Co-founders Joan Nestle, Deborah Edel, Sahli Cavallo, Pamela Oline, and Julia Penelope Stanley[3] wanted to ensure that the stories of the lesbian community were protected for future generations.

The collection eventually outgrew the space and was moved to a brownstone that the group had purchased in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood.

The people who work in the Lesbian Herstory Archives are often called "archivettes", which is a twist on the traditional term "archivist".

[4] There is also a documentary directed by Megan D. Rossman titled "The Archivettes" which tells the story of the Lesbian History Archives and its development.

Joan Nestle credits the creation of the Lesbian Herstory Archives to the Stonewall riots "and the courage that found its voice in the streets.

Lesbian members of the union started a consciousness raising group to discuss sexism within the GAU.

[8] The women were concerned with how easily lesbian "herstory"—history written from a feminist perspective—had been lost and did not want their story to be told from a patriarchal point of view.

[17] After years of fundraising that began in 1985, the LHA purchased a three-story brownstone rowhouse at 484 14th Street in Park Slope[18] in December 1991.

[25] When the LHA moved to 14th Street, visitors could view nearly the entire collection, except for a small number of artifacts that were kept private by their donors' request.

[20] Today the collection holds all manner of historical artifacts, including papers, diaries, journals, photographs, tapes, posters, buttons, periodicals, zines, T-shirts, and videos.

[14] The Archives hosts the Red Dot Collection, which consists of the library of the New York City chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first national lesbian organization in the United States.

[25] The LHA website, which debuted in 1997, has evolved to include a digital collection featuring a virtual tour of the Archives.

The LHA is in the process of digitizing its audio and newsprint collections and the video oral histories of the Daughters of Bilitis.

[33] The building was originally a two-family house; its first recorded owner was Matilda Levy, a German immigrant, who lived there with her sister.

[34] Between 1921 and 1943, a Hungarian-American dentist owned the house; his family and a servant lived in one of the apartments, while the other unit was rented to tenants, such as an insurance salesman and two Danish hospital maids.

The LPC designated the house as part of the Park Slope Historic District in 1973, and the LHA has owned the building since December 1991.

The archives are mainly housed on the first floor, which contains custom-made shelves, offices, a kitchen, an event space, and a bathroom.