Howard Zinn Digital Collection

Why you should read Howard Zinn’s Artists in Times of War now. “There are certain historical moments when learning is more compressed and intense than others,” wrote Howard Zinn, a month after 9/11. The historian was writing in a moment of tremendous, escalati…

“‘There are certain historical moments when learning is more compressed and intense than others,’ wrote Howard Zinn, a month after 9/11. The historian was writing in a moment of tremendous, escalating violence, and he sensed more death & destruction looming.”–James Folta
lithub.com/why-you-shou...

"We Should Be Honest with Young People" — Howard Zinn In this three-minute clip, Zinn counters Trump’s assertion that teaching people’s history tries “to make students ashamed of their own history.” To the contrary. Watch and share.

In 2020, Brut posted a 3-minute response to Trump's #ConstitutionDay attacks on Howard Zinn -- using remarks by Zinn on the importance of being honest with young people. (Clips are from NCSS 2008 conference keynote by Zinn.) #TeachTruth

Watch ⬇️
www.zinnedproject.org/news/other-h...

Howard Zinn on Prisons and Prisoners A sampling of Howard Zinn's essays, quotes, trial testimonies, and correspondence related to prisons and prisoners.

While Zinn’s essays on the Civil Rights Movement & war are well known, his writing about prisons & with prisoners gets less attention, reflecting the invisibility of mass incarceration in this country.

Here are some of Zinn's essays, quotes, letters.
www.zinnedproject.org/news/howard-...

Blue text on faded blue photo in background: Civil disobedience, that’s not our problem. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. -- HOWARD ZINN

Born #tdih Howard Zinn (1922-2010) was a historian, professor, playwright, activist.

Author of APHUS, he wrote many books incl. "Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal" & "SNCC: The New Abolitionists."

Also trial testimonies on civil disobedience history. 🧵
Read: www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/ho...

A young Howard Zinn stands in front of a bookshelf full of books; a sign behind him says "Strike!"

“Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.”

Howard Zinn was born August 24, 1922 in Brooklyn

Happy Birthday to Howard Zinn, historian, activist, and author of A People’s History of the United States. His life’s work gave voice to ordinary people, challenged power, and reminded us that real change comes from collective struggle from below.

Historian and anti-war activist Howard Zinn was born on this day in 1922.

#OtD 24 Aug 1922 radical historian and activist Howard Zinn was born to a Jewish immigrant family in Brooklyn, NYC. Author of A People's History of the United States, Zinn did much to popularise the history of ordinary people and our struggles workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e69-...

Teach the Black Freedom Struggle Online Classes Online classes for educators on teaching the Black Freedom Struggle. People's historians interviewed by classroom teachers and teacher educators.

Kicking off Monday: A new series of @zinnedproject.bsky.social “Teach the Black Freedom Struggle” online classes. Events are free. ASL interpretation provided. Learn more & sign up:
www.zinnedproject.org/news/teach-b...

Join our email list for more news: www.howardzinn.org/contact-sign...

Voices of a People's History Performances, 2025–2026 - Howard Zinn Dates for 2025–2026 performances for Voices of a People’s History have been announced with events planned in Edinburgh and New York.

Check out the 2025–2026 schedule of Voices of a People’s History performances. More news & events in our newsletter. Subscribe at: www.howardzinn.org/contact-sign...
www.howardzinn.org/voices-perfo...

The Legacy of Howard Zinn's Radical History - Howard Zinn On August 4, 2025, the podcast Borrowed and Returned aired an episode called “The Legacy of Howard Zinn’s Radical History.” From the introduction: "When Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United ...

"When A People’s History of the U.S. came out, it literally rocked the boat. Instead of starting where most histories of the Americas start—on the deck of Columbus’s ship—Howard Zinn flipped the script, focusing on what the people standing on the shore would have seen"–BklynPLibrary
bit.ly/brp-zinn

Looking forward to the new Howard Zinn biography from Dave Zirin (@edgeofsports.bsky.social) due next summer! -- Stay up to date about all the Zinn-related news & events by joining the email list (emails sent 2-4x/year): www.howardzinn.org/contact-sign...

