1877 Archives - Zinn Education Project

To ‘joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women’s Lives and Labors After the Civil War

Book - Non-fiction. By Tera W. Hunter. 1998. An examination of post-Civil War lives of African American women, focusing on their labor organizing, leisure, hope, and struggle.

Monumental: Oscar Dunn and His Radical Fight in Reconstruction Louisiana

Book — Non-fiction. By Brian K. Mitchell, Barrington S. Edwards, and Nick Weldon. 2021. This Reconstruction history graphic novel tells the story of Oscar James Dunn, a New Orleanian who became the first Black lieutenant governor and acting governor in the United States.

They Left Great Marks on Me: African American Testimonies of Racial Violence from Emancipation to World War I

Book - Non-fiction. By Kidada Williams. 2012. 281 pages. This book documents African Americans' testimonies about racial violence during Jim Crow, and the crusades against that violence that became political training grounds for the Civil Rights Movement.

When Black Lives Mattered: Why Teach Reconstruction

By Adam Sanchez

Every day seems to bring new horrors as the U.S. president’s racist rhetoric and policies have provided an increasingly encouraging environment for attacks on Black people and other communities of color. The acquittal of yet another police officer accused of murdering a Black man in St. Louis, the raging battle across the country over whether symbols of slavery should be removed from public spaces, and the formation of a “Commission on Election Integrity” to further suppress voting by people of color are just a few of the recent reminders that racism is as American as apple pie. In moments like these, it’s worth remembering a time in U.S. history when Black lives mattered.

Carter Reads the Newspaper

Picture book – Non-fiction. By Deborah Hopkinson. Illustrated by Don Tate. 2019. 36 pages. This picture book chronicles the young life of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, an Appalachian-born Harvard scholar and advocate for African American history. He founded Negro History Week in 1926 (which grew into Black History Month), the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), and the Journal of Negro History.

The Untold History of the United States: Young Readers Editions, Vols 1 (1898-1945) & 2 (1945-1962)

Book - Non-fiction. By Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick. Adapted by Susan Campbell Bartoletti and Eric S. Singer. Vol 1. 400 pages. 2014. Vol 2. 320 pages. 2019. These are two volumes of illustrated histories, adapted for students from a documentary book and film of the same name.

Dark Sky Rising (Book) | Zinn Education Project

Dark Sky Rising: Reconstruction and the Dawn of Jim Crow

Book - Non-fiction. By Henry Louis Gates Jr. with Tonya Bolden. 2019. Readers trace the rise and fall of racial equity during Reconstruction as increasingly violent white supremacy and new forms of oppression take hold at the turn of the 20th century.

May 1: International Workers Day

International Workers' Day began as a commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket massacre in Chicago.

Harriet Hanson Robinson: “Characteristics of the Early Factory Girls.”

Film clip. Harriet Hanson Robinson's "Characteristics of the Early Factory Girls" (1898) read by Lili Taylor. From Voices of a People's History of the United States.

Black Reconstruction in America

Book – Non-fiction. By W. E. B. Du Bois. Introduction by David Levering Lewis. 2014. 623 pages. Originally published in 1935, Du Bois’ Black Reconstruction was the first book to challenge the prevailing racist historical narrative of the era and in sharp, incisive prose, tell the story of the Civil War and Reconstruction from the perspective of African Americans.

The Era of Reconstruction, 1861-1900

Book – Non-fiction. By National Park Service. 2017. 165 pages. A theme study on the history of the Reconstruction era.

Fannie Never Flinched (Book) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

Fannie Never Flinched: One Woman’s Courage in the Struggle for American Labor Union Rights

Book - Non-fiction. By Mary Cronk Farrell. 2016. 56 pages. Biography of labor union activist Fannie Sellins.

A Short History of Reconstruction, Updated Edition

Book - Non-fiction. By Eric Foner. 2015. 352 pages. A people's history view of the Reconstruction era.

Slavery by Another Name

Film. By Sam Pollard, Catherine Allan, Douglas Blackmon and Sheila Curran Bernard. 2012. 90 min. Reveals the interlocking forces in the South and the North that enabled “neoslavery” post-Emancipation Proclamation.

In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse

Book - Fiction. By Joseph Marshall III. Illustrations by Jim Yellowhawk. 2015. 176 pages. A contemporary Native American boy learns about the history of Crazy Horse in a journey with his grandfather.

Roudanez: History and Legacy

Digital Collection. The work of Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez, founder of the first Black daily newspaper in the U.S., the New Orleans Tribune, with articles, excerpts, videos, and a timeline.

House of Purple Cedar

Book - Fiction. By Tim Tingle. 2014. 326 pages. A young girl's story of growing up in Indian Territory in pre-statehood Oklahoma.

Escape to Gold Mountain: A Graphic History of the Chinese in North America

Book - Non-fiction. By David H.T. Wong. 2012. A graphic novel that gives a panoramic but also an intimate look at the Chinese experience in North America.

Plessy v. Ferguson: The Organizing History of the Case

Article. By Keith W. Medley. The role of the Comité des Citoyens and The Crusader newspaper in the Plessy v. Ferguson case.

Mary Harris “Mother” Jones

Profile. Mother Jones (1830–1930) was a labor leader and organizer.

Lewis Hine’s Photographs

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson. 4 pages. Rethinking Schools. Using photographs to spark creative writing and critical thinking about child labor issues and social justice.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Chief Joseph: “Account of His Trip to Washington, D.C.”

Film clip. Voices of a People's History. Dramatic reading of Chief Joseph's "Account of His Trip to Washington, D.C." (1879) by Q'Orianka Kilcher.

A Peoples History of the United States Book | Zinn Education Project

A People’s History of the United States: 1492 – Present

Books - Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2005, with a new introduction by Anthony Arnove in 2015. 784 pages. Howard Zinn's groundbreaking work on U.S. history. This book details lives and facts rarely included in textbooks—an indispensable teacher and student resource.

The Expansion of Empire

Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 15 pages. Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 12 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on internal dissent over American expansionist policies.

Strikers and Populists in the Golden Age

Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 11 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on the Gilded Age.