Defending People's History Archives

Rethinking Columbus Banned in Tucson

By Bill Bigelow Imagine our surprise. Rethinking Schools learned today that for the first time in its more-than-20-year history, our book Rethinking Columbus was banned by a school district: Tucson, Arizona. According to journalist Jeff Biggers, officials with the Tucson Unified School District ordered that teachers pull the book from their classrooms, evidently as an outcome of the school board’s 4-1 vote this week to abolish the Mexican American Studies program.

Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels Sought To Ban Howard Zinn in Public Schools

The Associated Press (AP) released a story today about an attempt to censor Howard Zinn's writing, including A People's History of the United States, in K-12 schools in Indiana.

Daniels Looked to Censor More Than Just Howard Zinn

By Mike Leonard, The Herald Times Columnist In July 2006, I wrote a column about sociologist James Loewen’s research on “sundown towns”----places where blacks were warned to leave before the sun went down. A native of Illinois who for many years taught at the University of Vermont, Loewen was stunned to discover that his home state had nearly 500 such towns, and neighboring Indiana was just as bad.

Censoring Howard Zinn: Former Indiana Gov. Tried to Remove “A People’s History” from State Schools

On July 22, Democracy Now! reported on former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels’ efforts to…

The Zinn Education Project Responds to Mitch Daniels’ Attacks on Howard Zinn

On July 17, 2013 the Associated Press (AP) revealed that former Indiana Governor and current Purdue University President Mitch Daniels had tried to ban Howard Zinn’s writing, including A People’s History of the United States, in K-12 public schools. In a public statement on July 18, Purdue University stood by their president, stating that it is not an issue of censorship because it did not impact higher education, only K-12 public schools. In other words, academic freedom and censorship do not apply to K-12 teachers and students.

Responses to the Attempts to Censor People’s History in K-12 Indiana Schools

Ever since the news of Mitch Daniels' attempts to censor any writing by Howard Zinn in Indiana K-12 public schools, people have been speaking out. Here are just a few of the responses. Inside Indiana Tweets July 23 | Dug Miller ‏@greatwoconda6h I proudly stand by my decision to use Howard Zinn in my high school social studies courses and will continue to do so.

Banned Books Week: People’s History Under Attack

While students and teachers testify to the positive impact of people's history, the right to learn that history has been under frequent attack for the past few years.

Bashing Howard Zinn: A Critical Look at One of the Critics

A critical response to “Undue Certainty: Where Howard Zinn’s A People’s History Falls Short" by Sam Wineburg.

Hundreds of High Schoolers Walk Out to Protest Conservative Takeover of History Standards

By Zaid Jilani, Alternet.org As part of the long-running textbook wars over American school curricula, the Jefferson County Colorado Board of Education moved earlier this month to alter AP U.S. history standards to meet a more right-wing view of the world, emphasizing “patriotism” and the “free enterprise system” and downplaying “social strife.”

Abolish Columbus Day

Did you see the good news out of Seattle this past week? First the school board, then the city council, voted to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day. It's a sign that more and more people want to learn—and teach—the truth about our history.

Arkansas Bill Attempts to Ban Books by Howard Zinn in Schools

As reported in the Arkansas Times, pending legislation would prohibit any publicly supported schools in Arkansas "from including in its curriculum or course materials any books or other material authored by or concerning Howard Zinn."

Arkansas students high school students oppose Zinn book ban | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Hundreds of Arkansas Teachers Request Howard Zinn’s A People’s History

Maybe you’ve heard: Legislation just proposed in Arkansas would ban books by or about Howard Zinn from all public schools in the state. In solidarity with Arkansas educators and students, the Zinn Education Project is offering to send a book by Howard Zinn and A People’s History for the Classroom to any Arkansas teacher who requests them.

Victory for Mexican American Studies in Arizona: An Interview with Curtis Acosta

In 2010, state lawmakers in Arizona passed legislation that banned courses that “promote resentment toward a race or class of people.” But the legislation was, in reality, specifically targeting a Mexican American Studies program that started decades ago after Black and Latino students filed a desegregation lawsuit.

A People’s History: Supplement or Textbook?

Essay by Staughton Lynd in response to one of the recent media attacks on Howard Zinn and A People’s History. These attacks include Sam Wineburg’s “Undue Certainty: Where Howard Zinn’s A People’s History Falls Short” in the American Federation of Teachers' American Educator magazine and “Agit-Prof: Howard Zinn's influential mutilations of American history” by David Greenberg in The New Republic.

Mitch Daniels and academic freedom cartoon | Zinn Education Project

Indiana’s Anti-Howard Zinn Witch-hunt

By Bill Bigelow

Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States, one of the country’s most widely read history books, died on January 27, 2010. Shortly after, then-Governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels got on his computer and fired off an email to the state’s top education officials: “This terrible anti-American academic has finally passed away.”