Whose stories get told and who gets to tell them? When it comes to American historical narratives, a simple answer is: “Those who get to tell the stories are the people that America wants to listen to.” [1] Additionally, the stories that get cemented in our collective memory are sometimes the more sensationalized stories. However, these sensationalized historical accounts are often incomplete, inaccurate, or just false.

This section will focus on two popular historical stories from Northern California and the Bay Area: The Donner Party and the Winchester Mystery House.