The Bomb by Howard Zinn. B&W image of two young boys and B&W image of a destroyed building on a brown/black background (book cover of The Bomb).

Aug 6 & 9 mark the anniversary of the Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings. In THE BOMB, Howard Zinn offers his reflections & political analysis of these events, & how they transformed him from an order-taking WWII bombardier to an anti-authoritarian, anti-war historian.
www.howardzinn.org/collection/t...

People's History collage: The People Speak (film), Voices of a People's History of the United States (book), A People's History of the United States (book)

"Whenever injustices have been remedied, wars halted, women & Black people & Native American given their due, it has been because 'unimportant' people spoke up, organized, protested, and brought democracy alive"–Howard Zinn
📖 www.howardzinn.org/collection/v...
📺 www.howardzinn.org/collection/t...

The Spirit of Rebellion - Howard Zinn By Howard Zinn, from The Zinn Reader Writing a column to appear in the July 4, 1975, issue of the Boston Globe, I wanted to break away from the traditional celebrations of Independence Day, in which t...

"The Declaration...says that government is not sacred, that it is set up to give people an equal right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and that if it fails to do this, we have the right to 'alter or abolish it.'"– Howard Zinn, July 4, 1975
www.howardzinn.org/collection/s...

April 20, 1914: Ludlow Massacre The National Guard fired on striking miners and their families in Ludlow, Colorado.

#tdih 1914: National Guard fired on Colorado tent colony of striking miners.

Howard Zinn learned of the Ludlow story from Woody Guthrie ballad, not his history classes, leading Zinn to write and teach people's history. #TeachTruth

Short film and more ⬇️
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/lu...

April 5, 1979: Boston University Strike Boston University refused to approve negotiated contract, so the faculty union called a strike, with Howard Zinn as co-chair of strike committee. Other staff and librarians also went on strike that sp...

#tdih 1979, the Boston University faculty union called a strike.

Howard Zinn was one of the strike committee co-chairs.

Read ⬇️ about the strike from Zinn's autobiography, "You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train." 🧵
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/bo...

A Few Cryptic Notes on Power and Powerlessness - Howard Zinn By Howard Zinn. From the Archives. Circa 1976. From Howard Zinn's folder of "Course Syllabi: 'Introduction to Political Theory,' 1968-1987" in the "Boston University" series housed at New York Univers...

Vulnerability of the Powerful, cont.
4. Control by a few over many depends on fragmentation of the many
5. In an advanced society, control depends on everyone working
6. Control requires the loyalty of guards and servants
🧵5/5
View FROM THE ARCHIVE ⤵️:
www.howardzinn.org/collection/n...

Vulnerability of the Powerful by Howard Zinn, 1976
1. The more complicated the mechanism of control the more points of possible breakdown
2. Technology becomes arrogant, overconfident— ultimately it depends on human judgement
3. Control in mass society requires legitimacy, confidence, obedience
🧵4/5

A Few Cryptic Notes on Power and Powerlessness - Howard Zinn By Howard Zinn. From the Archives. Circa 1976. From Howard Zinn's folder of "Course Syllabi: 'Introduction to Political Theory,' 1968-1987" in the "Boston University" series housed at New York Univers...

Powers of the Powerless by Howard Zinn, cont.
6. The power of morale, based on utopian visions, present comradeship.
7. The maintenance of subterranean communications, information.
🧵3/5
Original document & related 1976 "Introduction to Political Theory" syllabus⤵️:
www.howardzinn.org/collection/n...

Powers of the Powerless by Howard Zinn, cont.
3. Mobility works against a powerful, lumbering foe.
4. Timing, surprise.
5. The willingness to use time, that is, protracted, patient struggle, wearing the enemy down through endurance and sacrifice.
🧵2/5

A Few Cryptic Notes on Power and Powerlessness by Howard Zinn, circa 1976. HowardZinn.org, From the Archives. Banner text with images of Howard Zinn, archive folders and boxes.

