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Unsung Heroes (Lesson) | Zinn Education Project

Unsung Heroes: Encouraging Students to Appreciate Those Who Fought for Social Justice

Teaching Activity. Essay by Howard Zinn and lesson by Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 17 pages.
Students research and share stories about unsung heroes in U.S. history.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Woman screaming at Elizabeth Ann Eckford | Zinn Education Project

“A School Year Like No Other”: Eyes on the Prize: “Fighting Back: 1957-1962”

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 7 pages.
A companion lesson to the Eyes on the Prize segment on school integration.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories

Book — Non-fiction. By Ellen Levine. 1993. 192 pages.
Thirty African-Americans who were children during the 1950s and 1960s tell their true stories of what it was like for them to fight segregation in the South.

Jessie De La Cruz: A Profile of a United Farm Worker

Book — Non-fiction. Gary Soto. 2002. 116 pages.
An inspiring story of Jessie De La Cruz, one of the first women to organize for the United Farmer Workers.

Selma, Lord, Selma: Girlhood Memories of the Civil Rights Days

Book — Non-fiction. By Sheyann Webb and Rachel West Nelson as told to Frank Sikora. 1980. 168 pages.
The moving story of two young girls who were caught up in the 1965 movement in Selma, Alabama.

Rosa

Picture book. By Nikki Giovanni. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. 2005. 40 pages.
A beautifully illustrated book for children about Rosa Parks in the context of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

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.

Many Thousand Gone: African-Americans from Slavery to Freedom

Book — Non-fiction. By Virginia Hamilton. 2002. 160 pages.
An illustrated account of slavery for children based on historical records, personal narratives, and biographies for ages 8 - 12. Includes profiles of Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass.

Letters from Mississippi: Reports from Civil Rights Volunteers and Freedom School Poetry of the 1964 Freedom Summer

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Elizabeth Sutherland Martinez. Introduction by Julian Bond. 2007.
Letters and poetry from Civil Rights Movement volunteers in the summer of 1964.

Voices of a People’s History of the United States, 10th Anniversary Edition

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove. 2014. 704 pages.
Speeches, letters, poems, and songs for each chapter of A People's History of the United States.

I’ve Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle

Book — Non-fiction. By Charles M. Payne. 1995. 506 pages.
A people's history of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi

Book — Non-fiction. By John Dittmer. 1995. 560 pages.
A detailed, grassroots description of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

Lessons from Freedom Summer: Ordinary People Building Extraordinary Movements

Teaching Guide. Edited by Kathy Emery, Linda Reid Gold and Sylvia Braselmann. Foreword by Howard Zinn. 2008. 456 pages.
Readings and lessons on the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project.

Matewan

Film. Written and directed by John Sayles. 1987. 132 minutes.
A feature ﬁlm depicting a strike in a mining town in Appalachia and the struggle for solidarity across racial lines.

Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching

Teaching Guide and Website. Edited by Deborah Menkart, Alana D. Murray, and Jenice L. View. 2004.
Provides lessons and articles for K-12 educators on how to go beyond a heroes approach to the Civil Rights Movement, with a focus on education, economics, labor, youth, women, and culture.

Teaching Activity by Deborah Menkart

Chávez Ravine: A Record by Ry Cooder

Songs. By Ry Cooder. 2005. 70 minutes.
The story of the Chicano community bulldozed to pave the way for the Dodger Stadium in Santa Monica, told through bilingual songs.

Si, Se Puede! Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A.

Picture book. By Diana Cohn and illustrated by Francisco Delgado. 2008. 31 pages.
A children's book based on the true story of the Justice for Janitors strike.

Swimmy

Picture book. By Leo Lionni. 1973. 32 pages.
A classic tale for young children about the power of organizing.

That's Not Fair! / No Es Justo! (Book) | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

That’s Not Fair! Emma Tenayuca’s Struggle for Justice/¡No Es Justo!: La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la justicia

Picture book. By Carmen Tafolla, Sharyll Tenayuca, and Celina Marroquin. 2008. 40 pages.
Bilingual (Spanish and English) biography of labor activist Emma Tenayuca for upper elementary.

Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America

Book — Non-fiction. By Peniel E. Joseph. 2007. 432 pages.
A narrative history of the Black Power Movement.

Teaching Activity by Peniel E. Joseph

Warriors Don't Cry (Book - Non-fiction) | Zinn Education Project

Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Senior High

Book — Non-fiction. By Melba Pattillo Beals. 2007. 336 pages.
Story of a teenage girl chosen to integrate Little Rock High School.

We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin

Picture book. By Larry Dane Brimner. 2007. 48 pages.
A sophisticated picture book on key civil rights leader Bayard Rustin.

We Took the Streets: Fighting for Latino Rights with the Young Lords

Book — Non-fiction. By Miguel Melendez. 2003. 260 pages.
Legacy of the Young Lords in the Puerto Rican struggle for equality and independence.

Teaching Activity by Miguel Melendez

Nobody Gonna Turn Me ‘Round: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement

Picture book. By Doreen Rappaport. Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. 2008. 64 pages.
Stories and songs for upper elementary from the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 to 1965.

Haymarket: A Novel

Book — Fiction. By Martin Duberman. 2005. 330 pages.
Historical novel for high school and adults on the Haymarket struggle.