Teachers’ Stories

We asked educators: “Tell us how Howard Zinn’s life and work, and/or A People’s History of the United States, has influenced you and your teaching. How do you bring a people’s history to elementary or secondary school classrooms?” Here, in their words, are some of the responses we have received.

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It was almost eleven years ago when I happened on Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. I was 24 at the time and had just finished my first year of teaching. Upon receiving word that I’d be teaching accelerated American history the next school year, I quickly went to the book store to find a solid comprehensive book on the history of this country. Immediately Howard’s book jumped out at me. I’m not sure why, it just did. So I picked it up, leafed through it, and decided I’d give it a go.

My life hasn’t been the same since. It didn’t take me long to realize I was reading a different kind of history book, one that was written from the heart with tremendous passion and fervor. I had never seen history written in such a way—not just the perspective but the tone and style. After the first couple of pages I was hooked. And with each chapter I was relearning just how to think about history and its importance.

While I had always known why I had gone into teaching and why I chose social studies, Howard’s book transformed my purpose. Once finished with his book I knew full well that I had to convince my students that history is more important to us now than ever before. That school year I wanted my students to read some of Howard’s perspective of things. One problem: no books. So I emailed him, asking permission to copy excerpts so my students can read his works. He responded, simply, “Michael Swogger: You have my permission to make copies of portions of A People’s History of the United States. Howard Zinn.” Short, simple, to the point, magnanimous. That was the beginning of my relationship with Howard Zinn.

I began to email him more regularly, asking questions about history and the current state of things, always careful to let him know that I hoped I was not being a pest. He always gave me timely and thoughtful responses in spite of what had to be a very busy schedule. One year I decided to have my students read Howard’s article, “The Greatest Generation?”, in which challenged the notion that we should associate greatness solely with wartime heroics. I asked Howard if he would be willing to receive their responses and engage in dialogue with them. Once again he generously agreed. My students sent me their responses and I forwarded them to Howard. One semester, he responded to the class as a whole. In another, he engaged each one individually. I was simply awed. Our email relationship continued for the next several years.

In 2007 my wife Val and I were planning a trip to Boston and I asked if he’d be willing to meet for coffee at his favorite Dunkin’ Donuts in Harvard Square. Not surprisingly at this point, he agreed. We met in May for an hour over coffee (and he had a powdered donut – something I’ve come to learn was necessary with each Dunkin’ Donuts visit) and discussed so much. What left the greatest impression on me was his genuine and caring nature. He took great interest in not only me and what I do but also my wife and her line of work as a social worker (His wife Roz, he said, had also spent time as a social worker). Once our meeting was over, I knew for sure then what I could tell all along: Howard Zinn was a remarkable and selfless human being.

Since our May 2007 meeting we continued correspondence over email as we had before, with me initiating them, of course. As time wore on it seemed he was more and more willing to share with me items of a more personal nature that most probably wouldn’t share, such as Roz’s impending passing. His unending openness and sincerity astounded me. After Roz’s death, we still kept in contact. I was sure to continue to tell him just how important he and his life’s work had become to me and my students. I urged him (not that he needed) to keep pushing forward. He had more work to do! And he continued to update me on the status of his documentary, The People Speak!, and kept me apprised of its possible release dates.

In one of the last emails I received from him, he simply announced the airing of The People Speak! to family and friends. I was honored to be among probably the hundreds of those he chose to send this email to. So of course my wife and I eagerly tuned in to watch the History Channel documentary and were not disappointed. Howard still had it. Ever inspired by his words and deeds, I’ve had the growing urge over the last year or so to contribute to the “people’s history” body of work that Howard started back in 1980.

Earlier in January 2010, I sent Howard an email asking what he thought of the possibility of me writing “A People’s History of Education in America.” Like the very first response I ever received from him, he was succinct: “A good idea!”, he said. That was the last correspondence I would have with him. This might sound cliché, but had I known that this would be it, I would have said so much more. I don’t need to speak of the great impact Howard Zinn has had on this country and the world. That’s already very well known. His impact on my students was tremendous. Some disliked his approach, some even despised it. Most certainly more students came to admire him and most appreciated what he and his work added to their classroom experience. Helped to teach them how to think, how to challenge, how to act.

