People's History Resources at NCSS 2015

This is a list of many of the resources on display at the Zinn Education Project booth at the 2015 National Council for the Social Studies conference in New Orleans. Please purchase directly from Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change—the two organizations that coordinate the Zinn Education Project. Interested in using a school purchase order or learning more about bulk discounts? Visit Teaching for Change Books. To receive Rethinking Schools magazine, visit the website and subscribe online.

The Line Between Us (Book) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

The Line Between Us: Teaching About the Border and Mexican Immigration

Teaching Guide. By Bill Bigelow. 2006. 160 pages. Rethinking Schools.
Lessons for teaching about the history of U.S.–Mexico relations and current border and immigration issues.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage

Book — Non-fiction. By William Loren Katz. 2012. 272 pages.
History book for ages 10 to adult that traces relations between Blacks and American Indians since the time of the conquest.

Teaching Activity by William Loren Katz

Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past

Book — Non-fiction. By Ray Raphael. 2014. 420 pages.
Myths and the reasons that they have come to replace the real stories of the Revolutionary period.

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

Book — Non-fiction. By James W. Loewen. 2018. 480 pages.
Provides a detailed critique of 12 leading high school history textbooks.

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, 10th anniversary edition

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Book — Non-fiction. By Michelle Alexander. Introduction by Cornel West. 2010, updated 10th-anniversary edition released in 2020. 336 pages.
A critical analysis of the role the justice system plays in the oppression of African Americans in the United States.

A People’s History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn and Mike Konopacki. 2008. 288 pages.
Graphic format with photos and narrative introduce parts of U.S. history.

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.

A People’s History of Sports in the United States

Book — Non-fiction. By Dave Zirin. 2009. 302 pages.
U.S. history through the lens of sports.

Teaching Activity by Dave Zirin

book cover showing freedom riders protesting near a bus

A Young People’s History of the United States: Revised and Updated

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff with additions by Ed Morales. 2022. 544 pages.
A young adult version of the best-selling A People’s History of the United States, ideal for 6th through 9th grade students.

Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching

Teaching Guide and Website. Edited by Deborah Menkart, Alana D. Murray, and Jenice L. View. 2024. 390 pages.
This second edition provides lessons and articles for K–12 educators on how to go beyond a heroes approach to the Civil Rights Movement, with a focus on education, economics, labor, youth, women, and culture.

Teaching Activity by Deborah Menkart

People's History Resources at NCSS 2015

Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

A People’s History of Sports in the United States

Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching

Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years

A People’s History of the United States: The Wall Charts

Rethinking Globalization: Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World