Mrs. Kemp's boarding house and ladies-only dining room



Winnipeg Free Press,
November 13, 1914

Mrs. Kemp's boarding house and ladies-only dining room

Location: 277 Donald Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Opened/Closed: Around 1914


We've reported on several women-only boarding houses, at least one of which has been documented as a lesbian space (see Edith Mary Chapman's Boarding House in Salt Lake City).

Donald Street - Winnipeg (1910)

Mrs. Kemp's boarding house is interesting in that it explicitly advertises its ladies dining room as ladies only:

Also Mrs. Kemp has opened a ladies' dining room in connection, and would be pleased to see old friends and new ones looking for a select dining room for ladies only.

This is more unusual than you might think. Typically, ladies dining rooms were designed for "unescorted" women and women in the company of men, as women were typically not admitted into "regular" (male-only) eating and drinking establishments.

Lady bicyclists in Winnipeg (1900)

The result, as we have seen in many cases, were so-called ladies restaurants and cafes that were--paradoxically--dominated by men. (See this 1885 complaint from a woman in New York City.)  

In addition, the dining areas, parlors, and other semi-public rooms in most women's hotels, dormitories, and the like were usually considered "co-ed" spaces where women might entertain a beau. It seems, however, that Mrs. Kemp had no interest in any (male) suitors or "friends" mucking about her establishment.

Though Mrs. Kemp doesn't explicitly say that her boarding house is women-only, I think it is safe to assume that it was, given that men were explicitly not invited to any meals in her dining room.

Ladies Cafe at Exchange Station

Exchange Station - Liverpool, England (1892)

Ladies Cafe at Exchange Station

Location: Liverpool, England

Opened: 1889

Closed: ?

Exchange Station was the former railroad station in Liverpool. The original station structure dated back to 1850, and after an extensive renovation and expansion it was renamed the Liverpool Exchange in 1888.

Although the Ladies Cafe opened about a year later, notice that it was still an afterthought following the "very extensive premises" constructed for the men. Nevertheless, this sounds like this was a very pleasant combination of a ladies cafe and ladies reading/writing salon. Even though no women--at least that we know of--were involved in the planning, creation, or management of this space. But hey, too often that's still the case over 100 years later.

The Exchange Station was closed in 1977, and mostly demolished shortly thereafter. However, I seriously doubt the ladies cafe survived that long.

As is often the case, I can find no reference to the ladies cafe in any of the standard histories of the Exchange Station.

From the Temperance Carrier, November 2, 1889:

OPENING OF A NEW LADIES' CAFE AT LIVERPOOL.

Liverpool is well catered for. What with private venture, the Clerks' Cafe Company, and last, but not least the British Workman's Public House Company, which has no less than sixty-two houses, no town in England is better provided for. Not content to let "well" alone, Mr. Peskett, the energetic secretary of the British Workman Public House Company, is ever on the alert for "fresh fields," so far as Liverpool in concerned. The new venture is a ladies cafe, in connection with the very extensive premises occupied by the company in the Exchange Station. This will prove an immense boon to ladies coming into town to shop, either by rail or from the Cheshire side of the Mersey. The new cafe is fitted up with every requisite, and is furnished in luxuriant style. Writing materials may be obtained, and every accommodation is found for those desiring to write letters or other communications. This is a very great convenience, and one which would be acceptable in many cafes and coffee taverns patronised by the sterner sex.

Baird College

Baird College

Baird College

Location: Clinton, Missouri, USA

Opened: 1885

Closed: 1898

Baird College was founded by Mr. and Mrs. Homer T. Baird in 1885 as a nonsectarian college for women. Classes began in 1890. The school was established on the scholarship plan, and the building was considered one of the best of its kind in the State of Missouri. For twelve years Baird College was regarded as one of the leading schools for young ladies in the West, the average enrollment being about 150. For reasons that are not identified, Baird College closed in 1898.

The school reopened in 1902 as the Clinton College for Young Ladies. But this school only lasted for a few years too. With the end of Clinton College came the end of this location as a womyn's space. The buildings were soon acquired by the Seventh Day Adventists, who set up the Clinton Theological Seminary (German Seminary). This existed from 1910 to 1925.