As for me, I cannot even begin to verbalize the impact Howard had on me and my life. He helped to change the way I view and teach history. He helped to reshape my perspective on the nature of power and government. He showed me just how powerful the common people are in helping secure the most basic of rights and privileges for themselves and generations to follow.

Above all, Howard Zinn gave and will forever give me hope for the future. Of all his words that gave me such hope, none resonate more than his concluding thoughts in his autobiography, You Can’t be Neutral on a Moving Train: “To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we only see the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those time and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”

Michael Swogger, HS Social Studies, Gettysburg Area High School, Gettysburg, PA

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I was introduced to Howard Zinn by accident. I was visiting my mother-in-law about 4 or 5 years ago and I decided to stay at the house and leave the shopping to the ladies when to my surprise I turned on C-Span Book TV and saw this silver haired man spewing out all kinds of delicious goodies about US history.  I was absolutely stupefied. After a few minutes I was completely entranced with this monologue of information that sent me into such a frenzy I found myself standing up, turning around, cursing, laughing, and just acting like a complete fool. I thought, “Who is this guy? Why is he not the president? Why have I never heard of this person?” I did not get his name until the very end.  I immediately went out and bought his book and my life as a teacher, as an American, and as a human was changed forever. A year later I was meeting a friend from out of town at a small pub for a cocktail and as I waited I met two young youth ministers from one of the local churches.  After introductions I starting talking about Zinn’s book and they looked at me and said, “You mean you actually spoke about Howard Zinn to public school kids in Mississippi!”  I told them my kids are truth seekers and Howard Zinn has debunked so much of the trash our textbooks have that my little anarchistic 11th graders were enchanted with any time spent on fighting the man.

John Mistilis, Social Studies, Oxford High School, Oxford, MS

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Howard Zinn, 1922-2010. If history is a story, the story must be retold. When our historical knowledge increases, our understanding should too. Howard Zinn challenged me, when I was a young man, to see more than just the famous, infamous, and celebrated in our collective past. He continues to teach me as an older man, that we should not separate our intellect from moral imperative and responsibility… to speak for the oppressed, stand up for the weak, and take action against injustice.

Kermit Eby and Howard Zinn visit Emma Goldman's grave in the Forest Home Cemetery.

When Howard Zinn died yesterday, I lost a teacher, a friend, a guide, and an example of how to live an ethically driven life. Howard Zinn the professor wrote books; A People’s History, You Can’t Be Neutral on A Moving Train, etc. Howard Zinn the husband of Roslyn, for 63 years, helped raise two wonderful children. Howard Zinn the activist spoke out against injustice while marching, protesting, and urging students to do the same. Howard Zinn the WWII decorated war veteran spoke out against war. Howard Zinn the man was humble, funny, and kind. Howard Zinn the journalist continued to speak with an uncompromising pen. Even the people who disagreed with his views were attracted to his sincerity and good work.

Kermit Eby and Howard Zinn visit Emma Goldman's grave in the Forest Home Cemetery.

His two visits to Naperville North High School in 2002 and 2009 brought him closer to us. Zinn’s words will live on through his students and friends, teachers and activists. Howard Zinn believed in the possibility of real change emanating from the people in social movements. He believed in action. He believed in peace. And we believe it, too.

At Spelman College in 2008, Zinn encouraged students, “My hope is that you will not be content just to be successful in the way our society measures success; that you will not obey the rules, when the rules are unjust; that you will act out the courage that I know is in you.”

