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 ♦
Explore by Time Period
Explore by Theme
List of Resources
Facebook Status
Zinn Education Project
Saturday, February 4th at 7:12 Today is the birthday of Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (Feb. 4, 1913 – Oct. 24, 2005). Below is a key article by Herbert Kohl from Rethinking Schools that challenges the myths prevalent in children's books and textbooks about Rosa Parks. Here is a link to more resources about Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott: http://zinnedproject.org/posts/tag/rosaparks
The Politics of Children’s Literature: What’s Wrong with the Rosa Parks Myth
zinnedproject.org
Aritcle. By Herbert Kohl. 6 pages. A critical analysis that challenges the myths in children’s books about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Zinn Education Project
Saturday, February 4th at 0:40 via ColorLines Magazine People have taken to Twitter to talk about the histories they wish they'd learned about in high school. Use: #WishiLearnedinHS
Pay Attention! Ethnic Studies #WishiLearnedinHS Curriculum Hits Twitter - COLORLINES
colorlines.com
Educational policies start trending on Twitter.
Zinn Education Project
Friday, February 3rd at 7:25 On this day in 1944, U.S. forces invaded and took control of the Marshall Islands. Who was living there? What is the status of the islands today? The Insular Empire: America in the Marianas is a powerful film on the U.S. colonies in the western Pacific.
Suggestion: ask your students - "Does the U.S. have colonies?" Let us know how they respond.
The Insular Empire: America in the Mariana Islands
zinnedproject.org
The Insular Empire is a one-hour PBS documentary about America’s colonies in the western Pacific. Six thousand miles west of California, the Mariana Islands include the U.S. Territory of Guam and the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (or CNMI). Although most Americans don’t believe t...
