Zinn Education Project Phase 1 Results

The Zinn Education Project (ZEP) is pleased to release the demographic report of 4,000 Zinn Education Packets distributed for free to teachers and teacher educators. In June of 2008, ZEP distributed 4,000 free packets to classroom teachers and teacher educators across the country who signed up at zinnedproject.org. The packet includes a copy of A People’s History of the United States, the teaching guide A People’s History for the Classroom, and the DVD Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train. Funded by an anonymous donor, a former student of Zinn’s, this was the first phase of a project to promote and support the use of A People’s History of the United States, and related resources, in middle and high school classrooms.

We reached a diverse group of teachers in all 50 US states, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and DC. Thirty-two organizations helped us with the outreach to over 30,000 teachers across the country. Within three weeks all 4,000 packets were claimed. Read full report and graphs.

Howard Zinn to Offer Keynote at National Council for the Social Studies Conference

August 2008: The Zinn Education Project is proud to announce that Howard Zinn will deliver the closing keynote speech at the 88th Annual National Council for the Social Studies Conference (NCSS) in Houston, TX on November 16, 2008 at 10am. His keynote will be followed by a book signing. Free copies of A People’s History for the Classroom will be distributed to the first 700 attendees.

ZEP Survey Distribution Begins

On Sept. 2, 2008 the Zinn Education Project (ZEP) will begin inviting recipients of the Zinn Education Packet to offer feedback and help us design the next stage. The survey will take approximately 6-10 minutes. In appreciation, participants will be entered in a drawing to win one of hundreds of books, CDs or calendars generously donated by our fellow independent publishers. The titles include:

Voices of a People’s History of the United States
by Howard Zinn, Anthony Arnove 665 pg. Seven Stories Press
Paralleling the 24 chapters of Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, Voices of a People’s History is the companion volume to the national bestseller. Here in their own words are Frederick Douglass, George Jackson, Chief Joseph, Martin Luther King Jr., Plough Jogger, Sacco and Vanzetti, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Mark Twain, and Malcolm X, to name just a few.

Howard Zinn on Democratic Education
by Howard Zinn with Donaldo Macedo 224 pg. Paradigm Publishers
Describes what is missing from school textbooks and in classrooms–and how we move beyond these deficiencies to improve student education. Critical skills of citizenship are insufficiently developed in schools, according to Zinn. Textbooks and curricula must be changed to transcend the recitation of received wisdom too common today in our schools.

Stories Hollywood Never Tells – CD
By Howard Zinn 58 min. AK Press
What sort of view of our history do we get from Hollywood movies? Why are some stories told and others not? In this informal talk given at the Taos Film Festival, Zinn turns his attention to Hollywood, the stories it tells, and the ones it doesn’t. He tells of wars from the point of view of disillusioned deserters, of the differences between All Quiet on the Western Front and Saving Private Ryan, of railroad strikes and the Haymarket Affair, Eugene Debs and the real story of Helen Keller. A spellbinding and provocative talk by America’s most beloved historian.

Founding Myths
by Ray Raphael 368 pg. The New Press
In Founding Myths, Raphael has created a page-turner out of the stuff of American history primers. He documents the errors and inventions that permeate the nation’s most cherished myths, from Paul Revere’s midnight ride to Patrick Henry’s famous utterance, “Give me liberty or give me death!” The author also assiduously sniffs out the origins of the myths and the reasons that they have come to replace the real stories of the Revolutionary period.

A People’s History of the United States: Abridged Teaching Edition
by Howard Zinn 640 pg. The New Press
An abridged classroom edition of Howard Zinn’s bestselling history of the United States, with teaching materials to accompany each chapter.

2009 Peace Calendar
by Syracuse Cultural Workers Full color, 14″x22″
This is the 38th edition of the Syracuse Cultural Workers’ Peace Calendar. The calendar includes people’s history annotations, holidays for many faiths, lunar cycles and 13 native moons.

Free Packet Distribution Complete

Thank you for your interest in the Zinn Education Project. We regret that due to the popularity of this offer, all of the 4,000 free packets have been requested. Shipping of packets began on May 20, 2008. If signed up for a packet and you did not receive one or did not receive a notice, please contact Lauren Cooper.