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."
"When I was about eighteen, I met a woman while on vacation. We corresponded for a little bit. I was not judicious in hiding the letters. My mother found them and called me in. She told me that she wished I had never been born and that she herself were dead. I think my whole life from that point on focused on proving to my mother that I was a normal person and that she didn't have to wish that she were dead or that I had not been born."

Want to listen to a few samples from interviews? Click here!
By now, I’m about 19. My cousins are all leaving home, going into the service, and I thought, “Here I am, 19 and I’m supposed to do something or get married. I guess I’ll have to get married, but I’m going to find somebody that’s good looking, so I’ll have good-looking children.” (laughing) That was the reason I got married! Talk about lame! 
"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.
The OLOHP wished to extend a special thank you to the John Kellet Foundation for it's recognition of the value of the work we are doing. 

The John Steven Kellett Foundation, founded in 1992, has fostered the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex communities of Houston through its support of a range of educational, cultural, and charitable organizations.
Charlotte Avery, on left, with Arden in 2013

Loss and the OLOHP

The photo above is Arden, the Founder and Director of the OLOHP, with her late wife, Charlotte.
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Ask any of the Project’s interviewers and volunteers what has surprised, and pleased, them the most about being involved in the work that they are doing and they’re likely to tell you a version of this: We not only get to spend time with some incredible women, but we always come away caring about women we may have just met for the first time the day we did the interview. Often, true friendships are formed and nurtured for years to come. And when we interview someone we already know, the interviewing process strengthens the existingrelationship as well.

We knew going in, that with a constituency made up of women in their 70s, 80s, and even 90s, we should have expected some deaths. Knowing doesn't make it any easier. 
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Tennyson posited, “it is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.” We agree, it is absolutely better. The richness these women have brought into our lives far outweighs the sadness we feel when they leave their bodies. As long as we remember them, they aren’t gone. And, in part due to the work of all those involved in any way with the OLOHP (transcribing, donating, interviewing, etc.), these women’s valuable stories will be here, preserved for others to read, for ages to come.

Out and About

The OLOHP has trained interviewers living across much of the country. They are actively arranging to do more interviews. While over 725 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

The OLOHP Out & About
​for Spring and Summer

Women who work with the OLOHP in the Puget Sound continue to find places to give presentations about the Project. Email us for more details. 

Our Products

Our Stories, Our Voices,
a DVD about the OLOHP

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.

Most Recent Issue of the Insider

olohp_insider_46.print_version.pdf
File Size: 2870 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

20th Anniversary Issue of the OLOHP Insider

olohp_insider.20-20.medium_res.pdf
File Size: 10763 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Special 20th Anniversary OLOHP Insider

We're having a problem getting the newsletter file up here on our site… until we do, here it a link where you can view and/or download the issue in the OLOHP Dropbox - this one is medium resolution… too large to email, but great for viewing on screen: 

OLOHP20-20.medium res.pdf

And if you want a copy that is high resolution for printing, here it that link… 

OLOHP20-20.print res.pdf

How to 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.

Help Us! Our Three Way Ask

We're asking for help three different ways:
  1. Money   Like every organization, money is always needed to make the work happen. 
  2. Finding Aids   We're embarking on an effort to create a finding aid (a type of index) for each of the hundreds of Herstories in our collection.
  3. Abstracts   We'd like help writing an abstract which is a sort of summary for each Herstory,