WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Educators from around the country will celebrate liberal historian Howard Zinn at the Indiana school whose president drew fire for calling the writer an “anti-American academic.”

Organizers of the Nov. 5 read-in at Purdue University say it symbolizes the fight against attacks on teachers by “politicians like Mitch Daniels.”

Daniels drew fire this summer when The Associated Press reported that the former governor had sought assurance that Zinn's “A People's History of the United States” wasn't being taught in Indiana's K-12 classrooms or counted toward education credit for teachers.

Critics accused Daniels of attacking academic freedom.

Purdue professor Bill Mullen tells the Journal & Courier  that Zinn is a hero to millions of Americans. He says organizers hope the event improves the lives of students, teachers and workers.