Furies Collective House

Between 1971 and 1973, a dozen young women — among them Rita Mae Brown, Charlotte Bunch, Ginny Berson and photographer Joan E. Biren — lived communally in this Capitol Hill rowhouse, shared income and chores, and printed a newspaper in the basement. They called themselves the Furies, and their paper of the same name became one of the most influential documents of lesbian feminism. The Furies argued that lesbianism was a political identity, not merely a sexual one — a position that put them at odds with both the male-dominated gay movement and a women's movement then eager to keep lesbians at arm's length. Historian Lillian Faderman credits the paper with inspiring thousands of lesbian feminists to form collectives of their own. The household itself burned bright and briefly: the commune dissolved by 1972, the newspaper ran to mid-1973, and its alumnae went on to found Diana Press and Olivia Records, twin engines of 1970s lesbian culture. The house has since collected a string of firsts: first lesbian-related DC landmark (January 2016), first lesbian-history site on the National Register of Historic Places (May 2016), and — as of September 2, 2024 — a full National Historic Landmark, among the very few in the country recognizing lesbian history. What you see today: a private, occupied rowhouse on a residential Capitol Hill block with a small historical marker out front. View from the sidewalk; the visit is brief, and lands hardest if you have read a Furies essay first. Eastern Market and the Matlovich grave at Congressional Cemetery are both walkable.