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There are many ways to search the collections of the Freedom Archives. Below is a brief guide that will help you conduct effective searches. Note, anytime you search for anything in the Freedom Archives, the first results that appear will be our digitized items. Information for items that have yet to be scanned or yet to be digitized can still be viewed, but only by clicking on the show link that will display the hidden (non-digitized) items. If you are interested in accessing these non-digitized materials, please email info@freedomarchives.org.
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Under the heading Browse By Collection, you’ll notice most of the Freedom Archives’ major collections. These collections have an image as well as a short description of what you’ll find in that collection. Click on that image to instantly explore that specific collection.
Basic Searching
You can always type what you’re looking for into the search bar. Certain searches may generate hundreds of results, so sometimes it will help to use quotation marks to help narrow down your results. For instance, searching for the phrase Black Liberation will generate all of our holdings that contain the words Black and Liberation, while searching for “Black Liberation” (in quotation marks) will only generate our records that have those two words next to each other.
Advanced Searching
The Freedom Archives search site also understands Boolean search logic, specifcally AND/+, NOT/-, and OR operators. Click on this link for a brief tutorial on how to use Boolean search logic. Our search function also understands “fuzzy searches.” Fuzzy searches utilize the (*) and will find matches even when users misspell words or enter in only partial words for the search. For example, searching for liber* will produce results for liberation/liberate/liberates/etc.
Keyword Searches
You’ll notice that under the heading KEYWORDS, there are a number of words, phrases or names that describe content. Sometimes these are also called “tags.” Clicking on these words is essentially the same as conducting a basic search.
Welcome to the Freedom Archives' Digital Search Engine.The Freedom Archives contains over 12,000 hours of audio and video recordings which date from the late-1960s to the mid-90s and chronicle the progressive history of the Bay Area, the United States, and international movements. We are also in the process of scanning and uploading thousands of historical documents which enrich our media holdings. Our collection includes weekly news, poetry, music programs; in-depth interviews and reports on social and cultural issues; numerous voices from behind prison walls; diverse activists; and pamphlets, journals and other materials from many radical organizations and movements.

Native American Movement Prisoners

This collection contains materials on Native American Political Prisoners such as Leonard Peltier, Patrick "Hooty" Croy, Norma Jean Croy, and others.

Subcollections

  • Norma Jean Croy
    Norma Jean Croy
    Norma Jean Croy served 18 years for a 1979 incident in which she was shot by an off duty FBI agent. Although she did not hold a gun during the incident, which a judge ruled an accident, she was forced to remain in prison until 1997.
  • Patrick Hooty Croy
    Patrick Hooty Croy
    Patrick Hooty Croy is a Karok-Shasta Indian from Yreka, CA who shot and killed a police officer in self-defense in July 1978. Croy was sentenced to death but after a second trial was ultimately acquitted on murder charges and released.
  • Eddie Hatcher
    Eddie Hatcher
    Eddie Hatcher was a Native American activist who fought government corruption in Robeson County North Carolina. Hatcher was imprisoned a number of times and died in prison in 2009.
  • Bear Lincoln
    Bear Lincoln
    Bear Lincoln became an icon for Indian rights and social justice activists after he was acquitted of murdering a deputy sheriff on the Round Valley Indian Reservation in 1995.
  • Leonard Peltier
    Leonard Peltier
    Leonard Peltier is a Native American activist who was convicted of aiding in the killing of two FBI agents during a shootout on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975. Sentenced to prison in 1977, Peltier is still incarcerated today.
  • Little Rock Reed
    Little Rock Reed
    Little Rock Reed was a Native American activist and author. While incarcerated he violated parole, citing that he was a political prisoner which was upheld by the 1995 ruling of Judge Peggy Nelson in New Mexico.

Documents

From the Arawak Indians to Norma Jean Croy: 500 Years of Resistance From the Arawak Indians to Norma Jean Croy: 500 Years of Resistance
Publisher: Gay American Indians, Norma Jean Croy Defense Committee, Out of Control - Lesbian Committee to Support Women Political Prisoners, Lesbians and Gays Against Intervention, Revolting Lesbians, The On Our Rag CollectiveYear: 1992Format: Event ProgramCollection: Norma Jean Croy
Event Program for Lesbian and Gay Benefit for Norma Jean Croy
Free Norma Jean Croy Free Norma Jean Croy
Publisher: Norma Jean Croy Defense CommitteeFormat: FlyerCollection: Norma Jean Croy
Flyer about what you can do to help free Norma Jean Croy.
Statement of Facts Statement of Facts
Publisher: Norma Jean Croy Defense CommitteeFormat: StatementCollection: Norma Jean Croy
A narrative of the events surrounding the arrest of Norma Jean and Patrick "Hooty" Croy.
Eddie Hatcher Execution Date??? Eddie Hatcher Execution Date???
Publisher: The Eddie Hatcher Defense CommitteeFormat: PamphletCollection: Eddie Hatcher
Pamphlet on the history of Eddie Hatcher's case, imprisonment and call for his execution.
Join the Campaign of Non-Violent Civil Disobedience to Free Leonard Peltier Join the Campaign of Non-Violent Civil Disobedience to Free Leonard Peltier
Publisher: Leonard Peltier Defense CommitteeYear: 1998Format: FlyerCollection: Leonard Peltier
Flyer for the 12/19/1998 start of a national nonviolent civil disobedience campaign
Leonard Peltier - What Warriors Do Leonard Peltier - What Warriors Do
Collection: Leonard Peltier
Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier discusses the responsibility of a warrior.
In Total Resistance: Statements and Poetry from Leonard Peltier, Standing Deer, Bobby Garcia In Total Resistance: Statements and Poetry from Leonard Peltier, Standing Deer, Bobby Garcia
Publisher: Leonard Peltier Support GroupDate: 12/19/1980Format: MonographCollection: Leonard Peltier
Booklet in memory of Bobby Gene Garcia, who suspiciously died in Terre Haute Federal Prison in December, 1980.
Leonard Peltier Freedom Calendar Leonard Peltier Freedom Calendar
Publisher: Leonard Peltier Support GroupYear: 1995Call Number: Format: EphemeraCollection: Leonard Peltier
1995 calendar with artwork by Leonard Peltier and and other incarcerated artists who participated in the Crazy Horse Spirit Prisoner Arts Program. The idea for the program came from Leonard who recommended the LPDC show other prisoners' artwork along with his. The calendar includes a timeline of events from Peltier's lifetime and relevant to the American Indian Movement (AIM).
Reason to Fear: The Cultural Defense of Hooty Croy Reason to Fear: The Cultural Defense of Hooty Croy
Author: Denise FerryYear: 1992Format: MonographCollection: Patrick Hooty Croy
Capitalizing on Race and Culture: The Croy Acquittal and its Application to Future Cases. Defense Case Outline to Accompany the Video