What can we learn about content from hidden histories?
From teaching history to telling hidden stories from history, Kaye Jones joins me to talk about the power of narrative and storytelling when it comes to history. Plus, how we can apply this in our own work.
“I’m trying to flip things around on their head to tell the stories of how we got here.”
Representation in children’s curriculum matters. When Kaye was teaching colonialism to children in Bolton she realised that it was the only time many of the children in her class would see themselves in the curriculum. The rest of what she taught had no relevance to their lives or identity. Kaye set out to change this and how we see history so we can learn from it.
A standout example of this is when Kaye was asked to teach children in Salford the industrial revolution. Salford and Manchester are built upon the industrial revolution. The children in that class could look out of the window onto the mills that stoked the revolution. They lived in the houses built for the workers. Their family histories may even trace back to those who worked in the area.
Yet, the curriculum Kaye was to teach was the agricultural revolution. To a deprived area with no farmland within sight.
“How can I get these kids to buy into the changes in turnip farming when they have no connection within the landscape?” Asks Kaye, “even I’m not interested in turnip prices.
“I get a turnip from the shop. Ten minutes into the lesson, the first kid asks ‘Miss, what’s a turnip?’
“Too often we assume that everyone is a white privileged man and we all have the same cultural capital as him. If you don’t have that cultural capital then you will not relate to it.”
Kaye explains that the industrial revolution is one of her favourite periods in history but not from the perspective of the privileged white men who created the technology. Instead, her focus lies with how those inventions impacted the lives of the people living there.
“Women like me. How did that change things? When you tell this story — you make it relatable.”
The Herstorian
Kaye set up The Herstorian during Covid after being asked to write a diverse history in the USA.
“Then Black Lives Matter happened,” explains Kaye, “and The Herstorian was a decision for me. Do I want to continue doing 50 hours a week as a substitute teacher? Yes I would have an impact but only in one room. Or do I really want to push it? And I chose the latter. Everything else fell into place.
Creating stories from history
“It’s all about context,” explains Kaye. “The issue with history books and museums is that they all assume you have a level of knowledge that most people don’t have.
“So I don’t make any assumptions about my audience. I don’t assume they know about what I’m showing them without context. What can you hook into? The clue is in the name ‘history’, it includes the word ‘story’.
“You need to relate things to your readers’ lives. Find what it is that people can relate to.”
Kaye doesn’t post about top-down history — the kind of history we learned about in school. Kings and Queens, politics and social change. These sweeping subjects tend to have little or no relevance to our lives.
Instead, what are the stories of ordinary people throughout history? What were they doing? This is where you will find relevancy.
“You have to get down to that person-level,” says Kaye. “If you are not there, you are not speaking to people.
“Our brain is hardwired for stories — this is how we’ve built society, connected with others. This will not change. If you can bring that into your content, I need to know the story is there and you are thinking about me as a person. Otherwise, I won’t want to buy into it.”
Stories to invite conversation
It is not enough to tell a story, you also need to invite conversation and build a community. This comes through the narrative and how you include people.
“For me, history is not a boring subject about people who lived ages ago. It is not disconnected from the here and the now. To me, history is about creating meaning, who you are and where you come from as a person.
“There is huge meaning within this sense of identity. Every single decision that you have ever made has precedence in your life, your parents, and your friends. Where you live and what goes on around you is a living, breathing story. You have to find a way to hook into that. This is what I’m looking for in my work.”
Hidden stories
Stories are not hidden — we just need to look in the right places.
Kaye explains that she is curious and reads a lot. Many people are unaware that we have access to archives. There are some which are subscription-based but many of the resources are free.
“Google Books is a wonderful resource, pre-1900s books are free and you can find the inspiration if you are interested. You can go direct to the source.
“Newspapers are a brilliant source of history. The adverts are brilliant in old newspapers.”
Google can help you find some amazing places in history that are not widely reported if you change the way you search. And the key to telling stories is extensive reading — being curious about the world around you.
Serialisation
Kaye’s goal for The Herstorian is to write a history of patriarchy to see how far we have come (or not). Then to re-write the history curriculum and complete some book writing projects. But Kaye would also like to bring some of her stories to life through a podcast.
The structure of serialisation for telling stories is an attractive way to convey Kaye’s message. It is a format that itself is steeped in history. Books were often serialised through newspapers to give readers a chapter a week.
“The whole country was gripped while reading the latest Dickens, and I like this idea,” says Kaye. “Sometimes there are people who love history but are put off by 600-page tome with Latin. And there is an assumption of your existing knowledge with most history books
“So I want to investigate different ways of doing things to get that message out there and connect with people.”
Serialisation as a format makes the story relatable in a way that we see in our modern-day soap operas. And this is a format that is often overlooked as a more accessible way of delivering a message.
“We could achieve more with children if we looked at the format at how we expect children to test. If instead of long-form essays, children were able to convey their knowledge through shorter stories or a different format, more kids would be interested in history,” says Kaye.
Context and relatability
History — and more importantly — museums provide a great example of how storytelling can create an impact.
Think about the last time you went around a museum looking at artefacts. It’s great that it tells you what it is and where it comes from but without a gripping story to pull you into that world, you will simply walk on by.
This is a good analogy for our own marketing content. If our audience does not connect with the story, they will scroll (or walk) on by.
“Your story needs to have context and it needs to be relatable. Without this, there is no connection for the other person,” says Kaye.
Look back to that story of the kids in Salford having to learn about turnip farming. When the connection is the landscape and city around them that has shaped how their lives are today and that of their families. It needs to have that connection.
Collaboration
Another way of looking at connection is collaboration. Kaye’s business is not run alone but instead a collaboration with others.
“You cannot do it all on your own,” explains Kaye, “You will never have the impact alone. If you are honest about who you are and what you’re about — step into that and you will find your tribe.
“When you collaborate, opportunities open up. You need to have the confidence in the first place to open up.”
Strong values need to lead what you do both in your business and your life. “If you don’t, it’s like getting in your car for a drive without really heading in any particular direction. You will not achieve anything and you will miss opportunities.
“I am so clear on my values and my mission. It is about raising that historical consciousness, getting people to see that connection between past and present. For me, history is a basic right.
“It is right now, the most important social justice work that we can do. If we cannot think about people from the past equitably — then we have not got a cat in hell’s chance of building a more equitable future.”
“History belongs to everyone and no single groups’ history is more important or valid than anyone else’s. We need to have these mindful conversations around this.”
At the moment, we are working with a jigsaw without many of the pieces missing because the stories that are told previously were from a limited perspective. We can challenge what we know by telling stories from different perspectives and that is important.
Business for Good with history
“You can support global majority historians, Black historians, Asian historians. Like them on social media, share their posts and buy their books. If you have children, have a conversation with the school about history and the curriculum. Can we make it more diverse?
“Challenge what you think you know. Get on Google Books and read something different. Be curious and do not be afraid of the answers. Learning the inequalities in the UK all have historical precedence so educating yourself on this is important.
“How did racism come about? In the Middle Ages, there was no word for race. People did not categorise themselves in this way. Racism is an invention. The concept of race came around in 17th and 18th centuries to justify enslavement. It is important to make this connection and its impact on present day.”
Steps for good storytelling:
- Make it relatable
- Bring it back to the reader
- Put it in context
- Look for the alternative perspectives
- Collaborate and create connections
- Don’t assume knowledge
- Look at how you can increase accessibility
- Research and read more
You can find out more about Kaye here:
Sign up to her mailing list here
I do recommend checking out the full episode as Kaye goes into more around history and representation. Plus, some historical insights and gaps in knowledge that we may have. Listen here.