Despite the credit given to Mr. Baird in the official histories, Mrs. Baird was apparently the real moving force behind this school. In a 1904 obituary which does not provide her first name, we learn a bit about her life and the network of girl's schools and women's colleges that sustained her. We also learn that this woman was very experienced and accomplished as a professional educator and administrator. She was not a mere wife tagging along after a "Great Man." These are themes we've often seen here at Lost Womyn's Space.

She was a lifelong teacher of young women....Kentucky was her native state. The most famous school for young women in Kentucky when Mrs. Baird was a girl was that of Mrs. Tevis, at Shelbyville. In this school, she was educated. Missouri became her home. During the civil war she conducted a school at Springfield, Ill. After her return to adopted state she served four years as principal of Clay seminary, at Liberty. For six years she was president of Ingleside college, at Palmyra, and for a like period of time she served Hardin college, Mexico, Mo, as its chief executive officer. Baird College, Clinton, Mo, is so called in honor of this great woman.

Read more about Hardin College, another lost women's college, here.

Lava Bar

Lava Bar

Location: Howard Johnson Hotel in Kenmore Square, 577 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Opened: January 1999

Closed: June 2001

Back in January 1999, there was the following announcement in the "Grrrl Talk" column of the Boston Phoenix:

The new spot this month is Melinda Ancillo's "Lava Bar," which is housed in the penthouse suite of HoJo's in Kenmore Square. Opening night was set for Sunday, January 17, after One in Ten went to press, so I can't say whether or not she did. In the meantime, die-hard club kids will remember Ancillo from Chaps, where she worked security for a few years. Although "Lava Bar" is Ancillo's gig, it's definitely a collaborative effort. For one, not only will U-Turn's Debi Saltzberg be mixing cocktails behind the bar, but Denise Russo from Upstairs at the Hideaway will help out, too. Plus, Ancillo booked DJ Kris Kono, who spent the summer spinning at Vixen's in P-town and still plays those Connecticut monthly parties, "Club Lucy."

Basically, Ancillo's betting that Kono can keep us happy and relaxed. For now, Kono is holding back on her house faves and instead plans to deliver, in Ancillo's words, "some soft, sexy tunes" to enhance the lounge ambiance of the bar. In other words, expect a very relaxed and quiet atmosphere. The room holds about 300 and comes complete with red-velvet sofas and a redwood bar in an L-shaped room. Check it out every Sunday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., at the Howard Johnson Hotel in Kenmore Square, 575 Comm Ave, Boston. Cover $5. Call (617) 267-7707.

Ah ha! I thought at first. A Boston lesbian bar I didn't know about! Then I found it was just another one of those tedious "lesbian nights." Lesbians, especially in Boston it seems, are seldom able to secure any permanent or even semi-permanent territory anymore. And this one was on a Sunday night, no less.

Here's more from "Grrrl Talk" a month later, in February 1999:

Lava Bar patrons

The Lava Bar took off last month during the long holiday weekend. Keeping up to par with most openings, this HoJo's spot was crowded its very first night. It wasn't as jammed the following week, but there were still plenty of people in attendance. In fact, after 9:30 p.m., when the music switches gears from soft to dance, it sparked a lot of grinding and all-around PDA on the dance floor. Let's just say there was a lot of lust in the air. No wonder Melinda Ancillo, who's promoting the night, deems it "a success."

But then it apparently migrated to Saturday night! (As opposed to, say, Tuesday from 6 PM to 7 PM.) This is big time! So count your blessings, girls! And smile! Lava Bar even won the best "lesbian night" award from the Boston Phoenix that year:

View from the Lava Bar

Boston hasn't had a full-time lesbian bar for a number of years now, so area girls make do with one-night-a-week hangouts like Lava Bar, situated at the top of the Howard Johnson's hotel in Kenmore Square. The accessibility of the location, the relative abundance of parking, and the diversity of the clientele have made Lava Bar the upscale Saturday-night hot spot for girls of all stripes -- from Newbury Street style mavens to the chinos-and-shirts crowd. An elevator from the street level opens into the bar; to the right is a big shiny dance floor that hops with DJ mixes. You'll have to navigate the dancers to find the small seating area, a great place to girl-watch. And if the girls aren't worth watching, the view -- from big windows around the dance floor -- always is.

