Lesbian Herstory Archives

Lesbian Herstory Archives "In Memory of the Voices We Have Lost" - "hold those things that tell our history and protect them." There is no room for hatred or bigotry at the Archives.
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The Le***an Herstory Archives exists to gather, preserve and provide access to records of Le***an lives and activities. Doing this also serves to uncover and document our herstory previously denied to us by patriarchal historians in the interests of the culture that they served. The existence of the Archives will thus enable current and future generations to analyze and reevaluate the Le***an expe

rience. We have always had, and continue to have, an expansive and inclusive understanding of Le***an. We have worked to preserve for the future the complexity of who we were and who we are. We honor and stand on our history that has always included, and continues to include, le***an women, butches, femmes, cross dressers, passing women, and those who are trans, two spirited, same-gender-loving, as well as others, all of whom at times were, and still can be, made to feel unwelcome in the world by others, sometimes even by other Le***ans. It is critically important to us that all⁠—in the most diverse and expansive understanding of the complexity of who we are⁠—feel accepted and welcomed at the Archives not disrespected or excluded. All have been and remain an important part of our community history, contributing to the building of our world. This has been the Le***an Herstory Archives position since its inception and continues to be our position.

The Le***an Herstory Archives values and preserves any and all signs of Le***an life that our community shares with us. ...
06/11/2026

The Le***an Herstory Archives values and preserves any and all signs of Le***an life that our community shares with us. Trans D***s have always been part of this community. We reject any attitude that excludes le***ans simply based on hateful bias.
We honor and stand on our history that has always and continues to include those who are Trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive. We see the burden our Trans Le***an community endures by being made to feel unwelcome in the world by others, including sometimes other Le***ans.
It is critically important to us that all⁠ Le***ans—in the most diverse and expansive understanding of the complexity of who we are⁠—feel accepted and welcomed at the Archives.
Le***an history has and will always include Trans people. This has been the Le***an Herstory Archives position since its inception and continues to be our position!
To our Trans Le***an community members, we want you to know that you are welcome at LHA and that this will never change for as long as we exist. You are integral to our history and we are proud to be a home for your collections.
Community members have reached out to inquire about any relation to a transphobic account using a similar name as ours. We only ever go by our full name or “LHA,” you will never see another shortening.
We want to be clear: the account with a name similar to ours has never been affiliated with LHA.
***anherstoryarchives is our main account and any LHA-affiliated program with an Instagram account will always clearly display its relationship to LHA.

In Memory of the voices we have lostElizabeth “Liz” Lapovsky Kennedy, 1939-2026Elizabeth “Liz” Lapovsky Kennedy, born in...
06/03/2026

In Memory of the voices we have lost
Elizabeth “Liz” Lapovsky Kennedy, 1939-2026

Elizabeth “Liz” Lapovsky Kennedy, born in 1939, passed away May 23rd, 2026, just a few months after the death of her beloved Bobbi Prebis, her partner for 50 years.
Liz was active in many areas of le***an and q***r life and created strong bonds with all she worked with. In 1971 she helped found one of the first Women’s Studies departments at the University of Buffalo and she has been an important figure for many of the students and academics in these educational communities. Together with Madeline Davis she wrote the award-winning “Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold,” an iconic text in q***r oral history, about the Buffalo working class butch-fem community. Her partner Bobbi was a big part in this project. Liz and Bobbi were dear friends of the Le***an Herstory Archives. Their dedicated work has spread through our collections over the years, and their radiant faces warm up anyone who come across the photos documenting their visits in New York City. Liz and Bobbi moved to Tucson where Liz became head of the Women’s Studies Department at the University of Arizona. Her activism was shared on the front lines of important struggles for women’s reproductive rights, anti-war efforts, working class and gay issues, and for the Palestinian people’s right to a free and independent homeland. She will be dearly missed.

