Thank you for your interest in our project!
Your volunteer support is what drives us forward and your histories are what we value. Supported by a two-year Mellon-funded Community Archives grant, we are creating The Lesbian Elders Oral Herstory Project which seeks to continue the Lesbian Herstory Archives’ commitment to collecting and sharing all Lesbian stories reflecting the diversity of the community. These oral histories of Lesbian Elders will offer experiential insight into the history of Lesbian culture and activism, complementing LHA’s already rich collections. We seek to include include all voices, especially those that can bring a diversity of perspective to reflect upon the lesbian community at large. The oral histories will be made available either on this website or on-site only at the Archives.
Who we are looking for!
We are seeking interviewees:
- Lesbians ages 60 and up
- Wants to record their story
- With any connection to LHA
A connection to LHA could mean you have your material in the collection, you’ve visited the space, you’ve volunteered at LHA, you were or are a part of the herstory, were a visitor to 13A, used LHA materials in your research, art, or writings…really, anything at all!
We are seeking interviewers:
- Of any age
- Lesbians, queers, and allies
- Interested in learning about Lesbian herstory
Interview process
For Interviewers
As the interviewer, you will:
- Be matched with a Lesbian Elder to interview.
- Attend a group information session (to be scheduled) where you will receive informational slides that will guide you through each step in the process of collecting an oral history. This will include tips for the actual interview and navigating the video or audio technology required for oral history interviews.
- Participate in a pre-interview with your Lesbian Elder interviewee. Do some digging into your interviewee’s life based off of the pre-interview in order to better craft thought-provoking questions.
For Interviewees
The interviewee’s responsibilities:
- Come to the project with an open mind and a willingness to share stories!
- Attend a group information session (to be scheduled) that will guide you through each step in the process of providing an oral history. This will include tips for navigating the video or audio technology required for oral history interviews.
- Participate in the pre-interview process with your interviewer.
- Be interviewed!
- Review the transcript of the interview.
It is important for us to note that, even though we aim to use Zoom video for the remote interviews, folks who prefer to use audio only should still feel free to sign up. A phone based method can be used, as we do not want technology to stand in the way of collecting diverse voices. Based on the volunteers’ preferences, the oral histories will be made available either on this website or accessible on-site only at the Archives.
Please complete the survey through the link below and select which role you would like to assume for this project. If you would like to try your hand at both roles, please fill out the survey twice. Interviewer and interviewee teams will be paired up. We hope to start scheduling interviews as soon as we can!
Thank you for your participation,
The Lesbian Elders Oral Herstory Project Team,
Julia Rosenzweig & Minda Matz
The Lesbian Elders Oral Herstory Project 