This presentation examines the pedagogical potential of archival songs as a tool for critical engagement in music education. Building on critical-creative pedagogy and centering songwriting as a method, this work explores how voices retrieved from an oral history archive—specifically those of the women of the Italian Resistance to Fascism—can be reactivated through dialogic and participatory songwriting practices, offering learners and researchers a way to engage with marginalized histories through music.Archival songs were composed with voices unearthed from an oral history archive and re-contextualized for a public performance. Non-hegemonic voices of women of the Italian Resistance were rescued from the margins and centered as entry points for contemporary listeners and community meaning-making. This approach positions songwriting as both a form of inquiry and a creative outcome.Findings highlight how archival songs can activate critical dialogue with social justice activists and emotional resonance in those on the receiving end of this musical and archaeological counterstorytelling. Participants reported a deepened personal connection to historical events and emphasized the need for such an approach in collaboration with younger generations who are increasingly disconnected from the study of history.This research proposes that archival songs can offer music educators a transformative pedagogical pathway, building intergenerational, intercultural, and interdisciplinary bridges within music and social studies learning contexts. It challenges music educators to rethink archives—not as silenced repositories of primary sources, but as living pedagogical spaces that invite critical engagement, where the inherent power of music can amplify the marginalized voices of those who contributed to the democracies we have inherited.