Lesbian Herstory Archives Review
Reviewers: Allison Elliott and Art Kopischke
Review Began: 20 March 2022
Review Ended: 23 March 2022
Project Links: https://lesbianherstoryarchives.org/
Data and Sources
- Audio
- Video
- Photographs
- Digitized materials
- Donated materials
Processes
- Network of volunteers and donations
- Photographer materials
- Digitized materials (photos, letters, pins, t-shirts, audio)
- Digital, searchable indexes of archives
- Research Help
Presentation
- Project website and blog
- Omeka Audio Visual Collection
- Digital Exhibits
- Newsletter
Digital Tools Used to Build It
- Wappalyzer: Wordpress, PHP, MySQL, Vimeo, Apache, Yoast SEO, Google Tag Manager, Google Remarketing Tag, MailChimp, Moment.js, jQuery, DreamHost, Google Font API, Google Analytics
- Airtable Collection Catalogue
- Omeka
Language
- English
Review
In 1970, a group of women involved in the Gay Academic Union realized the precarity of lesbian culture. These women created a separate consciousness-raising groups, and one of these meetings in 1974 led to regular, larger meetings that eventually resulted in the Lesbian Herstory Archives publishing their first newsletter in 1975. The archives lived in Joan Nestle, one of the founders, Upper West Side apartment for 15 years. She and Deb Edel, another founder, agreed the first 10 years would be about building trust within the community. In 1993, the Lesbian Herstory Archives moved to Brownstown in Park Slope where they are present day.
The archive is primarily physical (or “analogue”,) but some of its collections “have been digitized, allowing you to access selected materials from your computer.” Links to any available digital collections are available on the collections page of the website. These digitized collections are primarily audio and video recordings dating back to 1971 at the earliest. “The audio recordings available to the public are .mp3 copies of the .wav preservation files. The audio content is unedited from its as-is form on the originally recorded medium.” In terms of hurdles they’ve faced from digitization, “digitizing ¼ inch open reel tape, the leaders on many of the tapes are made of fragile paper material, which would sometimes break off during playback. As a result, we often had to stop and repair the adhesive tape that connects the magnetic tapes to the leaders. For U-Matic tapes, securing reliable playback equipment can be a challenge since the format is endangered.” Digitization of analog materials is a huge part of their work.
Up until very recently, the archives did not accept any institutional grants. The founders were determined to not use any government or outside grants, thus their only monetary source being from grassroots fundraising. The archives accepted their first outside grant very recently.
- What are the project’s goals or aims?
- To document lesbian lives, experiences, and history.
- To keep the archives free and accessible to all.
- To be involved in the political struggles of all lesbians.
- To teach archival skills intergenerationally and break the elitism of traditional archives.
- The archives will never be sold or the contents divided.
The archive is thorough and expansive, and their connection and engagement with the community seem to have been thriving before the building shut down. Access does seem to be the second priority in this project despite “accessible to all” is a top-tier goal for them. The dominant and seemingly only language to conduct research in is English, and without the physical building open, the archives are not truly accessible to all. However, their digitized collections increased accessibility. For instance, The DYKE TV digitized collection is especially interesting. The collection includes footage, promotional flyers, membership forms, recruitment letters, press releases, and advertising for educational courses. Exploring these items and footage offers an important lens into an example of community-made and centered unapologetic media. Moreso, by way of this being a digitized and open-source collection, it has the potential to inspire and provoke queer people globally.
As of now, the LHA can not offer appointments for research help. “The building is closed to visitors until further notice.” Since the primary space for researching and connecting with the community is in person, and this building is now available, I cannot say that they are reaching their intended audience to the fullest extent possible. They’ve listed an email, lesbianherstoryarchives@gmail.com for questions or resources to other libraries and archives. As of now, their primary mode of communication with their community is Instagram.