Howard Zinn, the renowned author of "A People's History of the United States", is a historian, political scientist, and social activist. Born on August 24, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York, to immigrant Jewish parents, Zinn's early life was marked by his involvement in progressive causes.
During World War II, Zinn worked in the Brooklyn shipyards and became a labor union organizer, later serving as a bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Force's 490th Bomb Group. His experiences during the war led him to question the value of strategic bombing, which caused millions of civilian casualties.
After the war, Zinn pursued higher education, earning his B.A. in history from New York University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. His doctoral dissertation on Fiorello LaGuardia's career as a Congressman was published as "LaGuardia in Congress" by the Cornell University Press.
Zinn's academic career began at Spelman College, where he was appointed chairman of the department of history and social sciences. At Spelman, he became involved in the Civil Rights movement, teaching students who were actively pushing for an end to segregation and equality under the law for African Americans.
Zinn's experiences at Spelman led him to question traditional interpretations of American history, realizing that the "official" histories had little connection to the reality of life as lived by ordinary people. This realization transformed him into a radical and progressive historian, part of a new class of intellectuals who gave voice to those who were not heard from in official historiographies.
Despite being a tenured professor, Zinn was dismissed from Spelman in 1963 after siding with students in their desire to challenge the college's traditional emphasis on turning out "young ladies". He joined the political science faculty at Boston University, where he taught until 1988 and currently maintains an office as professor emeritus.
Zinn became known as a vocal critic of war, particularly the Vietnam War, and was involved in the "Pentagon Papers" case. He published an analysis of the papers, which were leaked by Daniel Ellsberg, and testified as an expert witness at Ellsberg's criminal trial.
As a historian, Zinn published "A People's History of the United States" in 1980, which provides alternative perspectives on American history. The book has been widely acclaimed and has sold over one million copies.
