The Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project
Gathering and Preserving The Life Stories of Old Lesbians
Saving Our Stories, One Interview at a Time

It's hard to imagine today what it was like for a woman to live in a time when she had never heard the word lesbian, when there were no lesbian organizations, and when she had to be careful what she wore to the bar because a woman could be arrested simply for wearing pants, or the wrong shoes.

What We Are About…

Founded in 1998, the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project (OLOHP) has gathered and preserved the life stories of hundreds of lesbians 70 years of age and older, told in their own words.
Since the inception of the OLOHP, the Project has worked to gather, document and preserve the life stories of lesbians born in the early decades of the past century. The OLOHP was begun by women of this era, with the singular goal of ensuring that the stories of their contemporaries were preserved and that their experiences were not forgotten. For many a woman, sharing her story with the Project was a significant life experience. For some, it was the first time they felt they had a story worth telling and they were gratified to learn that someone cared.

Excerpts from Herstories

Herstories are filled with insights, revelations, humor, observations and wisdom. Transcripts can be over a hundred pages. Here, we offer a collection of excerpts illustrating a few of the hundreds of valuable thoughts disclosed by the women who have generously shared their life stories.

Here on this website, you'll find three forms of excerpts: Quotes, Voices and Profiles. Quotes are shorter pieces and are organized by some broad subject headings. Voices are short samples of the audio from women's interviews. Profiles are a more in depth look at a women's Herstory.

Excerpts such as these give us all a glimpse into what it was like for these women to live as lesbians.
"We had never held hands out in public. But before they put her in the ambulance I kissed her on the forehead and whispered that I loved her. It was the first ever show of affection."

Want to listen to a few samples from interviews? Click here!
"I had to give up custody of my children. I knew it was the only thing I could do, for their sake. I didn’t have a job. I had to move out … part of the agreement was that I would be there when they came home, to say good-bye. That in itself was a horrendous scene."

Profiles

For a more in depth look at a few of the completed Herstories, including photos and other support materials, go to the Profile section.

Right now, we have profiles posted for nine women, all who were involved in the Project early in it's history, all who led fascinating lives.

Out and About

The OLOHP has trained interviewers living across much of the country. They are actively arranging to do more interviews. While more than 550 interviews have been conducted, around a hundred of those stories are still in various stages of being processed and finalized. And, as always, we're involved in several other events as well…

Upcoming Events

National Women's Music Fest
Middleton, WI  July 6-9, 2017

We hope to be able to present a workshop at the 2017 National Women's Music Festival held just outside Madison, Wisconsin. We'll post more details as we get closer. For more info about the festival, go to http://www.wiaonline.org/

The OLOHP Insider

The Project publishes a free quarterly newsletter called The OLOHP Insider. Subscribe! Sign up to get the current issue. We've also posted several back issues for you to download. (Click on PRODUCTS or directly on the newsletter image below.)

We now have all the back issues of the OLOHP Insider available on our website! Enjoy.

Get Involved

  • Participate in the Project yourself.
  • Provide information to someone else you know who may be willing to participate.
  • Request printed material about the OLOHP to distribute in your area.
  • Arrange to do a presentation to a local group.
  • Donate copies of our two books and the DVD+Guide to your local LGBTQ organization, senior center or a care facility.
  • Donate to support the Project.

Our Stories, Our Voices,
a DVD on the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project
Now available

Our Anthologies

Two books, done anthology-style, have been written to share some of the Herstories from the collection. Each contains the stories of 23 women accompanied by photos and additional information. A sample chapter from each is available as a PDF. (Click on PRODUCTS or directly on the book image below.)

The Ultimate OLOHP Home

In order to ensure that the wealth of information collected by the OLOHP is preserved, protected, and available to researchers, all the finalized Herstories and associated papers will ultimately be archived in the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. About a third of the Herstories are there already.