About the photos: Howard’s first play is based on Emma Goldman’s life. He had never visited Emma’s grave, which is about 50 feet from the Haymarket Martyr Memorial and Monument. In November of 2009 we stopped on our way to the University of Chicago. There are a dozen or so labor leaders and former friends of Emma buried nearby. Howard gave a brief biography of a number of them.

kermit eby, Urban History, Advanced Placement US, and Minorities in American Culture, Naperville North High School, Naperville, IL

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I was deeply saddened by the passing of my all time favorite historian. When I heard the news I reflected on all the deeply moving descriptions of the struggles of the forgotten people in American history. I have been teaching US History for 16 years in the Atlanta, Ga area and my philosophical foundation of my teaching has been inspired by A People’s History.

As a baby boomer I related to Mr. Zinn’s perspective on American history in the same manner as my father’s history. He grew up in the segregated south, faced racial discrimination throughout his childhood but never gave up his quest to make something of himself. My father’s experiences mirrored many of the stories Zinn so poignantly tells throughout his many publications. (My father became the first African-American orthodontist to practice privately west of the Mississippi River in 1949). My father and Mr. Zinn were born in the same year which gave me a very personal attachment to Mr Zinn’s writings. My father passed two years ago and I feel almost the same loss with Mr. Zinn’s passing.

I was fortunate to meet Mr. Zinn at his lecture at Georgia State University in 2007 and was able to thank him for inspiring me to continue to bring reality into my classroom. Our curriculum today is attempting to squeeze out any controversial issues such as class struggles and the continuous struggle for equality for all minorities in this country. I will in every fiber of my body continue to honor Mr. Zinn by confronting my students with uncomfortable facts about our nation’s history.

I love my country, as Mr Zinn always stated. It would an injustice to him and all the forgotten people in our history and in our nation today to forget the lessons of strife, perseverance, struggle, and achievement against all odds to not continue Mr. Zinn’s legacy of speaking truth to power. I will his humility, honesty, and his passionate embrace of everyday people in America and around the world.

God bless you, Mr. Zinn. You have been such an inspiration to so many. I will miss looking for your next article, next book, and next lecture. But now I have to get to work on reading the dozens of book you have left as your legacy for the entire world.

Pearson Cotton, HS US History, Creekside High School, Fairburn, GA

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When I first started teaching in multicultural education in a teacher education program in the college/university setting, I realized quickly that much of the resistance I experienced from teacher education students to the multicultural paradigm was a function of the face that few, if any, really knew United States history—that is, they resisted the sociopolitics of multicultural education because they believed in a whitewashed version of United States history—in essence, that “America is and always has been a just nation.”

I decided that to get my students to engage with the multicultural education subject matter, I needed to start with a multicultural history lesson. Naturally, I turned to Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States.

Of course, reading this history changed my students’ lives in profound ways—while it was painful for most of them to have their image of the United States changed, for the most part, for the worse (to be compellingly confronted with the atrocities committed by the United States’ government and related power brokers in the past that have continuing impact today), it was also finally affirming for some of them to have progressive multicultural education as a place from which to build a different, better, truly socially just present and future for themselves and their students.

A small number of students of color and most of their white student counterparts, who had bought into the idealized view of “the American dream,” were initially made exceedingly uncomfortable by what they perceived as the negative (versus simply accurate) characterization of white people in history.

One Latino student in particular expressed concern that this characterization would make white people “feel bad.” Of course, this concern begged the question as to how the only negative characterizations of other groups (that typically go unacknowledged and uninterrogated) make members of those groups feel, and beyond mere feeling, how these characterizations—negative or positive, historically accurate or inaccurate—inform the development of institutional policy dictating the degree to which members of different, especially racial and ethnic minority groups, are able to access full participation in democracy in the United States. Asking this question led some students to probe the negative impact that only having had falsely positive information about white people in U.S. history previously may have had on them (psychologically, intellectually, politically, economically, etc.) as both white people and people of color.

It is important to note that critically conscious students of color and whites students found the inclusion of the Zinn text to be a first experience of affirmation in the teacher education process—that is, it was the first time their already counterhegemonic experiences and/or understandings of the United States and related societal power dynamics were centered rather than marginalized in the teacher education classroom.

