Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn was an American historian, educator, author and playwright whose work reshaped how generations view U.S. history. Born on August 24, 1922 in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish immigrant parents, he grew up in a working‑class household that valued books despite limited means. After serving as a bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World II, Zinn used the GI Bill to earn a BA at New York University and later an MA and PhD in history from Columbia University, where his dissertation Fiorello La Guardia in Congress earned critical acclaim. He began his academic career at Spelman College in 1956, chairing the history and social sciences department until his controversial dismissal in 1963, and later taught political science at Boston University for 24 years, retiring in 1988. Zinn’s most influential work, A People’s History of the United States, first published in 1980, presented American history from the perspective of marginalized groups and sold over a hundred thousand copies annually, cementing his reputation as a leading public intellectual. He followed it with numerous titles, including A Young People’s History of the United States, You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train, and The Politics of History, and he co‑edited the landmark Pentagon Papers edition with Noam Chomsky. A committed activist, Zinn participated in the civil‑rights movement, advised SNCC, opposed the Vietnam War, and was an outspoken critic of U.S. interventions in Iraq and elsewhere, often describing himself as “something of an anarchist, something of a socialist.” His personal life was anchored by his marriage to Roslyn Shechter in 1944, with whom he had two children, Myla and Jeff, and he remained a widower after her death in 2008. Zinn died of a heart attack on January 27 2010 in Santa Monica, California, leaving a legacy of hopeful dissent that scholars and activists continue to invoke. His bibliography, awards, and the Zinn Education Project attest to a lifelong dedication to making history a tool for democratic empowerment.