The histories of those formerly colonized, enslaved, and with comparatively minimal power have remained external to the narrative of many nations for generations. The exclusion of these individuals, their accomplishments, and contributions from the greater narrative of the nation persists until they are “discovered” or even “rediscovered” (Baker, 2018), paving the way for their important stories and histories to be told. Many of these exclusions are the result of colonial amnesia causing “fleeting memories” (Otele, 2021) or a reluctance to acknowledge the role of coloniality and racial hierarchies that effectively allow these histories to be “hidden in plain view” (Royster, 2018), ignored, considered exceptional, and therefore only worthy of inclusion as an outlier. This panel brings together historians and a cultural studies scholar to address the role of so-called “forgotten histories” and those individuals from European and Eurasian cultures, whose stories have been lost or intentionally excluded. We will address how our scholarship incorporates and engages with these forgotten histories as well as what the
incorporation of individuals and their stories contributes to a reimagined narrative of the nation once these histories are recognized, reclaimed, and reincorporated.