Teaching Materials Archive

Aerial photo of mountaintop removal | Zinn Education Project

From Mountaintop Removal to Divestment: The Story of Swarthmore Students’ Fight Against Fossil Fuels

Article. By Hannah Jones.
The global movement to get institutions to divest from fossil fuels began with students. This article tells the inspiring story.

Yup'ik village children preparing salmon | Zinn Education Project

Climate Change and School in a Yup’ik Fishing Village

Article. By Jill Howdyshell.
The author describes how climate change is hitting Indigenous communities in Alaska much harder than other places in the world. And yet, administrators still insist that school discussions should focus on student test scores.

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Five Myths About Reconstruction

Article. By James W. Loewen. 2015.
Overview of five common fallacies that Americans still tell themselves about the Reconstruction era.

Challenging Ourselves: Martin Luther King, the Movement, and Its Lessons for Today

Article. By Charles E. Cobb. 2017.
Charles E. Cobb Jr. discusses the Civil Rights Movement and its lessons, and how they apply to current movements.

How to Abolish Columbus Day and Get an Indigenous Peoples’ Day Resolution Passed

Article. By Mahtowin Munro.
Campaign guidelines from the organizer of a successful effort to abolish Columbus Day and establish Indigenous Peoples' Day in Cambridge, Mass.

Francis Scott Key Opposed “Land of the Free”

Article. By Jefferson Morley. 2012.
"Star-Spangled Banner" songwriter Francis Scott Key opposed abolitionists and free speech in his role as district attorney of the city of Washington.

A Talk to Teachers

Article. By James Baldwin. October 16, 1963.
Baldwin addresses the challenges of education to prepare children to grapple with the myths and realities of U.S. history.

The Women Who Gave Us Christmas

Article. By William Loren Katz. 2010.
The abolitionist influence on the history of Christmas celebrations in the United States.

The Missouri Tigers and the Hidden History of Black College Football Activists

Article. By Dave Zirin. 2015.
The protest by the University of Missouri football team placed in the context of a long history of activism by college athletes.

Time to Abolish Columbus Day

Article. By Bill Bigelow. 2015. If We Knew Our History Series. When the school curriculum celebrates Columbus, children are taught that it’s OK for white people to rule over peoples of color and that militarily powerful nations can bully weaker nations. By his own account, Columbus enslaved people, destroyed cultures, and terrorized those who challenged his rule. It’s time to abolish Columbus Day.

Lowndes County and the Voting Rights Act

Article. By Hasan Kwame Jeffries.
History and significance of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization.

The Voting Rights Act: Ten Things You Should Know

Article. By Emilye Crosby and Judy Richardson. 2015.
Key points in the history of the 1965 Voting Rights Act missing from most textbooks.

Why Do People Believe Myths About the Confederacy? Because Our Textbooks and Monuments Are Wrong

Article. By James W. Loewen. July 2015 in the Washington Post.
A critique of textbook and mainstream media coverage of the Civil War.

On the Road to Voting Rights: Freedom Day in Selma, 1963

Article. By Howard Zinn. Excerpt from Chapter 5 of You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train.
Howard Zinn’s first-hand account of Selma’s Freedom Day in 1963.

The Politics of Children’s Literature: What’s Wrong with the Rosa Parks Myth

Article. By Herbert Kohl. Rethinking Schools.
A critical analysis that challenges the myths in children's books about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Whom Will We Honor Memorial Day?

Article. By Howard Zinn. 1976.
Essay urging readers to rethink Memorial Day, who we honor, and what resources we prioritize.

A People’s History of Muslims in the United States

Article. By Alison Kysia. 2014. If We Knew Our History Series. Although the dominant media—including our schools’ curriculum—perpetuate stereotypes, history shows Muslims in the Americas have fought for social justice since the 15th century.

Presidents and Slaves: Helping Students Find the Truth (Lesson) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Missing from Presidents’ Day: The People They Enslaved

Article. By Clarence Lusane. 2014. If We Knew Our History Series. Textbooks erase enslaved African Americans from the White House and the presidency and present a false portrait of our country’s history.

Whitewashing Our First President

Article. By Clarence Lusane. 2014.
Critical review of an upper elementary non-fiction book about George Washington and the people he kept in bondage.

Freedom Day in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Article. By Howard Zinn. From Chapter 6 of You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train.
Zinn describes the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) voting rights campaign called Freedom Day in Hattiesburg, Miss.

The Limits of Master Narratives in History Textbooks: An Analysis of Representations of Martin Luther King Jr.

Article. By Derrick Alridge. 2006. 25 pages.
Critique of textbook representation of Martin Luther King Jr. as messiah, embodiment of the Civil Rights Movement, and a moderate.

Bob Herbert on Nelson Mandela: 1918–2013

Article. Bob Herbert. Jacobin Magazine. 2013.
A critique of the "feel good" and "sentimental stick figure" mis-representations of Nelson Mandela and Dr. King in mass media.

The Real Bread and Roses Strike Story Missing from Textbooks

Article. By Robert Forrant. 2013.
The author challenges the common myth that the Bread and Roses Strike was spontaneous.

The Green Feather Movement

Article. By Alison Kysia. 2013.
History of a little-known student resistance movement against McCarthyism and censorship.

Clyde Kennard Letter to the Editor, The American, 1960

Article. By Clyde Kennard. 1960.
Letter to the editor of Hattiesburg American on school integration.