Pudenda

3300 Hamilton Street today

Pudenda

Location: 3300 Hamilton Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Opened/Closed: 1970s

From Gay and Lesbian Philadelphia by Thom Nickels.

Pudenda was a West Philadelphia women's collective that included "a mixture of gay and straight, working women, and women in school."

"It was open, anyone who needed a place to stay could live there. Eventually we had something like 15 women living in the house. People used to come to the house to come out. They knew it was a dyke house, they knew it would be accepting. We had wonderful times around the dining room table. We shared chores and cooked for one another. It was the healthiest way to come out," Arleen Olshan remembers.

Arleen Olshan was one of the original members of the Pudenda collective. A photograph of Arleen and three other original members can be seen on page 61.