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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.

The Arkansas legislature is considering a bill that would prohibit "any books or other material authored by or concerning Howard Zinn" in its schools, on the grounds that Howard Zinn says means things about America, like, "It has the kinds of censoring, undemocratic state governments that ban all books by and discussions of critics of America and its actions." The nonprofit Zinn Education Project is offering free copies of A People's History, along with classroom materials, to all Arkansas teachers.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - A bill introduced to the General Assembly on Thursday, March 2 would ban public schools in Arkansas from using books from best-selling author and historian Howard Zinn. House Bill 1834, introduced by Representative Kim Hendren(R-Gravette), would ban books by Zinn from the years 1959 until 2000 for being used in public schools or an open-enrollment public charter school. In 1980, Zinn released "A People's History of the United States," which looks at the history of America through the point of view of "women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers."

A Republican Arkansas lawmaker has introduced legislation to ban the works of the late historian, activist, and writer Howard Zinn from publicly funded schools. The Zinn Education Project, which aims to "to introduce students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of United States history than is found in traditional textbooks and curricula," noted Thursday that educators in the state may have a very different take: "To date, there are more than 250 teachers in Arkansas who have signed up to access people's history lessons from the Zinn Education Project website."