Bluestockings (bookstore)
Bluestockings is a volunteer-supported and collectively owned radical bookstore, fair trade cafe, and activist center located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It started out as a feminist bookstore and is named after a group of Enlightenment intellectual women, the Bluestockings.
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Formation | 1999 |
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Founder | Kathryn Welsh |
Location |
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Area served | New York metropolitan area |
Website | www |
Mission and structure
Bluestockings actively supports "movements that challenge hierarchy and all systems of oppression"[1] and is one of 13 identified feminist bookstores in the US and Canada.[2] Bluestockings is collectively owned and supported by a community of volunteers. The Bluestockings collective is a small group of worker-owners who make decisions based on consensus, with the input and support of volunteers and community members.[3] It is still independent.
History
Bluestockings was originally opened in 1999 as a feminist bookstore. The store closed briefly in late 2001, reopening a few months later, under its current model as a collectively-run worker-owned radical bookstore and activist center. The founding collective members expanded the focus of Bluestockings' titles and events programming to social justice related topics, including sections on Race and Black Studies, Political Theory, Intersectional Feminism, LGBTQ, Gender Studies, Anarchism, Class & Labor, Activist Strategies, Radical Education, Environment and Climate Justice, Indigenous Studies, Global Justice, Art, Science & Cultural Studies, Comics, Science Fiction, Poetry, and Fiction.[4] Since 2003, Bluestockings has continued to operate as a collectively-owned radical bookstore, and serves as a community meeting space and hub for activist, literary and intellectual gathering. The space also continues to host author readings, discussions, screenings, workshops, and panels nearly every night that are free to attend. There is also a small fair trade café that serves coffee from one of the Zapatista coffee cooperatives.
Due to hardship from the coronavirus pandemic, Bluestockings was forced to move from its original location at 172 Allen Street. After extensive fundraising, the bookstore announced it would remain on the Lower East Side and would move to 116 Suffolk Street.[5]
References
- "Bluestockings Mission Statement". Archived from the original on 2006-08-10. Retrieved 2006-08-31.
- These Are the Last of America's Dying Feminist Bookstores Archived 2014-08-12 at the Wayback Machine Mic (media company)
- "Bluestockings Structure". Archived from the original on 2017-06-10. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
- McGrath, Kathryn. Pushed to the Margins Archived January 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. bitch
- Diamond, Jonny (10 August 2020). "Iconic Lower East Side bookstore Bluestockings has found a new home!". Literary Hub. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
Further reading
- "Bluestocking gets reprieve". New York Blade. 5 (5): 6. March 7, 2003. EBSCOhost 9365758.
- Brown, Lisa (October 24, 2015). "Is the Lower East Side's Beloved Bluestockings Bookstore Set to be Shuttered?". Observer. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- Copage, Eric V. (June 6, 1999). "By, for and About Women". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 17, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- Curkin, Charles (November 25, 2015). "At Bluestockings, a Manhattan Activist Center, Radical Is Sensible". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- Hoby, Hermione (June 2, 2018). "A story of survival: New York's last remaining independent bookshops". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- Kanuga, Malav (2010). "Bluestockings Bookstore and New Institutions of Self-Organized Work: The Space Between Common Notions and Common Institutions". In Hughes, Craig; Peace, Stevie; Van Meter, Kevin (eds.). Uses of a Whirlwind: Movement, Movements, and Contemporary Radical Currents in the United States. Edinburgh: AK Press. pp. 19–36. ISBN 978-1-84935-016-7.
- Kawaguchi, Karen (July 24, 2000). "Feminist Feast and Famine". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on September 12, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- Kirch, Claire (March 12, 2018). "The Trump Presidency Energized Feminist Bookstores". Publishers Weekly. 265 (11): 8–10. ISSN 0000-0019. EBSCOhost 128426536.
- Kravitz, Melissa (March 18, 2019). "Bluestockings a safe space for feminist literature, activism and more on the LES". amNewYork. Archived from the original on September 12, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- Lewin, Tamar (May 11, 2003). "Radical Not-Too-Chic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 12, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- McGrath, Kathry (2004). "Pushed to the Margins: The Slow Death and Possible Rebirth of the Feminist Bookstore". Feminist Collections: A Quarterly of Women's Studies Resources. 25 (3): 4–9. ISSN 0742-7441. Gale A124644046.
- Nawotka, Edward (February 10, 2003). "NYC Women's Bookstore for Sale". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on September 12, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- Orlow, Emma (July 21, 2020). "LES radical bookstore and café Bluestockings is closing". Time Out New York. Archived from the original on September 12, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- Shannon, Deric (2013). "What Does It Mean to Fight and to Win?". Anarchist Studies. 21 (1): 92–. ISSN 0967-3393. Gale A342773667.
- Tudor, Silke (October 18, 2006). "Best jumping-off point for the burgeoning activist". Village Voice. 51 (42): 24. ISSN 0042-6180. EBSCOhost 22866428.
- Zimmerman, Alex (October 2, 2015). "Aging Bluestockings Book Shop Launches Crowdfunding Campaign to Fund Rehab Efforts". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on September 5, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.