Renowned American historian and activist Howard Zinn passed away on January 27th at the age of 87. Zinn is perhaps best known for his textbook A People’s History of the United States, in which he examines American history through the eyes of those who didn’t belong to the governmental machine. The book depicts Native American resistance towards European conquest, the struggle of slaves against their own bondage, the American woman’s battle for equality and many other perspectives that had been shunned by the traditional approach towards American History. With A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn altered the definition of what a textbook could be and what it could say. The book is now used as a textbook for many college and high school history courses and still sells thousands of copies every year.
Howard Zinn did not just bring to light the injustices of the past; he fought for those he saw in the world around him. He was a strong voice during the Civil Rights movement during his time at Spelman College in Alabama, a historically black women’s college. He wrote books and articles detailing the struggles of the Southern Civil Rights movement and advised the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. After seven years, Zinn was dismissed from the school due to his support of student protestors’ efforts, which the college considered unladylike. His years at Spelman are chronicled in his autobiography You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times.
He continued his activism during his twenty-four years as a well-loved political science professor at Boston University. Since the 1960s he has been a powerful, respected voice against war, a stance he developed from his own experience as a bomber pilot in World War II. Zinn was one of the first to call for the US withdrawal from Vietnam with his book Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal. His activism didn’t end with his retirement; even as an octogenarian he was writing books opposing the US invasion of Iraq. He spoke out for peace until the end of his life.
As much as Howard Zinn did not agree with many actions America has taken, he did not dissent out of spite. He spoke out against whatever he felt went against the tenets set down in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He protested because he wanted America to be all that it could be, and to learn from its history. Howard Zinn himself once said, “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” So it is that we must sadly bid farewell to an educator, activist, historian and great patriot who will always have his own spot in history.
A People’s History of the United States:
1492 to Present
By Howard Zinn
768 pp. Harper Perennial Modern Classics $18.95
You Can’t be Neutral on a Moving Train:
A Personal History of Our Times
By Howard Zinn
224 pp. Beacon Press $15.00
A Young People’s History of the United States
By Howard Zinn and Rebecca Stefoff
464 pp. Seven Stories Press $19.95
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