- 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.

Re-examining the Revolution

Background Reading. By Ray Raphael. 7 pages.
Based on his book Founding Myths, Raphael critiques the textbook portrayal of the American Revolution. The textbooks say that "a few special people forged American freedom" which "misrepresents, and even contradicts, the spirit of the American Revolution."

The Color Line

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 6 pages.
A lesson on the countless colonial laws enacted to create division and inequality based on race. This helps students understand the origins of racism in the United States and who benefits.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow

Film. 2002. 4 episodes — 56 minutes each.
Documentary on the history of the Jim Crow era.

Japanese American Internment Featured Image

A Lesson on the Japanese American Internment

Teaching Activity. By Mark Sweeting. Rethinking Schools. 4 pages.
How one teacher engaged his students in a critical examination of the language used in textbooks to describe the internment.

Rights Matter: The Story of the Bill of Rights

Teaching Guide. By Nancy Murray. 2006. 69 pages.
A free, downloadable, student-friendly booklet on the Bill of Rights, available in English and Spanish.

Half a Revolution

Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 16 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 5 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on the Revolutionary War as "a rich man's war and a poor man's fight," as well as the failure of early Americans to complete a full revolution.

The Early Women’s Movement

Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 6 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on the early women's movement, including their efforts for social, racial, and political equality.

Mural by Blake Chamberlain on an interior wall of the Women's Rights National Historical Park Visitor Center depicting influential people of the women's suffrage movement.

Seneca Falls, 1848: Women Organize for Equality

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 17 pages.
A role play allows students to examine issues of race and class when exploring both the accomplishments and limitations of the Seneca Falls Convention.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Freedom’s Unfinished Revolution: Teaching a People’s History of Reconstruction

Article. Background reading for teachers. By Bill Bigelow. 4 pages.
A review of Freedom's Unfinished Revolution, a collection of primary documents for high school on the Civil War and Reconstruction.

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

World War II and McCarthyism

Teaching Activity. By Gayle Olson-Raymer.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 16 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on domestic opposition to the "good war" and the impact of McCarthyism.

The Black Upsurge Against Racial Segregation

Teaching Activity. By Tasha Boettcher.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 17 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on the long Civil Rights Movement in America.

Women, Gays, and Other Voices of Resistance

Teaching Activity. By Jack Bareilles.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 19 of Voices of a People's History of the United States on the emergence and legacy of the 1960s counterculture, as well as the movements it helped create.

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.

A People’s History of Poverty in America

Book — Non-fiction. By Stephen Pimpare. 2008. 322 pages.
A vivid description of poverty from the perspective of poor and welfare-reliant Americans, from the big city to the rural countryside.

Little Brother

Book — Fiction. By Cory Doctorow. 2008. 384 pages.
A contemporary novel for teenagers that explores Homeland Security and freedom of speech in the post-9/11 United States.

The Real Cost of Prisons Comix

Book — Non-fiction. By Ellen Miller-Mack, Craig Gilmore, Lois Ahrens, Susan Willmarth, and Kevin Pyle. 2008. 104 pages.
This comic book presents the human stories behind the statistics.

Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties

Film. By Nonny de la Peña. 2004. 69 minutes.
A documentary that investigates the ways in which the civil liberties of U.S. citizens and immigrants have been rolled back since 9/11/2001 and the passage of the Patriot Act.

The First American Revolution: Before Lexington and Concord

Book — Non-fiction. By Ray Raphael. 2003. 288 pages.
The events leading up to the American Revolution.

Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South

Book — Non-fiction (with CD). Edited by William H. Chafe, Raymond Gavins and Robert Korstad. 2008. 346 pages.
Extensive oral history of African American life under segregation.

Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality

Book — Non-fiction. By Richard Kluger. 2004. 880 pages.
One of the first texts, now a classic, on Brown v. Board of Education.

Teaching Activity by Richard Kluger

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.

Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow

Book — Fiction. By James Sturm and Rich Tommaso with an introduction by Gerald Early. 2007. 96 pages.
Told from the point of view of a sharecropper, this narrative in graphic novel format follows baseball champion Satchel Paige as he travels throughout the segregated South.

Mendez v. Westminster: School Desegregation and Mexican-American Rights

Book — Non-fiction. By Philippa Strum. 2010. 186 pages.
Description of a pre-Brown v. Board desegregation court case involving Mexican-American families.