Oglala Lakota College has the country's oldest tribal college archives. Officially founded as the Oglala Curriculum and Resource Center in July, 1983, its mission was to "preserve materials valuable to the maintenance and enhancement of Oglala Lakota history and culture" and to serve as a "focal point for tribal members, tribal agencies, students and educators who seek information about Oglala Lakota history and culture."

The Oglala Curriculum and Resource Center began managing the Oglala Sioux Tribal and Tribally Chartered Organizations records in 1984, when Ordinance 84-01 was passed by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council to implement a records management program at Oglala Lakota College.

When the Denver, Colorado office of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) closed in 1982 their records were later shipped to OLC for preservation purposes. In 1986 the AIHEC Board of Trustees instructed the OLC Archives staff to develop a retention schedule and process the collection. Through a Ford Foundation grant this work was completed in March of 1990.

In 1987 the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council passed Resolution 87-23, designating the OLC Learning Resource Center as the public library for the Pine Ridge Reservation. The Resolution further designated the OLC Archives as the official Oglala Lakota Tribal Archives. However, in 2003, Ordinance 03-15 was passed by the OST Council, establishing a records management program and archives at the tribe, and nullifying all previous resolutions and ordinances regarding the OLC Archives.

On October 1, 1996 the OLC Archives moved into Woksape Tipi-the Learning Resource Center building. The OLC Archives currently houses records from OLC, AIHEC, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST). In addition, Special Collections contains manuscripts, microforms, video and audio tapes, photographs from various archives and museums in the United States, maps, posters, and rare books. Lastly, an Artifacts collection consisting of Lakota and Native American artifacts is housed in the OLC Archives.