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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.

The Women Who Gave Us Christmas

Article. By William Loren Katz. 2010.
The abolitionist influence on the history of Christmas celebrations in the United States.

Teaching Activity by William Loren Katz

Passenger on the Pearl: The True Story of Emily Edmonson’s Flight from Slavery

Book — Non-fiction. By Winifred Conkling. 2015. 176 pages.
Young adult biography about Emily Edmonson who was one of 77 who attempted to escape slavery in Washington, D.C.

The Voice of Industry (1845-1848)

Digital collection. Records of the Voice of Industry newspaper, published by young women in Lowell, Mass. from 1845-1848.

Chickadee

Book — Fiction. By Louise Erdrich. 2012. 208 pages.
The fourth book in the series following the Ojibwe girl Omakayas and her family as their lands are invaded by white settlers.

When the Hunger Was Upon Us

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

A People’s History of the United States: Highlights from the Twentieth Century (Audio)

Audio. By Howard Zinn. Read by Matt Damon. 2003. 8 hours, 44 minutes.
Audio book version of excerpted highlights from A People's History of the United States.

Chief Tecumseh: “Speech to the Osages”

Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Dramatic reading of Chief Tecumseh's "Speech to the Osages" (Winter 1811-1812) by Deepa Fernandes.

The North Star (News Clipping) | Zinn Education Project

Jan. 21, 1848: North Star Publishes Editorial on War with Mexico

The North Star published an editorial against the U.S. war with Mexico. Listen to an excerpt read by Benjamin Bratt.

Maria Stewart: Address Delivered at the African Masonic Hall

Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Dramatic reading of Maria Stewart's "Address Delivered at the African Masonic Hall" (1833) by Alfre Woodard.

The Bobbin Girl

Picture book. By Emily Arnold McCully. 1996. 36 pages.
Historical fiction for upper elementary based on a true story about the Lowell textile workers.

Bound for the Rio Grande | Zinn Education Project

Bound for the Rio Grande: Traitors — Or Martyrs

Background Reading (PDF) and Song. Reading by Milton Meltzer and song by David Rovics. 1974. 4 pages and 5 minutes.
The story of the San Patricio Battalion, Irish-American soldiers who deserted the U.S. Army during the U.S.-Mexican War and fought on the side of the Mexicans.

San Patricio

Audio. By The Chieftains featuring Ry Cooder. 2010.
Ballads about the San Patricio Battalion during the U.S. Mexico War.

Nov. 7, 1837: Elijah Parish Lovejoy Murdered

Minister, journalist, newspaper editor, and abolitionist Elijah Parish Lovejoy was murdered by a pro-slavery mob.

Who Fought to End Slavery? Meet the Abolitionists

Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez, Brady Bennon, Deb Delman, and Jessica Lovaas.
This mixer role play introduces students to the stories of famous and lesser-known abolitionists, through biography and investigation.

These ads appeared in the Norfolk Beacon. Whose side was the white press on? Compare to coverage in abolitionist newspaper below.

Nov. 21, 1842: George Latimer Freed In Boston

A Boston judge stopped the extradition of George Latimer, who had escaped enslavement in Virginia, and allowed him to raise funds for his own manumission.

Nov. 20, 1835: New York Committee of Vigilance Founded

Radical abolitionists organized to liberate kidnapped Black New Yorkers and fight racist police violence in the decades after New York abolished slavery.

Poster for an event in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1849, to commemorate the end of slavery in the British West Indies.

Aug. 1, 1834: Britain Passes Slavery Abolition Act

August First Day became a symbol of hope for enslaved people and abolitionists in the United States when Britain passed the Slavery Abolition Act in 1834, abolishing slavery throughout its colonies around the world.

Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction

Book — Non-fiction. By Kate Masur. 2021.
The movement for equal rights in the decades before the Civil War.

Sept. 20, 1830: The First Meeting of the Colored Conventions Movement

Forty African Americans, elected by communities in nine states, met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1830 to organize for improving the lives of Black people in North America. That week, they founded the National Colored Conventions movement and held its first official series of formal meetings.

The Birchbark House

Book — Fiction. By Louise Erdrich. 1999. 244 pages.
Historical fiction set in the mid-19th century in the Lake Superior area.

The Cherokee/Seminole Removal Role Play

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 10 pages.
What led up to the Trail of Tears? In this lesson, students learn about the decision to remove the Cherokee and Seminole people from their lands.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

White House Black History | Zinn Education Project

Missing from Presidents’ Day: The People They Enslaved

By Clarence Lusane

Schools across the country are adorned with posters of the U.S. presidents and the years they served in office. U.S. history textbooks describe the accomplishments and challenges of the major presidential administrations — George Washington had the Revolutionary War, Abraham Lincoln the Civil War, Teddy Roosevelt the Spanish-American War, and so on. Children’s books put students on a first-name basis with the presidents, engaging readers with stories of their dogs in the Rose Garden or childhood escapades. Washington, D.C.’s Smithsonian Institution welcomes visitors to an exhibit of the first ladies’ gowns and White House furnishings.

Nowhere in all this information is there any mention of the fact that more than one in four U.S. presidents were involved in human trafficking and slavery.

Aug. 10, 1835: Destruction of Noyes Academy

Nearly 500 white men destroyed the integrated Noyes Academy in Canaan, New Hampshire.

May 19, 1856: Charles Sumner Crime Against Kansas Speech

Charles Sumner delivered a speech denouncing slavery and the need for Kansas to become a free state.