A lesbian-owned, feminist bookstore in Provincetown is celebrating its 50th anniversary this weekend with events that are open to the public.
Michelle Axelson is the owner of Womencrafts, which is one of only a handful of feminist book shops left in the United States.
CAI's Gilda Geist spoke with Michelle recently to learn about Womencrafts' historical significance and the upcoming anniversary weekend.
Gilda Geist Michelle, you became the owner of Womencrafts in 2015. But first, I want to go back to the beginning. Tell me about the founding of Womencrafts in 1976.
Michelle Axelson 1976 is a really pivotal year for feminism and for the lesbian community. It's the year that a lot of women's spaces began—things like women's music series, women's bookstores. A lot of that is tied to 1976. And so, there was a couple, Vashti and Alex, who wanted to open a shop in Provincetown, and like so many people and women in that moment, they were noticing the lack of representation of women's art, women's poetry, women's books, music, all of that. Provincetown's no different than anywhere else. It's a safe haven for so many, but back then, and also still today, you look around the galleries and you think, 'Are there enough women represented?' So, this couple wanted to start a place that would showcase work made by women and would be a safe haven and a community space for the lesbian community in particular. And of course, men are welcome, but men are welcome everywhere. They don't need to be told that. So when women are vacationing in Provincetown, because they're drawn to the lore of a queer mecca, and then they come to Womencrafts and they're like, 'I'm so excited! I start my trip here. Where am I going to go? What bar should I go to? What clubs should I go to?' I'm often the one to let people know there isn't a lesbian bar in Provincetown, there is not a [lesbian] club. You could go here or there, or this place is owned by women, but if you're looking for a place where you are centered, it's actually not true many places in Provincetown, which makes me feel like the store is all the more important. And it's important that it's intersectional, to me. Like, yes, we're representing women, but also trans people and excluded people everywhere. The mission of the store is for those who have been excluded. And so that's why the shop feels as important to me today [as] it was in 1976.
GG Womencrafts is a bookstore, but it's also a space for gathering to talk about art, to do storytelling, to do activism. What role does Womencrafts play in the broader queer community in Provincetown and beyond?
MA Certainly in Provincetown, we are an activation hub. It is a place that people come together when there's anything going on in the news—which, as we know, these days is every day—but particularly something targeting the queer community or the feminist women's community. For example, when Roe v. Wade was overturned, people came and sat at Womencrafts and mourned and talked. And from the moment and the space of being together, we were able to make plans of, what's the next protest going to look like? Who are you writing letters to? What are we going to do with all our anger? So, Womencrafts and [I] sponsor most of the protests in Provincetown [and] are the ones to lead the No Kings rallies, [and] certainly anything about abortion and queer rights. We hold silent vigils when trans kids are in danger. When Renee Good was murdered we had a pop-up vigil. Because I am a shop on the main street and live right there, people know they can find me. And if they find me in Womencrafts, we have what I call my go-bag. It has a bullhorn, it has markers, it has postcards, it has candles. It's my protest in a bag, always ready to go. And people know to call the Womencrafts number and ask where people are gathering.
GG How are you folks celebrating the 50th anniversary of Womencrafts?
MA We have decided to make March 20 the shop's anniversary because we found the original business license and that's the date on that. The original owners are no longer alive, so I'm going based on the earliest date I could find. So that weekend—Friday, Saturday and Sunday—we're going to have a whole host of events, most of which are free. Everybody's invited. We're having a storytelling night. Saturday, there's going to be a wellness/mindfulness morning. There's going to be a book and craft fair. There's going to be a workshop on archiving and preserving our 'her-story' and our stories. Saturday night is a cabaret performance at the [Unitarian Universalist Meeting House of Provincetown], and that's going to feature a local favorite that people know and love as Suede. And my icon of lesbian music when I was coming out is Melissa Farrick. She's going to be there, [as well as] Natalia Zukerman, Karen Grenier, comedian Poppy Champlin [and] my friend Anne Stott. So, we are kicking our 50th anniversary celebration off with that weekend of March 20, but we will be celebrating all year long and there will be a Womencrafts 50th anniversary event during all of the theme weeks and different times along the year, so people can look out for lots of ways to celebrate with us.
Find a full schedule of anniversary weekend events on the Womencrafts website.