ID 1: Liz Kennedy, photo by Margaret Randall
ID 2: At the 1982 Rally for Nuclear Disarmament, NYC. Photo by Morgan Gwenwald
ID 3: Liz Kennedy, Photographer unknown
ID 4 With Joan Nestle at the Archives
ID 5 Joan’s well worn inscribed copy of Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold.
ID 6: With Bobbi Prebis in Central Park
ID 7 With Bobbi Prebis, photo by Margaret Randall

In Memory of the Voices we have Lost.Bobbi Prebis, 1938-2026Bobbi Prebis passed away February 5, 2026 . A long time frie...
06/03/2026

In Memory of the Voices we have Lost.
Bobbi Prebis, 1938-2026

Bobbi Prebis passed away February 5, 2026 . A long time friend of the Archives, you will find evidence of her life in many ways: she is seen in the slide show images of the blue star women, working class Buffalo Butches who tattooed a blue star on their wrists under their watches so they could find each other. Bobbi is on the right, and her friend Butch Pat (Pat Bullard) is seen on the left, and Bobby Bailey is in the center. Now we have permission to use their names, but in the 50s, 60s and 70s and on le***ans were often very careful with whom they shared their lives and identities.
And there is Bobbi’s hard hat with the Lambda gay liberation sticker on it and her hobnail boots given to us at the same time in the 1980s. Bobbi, a working class Butch, drove forklift tractors in the old Bethlehem Steel mills in Buffalo, New York and these were her working gear. A memorial to all the le***ans who worked at hard physical jobs in factories, mills, warehouses, around America and never entered the statistics of this country.
Here she is marching with the Archives, with her partner Liz Kennedy, left, and Deborah Edel, center. Deb and Joan Nestle met Bobbi Prebis and her long time partner Liz Kennedy, one of the authors of Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold, in the early days of the Archives along with another Buffalo icon , Madeline Davis. All le***an and gay activists, they hosted the Archives many times, as we presented the LHA slide show.
Bobbi’s partner Liz passed away May 23, 2026. They will be greatly missed.
Our hearts go out to all the friends and family and extended communities.

Announcing our DJs, Performance, and Photographer for D**e Prom! Master Dahlia, Naija Couture, and Oliver Herface, will ...
05/30/2026

Announcing our DJs, Performance, and Photographer for D**e Prom! Master Dahlia, Naija Couture, and Oliver Herface, will be playing great by music, performing, and taking photographs all night long! LHA volunteers will also be shooting film, polaroid, video, and digital. Anyone without a Press, Media, or Volunteer pass is NOT affiliated with the Archives.

Master Dahlia (she/her) is a Black and Indigenous Trans woman, S*x Working Leatherd**e, and founder of Leather W***e Collective, a s*x worker exclusive Leather Club and mutual aid collective serving s*x workers, including the incarcerated.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Oliver Herface (He/Hell/They) is a two spirited trans masc boricua drag king, sideshow performer, producer and host from New York! He is the Hellfire daredevil of the circus. Catch him eating fire down at the historic Coney Island Sideshow! and content warning for this act: staples! If you give him $20 bills and above he will let you staple it to his person! Find him at OliverHerface.com
Naija Couture (he/they) is a Blaq***r trans masc dj, artist and educator currently residing in Brooklyn, New York. Naija Couture’s dj sound includes c**t tracks, chaotic pop and sonic blends that will take you through a wild journey on the dancefloor.
Eve Beatrice Weiner (he/they) is a transs*xual leatherd**e photographer/artist/writer in Brooklyn, NY.

Join us Saturday, June 13th from 10AM-5PM for our annual Brooklyn Pride Book Sale! We’ll be tabling on Fifth Ave between...
05/22/2026

Join us Saturday, June 13th from 10AM-5PM for our annual Brooklyn Pride Book Sale! We’ll be tabling on Fifth Ave between 7th & 8th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn during the Pride festivities.
Come browse:
📚Paperbacks, hardbacks, magazines and newsletters ($1, 2, 3)
🎶Records (5 dollars)
👕LHA screen-printed merch AND logo T-shirts & tote bags ($20)
🧷pins, stickers & hankies! ($7, 3, 12)
We accept Cash, Venmo, Paypal, and Zelle — come support, celebrate, and Le***an history! 💖
The pre-march ceremonies start at 7PM and the march starting at 7:30PM. Look for Join us Saturday, June 13th from 10AM-5PM for our annual Brooklyn Pride Book Sale! We’ll be tabling on Fifth Ave between 7th & 8th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn during the Pride festivities.
Come browse:
📚Paperbacks, hardbacks, magazines and newsletters ($1, 2, 3)
🎶Records (5 dollars)
👕LHA screen-printed merch AND logo T-shirts & tote bags ($20)
🧷pins, stickers & hankies! ($7, 3, 12)
We accept Cash, Venmo, Paypal, and Zelle — come support, celebrate, and Le***an history! 💖
The pre-march ceremonies start at 7PM and the march starting at 7:30PM. Look for the LHA banner to march with us!

