Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn (1922–2010) was a historian, teacher, and activist. Growing up in a working-class family, he served in WWII, later becoming critical of war after witnessing devastation firsthand. He earned a doctorate in history and taught at Spelman College, where he supported the Civil Rights Movement and was dismissed for standing with student activists. Zinn later taught at Boston University and wrote widely about inequality, war, and grassroots resistance. His most influential work, A People’s History of the United States, became a landmark text offering an alternative vision of America—one that honors struggle, exposes injustice, and believes ordinary people have the power to change history.