After 17 years spent in a cramped, moldy church basement in Cincinnati, the Ohio Lesbian Archives (OLA) has moved up into a more spacious location at the Emanuel Center, in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.
Preserving history
Formed in 1989 by longtime friends Phebe Beiser and Victoria Ramstetter, the OLA is one of only a handful of lesbian archives in the United States, and certainly a sparkling trove of a resource here in the Midwest.
Beiser and Ramstetter started the archive to preserve materials they received while working on Dinah, the Greater Cincinnati lesbian newsletter that published from the 1970s to the 1990s. The collection holds books, periodicals, music, photographs, posters and regalia focusing on lesbian history. More recently, the archive has evolved into a museum, with trophies, political buttons, statues, card games and much more.
Beiser keenly remembers the difficulties of growing up as a lesbian in the 1960s and ‘70s, and how that inspired the archives’ creation.
“A driving force [to start the collection] was to not be invisible again,” Beiser said. “Because we felt invisible as teenage lesbians.”
Open house
Originally located in the historic Crazy Ladies Bookstore, OLA had to find new space when that space closed in 2002. They eventually found a new home in the lower level of the Clifton United Methodist Church in 2006, filling every nook and cranny of that space for close to two decades.
“We just had too much,” Board Vice President Nancy Yerian told WOSU. “We’re really excited to have a little bit of breathing room and care for our collections better and make them more accessible and get more of the community into our space.”
The new location at 1308 Race Street highlights the collection’s expansiveness. Items that had been stored away in boxes behind file cabinets were on display during the archives’ open house in October, showing “the museum side of what we have,” Beiser said.
The OLA is currently open for volunteering and browsing most Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Visitors should email ahead of their visit at olarchives@gmail.com to be sure the archives will be open.
Help from donors
In order to finance the move, OLA received the help of two LGBTQ+ church groups. New Spirit Metropolitan Community Church, which closed it’s Northside location in 2021, donated $65,000 they had received from selling a building years ago. All Saints Chapel, a former non-denominational LGBTQ+ church in Mount Adams, Ohio, donated a $63,000 trust that had been earmarked for the LGBTQ+ community.
“The funds from the two church groups really gave us some time and financial security,” Beiser said.
Despite the generous donations, Beiser said that they still have only half of what they need to fund the expansion, which includes new displays for all of the treasured ephemera. She urges Ohio’s LGBTQ+ community to stop by to get a taste of the history she feels every time she walks into the space.
“There are few places in the world–and nowhere in the region–where I can see myself, my LGBTQ family, and feel so empowered,” Beiser said. “That is why we continue this work of saving and preserving our stories so we are no longer invisible.” 🔥
IGNITE ACTION
- Go visit the archives! They are typically open Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m, but visitors should email ahead of their visit at olarchives@gmail.com to be sure the archives will be open.
- Financial donations to OLA can be made through the donations page on their website. If you have items you wish to be considered for donation, e-mail them to chat.
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