LHA banner to march with us!

05/10/2026

Thank you Dana and Sydney for sharing your experiences at an LHA Open Hours session recently. The book Sydney is holding here is “Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold,” a history of le***ans in Buffalo in the 50s. You never know what might catch your attention, just come on over and browse and enjoy. All are welcome. Open Hours are once a month, check our calendar. No appointment necessary.

There’s a new display at the archive! Periodicals intern Sloane organized this display around paganism and astrology. Yo...
05/05/2026

There’s a new display at the archive! Periodicals intern Sloane organized this display around paganism and astrology. You can see “Sapphic Star Signs” on display in the Butch-Femme sinks this summer! About the display, Sloane’s writes,

✨⭐️✨

During my time at LHA, I was fascinated by the beautiful cover art on the periodicals. This obsession with art turned to a research project into spirituality, when I noticed that many of my favorite covers were on publications associated with astrology and paganism. Initially inspired by a cover issue of Broomstick, this exhibit, entitled “Sapphic Star Signs” explores the connections between Le***ans and spirituality. This collection of journals, zines, and artworks encapsulates the link between q***rness and spirituality. Many q***r folks, especially Le***ans, lean into spirituality to create a practice of community building and inner healing in a world where religion is often a driving factor in homophobia. By embracing spiritual practice and making it q***r, we create pathways to spiritual acceptance and personal growth. By turning to spiritual and pagan practices, q***r women are showing that it is possible to have a religious-esque practice without involving hatred.

I hope that “Sapphic Star Signs” serves as an educational piece as well as an invitation for q***r women to explore the connection between their s*xuality and spirituality.

D**e Prom Royalty submissions are open! We’re crowning multiple people for prom royalty and need your help. 👑👑👑Please no...
04/17/2026

D**e Prom Royalty submissions are open! We’re crowning multiple people for prom royalty and need your help.

👑👑👑

Please nominate someone in your community who you think gives back the most to their D**e community, friends, and family! You can nominate yourself.

Nominate one person, once! This is not a popularity contest; prom royalty will be selected by the D**e Prom Committee based off of how they devote themselves to their D**e community.

Find the form at the link in our bio. Submissions are open until MAY 1

Not sure if you can make it to D**e Prom? No worries! We are having a Merch Sale of our limited edition, hand-screen pri...
04/10/2026

Not sure if you can make it to D**e Prom? No worries! We are having a Merch Sale of our limited edition, hand-screen printed at LHA d**e prom designs on April 19th from 12PM until sell out on our stoop! We will be selling hankies, t-shirts, tank tops, buttons, stickers, prints, and more! VERY LIMITED SUPPLY!

This is EXCLUSIVE merch drop for D**e Prom 2026 and will not be done again and we do NOT ship - have your NYC friends pick it up for you. Fear not prom ticket holders - we also be selling merch, all colors and sizes, at prom for ticket holders who want to get their things then! Including some extra special custom event-only alterations.

MASK MANDATORY! N95 OR BETTER/SIMILAR! We will also be handing out masks.

SIZING AND COLOR OPTIONS: We have sizes S-3XL. We have black and white t-shirts, with either black, white, or red ink in both designs. We also have tie-dye shirts and tanks with black ink. We only have white tank tops with some tie-dyed in black ink. We have hankies in red, black, light pink, orange, navy blue, teal, magenta, lilac, and dark purple.

PRICING:
T-SHIRTS, TANKS, TOTES: $20
HANKIES: $12
PRINTS: $7
BUTTONS: 2 for $1
STICKERS: $3

The wonderful E Lee the Barber (​​) will be cutting hair for tips in the Archives before prom! If you selected a haircut...
04/03/2026

The wonderful E Lee the Barber (​​) will be cutting hair for tips in the Archives before prom! If you selected a haircut with your ticket, stay tuned for updates coming soon. Please check out their page and book

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484 14th Street
New York, NY
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