Individuals in US History
Teaching Activity PDFs
“A School Year Like No Other”: Eyes on the Prize: “Fighting Back: 1957-1962″
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 7 pages.
A companion lesson to the Eyes on the Prize segment on school integration.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
Challenging Bill Clinton
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 17 pages. Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 23 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the Clinton presidency, as well as domestic opposition to his policies.
Individuals in US History, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Columbus and Las Casas
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 15 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 1 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on Columbus’ arrival in the “New World,” and the contrasting accounts of Bartolome de Las Casas and Eduardo Galeano.
Teaching Guides
Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years
Teaching Guide. Edited by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson. 2003. 192 pages.
Readings and lessons for pre-K to 12 about the impact and legacy of the arrival of Columbus in the Americas.
Audio
Ballads of Sacco and Vanzetti
Audio CD. Songs by Woody Guthrie, produced by Moses Asch. 1996.
Songs about the murder trial of Sacco and Vanzetti.
Readings from Voices of a People’s History of the United States
Audio CD. Edited by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove. 2007.
Sixteen readings by an all-star cast from Voices of a People’s History.
Books: Non-Fiction
The Admirable Radical: Staughton Lynd and Cold War Dissent, 1945–1970
Book – Non-Fiction. By Carl Mirra. 2010. 240 pages.
Individuals in US History, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance
Book – Non-fiction. By Anne Sibley O’Brien and Perry Edmund O’Brien. 2009. 192 pages.
Stories about 15 activists who continue in the tradition of Gandhi, written and illustrated for upper elementary and middle school.
Individuals in US History, Organizing, World History/Global Studies
The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther
Book – Non-fiction. By Jeffrey Haas. 2009. 424 pages.
The life and murder of Fred Hampton as told by Jeffrey Hass, co-founder of the People’s Law Office and attorney for the plaintiffs in the federal suit Hampton v. Hanrahan.
Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights
The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle, 1954-1990
Book – Non-fiction. Edited by Clayborne Carson, David J. Garrow, Gerald Gill, Vincent Harding and Darlene Clark Hine. 1991.
Readings to accompany the Eyes on the Prize film.
Henry David Thoreau: A Biography
Book – Nonfiction. By Milton Meltzer. 2007. 160 pages.
A biography of Henry David Thoreau containing relevant pictures and quotes from his contemporaries for middle school readers.
Howard Zinn: A Radical American Vision
Book – Non-Fiction. By Davis D. Joyce. Foreword by Noam Chomsky. 2003. 268 pages.
Biography of Howard Zinn.
A Hubert Harrison Reader
Book – Nonfiction. Edited by Jeffrey B. Perry. 2001. 505 pages.
Essays by the “father of Harlem radicalism”.
Jessie De La Cruz: A Profile of a United Farm Worker
Book – Non-fiction. Gary Soto. 2002. 116 pages.
An inspiring story of Jessie De La Cruz, one of the first women to organize for the United Farmer Workers.
John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement
Book – Non-fiction. By Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson. Illustrated by Benny Andrews. 2006. 32 pages.
The life of Civil Rights Movement activist and now Congressman, John Lewis.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History
Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin
Book – Nonfiction. By John Hope Franklin. 2006. 416 pages.
Autobiography of one of the leading historians of the 20th century.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Written by Himself: A New Critical Edition by Angela Y. Davis
Book – Non-fiction. By Frederick Douglass and essays by Angela Davis. 2009. 254 pages.
The classic biography of Frederick Douglass with an introduction and critical analysis by Angela Davis
A People’s History of Science: Miners, Midwives, and “Low Mechanicks”
Book – Nonfiction. By Clifford D. Conner. 2005. 554 pages.
New look at history of science, highlights hunter-gatherers, farmers, sailors, miners, blacksmiths, and more.
A People’s History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence
Book – Non-fiction. By Ray Raphael. Series editor: Howard Zinn. 2002. 528 pages.
Using hundreds of primary sources, this book tells the more accurate, populist, complicated, and interesting story of the American Revolution.
Democracy & Citizenship, Immigration, Individuals in US History, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Rachel Carson: Preserving a Sense of Wonder
Book – Non-fiction. By Thomas Locker and Joseph Bruchac. 2004. 32 pages.
