Social Class Archives

book cover showing freedom riders protesting near a bus

A Young People’s History of the United States: Revised and Updated

Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff with additions by Ed Morales. 2022. 544 pages.
A young adult version of the best-selling A People’s History of the United States, ideal for 6th through 9th grade students.

On Coal River

Film. Directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood. 2010. 81 minutes.
This film takes viewers on a gripping emotional journey into a community surrounded by a looming toxic threat.

A Moment in the Sun

Book — Fiction. By John Sayles. 2011. 955 pages.
Spanning five years and half a dozen countries, Sayles' novel of historical fiction paints a picture of the late 1890s — from the racist coup in Wilmington, North Carolina, to the bloody dawn of U.S. interventionism in Cuba and the Philippines.

May 1: International Workers Day

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

A Message from the Future with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Film. Narrated by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and illustrated by Molly Crabapple. The Intercept. 2019. 7 minutes.
The film flips the script on our future by illustrating one where we survive climate change and thrive because we took action today.

March 3, 1807: Thomas Jefferson Signs Insurrection Act Into Law

President Thomas Jefferson put his signature on the law known as the Insurrection Act.

Who’s to Blame? A People’s Tribunal on the Coronavirus Pandemic

Teaching Activity.
This people’s tribunal begins with the premise that a heinous crime is being committed as tens of millions of people’s lives are in danger due to COVID-19. But who was responsible for this crime? Students weigh the evidence.

Aug. 31, 1921: Battle of Blair Mountain

The Battle of Blair Mountain was the climax of two mine wars fought in the West Virginia coalfields.

Radical members of the first South Carolina legislature after the war.

Jan. 14, 1868: South Carolina Constitutional Convention

The South Carolina constitutional convention met with a majority of Black delegates, adopting a constitution that provided for all people regardless of race, economic class, or gender.

The House on Rondo

Book — Historical fiction. By Debra J. Stone. 2025. 104 pages.
A young girl reckons with the demolition of a Black Saint Paul neighborhood to make way for the Interstate in the early 1960s.

They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals

Book — Non-fiction. By Mariah Blake. 2025. 320 pages.
An investigation of the chemical industry’s decades-long campaign to hide the dangers of forever chemicals, told through the story of a small town on the frontlines of an epic public health crisis.

U.S. Constitution | Zinn Education Project

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

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

Americans Who Tell the Truth

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

When the Hunger Was Upon Us

Poem. By Nigel Gray.
Poem about the causes and impact of the Irish Potato Famine.

Aug. 29, 1786: Shays’ Rebellion

Massachusetts farmers arm themselves and rebel against taxation under the Articles of Confederation.

Children of the Stone City

Book — Fiction. By Beverley Naidoo 2022. 220 pages.
Without the mention of Palestine, Beverley Naidoo introduces young readers to Palestinian social reality, and the song of defiance that resonates from the Time Before until today.

What Happened to the Civil Rights Movement After 1965? Don’t Ask Your Textbook

By Adam Sanchez

Fifty years ago this week, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee chairperson Stokely Carmichael made the famous call for “Black Power.” Carmichael’s speech came in the midst of the “March Against Fear,” a walk from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, to encourage African Americans to use their newly won right to vote. But while almost every middle and high school student learns about the Civil Rights Movement, they rarely learn about this march — or the related struggles that continued long after the Voting Rights Act.

Ten Things You Should Know About Selma Before You See the Film

By Emilye Crosby

On each anniversary year of the Selma-to-Montgomery March and the Voting Rights Act it helped inspire, national media focus on the iconic images of “Bloody Sunday,” the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the interracial marchers, and President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act. This version of history, emphasizing a top-down narrative and isolated events, reinforces the master narrative that civil rights activists describe as “Rosa sat down, Martin stood up, and the white folks came south to save the day.”

Here are 10 points to keep in mind about Selma’s civil rights history.

Bombed out cars by Jo Freeman | Zinn Education Project

‘Is This America?’: Sharecroppers Challenged Mississippi Apartheid, LBJ, and the Nation

By Julian Hipkins III and Deborah Menkart

Fannie Lou Hamer gripped the nation with her televised testimony of being forced from her home and brutally beaten (suffering permanent kidney damage) for attempting to exercise her constitutional right to vote.

“Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where our lives be threatened daily, because we want to live as decent human beings?” she asked the credentials committee at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train

Film. By Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller. 2010. 78 minutes.
Documentary on life and work of Howard Zinn.

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

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

Book — 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.

Depiction of rioters and police during the New York City draft riots of 1863.

The Draft Riot Mystery

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 9 pages.
Students are invited to solve a mystery, using historical clues, about the real story of the Draft Riots.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

A mural on Whiterock Road in Belfast commemorating the Irish famine. The mural reads "Britain's genocide by starvation. Ireland's holocaust, 1845-1849. Over 1,500,000 deaths."

Hunger on Trial: An Activity on the Irish Potato Famine and Its Meaning for Today

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 13 pages.
A trial role play helps students reflect on responsibility for the deaths of Irish peasants during the so-called potato famine.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Union Maids

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 5 pages.
Activity for students to write from the point of view of one of the women featured in the film Union Maids.

Teaching Activity by Norm Diamond

Stealing Home: Eminent Domain, Urban Renewal, and the Loss of Community

Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools. 9 pages.
Teaching about patterns of displacement and wealth inequality through the history of Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop communities and the building of Dodger Stadium.

Teaching Activity by Linda Christensen

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