In the News

The latest controversy over Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, brought on by proposed legislation from Arkansas State Rep. Kim Hendren, is at an end. The bill died in committee, so Zinn — and everything by or about him — is still allowed (by state law anyway) in Arkansas public school curricula. It is heartening that, in response to their pleas for help, more than 700 Arkansas teachers and school librarians received free copies of Zinn’s books from the Zinn Education Project. Donations to support the project came in from across the nation. Ironically, at least some of the educators who received copies of Zinn’s works might never have included him in their studies of American history had this bill not called attention to him.

A proposed bill in Arkansas, sponsored by Rep. Kim Hendren, which would ban not only every book written by Howard Zinn but also all material referencing Zinn’s books, was put to rest by the Arkansas House’s education committee. The bill was one page, too broad, and hard to defend even for Rep. Kim Hendren who has said that the point of the bill was more to, “spark a conversation and debate.” A conversation was certainly sparked as educators and students alike rose up to defend Zinn’s books and demand an education that viewed history with eyes wide open to the misdeeds and terrible truths that societies have been built upon. According to Arkansas Times, about 700 copies of Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States were sent to librarians and teachers throughout Arkansas as a response to the bill. The Zinn Education Projectreceived a boost in donations so they could continue to send Zinn’s books to schools and libraries that wanted them.

In March of 2017, Arkansas Representative Kim Hendren introduced House Bill 1834 to the state assembly which sought to ban any works written by, or relating to, historian Howard Zinn. The bill is entitled “An Act to Prohibit a Public School District or Open-Enrollment Public Charter School from Including in its Curriculum or Course Materials for a Program of Study Books or Any Other Material Authored by or Concerning Howard Zinn; And for Other Purposes.” As a result of the proposed bill, more than 700 teachers and school librarians have requested Zinn’s books and the Zinn Education Project has been filling these orders free of cost.

Last week nearly 700 Arkansas teachers and school librarians received copies of books by Howard Zinn — thanks to a right-wing state representative. Well, not exactly. But here’s the story. Recently, Republican Kim Hendren, introduced legislation that would prohibit teachers in all public schools or state-supported charter schools from including any books in their curriculum by — or even “concerning” — the historian Howard Zinn, author of the classic A People’s History of the United States, who died in 2010. In response, the Zinn Education Project — a collaboration between Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change, which I co-direct — offered to send free copies of a Howard Zinn book and A People’s History for the Classroom lessons to any Arkansas middle or high school teacher or school librarian requesting them. In just a few days, we were flooded with requests. Many of them came accompanied by poignant notes about why people were eager to get the materials.

Arkansas lawmakers are considering a bill to ban books in public schools that were written by historian Howard Zinn.

The best-selling author is known for "A People's History of the United States," which was first published in 1980. Zinn's critics call him a radical liberal.

Adam Kirby teaches social studies at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas and uses Zinn's lessons in his classroom. Here & Now’s Robin Young speaks with Kirby about the need to defend the author's work.

A member of Arkansas’s House of Representatives wants Howard Zinn’s A People History of the United States removed from the shelves of public and charter schools. According to the Independent, more than 250 Arkansas teachers have signed up for the Zinn Education Project—an initiative to have Zinn’s work taught in primary and secondary schools—to take advantage of the history lessons it offers. The Project has also pledged to send a free copy of A People’s History to anyone who requests one and has tweeted a photo of high school students from Batesville, the county seat for Hendren’s district, protesting his bill.

Just days after an Arkansas lawmaker filed a bill that would ban books written by Boston University professor Howard Zinn from the state’s public schools, BU alumni have opened their wallets to help send the late historian’s 1980 best-seller, A People’s History of the United States, to interested teachers there. The Zinn Education Project, founded by a former BU student to promote the teaching of Zinn’s work, has received an outpouring of donations from BU alumni to help send A People’s History to Arkansas.