Democracy & Citizenship Archives

Sept. 10, 1895: South Carolina Constitutional Convention Convened

The South Carolina Constitutional Convention convened to disenfranchise Black voters.

Little Rock Schools | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 12, 1958: Little Rock Public Schools Closed

Governor Orval Faubus closed all Little Rock, Arkansas public schools for one year rather than allow integration.

Mary Beth Tinker on Constitution Day

Free speech activist Mary Beth Tinker on the importance of teaching truthfully about the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. Constitution | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 17, 1787: U.S. Constitution Signed

The U.S. Constitution was signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Sept. 19, 1868: Camilla Massacre

As African Americans marched peacefully in response to their expulsion from elected office, more than a dozen were massacred near Albany, Georgia.

June 10, 1966: Ben Chester White Murdered

Ben Chester White, caretaker on a farm, was brutally murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Natchez, Mississippi.

GI Bill Denied LOC | Zinn Education Project

June 22, 1944: GI Bill Signed

President Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (USA), known as the GI Bill, to provide financial aid to veterans returning from WW II. White supremacy prevented equal access to those benefits.

Oct. 19, 1870: First African Americans Elected to the House of Representatives

For the first time, African Americans were elected to the House of Representatives in 1870.

Oct. 21, 1916: African American Landowner Anthony Crawford Lynched

Successful African American entrepreneur, landowner, and community leader Anthony P. Crawford was murdered by a lynch mob in South Carolina.

Oct. 25, 1868: St. Bernard Parish Massacre

The St. Bernard Parish massacre of African Americans was carried out by white men to terrorize the recently emancipated voters in Louisiana.

Oct. 27, 1994: U.S. Prison Population Exceeds One Million

The U.S. Justice Department announced that the prison population topped one million for the first time in U.S. history.

Subversives: Stories from the Red Scare

Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca.
In this mixer lesson, students meet 27 different targets of government harassment and repression to analyze why disparate individuals might have become targets of the same campaign, determining what kind of threat they posed in the view of the U.S. government.

A People’s History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence

Book — Non-fiction. By Ray Raphael. Series editor: Howard Zinn. 2002. 528 pages.
Using hundreds of primary sources, this book tells the more accurate, populist, complicated, and interesting story of the American Revolution.

Americans Who Tell the Truth

Posters. Portraits by Robert Shetterly and biographies of individuals who have taken a stand for justice.

The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World

Book — Non-fiction. By John Carlos and Dave Zirin. Foreword by Cornel West. 2011. 220 pages.
Written for grades 7+, this biography of John Carlos recounts his childhood, his legendary act of courage at the '68 Olympics, and the backlash.

Teaching Activity by Dave Zirin