The life of environmental activist Rachel Carson for upper elementary.
Environment & Food, Individuals in US History, Women's History
Ready for Revolution: The Life and Struggles of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture)
Book – Non-fiction. By Stokely Carmichael and Ekwueme Michael Thelwell. 2005. 848 pages.
Autobiography of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture).
Refusing Racism: White Allies and the Struggle for Civil Rights
Book – Non-fiction. By Cynthia Stokes Brown. 2002. 192 pages.
Four short biographies of white people who’ve fought against racism in U.S. history.
Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Racism & Racial Identity
Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South
Book – Non-fiction (with CD). Edited by William H. Chafe, Raymond Gavins and Robert Korstad. 2008. 346 pages.
African American, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
Through My Eyes
Book – Non-fiction. By Ruby Bridges. 1999. 64 pages.
Biography of Ruby Bridges for middle school.
Civil Rights Movements, Education, Individuals in US History
Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Senior High
Book – Non-fiction. By Melba Pattillo Beals. 2007. 336 pages.
Story of a teenage girl chosen to integrate Little Rock High School.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Individuals in US History, Organizing
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
Book – Non-fiction. By Kadir Nelson. 2008. 96 pages.
The story of Negro League baseball, in text and stunning imagery.
We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the World
Book – Non-fiction. By Stuart Stotts. Illustrated by Terrance Cummings. 2010. 64 pages and a CD.
History of the song from the Civil Rights Movement and other struggles, We Shall Overcome.
African American, Art & Music, Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Organizing
We Took the Streets: Fighting for Latino Rights with the Young Lords
Book – Non-fiction. By Miguel Melendez. 2003. 260 pages.
Legacy of the Young Lords in the Puerto Rican struggle for equality and independence.
Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Latino, Organizing
Willa Cather: A Biography
Book – Non-fiction. By Milton Meltzer. 2008. 160 pages.
An account of Willa Cather’s accomplishments and personality written for upper elementary/middle school readers.
You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times
Book – Non-Fiction. By Howard Zinn. 224 pages. 2002.
An engaging memoir by Howard Zinn which offers his life history in the context of the politics and events of his lifetime.
Films
10,000 Black Men Named George
Film. By Robert Townsend. 2002. 89 minutes.
Docudrama about A. Philip Randolph and The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black Union in America.
African American, Individuals in US History, Labor, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity
Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train – DVD
Film. By Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller. 2010. 78 minutes.
Documentary on life and work of Howard Zinn.
Individuals in US History, Labor, Organizing, Social Class, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
John Brown’s Last Speech
Film clip. Josh Brolin reads John Brown’s Last Speech delivered on November 2, 1859. From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
The Meaning of Sacco and Vanzetti
Online film. By Howard Zinn.
On November 7, 2008, Howard Zinn offered a lecture on “The Meaning of Sacco and Vanzetti” at the Dante Alighieri Society Italian Cultural Center, in Cambridge, MA.
Standing on My Sisters’ Shoulders
Film. By Joan Sadoff, Robert Sadoff, and Laura Lipson. 2002. 60 minutes.
Documentary film on women in the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.
Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History, Organizing, Women's History
Picture Books
John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement
Book – Non-fiction. By Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson. Illustrated by Benny Andrews. 2006. 32 pages.
The life of Civil Rights Movement activist and now Congressman, John Lewis.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Individuals in US History
Rachel Carson: Preserving a Sense of Wonder
Book – Non-fiction. By Thomas Locker and Joseph Bruchac. 2004. 32 pages.
The life of environmental activist Rachel Carson for upper elementary.
Environment & Food, Individuals in US History, Women's History
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
Book – Non-fiction. By Kadir Nelson. 2008. 96 pages.
The story of Negro League baseball, in text and stunning imagery.
Posters
Women of Hope Poster Set: African American + Study Guide
Poster.
African American, Individuals in US History, Women's History
Songs and Poems
Song for Hugh Thompson
Song. By David Rovics.
Ballad about Hugh Thompson who tried to defend the people of My Lai, Vietnam.
Art & Music, Individuals in US History, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Websites
Speak Out
Website. A clearinghouse of over 150 speakers, performers, scholars, artists, exhibits and films, representing a wide range of social and political movements.
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