Sisterhood Is Beautiful

In 1974, Brenda Weathers came across a century-old home in Pico-Union, an early Los Angeles neighborhood that had seen better days. She decided to use the rundown residence to help people like her: lesbians with alcoholism. Ever since, the Alcoholism Center for Women has served as a treatment center for women in recovery–most of them lesbian; many of them women of color, living in poverty and/or formerly unhoused. This sisterhood has faced more than the obvious challenges along the way, including an old-fashioned demolition threat with an eye-rolling resolution. In this episode, grad student Lindsay Mulcahy talks with co-host Trudi Sandmeier about the many facets of this fascinating story.

Transcript

ACW Founder Brenda Weathers. Circa 1974. Source: Carolyn Weathers private collection.
Executive Director Lorette Herman outside her office, 1147 S. Alvarado. Source: Lindsay Mulcahy.
Two women playing on the staircase inside ACW at 1147 S. Alvarado. Circa 1977. Source: Carolyn Weathers private collection.
Rap group poster. Source: ONE Subject File Collection: Lesbian raps and meetings, Coll2009-004, ONE Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Inside the ACW, 1147 S. Alvarado. Circa 1970s. Source: Carolyn Weathers private collection.
1135 S. Alvarado Street, looking northwest. Source: Lindsay Mulcahy.
Community Planning Poster. Source: Carolyn Weathers Photographs and Papers, Coll2014-008, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
1135 S. Alvarado, facing northwest. Source: Lindsay Mulcahy.
Participants dancing at a party in 1135 S. Alvarado, ACW's "Recovery House." The dog in the foreground is "Yellow," adopted by participants in the residential program. Partially hidden on the right is beat poet Jean le Foye. Circa 1970s. Source: Carolyn Weathers private collection.
Staff on front steps of 1147 S. Alvarado, 1975. Source: Carolyn Weathers Photographs and Papers, Coll2014-008, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
Interior of 1147 S. Alvarado, with portrait of founder Brenda Weathers. Source: Lindsay Mulcahy .
Study of paint colors for 2014 restoration. Source: Lindsay Mulcahy.

Lindsay Mulcahy	Lindsay Mulcahy is a dual Master’s student in Heritage Conservation and Urban Planning at the University of Southern California. Her background in history and community organizing informs her interest in the ways cultural landscapes shape public memory and social movements. At USC, her work explores the relationship between intangible heritage and the politics of land use.
Trudi Sandmeier	Trudi Sandmeier is the Director of Heritage Conservation Programs at the USC School of Architecture and co-host of the podcast.

Podcast Breakdown

- - [03:37] Origins of the Alcoholism Center for Women
  - [09:24] ACW threatened with demolition
  - [12:27] Places Journal summer workshop
  - [14:09] “On the Natch” defined

Want to know more about some of the ideas and places mentioned in this episode? Check out:

Places Journal article – Preservation “On the Natch” by Lindsay Mulcahy

Alcoholism Center for Women

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries is the largest repository of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) materials in the world.

City of Los Angeles LGBT Context Statement

L.A. Conservancy – Curating the City: LGBTQ Historic Places in L.A.

Queer Terrains Map, ONE Archives

USC Heritage Conservation Programs