News & Events
New Teaching Guide on Vietnam War and Whistleblowing
The Zinn Education Project is proud to have prepared a 100-page teaching guide for the award-winning film The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. This documentary tells the riveting story of how a Pentagon official risks life in prison by leaking 7,000 pages of a top-secret report to the New York Times to help stop the Vietnam War. Produced by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, The Most Dangerous Man in America broadcast nationally in October as part of the PBS Point of View (POV) series.
The teaching guide is designed for middle school, high school, and college social studies and language arts classrooms. It provides eight lessons intended to enhance student understanding of the issues raised in the film. Using a variety of teaching strategies, including role play, critical reading, discussion, mock trial, small group imaginative writing, and personal narrative, the curriculum encourages students to consider some of Vietnam’s lessons. One key lesson of the film is that we all have the potential to be “truth-tellers.” While not all students will have the opportunity to affect the course of history as Daniel Ellsberg did, all will be in positions to make important decisions in the name of justice.
The teaching guide is available for free download on the Zinn Education Project website.
Celebrate the Life and Legacy of Howard Zinn
Don’t Mourn, Organize
The HowardZinn.org website has posted the following request:
“Celebrate the remarkable life and legacy of Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922 – January 27, 2010) by organizing a community screening of The People Speak documentary or hosting a reading of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on or near the anniversary of his passing, January 27.”
This would also work well in classrooms. The People Speak provides readings and performances of letters, diary entries, speeches, and songs from throughout U.S. history by noted performers. To plan which segment(s) to use with your class or community group, view the full list of chapters, performers, readings, and songs.
Let us know if you do an activity with your class. Email us at the Zinn Education Project with photos and/or a story that we can share.
Read more about The People Speak documentary or order a copy for home-use ($19.95) online. There is also a public library/school library version ($49.95). To host a reading of Voices of a People’s History of the United States, visit the Voices of a People’s History website.
Year in Review: 2010
The Zinn Education Project reached hundreds of thousands of teachers and students in 2010. While national education policy and school district budgets sidelined social studies, the Zinn Education Project effectively promoted and supported the teaching of a people’s history in classrooms across the country.
Of course, 2010 was also a year of great loss with Howard Zinn’s death on January 27. Naomi Klein lamented, “We just lost our favorite teacher.” We agree. We are all the more committed to continue the work of the Zinn Education Project in his honor and in support of all those who fight for peace and justice.
Read selected highlights in our 2010 Year in Review newsletter.
Zinn Education Project Reviewed in Language Arts Journal
Jesse Gainer
The Zinn Education Project was one of four titles featured in the Professional Book Reviews section of the September 2010 issue of the Language Arts journal. Language Arts, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English, reaches more than 9,000 elementary and middle school/junior high teachers and teacher educators with each issue. Author Jesse Gainer selected websites and books that “offer educators background, ideas, and examples on how to incorporate critical media literacy into the curriculum regardless of the age of the students.”
Zinn Education Project at American Historical Association
The Zinn Education Project was represented by Deborah Menkart at the American Historical Association 125th Annual Meeting in Boston on January 7, 2011. She joined one of the filmmakers, Rick Goldsmith, as he received the John E. O’Connor Film Award for the The Most Dangerous Man in America. The Zinn Education Project developed the free 100-page teaching guide for The Most Dangerous Man in America in collaboration with filmmakers Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith.
In Memory of Milton Meltzer
Milton Meltzer, 1915 - 2009. Photo Credit: Worcester Telegram & Gazette
“I try to make readers understand that history isn’t only what happens to us. History is what we make happen. Each of us. All of us.”
For 50 years, Milton Meltzer wrote over 100 history books for middle and high school school readers that did just that — they told the history of what everyday people make happen.
Meltzer wrote historical fiction and non-fiction for young readers on people's history.
As Bill Bigelow describes, “I was a public high school teacher in Portland, Ore. for 30 years. Thankfully, I discovered the work of Milton Meltzer when I was in my teacher education program. I used chapters from Bread and Roses: The Struggle of American Labor, 1865-1915, Brother Can You Spare a Dime?, and his books on slavery, immigration, and the plight of Jews fleeing pogroms. Where most historians were busy writing for other historians, Milton Meltzer was writing for my students. His contribution to educators like me was (and continues to be) enormous.”
Milton Meltzer died on September, 19, 2009 at the age of 94. The history of this self-taught, people’s historian is described in his obituary in the New York Times. The column ends with a quote from Milton Meltzer which rings as true today as when he wrote it in 1969:
“You may ask, what is the relevance of all this history to the young? Ours is not a past of sweetness and light, no matter what the textbook tells us. Textbooks avoid conflicts and the disorders that have taken place in our past. No wonder they bore students.”
