Who are the Furies?
The Furies Collective was a Lesbian-feminist separatist group active in the early 1970’s. They formed in the Spring of 1971 in the Capitol Hill area of D.C. and occupied a house on 219 11th St. Southeast1. The group was comprised of twelve women between the ages of 18 and 28; they ranged from working- to middle-class, and were predominantly white. Members included: Ginny Berson, Joan Biren, Rita Mae Brown, Charlotte Bunch, Sharon Deevey, Helanie Harris, Susan Hathaway, Nancy Myron, Tasha Dellinger Peterson, Coletta Reid, Lee Schwing, and Jennifer Woodul. They also cohesively identified as political Lesbians, or Lesbians who reject heterosexuality for the purpose of separating themselves from male-dominated society2.
The Furies originally started their collective as a way to break away from male-dominated, heterosexual society. While some of the Furies participated in the mainstream Women’s Liberation movement, they quickly realized that this group of heterosexual feminists would not rally for their liberation as Lesbians due to the homophobia that still existed in their movement. Therefore, the Furies endeavored to create their own space in which they could rally for their own cause.
Below is a map that shows the locations in which the Furies operated:
[1] Olivia Barrett and Claire Tryon. "The Furies House." September 2018.
[2] Olivia Barrett and Claire Tryon. "The Furies House 2." September 2018.
[3] Noclip. "Capitol Building Full View." Wikimedia Commons [Public Domain]. 3 April 2007.
For further information on the Furies Collective, please navigate the site using the bar at the top of the page, from left to right. We hope that you find these pages to be informative and insightful.
1Mark W. Meinke. “Furies Collective Nomination” (government document, 2015), pp. 10.
2 Ginny Berson, “The Furies,” The Furies vol. 1, no. 1, January 1972, 1.
3 Olivia Barrett and Claire Tryon. “Header Image.” September 2018.