- Zinn Education Project

Promoting Social Imagination Through Interior Monologues

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools. 3 pages.
Empathy, or "social imagination," allows students to connect to "the other" with whom, on the surface, they may appear to have little in common.

Teaching Activity by Linda Christensen

American Indians in Children’s Literature

Website. By Debbie Reese. Critical perspectives of Indigenous peoples in children's books, the school curriculum, popular culture, and society-at-large.

What War Looks Like

Article. By Howard Zinn. 2002.
Background reading for teachers and high school students on the impact of war.

A People’s History of the United States: The Wall Charts

Booklet and 2-Poster Set. By Howard Zinn and George Kirschner. 2007.
Visual timelines of U.S. history presented thematically and chronologically.

La Otra Historia de los Estados Unidos

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. Translated by Toni Strubel. 2011 (translation). 512 pages.
A People's History of the United States in Spanish.

500 Years of Chicana Women’s History

Book — Non-fiction. By Elizabeth Martinez. 2007. 899 illustrations.
Stories and photos of Chicana/Mexican-American women in politics, labor, art, health, and more.

A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America

Book — Non-fiction. By Ronald Takaki, with a foreword by Clint Smith. 2023. 576 pages.
A multicultural history of the United States, in the voices of Indigenous people, African Americans, Jews, Irish Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and others.

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

Book — Non-fiction. By James W. Loewen. 2018. 480 pages.
Provides a detailed critique of 12 leading high school history textbooks.

A People’s History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn and Mike Konopacki. 2008. 288 pages.
Graphic format with photos and narrative introduce parts of U.S. history.

Empire or Humanity?: What the Classroom Didn’t Teach Me about the American Empire

Article for Teachers and High School Students. By Howard Zinn. 4 pages.
An essay which raises questions about the justifications for empire building and imperialism.

Whitewashing Our Past: A Proposal for a National Campaign to Rethink Textbooks

Article. By Bob Peterson.
A critique of social studies textbooks and the rationale for a campaign to rethink them.

Howard Zinn Speaking at NCSS, 2008 - | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Why Students Should Study History: An Interview with Howard Zinn

Background Reading. By Howard Zinn. 1994.
Interview conducted by Barbara Miner on a number of questions about the study of history.

Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America

Book — Non-fiction. By Lerone Bennett Jr. 2016 (originally published in 1962). 736 pages.
A detailed history and analysis of African American history in the United States.

A People’s History of Sports in the United States

Book — Non-fiction. By Dave Zirin. 2009. 302 pages.
U.S. history through the lens of sports.

Teaching Activity by Dave Zirin

A People’s History of Poverty in America

Book — Non-fiction. By Stephen Pimpare. 2008. 322 pages.
A vivid description of poverty from the perspective of poor and welfare-reliant Americans, from the big city to the rural countryside.

500 Años del Pueblo Chicano – 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures

Book — Non-fiction. By Elizabeth Martinez. 1991 (2nd Edition).
Chicano history as told through hundreds of pictures and bilingual text.

Earth and the American Dream

Film. By Bill Couturie. 1993. 90 minutes.
U.S. history from the standpoint of the earth.

History in the Present Tense: Engaging Students Through Inquiry and Action

Teaching Guide. By Douglas Selwyn and Jan Maher. 2003.
A guide to a different way of teaching history—start from today and keep asking questions.

The People Speak: American Voices, Some Famous, Some Little Known

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Howard Zinn. 2004. 96 pages.
A brief history of America told through dramatic readings applauding the enduring spirit of dissent.

Rise Up Singing

Book — Non-fiction. By Peter Blood and Annie Patterson. 2004. 288 pages.
Social justice songs on various themes.

The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2009. 746 pages.
A volume of essays emphasizing six areas that have been important to Zinn's work since the late 1950s — race, class, war, law, and history.

Readings from Voices of a People’s History of the United States

Audio CD. Edited by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove. 2007.
Sixteen readings by an all-star cast from "Voices of a People's History."

Africans in America: America’s Journey Through Slavery

Website. A companion site to the PBS documentary on the origins and legacy of American slavery, including episodes on the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.

Not Written in Stone: Learning and Unlearning American History Through 200 Years of Textbooks

Book — Non-fiction. By Kyle Ward. 2010. 368 pages.
A critique of the representation of history in textbooks.

History Matters

Website. A clearinghouse of history resources for high school and college teachers and students.

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