In sum, through exposure to the Zinn text, teacher education students in the multicultural education classroom come to recognize that true equity, and the hope for true equality that flows from this equity, can only emerge from an accurate view of past and continuing discrimination and oppression—that is, as a nation, we must confront the truth of societal problems, no matter how ugly and seemingly insurmountable their truths reveal them to be, if we are to have any chance of developing solutions robust enough to effectively resolve them in service to all and the ideal of justice. Thank you Howard Zinn.

Christine Clark, Professor and Senior Scholar in Multicultural Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada

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I grew up wanting to teach high school history but, like many others, I got tired of learning about American History from the top down, so tired that I eventually changed my major and gave up on the whole idea of teaching. A few years later, while serving in the Peace Corps, I recounted my story to another Volunteer, who passed me his copy of A People’s History, saying simply, “I think this might help…”

Within the first few pages, I was inspired and, by the end of the book, I had rediscovered my love for history. Dr. Zinn finally revealed the other side of the story, the one that I had always expected but had never heard.

Since then, I’ve completed a graduate degree in History and I am preparing to teach high school Social Studies in Louisiana. After losing interest in the field, A People’s History restored my faith in American historians and put me on course to finally accomplish my goal. Thank you, Howard Zinn. You will be missed.

Michael Remillard, HS Social Studies, New Orleans, LA

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When teaching high school history, I experimented with many techniques to create controversy in the classroom. I finally settled upon using Zinn’s Peoples History and a standard textbook, having students work out of both. Lots of good debate ensued.

Then I was lucky enough to get asked in 1997 to develop the teaching materials for the New Press’ Teaching Edition of People’s History. It was an amazing honor. That led to a wonderful connection and support from Howard Zinn of the next project I worked on, to which he wrote the Introduction, Lessons from Freedom Summer. Zinn was amazing in his support of my projects… he didn’t know me, never met me, and I was just a high school teacher, but he extended himself as if he had nothing else better to do (which he DID!), he treated me as a colleague if I was an Alice Walker or Studs Terkel, which I am not and never will be. So inspirational. Fame never went to his head (maybe because it is fortune that bloats our egos, and he never sold his soul for a buck). Rest in Peace.

Kathy Emery, HS Social Studies, San Francisco Freedom School, San Francisco, CA

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I teach at a middle school for learning disabled students in Washington DC. Having students with reading levels ranging from 1st - 4th grade, the ninth grade American History text book we have was out of question as a teaching resource. I needed an interactive and engaging way to teach history that required manageable reading. The role plays on the Zinn Education Project website were the perfect tool.

We started off with Columbus vs. the Tainos and at the end of the year students were still talking about it. The shorter role play descriptions and chance to debate the issue from many perspectives gave my students an accessible way to understand a complex and nuanced history and critique the standard story.

Elizabeth Kenyon, MS Special Education, Washington, DC

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I came to teaching in a round about fashion — wanting to change the status quo in the world, I wanted to do anything but be stuck in a small classroom in a small town somewhere, teaching just a few students. The environment seemed too small, the impact too limited. Then I read Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States.

When I came to this quote in the first chapter, I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, sing it to the choir and put it on a billboard — it simply struck me as being deeply true and it gave me insight into how the classroom could be the beginning of enormous change. “The historian’s distortion is more than technical, it is ideological; it is released into a world of contending interests, where any chosen emphasis supports (whether the historian means to or not) some kind of interest, whether economic or political or racial or national or sexual.” This quote spoke to the importance of getting another history, the people’s history, into the classroom.

In the past week I have spent hours reading editorials and listening to people remember Howard Zinn, and I have been struck by something; the strong friendships he had with so many people. Some were “big” people like Noam Chomsky and Henry Giroux, also though are the flood of stories of teachers and students with whom he maintained correspondence, people he met in passing who were deeply impacted by his spirit. All have mentioned his generosity of spirit, his humility, and his determination. It sounds as though he had a magical way of balancing a compassion and love for individuals and yet a strong stand against forces of racism, capitalism, and militarism. It made me more determined to take that sort of spirit into my classroom and other places I occupy every day.

