For centuries scholars have busied themselves with the ‘victors’ of history, who were usually men. Now a new generation is broadening the picture to include the lives most of us lead
How we “do” history is changing. For centuries historians have searched for the few, the privileged, the “victors”. But as millions tune into A House Through Time and Who Do You Think You Are?, those social and alternative histories (including women’s history) that had been pushed to the sidelines are breathing new life into how we engage with the past. We cannot be what we cannot see, and many of us are searching for aspects of ourselves in what has gone before. History is becoming a richer subject now the people that have been ignored or written out are being put back in. It’s not just about dates and data – a historian can be a detective searching for human stories from the past.
Historians found their work on documents and artefacts. But they also seek people from the past through the words, rituals, songs, artwork, buildings and music they’ve left behind. Looking for lost women requires a different set of tools and techniques. Today we can all access archives, have our DNA examined, trace our genealogies and research globally at the click of a mouse. Breakthroughs in archaeology, with the help of technology and science, are bringing us a rich and full cast of people who lived before us. Women have always made up half the globe’s population. Putting the frame on them can allow us a different way of thinking about the past.
