Search Help

How does this work?
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.
Exploring the Collections without the Search Bar
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 We are also in the process of scanning and uploading thousands of historical documents which enrich our media holdings.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.

San Francisco 8 (SF8)

The San Francisco 8 (SF8) are former members and associates of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense who resisted Joint Terrorism Task Force questioning in 2003, refused to testify before a San Francisco Grand Jury in 2005 and were eventually charged in 2007 by California Attorney General Jerry Brown with a 1971 attack on the Ingleside police station that resulted in the death of a police sergeant. This 30 + year-old cold case was revived post September 11, 2001 to re-criminalize the Black Liberation Movement. The case raised issues of police abuse and the role of the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) during the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1973, thirteen Black Panthers were arrested in New Orleans, purportedly in connection with the San Francisco events. Several of them were tortured to exact confessions and collaboration. In 1975, a Federal Court in San Francisco prevented the use of statements made under torture and obtained in New Orleans. All charges were subsequently dismissed. 30 years later, the San Francisco Police Department, along with the FBI and other agencies, re-opened the case. 

The Freedom Archives played an active role in the Campaign to Free the San Francisco 8. The archive produced the documentary, Legacy of Torture, in 2007, discussing the tortures in New Orleans and the history of COINTELPRO targeting the Black Liberation Movement. The film was used as an organizing tool for the campaign which succeeded in forcing the state to drop charges against most of the defendants.

This collection contains materials related to the campaign to Free the SF8, including informational brochures, pamphlets and web files. It also contains a number of news articles about the case. 

View the Legacy of Torture on Vimeo or Purchase a Copy.

Documents

Solidarity, Support, Justice! Standing with the SF8 Solidarity, Support, Justice! Standing with the SF8
Publisher: Committee for the Defense of Human RightsCall Number: Format: PamphletCollection: San Francisco 8 (SF8)
Words of solidarity with the San Francisco 8 issued by political prisoners such as Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu Jamal, Sundiata Acoli, Russell Maroon Shoats, and more. Opens with statements from Jalil Muntaqim and Herman Bell, two members of the SF8, on the SF 8 case and its larger implications.
Torture Methods Similar to Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib used against members of Black Panther Party Torture Methods Similar to Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib used against members of Black Panther Party
Publisher: Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR)Call Number: Format: PamphletCollection: San Francisco 8 (SF8)
This brochure includes sections covering the relationship between COINTELPRO and the Black Panther Party; details of the 1973 torture which took place in New Orleans; statements from Harold Taylor, John Bowman, Hank Jones, Ray Boudreaux, Richard Brown, and more.