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Zinn Education Project Provides Out-of-Print Chapter Online
A chapter from this out of print book is now available online.
Only about a dozen of Meltzer’s over 100 books are still in print. Therefore we are pleased that his estate has allowed us to reprint a chapter from one of his books to share with teachers at the Zinn Education Project website. “Traitors—Or Martyrs,” chapter 14 from Bound for the Rio Grande, introduces students to the little known story of the San Patricio Battalion during the U.S.-Mexico War. This reading is now available for teachers to download to use on its own, Traitors—Or Martyrs, or with with the U.S. Mexico War Tea Party lesson.
Some of Meltzer’s books are listed in the resources section of the Zinn Education Project website.
Teaching Outside the Textbook Across the Country
We are pleased to announce that 20 teachers from across the country are receiving class sets of A People’s History of the United States. These teachers’ names were selected from the 88 who responded when we asked for stories about teaching a people’s history or “teaching outside the textbook.” The essays were full of inspiring examples of how a people’s history is being taught in middle and high school classrooms, how teachers were introduced to Howard Zinn’s work, and how students respond to learning a more complete version of U.S. history. The list of teachers who took the time to share their story is posted here.
El Monte, California students and their teacher, Chris Lewis (4th from right) with their copies of A People's History of the United States from the Teaching Outside the Textbook class set.
Below are a few excerpts from the essays. Periodically we will share more.
American history teacher Esmeralda Tello (Mastic Beach, NY) said that teaching a people’s history helps her students step into history. In fact, when she recently did a role play on the Trail of Tears, her “students wouldn’t stop speaking about their roles and were still debating even when they went to their next class.” (The role play is posted at the Zinn Education Project site: http://www.zinnedproject.org/posts/1142.)
Middle school social studies teacher, Sarah Treworgy (Lynnwood, WA), used a lesson on the U.S.-Mexican War that brings in the voices of Frederick Douglass; Henry David Thoreau; U.S, Mexican, and Apache combatants; and many others. She writes that, “It was so wonderful to see a group of usually unmotivated students engaged, that I called in another teacher to see this group of students actively involved.” (http://www.zinnedproject.org/posts/1503.)
As American history teacher Michael Swogger (Gettysburg, PA) explained, “I changed the focus of my teaching from a traditional government and hero-centered focus to the very place where change ultimately originates: with the people. After all, my students are, by and large, the ordinary people of today. If society is going to progress, it’s going to come from the people and not the select few.”
One student in U.S. history teacher Bryan Hoang’s (Irvine, CA) class realized by studying a people’s history that “History isn’t so much about what happened in the past. It’s about how to change the future.” An 11th grade student of Mark Isero’s (San Francisco, CA) figured that if “people made history, I can too.”
Many teachers are being recognized for Teaching Outside the Textbook by their respective school district and local media, including Mica Perez who was featured on the San Antonio evening news.
We look forward to staying in touch with everyone who contributed essays so that we can continue to collect and share examples of how to bring a people’s history into the classroom. In addition to 25 copies of A People’s History, the class sets include one copy of the film The People Speak and two additional books: A Young People’s History of the United States and Voices of a People’s History of the United States. The remainder of the 88 teachers who submitted stories will receive one book. The gift of the class sets and the additional books was made possible by donations from HarperCollins, Seven Stories Press, and The People Speak.
A People’s Celebration of Howard Zinn in Boston
Lauren Cooper at A People's Celebration of Howard Zinn. Photo by: Charngchi Way/Susie Husted.
On May 15, 2010, the Zinn Education Project was pleased to participate in A People’s Celebration of Howard Zinn held at the Old South Church in Boston, MA. Lauren Cooper, a Teaching for Change coordinator for the Zinn Education Project, was one of the speakers. Others included Bob Moses, Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and founder of The Algebra Project, Mariama White-Hammond, Executive Director of Project HIP HOP (Highways Into the Past – History, Organizing, Power), Mike Prokosch, staff member of Community Labor United, Myrna Morales of the Progressive Librarians Guild, Michael Spinnato, member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace, and many more.
Donations received over the event expenses were donated to the Zinn Education Project, raising $1,000 for our work. We would like to thank the organizers for their time, coordination, and generosity. More photos and Lauren Cooper’s presentation.
Yes! Magazine Recommends Zinn Education Project
We are honored that YES! Magazine featured the Zinn Education Project as the lead story in their May 2010 YES! Education Connection Newsletter. The article begins: “If we want the world to be a better place—who would argue with that?—it is critical for students to rethink from the limited lens of dates, battles, and famous heroes—to study “a people’s history.” YES! recommends the brilliant Zinn Education Project and its resources to provoke and engage your students as they try to make sense of race and the role it—along with class and gender—has played in shaping society.” Subscriptions to the Yes! Education Connection Newsletter are free.