Elizabeth Kenyon, MS Special Education, Washington, DC

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I teach gifted students with emotional disturbances (depression, anxiety, etc.) in a upper class school district. A large portion of my student’s have spent time in residential treatment facilities, juvenile hall and hospitals. What I find is that a lot of my student’s tend to isolate and believe that they are the ‘only ones’ who are troubled or have had their experiences. I decided that teaching Zinn along side sociology would help them see outside themselves, give them a place to vent their anger and to open their eyes to entire populations of folks who have been victimized.

The response has been incredible: they are excited about history class, are engaging in class discussions with passion and vigor and are beginning to seek knowledge through alternative sources (documentaries, literature) and are sharing what they learned with others. I will never go back to the traditional text book, our students deserve the truth and are strong enough and angry enough to not only handle the information but actually have the potential to do something about it.

Sarah Donnahoe, HS Special Education, Conejo Valley, CA

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I first started teaching because I wanted students to get more viewpoints than the traditional white male version of history. A People’s History was a big part of that initial inspiration. However, I began my teacher training just after September 11 and completed my student teaching as our country went to war in Iraq. I felt very nervous about presenting a view of history that questioned U.S. imperialism in the age of freedom fries, amber alerts, and the Patriot Act. I heard stories of teachers being fired for presenting the wrong perspectives in the classroom. During this time, Zinn’s autobiography, You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train, gave me courage.

On the one hand, I felt compelled by political circumstances and a certain sense of responsibility to present historical events “objectively” and dispassionately. On the other hand, I could see that such an approach would undersell the importance of ordinary people who heroically struggled against oppressive institutions like slavery, while giving equal moral weight to the slave owners themselves. Reading about Zinn’s own experiences as a teacher and activist during the Civil Rights era made me realize that it is cowardly to back away from controversial issues, or to present them “objectively” with two morally equivalent perspectives. As humans, we make judgments by our very nature, even when we think we are being even-handed. I learned from Zinn that it is far better to make our views public and sincerely invite students to question them than to create the illusion of unassailable “objectivity.”

Today I feel that Zinn has made me a better teacher not because he persuaded me to replace one historical narrative with another, but rather because he inspired me to add new stories to the curriculum that had been previously ignored. These stories do not replace, but rather complement the more traditional histories of our nation’s founding and development. Because of Zinn, I think my students get a fuller, more accurate understanding of what it means to be an American.

Kyle Yamada, HS Social Studies, Eugene, OR

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I have received many condolences from current students and past students about the death of Howard Zinn even though I never knew him personally. My students over the years have come to know him through his writings and his perspective and so I suppose it is only natural that they would be effected by the news of his death. Zinn’s work added life and discussion to my history lessons and opened my students up to a point of view they did not know existed because it did not appear in more traditional textbooks.

Although the question and choice of becoming politically active may ultimately be a personal one, I believe my students respect those who make it. They value the contributions of those (unsung heroes) who have challenged the status quo and fought on behalf of the working class poor. Zinn’s work has enabled me to teach students to think critically, to examine evidence more carefully and to consider the consequences of economic and political decision making they might not have otherwise. With these skills and insights I hope they will be able to navigate through the challenges of living in a democracy more successfully.

Edward Zupcic, HS Social Studies, Portland, OR

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I am the homeschooling mom of an 11-year-old 6th grader. We impulse-bought A Young People’s History and the next day proposed to our homeschool network that we do a book group. We’re only a couple of weeks into the group, but the kids (seven signed up) are absorbing the material like crazy. We have a couple of history buffs in the group, and they are bringing in all sorts of outside information and the discussions have been pretty amazing. Our kids are excited to move forward in the book, to get to points in history they have always wanted to know more about. I am thankful that this resource is in the world, and thankful that the Zinn Education Project is here as a guide. Thanks!

Amber Kelly, North Florida Homeschoolers Network, Gainesville, FL

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On the day Howard Zinn passed away I had used the quote about the first slave ship arriving in my class that morning. We were spending our time together examining the impact of this institution through discussion, video and presentation. I have been using excerpts from A People’s History for a few years now in order to support my teaching of the narrative of our history to my community college students. As a baby boomer I have such a respect for this work because it is the history I did not get in school and I tell my students that. This week I have been dedicating my classes to Howard Zinn and introducing him to my students who did not know about his dedication as a teacher, historian and activist.

