News - Zinn Education Project

Black History Month and the Cuban Solidarity Movement of the 1870s

By Paul Ortiz Seven years after the end of the Civil War, hundreds of African Americans in Baltimore gathered at historic Madison Street (Colored) Presbyterian Church for the purpose, “[O]f adopting measures to petition the Congress of the United States to tender the powerful mediation of this great government towards ameliorating the sad condition of a half million of our brethren now held in slavery in the island of Cuba by Spain.”

Time to Tell the Truth About Slavery at Mount Vernon

By Sudie Hofmann At the time of George Washington's death, the Washingtons enslaved 318 people of African descent at Mount Vernon, according to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. But you would not know it from the main tour, nor from the brochure. In fact, most visitors, including schoolchildren, can spend hours admiring the Mount Vernon mansion, fine furniture, and manicured lawns without considering that it was all paid for with forced labor.

Post by Sudie Hofmann

The Birth of a Nation: A Century Later

By William Loren Katz By an odd coincidence the first week of Black History Month this February, Time magazine ran an article on the 100th anniversary of the first public showing of the movie classic The Birth of a Nation. This silent film was Hollywood’s first blockbuster, first great historical epic, first full-length film, and first to introduce modern cinematic techniques that still keep audiences enthralled. Time noted the movie’s problem. From its casting and content to its dramatic conclusion it was unabashedly racist.

Five Years Later: Honoring Howard Zinn’s Legacy of Teaching and Activism

Dear Zinn Education Project friends, The great historian and social justice activist, Howard Zinn,…

Howard Zinn at Peace Rally | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Five Years After: Long Live Howard Zinn

By Bill Bigelow This week — Jan. 27 — marks five years since the death of the great historian and activist Howard Zinn. No doubt, he would be encouraged by how many educators are engaging students in thinking critically about history and current issues.

44,500 Teachers and Growing — Support Teaching Outside the Textbook

More teachers. More students. More people's history. This year, we reached 44,500 K-12 teachers who are using free Zinn Education Project lessons. That's almost a million students receiving a more honest and complex understanding of U.S. history. Help us reach 55,000 teachers in 2015 with people's history resources.

10,000 More Teachers in One Year — You Can Help Us Reach Thousands More in 2015

This week, the Zinn Education Project reached a milestone: 10,000 new registered teachers in 2014. We now have more than 44,500 teachers using our materials, teaching outside the textbook. As one of the 44,500 educators who have registered for the Zinn Education Project website, please donate so that we can reach even more teachers and students in the coming year. You can make an online donation, a stock donation, or mail a check to the address below.

Teachers Say NO Koch in Schools

In November of 2014, the Zinn Education Project published a widely circulated exposé of the Koch Brothers influence on K-12 civics education.

Teaching #BlackLivesMatter

In light of the grand jury decision, we share this collection of teaching ideas and resources, originally published by Teaching for Change in August of 2014. By Julian Hipkins III As the new school year begins, first and foremost on our minds and in our hearts will be the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Teachers may be faced with students’ anger, frustration, sadness, confusion, and questions. Some students will wonder how this could happen in the United States. For others, unfortunately, police brutality and intimidation are all too familiar.

The Politics of Thanksgiving Day

By William Loren Katz With family excitement building with the approach of Thanksgiving, you would never know November was Native American History Month. President Obama had publicly announced the month, but many more Americans will be paying attention to his announcement of Thanksgiving.

This Changes Everything Writing Retreat Update

The Zinn Education Project is teaming up with our friends at This Changes Everything: Capitalism …

People’s History at the 2014 National Council for the Social Studies Conference

The Zinn Education Project will have a major presence with three booths at the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference in Boston from Nov. 21-22, 2014. If you are one of the thousands of social studies teachers from around the world attending the NCSS conference, be sure to stop by the Zinn Education Project booths.

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.

Voices of a People’s History of the United States (Book, 10th anniv.) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

10th Anniversary Edition of Voices of a People’s History Coming This Fall

Performances of Voices of a People's History Scheduled for Los Angeles and New York in November The 10th anniversary edition of Voices of a People’s History of the United States will be published by Seven Stories Press this fall.

Colorado Student Protests Lead to Exploration of Ludlow History

The Colorado students protests in defense of learning history are reverberating in the media around the country and are also generating discussions around family dinner tables.

Fred Branfman, ¡Presente!

Fred Branfman, writer and peace activist, passed away on September 24, 2014 at the age…

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.”

Banned Books Week: Champion the Right to Teach and Learn People’s History

With Banned Books Week (Sept. 21-27) in full swing, we call attention to the recent attempts to ban people's history books and curriculum.

Grappling with Multiple Histories: Teaching Critical Inquiry with Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States

By Mark Kissling What follows is that reflection, written as a narrative spanning the last decade and a half. My purpose here is to argue, contrary to Governor Daniels, that students have much to gain from reading A People’s History in their classrooms. For that reason, I encourage all history teachers to bring Zinn’s writings into their classrooms.

This Changes Everything Writing Retreat

Rethinking Schools and the Zinn Education Project are partnering with an exciting project: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. This "multi-platform" project includes the new book by Naomi Klein, a feature documentary inspired by the book, and an ambitious outreach strategy to share the ideas behind these works with educators and activists, starting in Fall 2014.

Major Okinawa TV Story Features Zinn Education Project Teacher

We are thrilled that Okinawa based television network Ryukyu Broadcasting Corporation (RBC) is filming a…

The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Origins of the United States of America

Gerald Horne, professor of history and African American studies at the University of Houston, was interviewed on Democracy Now! on "the great disparity between how people in the United States talk about the creation myth of the United States."

“The value of non-violence comes first,” SNCC Veteran Ivanhoe Donaldson Tells Students

Update: We are sad to share that Ivanhoe Donaldson passed away on April 3, 2016…

Howard and Me: History for the People

History for the People By Robyn Spencer In 1989, one of my history professors at SUNY Binghamton assigned A People’s History of the United States in our class and nothing has ever been the same. 1989. Pinochet. Robin Givens and Mike Tyson. George H. W. Bush and Shabba Ranks. The Golden Girls and Iran-Contra. This was my 19-year-old world.