Oral History: Molly Martin

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Oral History

Molly Martin arrived in San Francisco in the mid-1970s, and lived through the long heyday of the lesbian scene along Valencia, worked as an electrician and founded the Wonder Women electrical collective (and wired many of the women's businesses in the Mission), competed in the Gay Games in weight lifting, frequented numerous bars and clubs. She also worked at dozens of blue collar work sites and was part of a major lawsuit to open the trades to women workers, after which she founded Tradeswomen.

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Read more by Molly Martin:

Sisters Restoring Justice

Why I Hate Firemen

How the Lesbians Invaded

Remembering All That We Have Lost

Chuck Cannon, pilebutt

Finding Wonder Women in the Tenderloin

Excerpts from the interview above appear in the following clips:

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Molly Martin, interviewed in February 2019, and Ruth Mahaney, interviewed in December 2018, speak about their memories of lesbian bars in the 1970s and 1980s.

Video: Shaping San Francisco

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Ruth Mahaney and Molly Martin, interviewed in late 2018 and early 2019 respectively, remember early encounters with feminist bookstores and lesbian printing.

Video: Shaping San Francisco

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Molly Martin describes her early, rather brief involvement with Project One Warehouse.

Video: Shaping San Francisco