, North Forty, Pagoda, Pat Paul, Rose Norman, San Francisco California, Santa Fe Community College, Sherry Emory, Speedville, St. Augustine, St. Petersburg Florida, University of Florida, Utica New York

Gerry Green of Amelia’s Bookstore

Gerry Green of Amelia’s Bookstore

Gerry Green by Deborah W-B

Gerry Green cofounded a feminist counseling service and established Amelia’s, a feminist bookstore, both in Gainesville, Florida, in the 1970s.

Posted on July 23, 2022 Posted in Lesbian-Owned Enterprises, Publishing, Publications, and Booksellers, Social Justice, Women’s Health, and Social Services Tagged with Abby Walters, Air Force, Amelia’s Bookstore, Ann Gill, associate degree in nursing (ADN), basketball, Baylor University School of Nursing in Dallas Texas, Bobby Dykes, Bonnie Coates, Breakthrough Counseling Center, Breakthrough Counseling Center in Gainesville Florida, brogans, Carol Aubin, Carol Bradshaw, Cary Godwin, CETA, consciousness raising groups, Dallas College of Nursing in Texas, Diane Cuppy, ERA parade, Feminism is Therapy, Florence Rush, Fort Pierce Florida, Fort Worth Texas, Gainesville Women’s Health Center in Florida, Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce Florida, Jan Hahn, John Peter Smith Hospital School of Nursing Fort Worth Texas, Judith Brown, Judy Koons, Lackland Air Force Base, Lavender Menace, Lea Delaria, Linda Bassham, Marcia West, Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), nursing, Okeechobee Florida, OWL (Older Wiser Lesbians), Pam Smith, Pauline Bart, Reitz Union at the University of Florida, relationship therapy, Rosalie Miller, Sallie Harrison, Santa Fe Nursing School in Gainsville Florida, softball, Southeastern Women’s Health Conference in Gainesville Florida, SPARC (Sexual and Physical Abuse Resource Center), Student Nurse of the Year in Texas, Suede, Susan Keel, Take Back the Night, Tallahassee Florida, Texas State College for Women, the Pagoda, the Peace Walk, University of Florida, University of Texas at Austin, volleyball, Wild Iris Books, Wine Down, WomaNews newsletter, Womanstore feminist bookstore, Women Unlimited, Women’s Center, Women’s Health Center, working-class sports