A few of them have known about him or just found out through “The People Speak” when it was aired on The History Channel. As an educator and historian, it is so essential that we honor Howard Zinn by continuing to tell the real story of our history in order for our students to better appreciate their heritage, national character, responsibilities as a citizen and most importantly that their voice matters in any and all situations. Through his passion, dedication and questioning of our history, Howard Zinn gave us that gift and all the voices and stories of the struggles, memories and narratives that have been built and will be built. It is an honor to include him in my classroom on a daily basis.

Nancy Shockley, Community College Instructor, Royal Oak, MI

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Zinn’s materials seem to be most commonly used by middle and high school students, but even elementary-aged kids benefit from his work. I spent last year as a student-teacher in a second grade classroom, and Zinn’s approach to history informed almost all of our social studies content. Our textbook and materials called North America the “New World” and portrayed the continent as an untouched, largely people-less expanse of land just ripe for European settlers. And, of course, there were Indians interacting with peaceful pilgrims, nary a conflict mentioned.

My mentor teacher and I expressed our concern with portraying the past in this fashion and talked about the violence, how native peoples were treated, and the way most early settlers thought about the natives. You could see their little minds wrestling with ideas, asking things like, “Why couldn’t they just share?” or, “It’s not nice to kill people. Why would they do that?” I knew it would have been a lot easier to dress up as Pilgrims and Indians and reenact the first Thanksgiving, but we’re all exposed to that narrative in our lives. When given the opportunity, even second graders have the capacity to think critically about our past and become active participants in understanding history from a variety of perspectives.

I was worried that there might be pushback from parents, administrators, or fellow teachers, but I had the courage to try out some of Zinn’s work in the classroom after reading the intro of A Young People’s History of the United States, particularly this quote: “It seems to me it is wrong to treat young readers as if they are not mature enough to look at their nation’s policies honestly. Yes, it’s a matter of being honest. Just as we must, as individuals, be honest about our own failures in order to correct them, it seems to me that we must do the same when evaluating our national policies.” Thank you, Howard, for all of your work and inspiration.

Kenneth Libby, Portland, OR

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I teach high school at a Catholic school in St. Paul, MN. For years I have used Zinn’s first chapter of A People’s History of the United States to teach students about historiography. I also have students read William J. Bennett’s first chapter in his book, America: The Last Best Hope. While reading, I have my students create a chart about adjectives used in each history to describe the Spanish, Arawak Indians, and Columbus. When students come to class after reading both chapters, I have them pick the chapter they thought was the most accurate account of the history. While sitting in Bennett and Zinn “camps” students get to discuss with “like-minded” students the reasons their history was the best. I then move students into a full class debate on the telling of history. I find this is a very engaging way to get students interested in history and its controversy immediately at the beginning of a course. It also shows high school students that old history is NOT really dead at all.

I also use Chapter 10 about the Mexican War and my students love this chapter. I use it in a unit about Manifest Destiny.

Thank you Howard Zinn for lighting a fire in my students and giving us all a critical eye for the past. Thank you for making me a better teacher.

Angela Keske, HS Social Studies, St. Paul, MN

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While my teaching career led me into independent education at the secondary level rather than the university and my social activism hardly equates with the contributions made by Zinn in the civil rights and antiwar movements, I have tried to follow the example set by Zinn. I sometimes employ a more conventional text for my American history classes than A People’s History of the United States in order to provide some balance to my teaching which employs Zinn’s approach of considering American history from the bottom up.

It is my experience that Zinn provides a valuable framework for depicting a more inclusive picture of American history for my students as well as presenting a model of how everyday American have struggled to create a more just and equitable society. Thank you Howard Zinn for your scholarship and example.

Ron Briley, HS Social Studies, Sandia Preparatory School, Albuquerque, NM

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