A Look at Herland

Prior to the time of the internet, people relied on newsletters and mail to stay informed. Starting in 1983, The Herland Newsletter provided resources to strengthen, enrich, and support women, and to promote a world free of prejudice, oppression, and exploitation.

The newsletters provided articles, reading lists, and a monthly calendar of events to stay in the know about issues related to women's rights, 2SLGBTQ+ issues, protests, political movements, and upcoming events. As a sign of the times, the Herland Newsletters were delivered in brown paper bags to the addressees. The Herland Center offered a lending library of books topical to feminism, queer romance, and sexuality; these books are available at the Center at UCO, some of them the only copy.

The Herland project began in August 2016 when Dr. Lindsey Churchill negotiated the donation with the Herland Sister Resouces, often referred to as Herland. Herland is a womanist organization with a strong lesbian focus. However, everyone is welcome at Herland, 2312 W. I44 Service Rd., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Herland is still a nonprofit organization operated entirely by volunteers.

In 2016, UCO professor Dr. Lindsey Churchill received a nearly $30,000 grant to support archiving and preserving the history of the Herland Sister Resources Center. The grant continued through May 2017 with about 15 undergraduate and graduate students working to complete the project. The Center is located in Thatcher Hall, Rm. 106.

This project's scope included transferring the Herland Library to the new 2SLGBTQ+ Center on the UCO campus where it can be preserved and utilized. Interviews for the oral history project are accessible to future generations, and the Herland newsletters are scanned to be digitally available on ShareOK. The documentary about Herland, also made by the Center at UCO, is available to watch below: