Speaker 1: Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
Speaker 1: is Wamanica. Historically, women have been told to make themselves smaller,
Speaker 1: to diminish themselves. Some have used that idea to their advantage,
Speaker 1: disappearing into new identities. For others, a disappearance was the
Speaker 1: end of their stories, but the beginning of a new
Speaker 1: chapter in their legacies. This month, we're talking about disappearing acts.
Speaker 1: Today we're talking about a woman who was known as
Speaker 1: a mother, a revolutionary, a hippie, an outlaw, and a
Speaker 1: drug dealer. She was the beating heart of Morgantown, West
Speaker 1: Virginia's alternative music community until she disappeared in nineteen eighty eight.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Marcia mud Ferber. Marsha was born in
Speaker 1: Massachusetts in nineteen forty one and moved to New Jersey
Speaker 1: while she was still a child. When her older brother
Speaker 1: graduated from high school, he went to college, but Marcia
Speaker 1: was a woman, which meant that when she graduated, she
Speaker 1: was sent to secretarial school. In nineteen sixty, Marsha got
Speaker 1: married and settled down in West Orange, New Jersey. This
Speaker 1: was during the Civil Rights era. Folks were talking about
Speaker 1: equality and protesting the war in Vietnam, and Marcia was listening.
Speaker 1: She got engaged an active participant in democratic politics and
Speaker 1: in her local synagogue. She would have people over and
Speaker 1: host political study groups. She started a bookstore called make
Speaker 1: Up Your Mind. There was a political section and a
Speaker 1: children's section. There was also a couch so when writers
Speaker 1: or other travelers came through New Jersey they had a
Speaker 1: place to sleep for the night. Eventually, Marcia decided that
Speaker 1: she'd had enough of the New Jersey suburban lifestyle. She
Speaker 1: wanted to live communally, grew vegetables with like minded people.
Speaker 1: She wanted to go back to the land, so Marsha
Speaker 1: and her husband, along with two friends, fought land and
Speaker 1: moved to West Virginia. They built a house, a greenhouse,
Speaker 1: a garden, and an outhouse with a mirror in front
Speaker 1: of the toilet to keep residents humble. They called their
Speaker 1: compound mud Farm because the ground was off in muddy,
Speaker 1: and Marcia became Marsha Mud. Mud Farm was a true
Speaker 1: back to the land commune. There were between fifteen and
Speaker 1: forty people there at any given time. They grew plants,
Speaker 1: some to eat and some to smoke, practiced free love,
Speaker 1: and had lots of parties. Soon after separating from her husband,
Speaker 1: Marcia left mud Farm. She moved to Morgantown, West Virginia.
Speaker 1: She may have left mud Farm, but she carried the
Speaker 1: spirit of communal living with her. Before long, she returned
Speaker 1: to communal living, starting earth houses one and two. Residents
Speaker 1: shared chores and cooked meals for each other. The door
Speaker 1: was always open and people were always passing through, friends, students,
Speaker 1: even inmates from a nearby prison who were part of
Speaker 1: a work study program at the local college. After their classes,
Speaker 1: they'd stop at the earth House and teach Marcia how
Speaker 1: to evade the police. She'd stand with them in front
Speaker 1: of a mirror and say, over and over, I was
Speaker 1: never there. Marcia also owned a bar called the Underground Railroad.
Speaker 1: It was a hub for the music scene in Morgantown.
Speaker 1: The venue was a haven for reggae, punk, rock and roll,
Speaker 1: and new wave music. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, the
Speaker 1: Butthole Surfers, the Flaming Lips all played there. Marcia also
Speaker 1: realized that teenagers needed somewhere to go too. They weren't
Speaker 1: allowed into a bar, so she opened up a second
Speaker 1: place next door called the Dry House. Soon the space
Speaker 1: was a go to hangout spot for teenagers in the area,
Speaker 1: who all called Marcia Ma. To keep up with business expenses,
Speaker 1: Marsha found an alternative source of income cannabis. She sold
Speaker 1: weed that she kept stored in her knitting bag. She
Speaker 1: traveled as far as South America to get weed and
Speaker 1: sometimes cocaine to take back to the States. As the
Speaker 1: years went on, her involvement with drug dealing got darker,
Speaker 1: and then, on the afternoon of April twenty fifth, nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty eight, Marcia left the Underground Railroad and never returned.
Speaker 1: Her friends called the police and an official investigation into
Speaker 1: her disappearance began. There were lots of leads and plenty
Speaker 1: of theories. Maybe Marcia had gone into witness protection, maybe
Speaker 1: she'd gotten mixed up and a drug deal gone wrong,
Speaker 1: But none of those ideas crystallized and there was no
Speaker 1: conclusive end to her case. Marcia was never found. In
Speaker 1: her wake, she left her community of hippies and music
Speaker 1: lovers and revolutionaries reeling. In twenty thirteen, the twenty fifth
Speaker 1: anniversary of her disappearance, there was a reunion at the
Speaker 1: bar that was once the under Ground Railroad. Around five
Speaker 1: hundred people attended. People who at all in one way
Speaker 1: or another have been touched by Marsha's ability to pull
Speaker 1: people together, and two years ago, Karen Zellermeyer, one of
Speaker 1: Marsha's best friends, and her daughter Jamie, told Marsha's story
Speaker 1: on a Wonder Media Network podcast called I Was Never There.
Speaker 1: If you want to learn more about Marcia and the
Speaker 1: movements she inspired, check out I Was Never There wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, and stay tuned. A new season
Speaker 1: and a new story is coming soon. All month we're
Speaker 1: talking about disappearing acts. For more information, find us on
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan,
Speaker 1: my favorite sister and co creator. Talk to you tomorrow