It also got the same honors from the Boston Phoenix in 2000: 

The Lava Bar may be in the penthouse of Howard Johnson's, but that's easy to forget on a Saturday night. The club, which goes lesbian on Saturdays, has glass walls on three sides and is filled with sleek galvanized metal and lots of stylish velvet sofas. The atmosphere may be elegant, but the crowd and the music provide the necessary level of funk to keep the night fun. DJs Fran Englehardt and Thom Delahunt play an unusual blend of house, old-school soul, and Latin music. And if the music doesn't do anything for you, there are always theme nights. On one recent Saturday, women shucked their blouses and painted their breasts with liquid-latex paint (soap was not included).

Wow. That's pretty wild! At least they didn't use Magic Markers!

Here's a review from the Global Hangover Guide:

The former Lava Bar at the top of
Howard Johnson's

Lava Bar details:

Large bar, great booths

Since opening its doors this spring, Lava has remained afloat, and, surprisingly, has gained momentum, despite the city's habit of sinking lesbian-targeted clubs within their first year of existence.

Located in Kenmore Square on the top floor of the Howard Johnson's, every Saturday night you can get down with the girls to the house beat - or hang in the overstuffed booths off the floor - or chat with chicks while overlooking the city. A large bar greets all who enter, strategically located directly in front of the elevator, while a smaller bar is located beyond the dance floor toward the back of the club to satisfy the thirst of the more mellow crowd, seeking solitude in the dim lighting of the lounge area.

Lava survived the summer months, minus the co-eds to fill the floor, so this joint may be here to stay. Even though it is attached to HoJos, it has a separate entrance and elevator - so you don't feel like you are going to hotel to dance.

Unique to Lava, the elevator provides a great NYC clubby atmosphere.

As is the case with clubs, there is a $8 cover, but the elevator ride up (and maybe down, too) is worth it.

Still, even a 1999 article in the Boston Globe on the off-campus "gay scene" more or less admitted what every lesbian already knew: that the range of entertainment venues for women was still pretty pathetic.

There isn't much as far as clubs for women. Try the Lava Bar in Kenmore Square on Saturday nights, the Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain on Thursday nights, and Ryles, a jazz club in Cambridge where the upstairs is devoted to women, but not jazz, on Sunday nights.

But even the Lava Bar option was gone by June 2001. From the Boston Globe:

Last June, it was all downhill for Lava Bar, then Boston's leading dance club for the lesbian community. After 2 1/2 years of providing a space for women to dance and mingle, the club's promoter, Melinda Ancillo, was told the Kenmore Square hotel that housed Lava Bar was being converted into student housing. Pretty much the only game in town for lesbians on Saturday nights, Lava Bar's sudden departure from the nightlife scene threatened to leave a huge void.

Troisieme Lieu (Third Place)

Troisieme Lieu DJs

Troisieme Lieu (Third Place)

Location: 62 Rue Quicampoix, Paris, France

Opened: Around 2004

Closed: October 2012

Paris lost two lesbian bars last month: Troisieme Lieu (Third Place) and a neighboring bar-restaurant-club called Les Filles de Paris (The Daughters/Girls of Paris). According to this article in the French press, both were owned and managed by the same women partners (Les Ginettes Armees), who had been struggling with financial and tax delinquency issues. As a result, the authorities had been intent on liquidating these two businesses for the past year and a half. 

Very frustrating for me to get to the heart of this story, as my French is just good enough to understand that these places are closing, but too rusty to understand the details. Although you can obtain a translation, it's so garbled that it's really of no help. But fluent francophones are welcome to try. 

