News - Zinn Education Project

Teaching People’s History Highlights of 2013

The year 2013 ended with more than 34,000 teachers registered, more than 63,000 Facebook fans, reaching millions of students each year, and creating the public space that supports people's history being taught in classrooms. Here we feature just a few of the accomplishments of 2013, which would not have been possible without the support of individual donors at all levels of giving.

2013 Donors Affirm, ‘Keep Fighting the Good Fight’

Thanks to the 217 donors who made it possible for the Zinn Education Project to promote the teaching of people’s history and register 8,000 more teachers. It's because of individuals like you that the Zinn Education Project reaches tens of thousands of teachers and millions of students each year. Here are some stories people shared with their donation.

Donation in Honor of Rugenia Moore Henry, Civil Rights Activist

Mia Henry has an extensive career in youth development, community organizing, and civic and history…

Donation in Honor of William G. Fletcher Sr.’s Labor Lessons

Labor activist and scholar Bill Fletcher Jr.’s donation to the Zinn Education Project in honor…

Ordinary Citizens Catalyzing Change: A ‘People’s History’ of 2013

By Katy Swalwell This year has been full of examples of people making history. Although newspapers and textbooks often focus on political and military leaders, the real story was with "ordinary people" in the streets who challenged injustice and worked for good.

The Next Five Years Depend on You

When young people learn a more accurate history---including how people have worked together for greater dignity and justice---they are more likely to see themselves as changemakers. As our favorite teacher, Howard Zinn, said, "I had a modest goal when I became a teacher. I wanted to change the world." Please join us spreading a people's history to classrooms everywhere. Help us change the world.

Donation in Honor of Ann Dawson, a Rosie the Riveter

Pittsburgh middle school teacher Kipp Dawson donated to our campaign to raise $1,000 to post a set of role plays from the book Power In Our Hands on the history of organized labor in the United States. Join her by donating to make sure teachers have the right to use people's history lessons! Kipp wrote: "I am contributing in memory of my mother, Ann Dawson, and her sisters among the Rosie the Riveters and Steel Workers Organizing Committee whose real history also could be lost were it not for Zinn Education Project and the teachers and students and historians it brings together and empowers."

Nelson Mandela, Madiba

We mourn the death of Nelson Mandela, who died today at age 95. Mandela's sacrifice, courage, and vision inspired people throughout the world, and thousands, if not millions, of young people came to their political awareness through anti-apartheid solidarity actions.

Oh Freedom After While Colloquium at NCSS

One of the highlights of the 93rd National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference in St. Louis was the “Civil Rights in the 21st Century: Oh Freedom After While Colloquium” at the Missouri History Museum. The event featured a showing of the powerful documentary Oh Freedom After While, chronicling the January 1939 sharecropper protest in the Missouri Bootheel.

Daughter of Lincoln Brigader Donates to Support People’s History

"In honor of my father, who died in the Spanish Civil War. He served in the Lincoln Brigade." Rhoda Seidler's donation to the Zinn Education Project came with a connection to people's history. Her father volunteered for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, an international volunteer army that fought to save Spain’s Republican government from being overwhelmed by the fascist Francisco Franco, and his allies, Hitler and Mussolini.

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.

Forever Young: Staughton Lynd

by Andy Piascik In an epoch of imperial hubris and corporate class warfare on steroids, the release of these books could hardly have come at a better time. Soldier, coal miner, Sixties veteran, recent graduate — there’s much to be gained by one and all from a study of Lynd’s life and work. In so doing, it’s inspiring to discover how frequently he was in the right place at the right time and, more importantly, on the right side.

Art Students Promote Their College’s Civil Rights Archives

Queens College in New York has an important archive with a wealth of documents about the activism of their staff and students during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. To bring attention to the history and resources, the archive staff called on the college’s graphic design department for help. The results are the stunning images below.

‘Howard Zinn, Presente’ by Staughton Lynd

The following essay was presented at the Howard Zinn Read-In held at Purdue University on November 5, 2013.
If you are like me, and I think you are, you may be expecting something like one of the old Wobbly free speech fights. I will say, “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” after which I will be arrested.

Philadelphia Embraces People’s History

Philadelphia City Councilman James Kenney authored a resolution, calling upon the Philadelphia School District “to make Howard Zinn’s best-selling book A People’s History of the United States a required part of the high school U.S. history curriculum.”

Public Health Needs A People’s History, Too

It is easy to see the ways in which A People’s History of the United …

50th Anniversary: Chicago Public School Boycott

On October 22, 1963, a coalition of civil rights groups staged Freedom Day, a mass…

‘The People vs. Columbus’ Trial Featured on BackStory

The Rethinking Schools role play The People vs. Columbus et al. was featured on the…

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.

Tinker v. Des Moines

Mary Beth Tinker was a 13-year-old junior high school student in December 1965 when she…

Triple Play: Sports, Politics & Greed

On this week’s Moyers & Company, Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation and contributor to the Zinn Education Project joined Bill Moyers to talk about the collision of sports and politics.

Birthday Tribute to Howard Zinn, Our Favorite Teacher

In celebration of what would have been Howard Zinn’s 91st birthday on August 24,…

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.

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.

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