Explore by Time Period
Dozens of downloadable teaching activities, books, films, and websites. Select by dates on the timeline above or era on the menu to the right.
News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media
Book – Non-fiction. By Juan González, and Joseph Torres. 256 pages. 2011.
The history of media in the United States, through the lens of race.
Resistance in Paradise: Rethinking 100 Years of U.S. Involvement in the Caribbean and the Pacific
Teaching Guide. Edited by Debbie Wei and Rachel Kamel. 1998. 199 pages.
Readings and teaching ideas for high school students on the Spanish-American War.
Pacific Islander, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
History Matters
Website. A clearinghouse of history resources for high school and college teachers and students.
Blackboard Unions: The AFT and the NEA, 1900-1980
Book – Non-fiction. By Marjorie Murphy. 1992. 304 pages.
The history of unionization of teachers.
“Workers of the World, Awaken!” by Joe Hill
Song. By Joe Hill. 1910.
A classic labor song, reaching out to workers to around the world.
John Lewis: “Original Text to be Delivered at the Lincoln Memorial”
John Lewis’ “Original Text of Speech to be Delivered at the Lincoln Memorial” (1963) read by Brian Jones. From Voices of People’s History of the United States.
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
People’s History Wall Charts
Posters. By Howard Zinn and George Kirschner. 2007. 13.75″ x 9.5″.
Visual time-lines of US history presented by era and thematically.
Students on Strike: Jim Crow, Civil Rights, Brown, and Me
Book – Non-fiction. By John A. Stokes with Lois Wolfe. 2007. 128 pages.
First person description of the student led movement to desegregate schools in Prince Edward County.
Ismael Guadalupe Ortiz: “Testimony on Vieques, Puerto Rico”
Film clip. Ismael Guadalupe Ortiz “Testimony on Vieques, Puerto Rico” (1979) read by Mario Murillo.
From Voices of a People’s History of the United States.
Testing, Tracking, and Toeing the Line: A Role Play on the Origins of the Modern High School
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 13 pages.
A role play on the origins of the modern high school.
Democracy & Citizenship, Education, Immigration, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
Lessons from Freedom Summer: Ordinary People Building Extraordinary Movements
Book – Teaching Guide. Edited by Kathy Emery, Linda Reid Gold and Sylvia Braselmann. Foreword by Howard Zinn. 2008. 456 pages.
Readings and lessons on the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project.
A People’s History of the Civil War: Struggles for the Meaning of Freedom
Book – Non-fiction. By David Williams. 2006. 594 pages.
An account of the American Civil War though the eyes of ordinary people
Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule
Book – Fiction. By Harriette Gillem Robinet. 1998. 144 pages.
Historical fiction featuring 12-year-old Pascal, 8-year-old Nellie and their older brother Gideon, Union Army aide, as they claim and farm the land promised to them during Reconstruction.
Salt of the Earth: Grounds Students in Hope
Teaching Activity PDF. By S.J. Childs. 6 pages.
The author describes how she introduces students to the classic 1953 film Salt of the Earth about a miners’ strike in New Mexico.
Chávez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story
Film. By Jordan Mechner. 2004. 26 minutes.
A documentary about the politics and economics of land in the U.S., based on the story of a Mexican American village razed in the 1950s to build Dodger Stadium.
Crow
Book – Fiction. By Barbarba Wright. 2012. 304 pages.
A Reconstruction era African American community violently loses its freedom in turn of the century North Carolina.
African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Media
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
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
Explore by Time Period
- Colonization
- Revolution & Constitution
- Early 19th Century
- Civil War Era
- Reconstruction Period
- Industrial Revolution
- Turn of the Century
- World War I
- Prosperity, Depression, & World War II
- Cold War
- People’s Movement
- 1975 – 2000
- 2001 – Present
- 18th Century
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Zinn Education Project
Wednesday, February 22nd at 14:16 Orisanmi Burton, librarian at DCPS McKinley Technology High School, wrote about a Black History Month event at his school that went beyond the traditional narrative: “On Feb. 2 we hosted a panel discussion on youth incarceration and Michelle Alexander's book, The New Jim Crow. Panelists included staff attorney for the DC Public Defender Service Alec Karakatsanis and Andy Cevasco from the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. Over 40 students participated in an engaging discussion around mass incarceration, sentencing disparities, youth transfer laws, and strategies for moving forward.” What is your school doing for Black History Month?
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
zinnedproject.org
Book – Non-Fiction. By Michelle Alexander. 2010. 290 pages. A critical analysis of the role the justice system plays in the oppression of African Americans in the United States.
Zinn Education Project
Wednesday, February 22nd at 10:05 Zinn Education Project friends in the D.C. area -- please get your tickets today for a very special event on March 12 called What Kids Aren't Learning: History Under Attack and Why It Matters with noted speakers and hosts: Khalil Muhammad, Jeff Biggers, Enid Lee, Bernard Demczuk, and Renee Poussaint.
What Kids Aren't Learning: History Under Attack and Why It Matters | Teaching For Change
teachingforchange.org
With the recent ban on teaching ethnic studies in Tucson, Arizona, the work of Teaching for Change is more vital than ever. Students and teachers around the country, not just in Arizona, are being denied classes that teach the honest, complex, and diverse narrative that is U.S. history. With history...
Zinn Education Project
Wednesday, February 22nd at 7:20 On this day in 1943, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst were executed for their role in the White Rose, a group that urged students to rise up and overthrow the Nazi government. "We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!" -- quote from the 4th leaflet.
History in Pictures - February
On Feb. 22, 1943, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst were executed for their role in urging students to rise up and overthrow the Nazi government. They were members of a group called the White Rose, who organized nonviolent resistance to Hitler, and were arrested for printing and distributing anti-Nazi flyers.
Photo: Hans Scholl (left), Sophie Scholl (center), and Christoph Probst (right), leaders of the White Rose resistance organization. Munich, Germany, 1942 (From the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, George J. Wittenstein.
See trailer for film about the life of Sophie Scholl: http://zeitgeistfilms.com/displaytrailer.php?directoryname=sophiescholl&size=high&extension=mov
Leaflets from the White Rose: http://unitarian-stcatharines.org/pdf-files/whiterose.pdf
History in Pictures features just a few of the many stories that are often left out of the textbooks. The sources for these stories include: This Week in History from Peace Buttons (http://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/thisweek.htm), Planning to Change the World: A Social Justice Plan Book for Teachers (http://www.justiceplanbook.com/), This Day in Civil Rights History (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/13684), History.com (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history), 50 American Revolutions You Are Not Supposed to Know (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/11632), A People's History of the United States (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/67), Black Facts Online (http://www.blackfacts.com), Today in Labor History (http://www.unionist.com/big-labor/today-in-labor-history), Primary Source (http://resources.primarysource.org/content.php?pid=184419&sid=1549829), and many more.
