Historian's Toolkit

Crafting Inclusive Histories: Centering Marginalized Voices

History, when told from a singular perspective, distorts more than it reveals. For generations, dominant narratives — often shaped by colonial powers, elite institutions, or patriarchal systems — have obscured the contributions, experiences, and voices of marginalized communities. Crafting inclusive histories is not merely about filling gaps; it’s about reshaping how we understand the past, whose stories are told, and how we tell them.

This article provides historians, students, and oral history practitioners with a guide to centering marginalized voices ethically and effectively. It covers research approaches, storytelling techniques, tools, and real-life case studies that illuminate the importance — and the complexity — of inclusive history-making.

Why Inclusive History Matters

Challenging Traditional Narratives

Historical narratives have long excluded or tokenized certain groups — Indigenous peoples, women, LGBTQ+ communities, enslaved and colonized populations, and working-class voices. Inclusive history:

• Exposes the limits of dominant perspectives
• Restores agency to historically silenced groups
• Offers a more accurate, nuanced picture of the past

As Dr. Saidiya Hartman notes in Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, “Narrative restraint does not excuse historical erasure.” Inclusive storytelling demands a deliberate refusal to erase.

Relevance for the Present

Understanding the past through inclusive frameworks helps modern societies:

• Address systemic inequalities
• Foster empathy across differences
• Challenge misinformation or mythologized histories

Key Principles for Inclusive History-Making

1. Respect Lived Experience as Primary Source

Traditional archives often exclude marginalized voices. Instead, turn to:

• Oral histories
• Personal letters or diaries
• Community archives
• Folklore and cultural expression

While these may lack “official” status, they are often more authentic representations of lived realities.

2. Practice Ethical Collaboration

When working with living communities:

• Obtain informed consent
• Involve them in interpretation, not just data collection
• Share authority over the narrative
• Provide copies of interviews, photos, or transcripts

3. Embrace Intersectionality

A person’s historical experience is shaped by multiple identities — race, gender, class, ability, sexuality. For example, telling the story of a Black woman labor organizer must account for:

• Racialized oppression
• Gendered expectations
• Economic exploitation

Use intersectionality not as a buzzword but as a framework for research and analysis (Crenshaw, 1989).

Step-by-Step Guide: Centering Marginalized Voices

Step 1 – Identify Whose Story Is Missing

Ask:

• Who is absent from mainstream narratives?
• Whose perspective was minimized in dominant accounts?
• What communities were most affected by the event or period?

Use tools like:

• Keyword searches in local archives for underrepresented names
• Census records or immigration documents to trace overlooked populations
• Community consultations to understand what matters locally

Step 2 – Seek Out Alternative Sources

Beyond national archives, explore:

• Church or temple records (particularly in diasporic or Indigenous communities)
• Zines, newsletters, or underground press
• Graffiti, murals, or protest art
• Ethnographic collections and anthropological fieldwork (with caution)

Case in Point: The South Asian LGBTQ+ oral history project Queer’Asia Archives collects zines and personal testimonies to document narratives erased by both state and diaspora institutions.

Step 3 – Use Oral Histories with Care

Oral testimonies provide emotionally rich, context-specific perspectives. When conducting interviews:

• Allow narrators to control the pace and focus
• Use open-ended questions: “Can you tell me about a time when…?”
• Be attentive to silences and hesitations—they often signal trauma or social taboos

Tools:

• Zoom H4n or smartphone + external mic for audio
• Otter.ai or Trint for automated transcription
• StoryCorps DIY as a user-friendly oral history toolkit

Step 4 – Interpret with Humility and Transparency

Avoid “speaking for” or romanticizing marginalized subjects. Instead:

• Frame your work as interpretive, not definitive
• Clearly cite sources and limitations
• Let narrators’ own words and contradictions remain visible
• Challenge stereotypes without sanitizing difficult truths

Real-Life Example: The “Voices of Watts” Project

In the aftermath of the 1965 Watts Rebellion in Los Angeles, mainstream media depicted the uprising as senseless violence. The “Voices of Watts” oral history project, led by Black community leaders and UCLA students, sought to reclaim the narrative.

They interviewed local residents about:

• Police brutality
• Housing discrimination
• Labor inequality

Findings revealed that the rebellion was not an isolated incident but a culmination of systemic injustice. These narratives were later integrated into public exhibits and classroom materials, shifting how the event is taught and remembered.

Tools and Platforms for Inclusive Storytelling

Mukurtu CMS – A digital platform created with Indigenous communities to manage and share cultural heritage

Tropy – Organizes photos and metadata from community archives

Clio – App that allows users to embed oral histories and place-based stories in digital maps

Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) – Aggregates resources from smaller institutions, helping surface less-known histories

Storytelling Formats to Consider

1. Zine or Visual Essay

Short, illustrated, and accessible — ideal for grassroots outreach or youth engagement.

2. Podcast Episode

Can weave together narration, archival audio, and voice clips. Great for community radio or educational platforms.

3. Public Walking Tour

Use place as a portal to explore labor history, migration, or cultural resistance (e.g., queer bar history in San Francisco or anti-apartheid landmarks in Cape Town).

Challenges and How to Address Them

Challenge	Solution
Limited archival material	Use oral histories, songs, artifacts, or photos; consult community elders
Language barriers	Collaborate with bilingual co-researchers or interpreters
Gatekeeping by institutions	Partner with grassroots orgs; push for open-access policies
Risk of retraumatization	Offer trauma-informed interview environments; allow withdrawal at any time

Conclusion

Centering marginalized voices in historical storytelling is not an add-on — it’s essential to truth-telling, justice, and democratizing knowledge. It asks us to rethink our sources, our assumptions, and our power as narrators. By embracing inclusive history-making, we don’t just preserve the past—we reshape the future.

Let’s move beyond recovering lost voices to amplifying them, honoring them, and learning from them.