The Lesbian Herstory Archives, founded in 1974 and originally housed in the apartment shared by Joan Nestle and Deborah Edel, exists to gather and preserve records of Lesbian lives and politics so that future generations will have ready access to materials relevant to their lives. The process of gathering this material will uncover and preserve the herstory previously denied us by masculinist historians in the interest of the culture which they serve. Through the Archives we will be able to analyze and reevaluate Lesbian experience. We also hope the existence of the Archives will encourage all Lesbians to record their lives and recognize their own contributions to our living herstory. The Archives' principles strive to be inclusive and non-institutional, with a commitment to living herstory, to housing the past, and making it available to all lesbian communities in the present.