PO 590 Introduction to Political Theory, Spring, 1976 by Howard Zinn ("Our Problem for the Semester") • HowardZinn.org • Published with permission of the Howard Zinn Trust

A Few Cryptic Notes on Power and Powerlessness; Vulnerability of the Powerful (6 point list); Powers of the Powerless (7 point list) by Howard Zinn • HowardZinn.org • Published with permission of the Howard Zinn Trust

FROM THE ARCHIVES
"A Few Cryptic Notes on Power and Powerlessness" by Howard Zinn, 1976
Powers of the Powerless:
(the political counterpart of guerrilla tactics)
1. Sheer numbers can be hard to control, especially with dispersal.
2. Organization of energy can make up for lack of resources.
🧵1/5

howardzinn.org To inspire people to read, write, and make history.

Read more at www.howardzinn.org

Voices of a People’s History · Lincoln Center This special performance of Voices of a People’s History centers the voice and vision of Black women writers with musical and spoken word performances by Black…

Upcoming Event: FEB. 20, 2025 • 7pm EST • NEW YORK CITY
Voices of a People’s History Special Reading of "I Know What the Red Clay Looks Like"
www.lincolncenter.org/series/linco...

Reconstruction Robbery: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank Historian Justene Hill Edwards will discuss her book, Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank, a comprehensive account of the Freedman’s Bank and its depositors. This session i...

Upcoming Event: FEB. 10, 2025 • 4pm PST/7pm EST • VIRTUAL
Reconstruction Robbery: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank with Justene Hill Edwards and Jesse Hagopian
www.zinnedproject.org/news/the-ris...

Howard Zinn, Our Favorite Teacher, Andrea Jeffries, Class of 1969, Boston University

Howard Zinn, Our Favorite Teacher
Andrea Jeffries: "I loved his story about choosing the topic for his doctoral thesis. He was wandering around the NY Public Library...when he noticed a crew unloading boxes.
-What’s in the boxes?
-The papers of Fiorello LaGuardia."
www.howardzinn.org/about/howard...

2024 Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture Series: Jelani Cobb - Howard Zinn On October 29, Jelani Cobb, New Yorker staff writer and dean, Columbia Journalism School, was the featured speaker at the 2024 Howard Zinn Lecture Series at Boston University. The name of Cobb's talk ...

Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture by Jelani Cobb, New Yorker staff writer, dean of Columbia Journalism School
“Before I get into the substance of my talk I thought it would be good to ground with a couple of parallels...between my life and the life of Professor Zinn..."
www.howardzinn.org/2024-howard-...

Archival Milestone: The Howard Zinn Papers Have Been Indexed - Howard Zinn On October 9, 2024, Lauren Cooper, HowardZinn.org Digital Curator, and Cole Stallone, independent researcher, completed item-level cataloging (that is, inventorying each and every piece of paper) the ...

The Howard Zinn Archives Indexed to Improve Research
In Oct. 2024, Lauren Cooper & Cole Stallone completed item-level cataloging the Howard Zinn Papers at NYU's Tamiment Library. Thru 1.8K folders, they recorded 29.8K items & counted 183K pages (366 reams of paper)
www.howardzinn.org/archival-mil...

January 2025 Update. On the anniversary month of Howard Zinn's death in 2010, we share udpates from his archives, life's work, and upcoming events. Send by Teaching for Change on behalf of the Howard Zinn Trust.

Today, Jan. 27, marks the 15th anniversary of Howard Zinn's death. Learn how historian, researchers, and activists are keeping Zinn's spirit alive. Subscribe to the newsletter (conta.cc/3E5WEbp) at www.howardzinn.org/contact-sign-up/

Reconstruction Robbery: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank Historian Justene Hill Edwards will discuss her book, Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank, a comprehensive account of the Freedman’s Bank and its depositors. This session i...

Upcoming Event: FEB. 10, 2025 • 4pm PST/7pm EST • VIRTUAL
Reconstruction Robbery: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank with Justene Hill Edwards and Jesse Hagopian
www.zinnedproject.org/news/the-ris...