A People's History of the United States Lesson Plan

Howard Zinn was a writer, professor, playwright, historian, and socialist critic. Zinn grew up in Brooklyn as the child of working-class parents and became a shipyard worker at 18. He then joined the Air Force and was a bomber during World War II, which influenced his anti-war sentiments and inspired his belief that in the importance of studying history. He attended college under the G.I. Bill and then worked as a warehouse loader while studying for his Ph.D. in history from Columbia University. He then taught at Spelman College from 1956 until 1963, where he became involved in the Civil Rights Movement, but was fired for "radicalizing" students. After that, he taught as a political...