The San Juanico Bridge links the islands of Leyte and Samar. Photograph courtesy of the Department of Tourism, Region VIII.

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The Leyte-Samar Historical Society (LSHS) is an academic society committed to generate basic research on, and to promote general awareness of, the history of the Leyte-Samar region (Region VIII) in the Philippines.

The LSHS was organized by more than 50 participants of the Local History Seminar-Workshop held at the University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College (UPVTC) in Leyte on November 27-29, 1997. Sponsored by the Leyte-Samar Heritage Center (LSHC) of UPVTC, the workshop was funded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

The founding members represented various educational institutions and local government units all over the region. A set of officers elected during the workshop continues to run the affairs of the society, now into its third year of existence.

Despite its relative infancy, the LSHS has already scored several major accomplishments. With better support system in the future, it hopes to achieve more.

The LSHS is striving to become a duly-registered organization. Its registration papers are still being worked out. In the meantime, it is informally affiliated with the Philippine National Historical Society (PNHS) and the National Historical Institute (NHI).