Collectives, Enclaves, and Gayborhoods: The Furies Collective, DC

The Furies House in Washington, DC.

Photo copyright Patsy Lynch.

In the early 1970s, The Furies Collective began operating from a two- story row house in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, DC. Twelve lesbian feminists lived together in the house, sharing domestic work, and publishing Motive magazine and The Furies, wherein they explored the role of lesbians in society. The Furies are credited with bringing the existence and needs of lesbians into the women's movement by confronting issues of male supremacy, racism, and economic and social oppression. The collective disbanded after only a few years, but its members remained committed to activism and the arts, founding lesbian record label, Olivia Records, and later the Olivia Cruise Line, which is still in operation. In January 2016, the home of The Furies Collective in Washington, DC was designated as a historic landmark in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 2016.