| Mother Courage | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1972 |
| Street address | 342 West 11th Street |
| City | New York |
| State | New York |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 40°44′08″N74°00′29″W / 40.7355°N 74.0081°W |
Mother Courage was a feminist restaurant located at 342 West 11th Street in Greenwich Village in New York City. It was the first known feminist restaurant in the United States. [1]
With the help of $10,000 crowdsourced micro-loans and personal savings, women's rights activists and lesbian couple Dolores Alexander and Jill Ward established Mother Courage in May 1972. [2] [1] It was the first known feminist restaurant in the United States. [1] It was named after the play Mother Courage by anti-war Marxist poet, Bertolt Brecht. [1] [2] Mother Courage was a hub for the women's liberation movement of the 1970s. It was a DIY affair, a renovated dilapidated luncheonette transformed with the help of a volunteer construction crew of family and friends in the women's liberation movement, [3] and decorated with house plants and sketches by local feminist artists and the menu written on a chalkboard. [1] Clientele ran the gamut politically, and men were welcome but not prioritized over female patrons. [4] Well-known patrons included Susan Brownmiller, Gloria Steinem, [4] Audre Lorde, and Kate Millett. [3] The restaurant played host to readings and other cultural events. [4] It closed in 1977 but inspired many other feminist restaurants throughout the United States and Canada. [5]
