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 We are also in the process of scanning and uploading thousands of historical documents which enrich our media holdings.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.

International Hotel (I-Hotel) Struggle

From 1968 to 1977, the majority Filipino and Chinese residents of the International Hotel resisted eviction from their homes and called on city leaders to provide low-rent housing that allowed people to continue to live in their communities. This collection contains extensive and unique audio recorded during interviews with residents of the I-Hotel. It also contains hundreds of documents related to the community and organizing efforts to keep residents in their homes. This includes flyers, pamphlets, legal documents, tenant association by-laws, internal strategy notes, a draft manuscript and newspaper clippings.

______

August 4, 1977 will go down in infamy as the date the City and County of San Francisco executed the most ruthless persecution and violent destruction of human life unparalleled ever except for the 1934 General Strike. The main blow was directed at Manilatown and the Filipinos who lived on Kearny Street since the early 1900's. Despite growing pressure from developers and the city, Filipino and Chinese residents of the International Hotel organized and struggled to stay in their homes.

Final evictions were carried out in 1977. For those elderly Filipinos and Chinese who fought and stood in defense of their home that night, it was a sad commentary of how inhumane their treatment and the disgrace of a city uncaring to handle the housing crisis and the homeless victims of this and other evictions. However, continued community organizing prevented the owner from building his planned development, even after the building was demolished in 1981. The hole in the ground served for years as a glaring reminder of the human costs and sacrifices to defend affordable housing for minorities and the poor.

In 1994 the owner agreed to sell the property to the Catholic diocese, leading to the construction of a new I-Hotel of low-cost senior housing with a Filipino community center which opened in 2005.

Documents

Felix Ayson I-Hotel Felix Ayson I-Hotel
Publisher: The Freedom ArchivesFormat: mp3Collection: International Hotel (I-Hotel) Struggle
Felix Ayson speaks against the eviction of residents of the I-hotel in August, 1977.
Andres Alegria reports from the I-Hotel Andres Alegria reports from the I-Hotel
Publisher: The Freedom ArchivesFormat: mp3Collection: International Hotel (I-Hotel) Struggle
Short clip of Andres Alegria reporting as San Francisco Police sledgehammer doors of occupied apartments at the I-Hotel eviction, August 1977.
Felix Ayson on Unity at the I-Hotel Struggle Felix Ayson on Unity at the I-Hotel Struggle
Publisher: The Freedom ArchivesFormat: mp3Collection: International Hotel (I-Hotel) Struggle
Felix Ayson speaks of unity at the International Hotel anti-eviction rally.
I-Hotel Demonstration Audio I-Hotel Demonstration Audio
Publisher: The Freedom ArchivesFormat: mp3Collection: International Hotel (I-Hotel) Struggle
Audio describing the demonstration at the I-Hotel on August 4th 1977.
Live at the I-Hotel Live at the I-Hotel
Publisher: The Freedom ArchivesFormat: mp3Collection: International Hotel (I-Hotel) Struggle
Compilation of audio clips taken from the demonstration and eviction of residents at the I-Hotel on August 4th 1977.
Photograph of the I-Hotel Photograph of the I-Hotel
Format: GraphicCollection: International Hotel (I-Hotel) Struggle
Photograph of I-hotel. Banner reads: tent city Mosconeville to hell with their profits we wont move!!
International Hotel (I-Hotel) Interview Clips International Hotel (I-Hotel) Interview Clips
Call Number: Format: Video ClipCollection: International Hotel (I-Hotel) Struggle
Multiple residents from the I-Hotel practice for potential media interviews and speak on their lives at the I-Hotel, options for re-location, outside supporters of the I-Hotel, the possible eviction, etc.