Lesbian Herstory Archives

Dear Folks,

We hope that this letter finds you and those you love safe and well in these challenging times. So much has changed in the world since this time last year when we wrote you with news of some of the many ways we celebrated our 50^th anniversary. As you hopefully know, as one of its founding principles, the Archives has never accepted government money, applies only to those occasional private grants which align with our mission, and relies primarily on donations from our communities, so we would like to express our immense gratitude to all of you for valuing our work. It is because of you that we can continue the important work of preserving our herstories.  

Here at LHA, we continue our regular work. Coordinators, interns, and volunteers continue to sort, organize, catalogue, and digitize various parts of the Archives collection and to process donations of special collections, books, newsletters, ephemera, etc. Archivettes and volunteers welcome and assist visitors and researchers from around the world and present at various events and talks.  

This past year we continued to host and participate in a variety of events in person, virtually & hybrid – both at LHA and out in the community. In one particularly joyous recent event, LHA partnered with the New York Liberty to include a station in their stadium showcasing materials we have collected over the years. We also participated in engaging events such as a Drag Herstory Hour fundraiser for LHA, (complete with a history lesson from Bertha Vanayshun!) and an event with Kink Out at TV Eye in Ridgewood, which combined performance art, installations, a community market, and a photo exhibition focusing on Lesbian subcultures from the ‘70s to the ‘00s. Additionally, some Archivettes recently attended the annual SisterSpace event in Maryland and, among other things, collected oral histories from those interested in sharing and preserving their experiences.  

Meanwhile, at LHA, Archivettes continued to host recurring events, giving participants an opportunity to engage more deeply with the Archives and our collections, such as: Lez Craft nights; Dyke(umentary) nights; a Dungeons and Dragons campaign; a virtual writer’s workshop – Dykes of the Roundtable; and an in-person group for writers and filmmakers – The Work Room. We were also delighted to host a leatherdyke speed cruising event and an event with a group that performed selections from Show Me Eternity (their musical about Emily Dickinson) for both an in person and online audience. We also held our annual Brooklyn Pride Booksale and marched in the Brooklyn Pride March. The rain did NOT stop folks from showing up!

In another fun project, on two dates in June, we hosted Wikipedia edit-a-thons focusing on improving and crating Wikipedia pages about Lesbians and Lesbian organizations, giving participants another opportunity to participate in documenting and preserving our herstory. In July, we worked with the Sirens Motorcycle Club on an event where the club delivered more of their materials to the archives (on motorcyles!) followed by a bar hop fundraiser for LHA from Gingers to Cubbyhole to Henrietta’s. And in August, LHA began hosting the Black Lesbian Study Social, a program by and for Black lesbians to hang out, discuss timely issues, and engage relevant archival objects to help expand, challenge and clarify perspectives on Black lesbian life in the past, present and future.

And we are not finished! As we continue to collect lesbian herstory, we continue to make lesbian herstory by our presence and activities. Stay tuned for additional announcements about upcoming events including our 2026 Dyke Prom!

In these times that are difficult for so many, we greatly appreciate any donation you are able to spare.  And, as always, we invite you to stop by to visit, draw inspiration from the collections, browse or do research and of course to donate your materials to the archives! And if you want to show your archives pride with a t-shirt, hat, button, or bag, we invite you to check out our merch, which is now available online! 

Thank you!

In friendship, The Archivettes: 

Adia Augustin, Alex Volgyesi, Alexis Clements, Amy Beth, Caro Caden, Deborah Edel, Desiree Yael Vester, Elvis Bakaitis, Emily Dyer, Hanna Pennington, Flavia Rando, Joan Nestle, Maxine Wolfe, Morgan Gwenwald, Nora Della Fera, Olivia Newsome, Paula Grant, Rachel Corbman, Ruth Weaver; Rebecca Arciprete, Saskia Scheffer, Stephanie Khoury, Stevie Jones, Teddy Minucci  

THE LESBIAN HERSTORY ARCHIVES NEEDS:

1 LESBIAN TO GIVE $1,000,000 or

10 LESBIANS TO GIVE $100,000 or

100 LESBIANS TO GIVE $10,000 or

1,000 LESBIANS TO GIVE $1,000 or

10,000 LESBIANS TO GIVE $100 or

100,000 LESBIANS to GIVE $10 or

1,000,000 LESBIANS TO GIVE $1

For 50 years the Lesbian Herstory Archives has been dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing all expressions of Lesbian culture: national and international, multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-generational and multi-ethnic, past and present. Over these years the Archives has sponsored ’At Home’ cultural events, published a newsletter and bibliographies, created slide shows and exhibits, personally answered thousands of letters and phone calls, and has welcomed thousands of visitors and researchers to the collection. Lesbians, Butches, Femmes, Lesbian-Feminists, Lesbian Mothers, Gay Women,SM Lesbians, Queers, Gender Benders, Bisexual Women, Passing Women, Transpeople………all Lesbians are a part of the Archives-a part of our herstory.   

IT IS UP TO ALL OF US! PLEASE DONATE NOW TO SUPPORT THE WORK OF THE ARCHIVES!

We are indebted to all who have worked with us in the past and those who are with us now.  As we all continue to work to preserve the herstories entrusted to us, we ask that you please consider making a gift.  Your donation will help us all continue the work of building and sustaining the Archives. In addition to the tradition gifting of funds described below, please consider the following:

Designate the Lesbian Herstory Archives (Lesbian Herstory Educational Foundation, INC) as a beneficiary on your retirement accounts, pension plans, life insurance, stocks, bonds, savings and checking accounts.

If you have a charitable account or donor advised fund designate the Lesbian Herstory Archives (Lesbian Herstory Educational Foundation, INC) as a recipient.

If you have an IRA and need to make a yearly minimum deduction, consider making the Lesbian Herstory Archives (Lesbian Herstory Educational Foundation, INC) the recipient of this yearly amount.  If sent to us directly, it serves as a charitable donation and you do not have to pay taxes.

Designate the Lesbian Herstory Archives (Lesbian Herstory Educational Foundation, INC) as part of your estate planning. A simple bequest is easy to arrange.

The Lesbian Herstory Archives / Lesbian Herstory Educational Foundation, INC is a not-for-profit 501 ©3 organization.  

All donations are tax deductible. If you want to use a credit card go to our website lesbianherstoryarchives.org.  If paying by check or money order, make it out to LHEF, INC or Lesbian Herstory Educational Foundation, INC, fill out the form and mail both to: LHA / LHEF, Inc  484 14^th Street  Brooklyn, NY 11215.