• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

A Woman’s Place: A Feminist Collective in the Adirondacks

March 2, 2020 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

finding a womans placeForty-six years ago, seven women left behind the lives they knew and created a commune in the Adirondack Mountains which they called “A Woman’s Place.” According to award-winning author Lorraine Duvall, from 1974 to 1982 A Woman’s Place served as a refuge for self-discovery and changed the lives of hundreds of women.

Duvall’s latest book, Finding A Woman’s Place: The Story of a 1970s Feminist Collective in the Adirondacks examines the fascinating history of this unique place, a safe harbor for hundreds of women during the tumultuous times of what is referred to as the second wave of feminism. She brings a viewpoint to the story of both an active participant, attending a retreat at A Woman’s Place in 1974, and as a researcher examining historical documents and locating the principal founders and organizers of the commune.

“It was not always easy,” Duvall says. “Young women struggled with their identities, they struggled with their place in the world and they sometimes struggled with each other as they banded together to, without the interference of men, grow their own vegetables, repair their own vehicles and solder the pipes that had shattered in the brutal Adirondack winters.”

The author’s two previous books, And I Know Too Much to Pretend and In Praise of Quiet Waters: Finding Solitude and Adventures in the Wild Adirondacks have both been award winners. Lorraine Duvall is a resident of Keene, and an occasional contributor to the Adirondack Almanack since 2014.

Finding A Woman’s Place: The Story of a 1970s Feminist Collective in the Adirondacks is published by Bloated Toe Enterprises. The paperback is 223 pages with 67 illustrations, and costs $20. It is available where books are sold in the Adirondacks and online at North Country Authors.

A version of this article first appeared on the Adirondack Almanack.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Books, History Tagged With: Adirondack Park, Books, feminism, womens history

About Editorial Staff

Stories written under the Editorial Staff byline are drawn from press releases and other notices. Submit your news to New York Almanack here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. merry says

    March 9, 2020 at 6:42 AM

    Duvall tells a powerful story of communal living—the trials and tribulations, the joys and sorrows. Hearing about the personal lives of the women who were brave enough to begin anew at A Woman’s Place will hopefully inspire women, and men, to take action in their own personal lives.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Help Support Our Work

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • David on Warren County Creates Website to Report Trail Problems
  • John Warren on Warren County Creates Website to Report Trail Problems
  • Phil Brown on Warren County Creates Website to Report Trail Problems
  • Phil Brown on Warren County Creates Website to Report Trail Problems
  • Tom Hughes on Hudson River Valley Institute Announces the Creation of Student Research Fund
  • Nicole on The Rise and Fall of NY’s Taylor Wine Company
  • Michael Devito on Summer in Historic Richmond Town Begins May 25th
  • Alan Levi on Catskills Resort History: The Beginning of the End
  • Jeff on In Praise of Dandelions
  • Mark Levine on Catskills Resort History: The Beginning of the End

Recent New York Books

Spaces of Enslavement and Resistance in Dutch New York
ilion cover
Spare Parts
new yorks war of 1812
a prison in the woods cover
Visitors to My Street
Greek Fire
Building THe Ashokan Reservoir
ilion book cover
Bryan Jackson the Titanic Was Dooomed

Secondary Sidebar

preservation league
Protect the Adirondacks Hiking Guide