Troisieme Lieu (2010)

Here's what absolu living said about these places back in the day:

Les filles de Paris and the Troisième lieu are an excellent choice for a night out with your lesbian friends, and both venues double up with a lesbian bar and lesbian restaurant under the same roof. You can enjoy burlesque shows at the Les filles de Paris, while there's a simple rule at the huge Troisième lieu: eat, drink and dance!  The restaurant has large tables, which are perfect if you're with lots of friends. 

And here's the "editorial review" from BlackBook:

Rolls pre-club and party into one; you can grab a salad or tagine here before getting down to the weeklong rotation of house, techno, electro, or disco DJs. The crowd reflects the swirling mix of Beaubourg: black, white, hip, frump, chic, punk, straight and gay. Girl-loving girls love the "Happy Fucking Time" buy-one-get-one-free drink special.

The word from Time Out Paris:

Elaborate tartines, delicious desserts and strong drinks are the fare at this lesbian-run bar and restaurant. Opened by Les Ginettes Armées, organisers of renowned Sunday lesbian and mixed events, the Troisième Lieu’s music policy tends towards electro and house.  

Time Out also adds this:

Troisieme Lieu interior

Also known as ‘La Cantine des Ginettes Armées’ or the armed girls’ canteen, Le Troisième Lieu is a lesbian paradise, full of open minded girls on a mission to let themselves go. The house speciality: a pitcher of honey-flavoured Fargo beer. You can also scarf a meal here, though more to satisfy desperate hunger than to benefit from any Parisian gastronomy. In the evenings, lady DJs get going on the decks, which are set up at the back of a caravan, installed in the venue by we know not what means. The décor is kitsch, sparkly and colourful, including a table football set and G-strings hanging out to dry underneath the bar. A yellow-painted basement area serves as a dance floor – electro-house here, world music upstairs. The evenings also offer slide projections, DJ sets and concerts, and at weekends the fun goes on until the early morning, making Le Troisième Lieu a good bet for a drink after 2am. Guys and straight girls can get in, but on busy evenings the target clientele will always get served first. When things hot up it can get overheated and hard to breathe – and the bouncers aren’t always sympathetic to those heading out to gasp for air, thanks to protests of the grouchy neighbours.

Another view, Troisieme Lieu interior

And Lonely Planet:

Lonely Planet review for Le Troisième Lieu

Billing itself as la cantine des ginettes armées (canteen of armed gals), this kooky place for chic young lesbians – and, at times, for everyone else – is part bar, part club, part restaurant. There’s a large, colourful bar and big wooden tables at street level, with good-value meals available. The vaulted cellar below leaves space for dancing to DJs (house, electro) and rock/alternative music concerts. On the last Saturday of the month it opens at 2pm. Happy hour is from 6pm to 8pm.

And Cityseekr:

Le Troisième Lieu, also known as La Cantine des Ginettes Armées, is a prime hotspot for lesbian nightlife. This nightclub-cum-restaurant-cum-bar takes up two stories: the ground floor, tiled blue and white, is fitted with long picnic tables, kitsch decorations and a full bar: food and drinks are available to ginettes and their friends at all hours. The basement, dubbed the Sous Marin Jaune (yellow submarine), is a vaulted cellar-turned-dance floor that hosts, among other weekly events, the infamous "I Hate Mondays" dance party.  

In addition, the customer reviews at places like yelp and gaycities are enthusiastic with virtually no exception. 

And do check out their myspace page, which is very sharp. Clearly these "armed girls" fought very hard to survive.

Unnamed lesbian bar (Santa Maria, Mexico - 1901)

Santa Maria La Ribera, Mexico

Unnamed lesbian bar

Location: Santa Maria, Mexico

Opened/Closed: c. 1901

This is another one of those random finds that perfectly illustrates the disproportionate amount of scholarly attention and energy devoted to male spaces (in this case, a gay male space) as opposed to female spaces (in this case, a lesbian space).