Staughton Lynd’s Tribute to Howard Zinn
Staughton Lynd, noted historian, lawyer, labor activist and Quaker pacifist, was the featured speaker at the Organization of American Historians (OAH) Remembering Howard Zinn session. Staughton Lynd had taught history at Spelman College alongside Howard Zinn in the early 1960s and is well respected for his work in the anti-war movement, labor movement, and for prisoner rights. Hosted by the Labor and Working-Class History Association (LAWCHA) and Historians Against the War (HAW), the remembrance for Howard Zinn at the OAH opened and closed with a song led by Staughton Lynd and Michael Honey (author of Going Down Jericho Road The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King’s Last Campaign.) Staughton Lynd wrote his speech in direct response to those who have questoned Howard Zinn’s scholarship as a historian. He opened his talk with: “It may seem a strange form of grieving: To remember a friend, who happens to have been an historian, by seeking to discern what kind of historian he was, what vision of history he sought to present, what in the way of history we might wish to carry forward from what he accomplished. Nonetheless that is the project in which I invite you to join me.” We are honored that Staughton Lynd has allowed us to publish his full speech here at the Zinn Education Project website for public access. Other noted historians and activists also shared their remembrances. Following the event, there was a book signing for Staughton Lynd for the new collection of his own work, From Here To There: The Staughton Lynd Reader.
Howard Zinn’s Talk With Teachers Available Online
The Zinn Education Project and Harper Perennial are pleased to share a “talk with teachers” by Howard Zinn, recorded on January 19, 2010. Bill Bigelow (Rethinking Schools) posed questions submitted by teachers from across the country. Listen to the show online or as a podcast. The first 40 minute interview portion of the show features the questions submitted by teachers and high school students to the Zinn Education Project. Highlights from the interview were published by Rethinking Schools in the Spring 2010 journal.
The People Speak Extended Edition on DVD
The People Speak, the feature documentary inspired by A People’s History of the United States and based on live readings of Voices of a People’s History of the United States, is now available in an Extended Edition on DVD. The film features dramatic readings by Matt Damon, Danny Glover, Viggo Mortensen, Sandra Oh, Sean Penn, Rosario Dawson, Don Cheadle, Benjamin Bratt, Morgan Freeman, Lupe Fiasco, Michael Ealy, David Strathairn, P!nk: P!nk, Staceyann Chin, Martin Espada, and John Legend, and musical performances by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder, and many other great artists. See a film trailer and many individual performances from the film that can be used in the classroom at Voices of a People’s History. See a full list of contents and a list of related Zinn Education Project teaching activities. Official People Speak website.
Teaching About Haiti
A free downloadable booklet and a list of resources for teaching about Haiti are available online at the Teaching for Change website. The Zinn Education Project welcomes your suggestions of additional resources and/or teaching activities for K-12. Send suggestions to: [email protected]
We Salute Howard Zinn, the People’s Historian
Howard Zinn, 2008 NCSS Conference, Houston, TX. Photo by Steve Puppe.
We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Howard Zinn on Wednesday, January 27, 2010. His incredible energy, wit, knowledge, political analysis, vision, and dedication had us convinced that he would outlive us all. At 87, he continued to inform and inspire in his presentations across the country, radio interviews, essays, and film making.
On January 19, 2010, Howard Zinn had graciously responded on air to questions submitted by teachers from across the country. In this Author on Air interview, coordinated by Harper Collins and the Zinn Education Project, he spoke of how textbooks leave “certain parts of the world and certain peoples of the world simply invisible.” He gave examples including Haiti, labor activists, and immigrants.
Howard Zinn has left a lifetime of scholarship and inspiration to make visible the people and places that textbooks leave out. A People’s History of the United States and his many other books, essays, plays, and film provide a wealth of resources for teachers and students. But even more important, Howard Zinn has inspired thousands of educators to recognize the importance of their own role in encouraging young people to think more critically about history and society, and to believe that they can make a positive difference.
Countless teachers have been inspired, by reading A People’s History or simply learning about Howard Zinn’s life, to ensure that their students learn that history is made not by a few heroic individuals, but instead by people’s choices and actions, thereby also learning that their own choices and actions matter.
Here are a few tributes to Howard Zinn. There are many more on HowardZinn.org
♦ Bob Herbert ♦ Alice Walker ♦ Democracy Now! ♦ Rethinking Schools ♦
A Young People’s History of the United States Now In Paperback
Now in paperback and updated, A Young People’s History of the United States makes the classic text accessible to young adult readers. Written by Howard Zinn with Rebecca Stefoff, the book was produced by Seven Stories Press.
