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[bacasper]

His classic, A Peoples' History of the United States, was unique in that it keeps selling more and more copies each year. It certainly gave me a fresh perspective on American history.

Sad to see him go.

Howard Zinn, historian who challenged status quo, dies at 87

January 27, 2010 07:12 PM

By Mark Feeney and Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff

Howard Zinn, the Boston University historian and political activist who was an early opponent of US involvement in Vietnam and whose books, such as "A People's History of the United States," inspired young and old to rethink the way textbooks present the American experience, died today in Santa Monica, Calif, where he was traveling. He was 87.

"He's made an amazing contribution to American intellectual and moral culture," Noam Chomsky, the left-wing activist and MIT professor, said tonight. "He's changed the conscience of America in a highly constructive way. I really can't think of anyone I can compare him to in this respect."

Chomsky added that Dr. Zinn's writings "simply changed perspective and understanding for a whole generation. He opened up approaches to history that were novel and highly significant. Both by his actions, and his writings for 50 years, he played a powerful role in helping and in many ways inspiring the Civil rights movement and the anti-war movement."

For Dr. Zinn, activism was a natural extension of the revisionist brand of history he taught. "A People�s History of the United States" (1980), his best-known book, had for its heroes not the Founding Fathers -- many of them slaveholders and deeply attached to the status quo, as Dr. Zinn was quick to point out -- but rather the farmers of Shays' Rebellion and union organizers of the 1930s.

As he wrote in his autobiography, "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" (1994), "From the start, my teaching was infused with my own history. I would try to be fair to other points of view, but I wanted more than 'objectivity'; I wanted students to leave my classes not just better informed, but more prepared to relinquish the safety of silence, more prepared to speak up, to act against injustice wherever they saw it. This, of course, was a recipe for trouble."

complete obituary at link

[Kuros]

Worst comprehensive history written ever.

[bacasper]

[Captain Corea]

I enjoyed "A People's History of the United States"

[On the other hand]

[Gopher]

[Jah_Riddim]

R.I.P. Mr. Zinn
He was a gentle & passionate person. I am sympathetic to his point of view but have to acknowledge his critics. I've read a lot of history and his work has a strong (and important, often ignored) perspective. However, he is more accurately considered an activist or popularizer, rather than historian.
That's not to say that historians can't have strong opinions/perspectives-they do, and must! But, Mr. Zinn's scholarship was a bit lax.
Great guy, great message of justice, equality & peace. He will be missed.

[catman]

I think Howard Zinn will be known for transforming the discipline of history. No longer can nationalistic tracts be taken seriously in light of his scholarship. He did a particularly good job in dismantling the odious myth of the "discovery" of America by the supposed "great scientist-explorer" Christopher Columbus.

[gay in korea]

you can dislike the things that Zinn wrote, or think he was too political, both are fair comments, but you can't say he was 'wrong'.

As an historian he will be remembered by all as a major contributor to historical scholarship. Important in his research, important in his message.

Anyone who claims to study US history should read A People's History, if only because it does cover so much that is almost completely left out of standard texts.

For the record, I think Zinn's social stances on labor and several other issues are wrong, but I don't doubt the veracity or the legitimacy of his work.

If you're a conservative you can't read anything that might make you think. His major work makes you think. And if you read it and don't think, you're probably incapable of thinking at all.

[FMPJ]

[gay in korea]

[bacasper]

Zinn was also courageous in being one of the first signers of the Reform Sex Offender Laws petition.

A TRIBUTE TO HOWARD ZINN, RSOL SIGNATORY

Howard Zinn, an early RSOL signatory, and a champion of freedom and justice in America and the world, has died at age 87. Dr. Zinn was known for championing unpopular causes, and for his staunch opposition to U.S. policies that led to wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. He was a major civil rights activist in the early days of the movement for desegregation. He boldly opposed the anti-communist crusades of the Cold War. He was a historian at Boston University, best known for his monumental "A People's History of the United States," in which he told the 'other side of the story,' from that of the elites. He was especially active in the movement for American Indians and their rights. When Boston activists began the movement to Safeguard Our Children and Our Liberties in the 1990s, Dr. Zinn was an early leader, speaking out publicly against the shaming of sex offenders in the United States. RSOL salutes Dr. Zinn's memory and hopes his life and work will continue to influence the lives of young people in America. We will keep his name on our signatory list - where he is no. 2 after Paul Shannon! He never shied from the struggle to demand rights for sex offenders and their families. Many of us who knew him, will miss him personally. All those who fight for freedom will miss his presence, though his spirit remains as a beacon to us all.

http://www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org/