Lesbian Herstory Archives: Black Lesbians in the Archive
Through Jul312026
In dialogue with the gallery’s current exhibitions, Aya Brown: In the life and Taeer M: roach+world, the Lesbian Herstory Archives presents a curated selection of ephemera and educational resources from their archives. The presentation reflects an opportunity to engage with the LHA’s ongoing work preserving Lesbian histories across generations. In addition to the archival presentation, the LHA will organize related events at the gallery, extending the exhibitions conversations around Lesbian community memory, preservation, and archival practices.
The Lesbian Herstory Archives, a Brooklyn-based volunteer-run community archive founded in 1974, exists to gather, preserve, and provide access to records of Lesbian lives and activities. The Archives collects material by and about Lesbians, acknowledging changing concepts of Lesbian identities. All expressions of Lesbian identities, desires, and practices are important, welcomed, and included. The goal is to document the widest range of Lesbian experience from all geographic, cultural, political and economic backgrounds, and historical contexts, not just the lives of the famous or the published.
Through its ongoing work, the LHA encourages Lesbians to record their experiences and donate materials that are relevant to their lives. This may include books, magazines, journals, news clippings (from established Feminist and Lesbian media), bibliographies, photos, Lesbian ephemera, T-shirts, tapes, films, diaries, oral histories, poetry and prose, biographies, autobiographies, notices of events, posters, graphics, zines, unpublished papers, organizational records, memorabilia, and references to your lives.
Black Lesbian Saturday School (BLSS) is a Lesbian Herstory Archives program hosted by and for Black Lesbians. Through engagement with the LHA’s Black Lesbian collections, BLSS generates archival materials and creates space for discussion around Black Lesbian life in the past, present, and future. The program’s goal is to build strong Black Lesbian communities by keeping these histories alive.
Resources
- Website: lesbianherstoryarchives.org
- Instagram (Archives): @lesbianherstoryarchives
- Instagram (BLSS): @blss.gay
- TikTok: @lesbianherstoryarchivez
- Facebook: facebook.com/herstoryarchives
- Donate: paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=6GTGNQMAHE6XU