Second Edition of Voices of a People’s History Released
Just in time for the History Channel broadcast of The People Speak, Seven Stories Press released a new edition of Voices of a People’s History by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove.
Zinn Education Project Website Out of Beta Phase
January 5, 2010: The Zinn Education Project website was upgraded and is no longer in the beta phase. In response to feedback provided by teachers from across the country, features have been added to make it easier to navigate, to comment on the resources, and to share pages using social media. Additional improvements are in process. This transition requires that everyone who registered during the beta phase (December 5, 2009 - January 4, 2010) re-register the next time they use the site. We welcome continued feedback about the use of the materials and suggestions for site improvements.
Coalition Stops Social Studies Textbook Adoption
A multi-racial coalition of educators, parents, and community members, including Rethinking Schools, has pushed for quality social studies teaching in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They raised concerns about the content of the social studies textbook series that was up for adoption by Milwaukee Public Schools. After several weeks of mobilization they succeeded in convincing the MPS administration to withdraw its proposal for the $4.2 million adoption. Their objection was that the textbooks miseducated students and failed to teach social responsibility. For more information, see the Social Studies Task Force, Social Studies Resources, and the CLEaR Justice Initiative (a partnership with the Milwaukee district).
Rethinking Schools Releases New Book
Rethinking Schools announced the publication of Teaching for Joy and Justice: Reimagining the Language Arts Classroom by Linda Christensen. It is the ideal book for any language arts teacher looking to infuse the themes and content of A People’s History of the United States into their classroom, or for social studies teachers working to help students develop strong writing skills while studying social issues. The contents include: “Warriors Don’t Cry: Connecting History, Literature, and Our Lives”; “Literature Circles: Slavery and Resistance”; “Honoring Our Ancestors: Building Profile Essays”; “Hurricane Katrina and Everyday Heroes,” and much more.
Lies My Teacher Told Me Author Has New Book
Teaching What Really Happened: How To Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History is James Loewen’s follow-up to his landmark bestseller, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. Howard Zinn says, “James Loewen’s new book is not only a devastating critique of how our nation’s history has been taught in our schools, but also a wonderful guide to how the teaching of history can open up minds, excite the imagination, and educate a new generation dedicated to making this a better world.” Read the Table of Contents and a sample chapter here.
Hip Hop Theater Festival and Voices of a People’s History
On Tuesday, July 7, 2009, there was a performance of VOICES [of a People's History]: REMIX in Washington, D.C. at The Kennedy Center. The cast included Kerry Washington, Regie Cabico, Staceyann Chin, W. Ellington Felton, Walter Mosley, and DJ Earth 1ne, with Dave Zirin as moderator. This performance was part of the Hip Hop Theater Festival. To see other upcoming engagements,visit www.howardzinn.org.
ZEP Website 2.0 In Progress
The Zinn Education Project has partnered with Vibrant Design Group to launch a new, expanded website, featuring 60-plus new downloads, searchable by theme or timeline, and an extended resource page.
Howard Zinn on Democracy Now!
“We’re trying to energize people by learning a history that is provocative and that is inspirational.” — Howard Zinn
On May 13, 2009, Howard Zinn was a guest on Democracy Now!, where he discussed the new edition of A Young People’s History of the United States (Seven Stories Press) and played clips from the forthcoming documentary The People Speak.
Zinn said, “In this Young People’s History we don’t present the history of victimization; we present the history of people fighting back. We want to give Americans a history [that] shows them that it’s possible to fight back, that you don’t have to depend on the President and Congress and the Supreme Court. In fact, you had better not depend on them, because they’re not going to solve the fundamental problems that we have in our society. We can only do it ourselves, when we organize, when we act, when we protest. And so, we’re trying to, yes, energize people by learning a history that is provocative and that is inspirational.”
Listen to the show or read the transcript here.
Howard Zinn’s Keynote at the NCSS Conference
Howard Zinn offers keynote at 2008 NCSS Conference in Houston, TX. Photo by Steve Puppe.
Howard Zinn spoke to over 800 social studies teachers at the 2008 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference held in Houston, TX. Zinn Education Project representatives were on site to give away 800 copies of A People’s History for the Classroom. Thanks to NCSS, you can now view the keynote address online.
Follow-up Survey Complete
Thanks to everyone who participated in the follow-up survey. We received useful and thought-provoking feedback which we will use to design Phase II of the Zinn Education Project. The raffle prizes will be mailing out in late December/early January. More information in the February 2009 newsletter.