In Mexican gay (male) history, the Dance of the Forty-One Maricones is considered a pivotal event. Here's one account from a chronology of Gay Mexican History:

"The Dance of the Forty-One Maricones." At three in the morning of a Sunday, 18 November 1901, the police raided a party on Calle de la Paz (today Calle Ezequiel Montes) in the central part of Mexico City. Forty two men were arrested and placed in Belen Prison. Of these 22 were reported as dressed as men and 19 as women. One person was released. The official account is that that person was a real woman, but persistent rumors speculate that number 42 was don Ignacio de la Torre, who was married to the daughter of President Porfirio Diaz. Those arrested were subjected to many humiliations in jail, and some were forced to sweep the streets in their dresses.

Los 41 (1901)

This incident even has its own Wikipedia entry here. It's also mentioned in the Wikipedia entry on LGBT History in Mexico. At least one blogger has discussed it as well, with scholarly references to boot. Check out the contemporary illustrations as well.

As for that lesbian bar I mentioned? In all these accounts, somewhere towards the end, you generally find a variation of the following throwaway sentence:

There was a less publicized raid on a lesbian bar in the suburb of Santa Maria, on December 4th.

There was a lesbian bar raid in December 1901??? Meaning there was a real-life lesbian bar in Mexico in December 1901???

Realize that in the United States, the earliest bars identified as "lesbian" as such are typically dated no earlier than the 1930s. So this 1901 lesbian bar would be quite a find! Unfortunately, the (male?) scholars assembling "LGBT history" don't even notice. As for digging up any more detail? Yawn. Not interested.

The particular quotation above is from the aforementioned chronology of Gay Mexican History. But we see a similar statement in the Wikipedia article on LGBT History in Mexico:

Although the raid on the Dance of the 41 was followed by a less-publicized raid of a lesbian bar on 4 December 1901 in Santa Maria, the regime was soon worried by more serious threats such as the political and civil unrest that eventually led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910.

The same sentence appears here, showing that too many scholars are lazy indeed.

But then maybe this wasn't a bar? From the Wikipedia entry on the Dance of the 41 cited above:

On 4 December 1901 there was a similar raid on a group of lesbians in Santa María, but that incident received far less attention.

But then to add to the general disarray and sloppiness, there is this entry from the GLBTQ Encyclopedia:

The raid on the dance of the 41 maricones was followed by a less-publicized raid of a lesbian party on December 4, 1901 in Santa María.

Huh. So we can't even verify whether this was a commercial establishment (a bar), a "group," or lesbian party? If this wasn't a bar, I suppose that partly explains why we can't even be bothered to report the name of the place.

If you figured our LGBT scholar/allies would establish, at minimum, what kind of lesbian space was actually raided, you would be wrong.

My backlog of scholarly projects is getting overwhelming at this point, so if somebody with decent Spanish language skills would like to tackle this story, I'd sure like to see what you come up with.

Center Market Ladies' Waiting Room and Ladies' Cafe

Washington Post, November 23, 1909

Center Market Ladies' Waiting Room and Ladies' Cafe

Location: 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC, USA

Opened: The Center Market itself opened in 1871; when the ladies waiting room and ladies cafe opened is not clear

Closed: The Center Market closed in 1931

I have never seen a ladies' waiting room or a ladies' cafe associated with a large urban marketplace like the Center Market before. Guess there's a first for everything. 

According to America on the Move, the Center Market covered two full city blocks in the heart of Washington's business district (where the National Archives is today). 

Center Market, B Street facade (about 1900)

Center Market opened early in the morning and usually closed by mid-afternoon, except on Saturday, when it was open all day. Different classes of people visited the market from all parts of the city. The best (and most expensive) produce and meats sold early. As the day went on, prices and quality lessened.

Center Market interior (about 1900)

The approximately 700 dealers who rented space on the ground floor of the Center Market sold both local produce and foods from around the region, the nation, and the world. With the growth of railroads and commercial farming, more and more people were able to buy oranges, bananas, and other fruits and vegetables that were previously unavailable or too expensive.

A fascinating and more detailed history of the Center Market is at the Streets of Washington blog. Unfortunately, nothing is said there about the ladies' waiting room or the ladies' cafe. Not that this is unusual. Too frequently, the womyn's spaces associated with the history of a particular location and/or a larger institution are overlooked or omitted.