The Psychedelic History Archive is a digital collection focused on the broad and varied history of psychedelic substances over the last 500 years. We document not only the well-known contributions of twentieth-century scientists, but also the roles of Indigenous cultures, lesser-known researchers, and personal experiences submitted by the public.
The Archive was founded by Benjamin Breen at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2024, then developed with UCSC student contributors and collaborators. In 2026, the project received a grant from the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard. The current team and advisory board are listed on the project team page.
This project aims to provide a scholarly context for psychedelics as they gain mainstream acceptance in the 2020s. Our inspirations include Erowid and the works of scholarship included in the further reading section.