Fun-filled People’s History Trivia Nights in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

In November and December 2017, the Zinn Education Project hosted People’s History Trivia Nights in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., raising more than $4,300 for our work in 2018. At both events, everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves while learning non-trivial people’s history.

The San Francisco event took place during the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference, on Friday, November 17, at the beautiful Women’s Building. The event brought together Bay Area people’s history teachers, NCSS conference attendees, and other friends of the Zinn Education Project. We were honored to be joined by members of Howard Zinn’s family who played as the team Bread and Roses. The San Francisco Trivia Champion team was #IKneelWithKap. Virginia middle school teacher Levita Mondie, who uses many of the Zinn Education Project lessons in her classroom, served as the MC. The Rainbow Co-op, Buy-Rite Groceries, and 21st Amendment Brewery generously donated food and beverages.

Two weeks later, on Monday, December 4, People’s History Trivia Night returned for another sold out night at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C. Teams included Casualties of Progress, Reclaiming My Time, We The People, Sisterfire!, Untold Stories, and FakeNews. The DanViews team won the D.C. Trivia Championship. The evening was MC’d by high school teacher Julian Hipkins III.

Prizes for both events included custom medals; books donated by Beacon Press, City Lights, Seven Stories, Haymarket Books, HarperCollins, National Portrait Gallery, Harvey Richards Media Archive, and Project Censored; greeting cards with portraits by Americans Who Tell the Truth; and (for D.C.) Busboys and Poets gift certificates.

Test Your Knowledge

Below are a few of the questions from trivia night. All the questions and answers are drawn from content at the Zinn Education Project website. Answers are below photo albums.

1. In what decade were the most Confederate monuments built in the U.S.?
2. The CIA played a major role in the assassination of the elected leader of the Congo in 1961. What was his name?
3. In 2017, an African-American woman sports journalist was suspended for two weeks because of her tweets about Trump. Who is she?
4. This military analyst risked life in prison to reveal to secret history of the Vietnam War.
5. In 1959, what community in Los Angeles was uprooted and evicted to establish the Dodger stadium?

Photos from San Francisco – Hover on image and use arrows to navigate

Photos from Washington, D.C. – Hover on image and use arrows to navigate

Answers to questions:

1. 1920s
2. Patrice Lumumba
3. Jemele Hill
4. Daniel Ellsberg
5. Chavez Ravine