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. 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.

Search Results

Citizens Protest Prison Lockdown Citizens Protest Prison Lockdown
Author: Kirk MottramPublisher: Daily EgyptianYear: 1997Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of 10/27/1997 article accounting the 10/25/1997 protest.
Herbert Blyden, 61, Speaker for Inmates in Attica Revolt Herbert Blyden, 61, Speaker for Inmates in Attica Revolt
Author: Robert McG. Thomas Jr.Publisher: New York TimesYear: 1997Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of 9/24/1997 obituary
Akil Al-Jundi, Inmate Turned Legal Advocate, Is Dead at 56 Akil Al-Jundi, Inmate Turned Legal Advocate, Is Dead at 56
Author: Robert McG. Thomas Jr.Publisher: New York TimesYear: 1997Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of 8/20/1997 obituary.
Ex-Attica Inmate Wins $4 Million in Suit Over Reprisals After 1971 Uprising; Letter on commemoration event for Attica rebellion Ex-Attica Inmate Wins $4 Million in Suit Over Reprisals After 1971 Uprising; Letter on commemoration event for Attica rebellion
Author: Robert D. McFaddenPublisher: New York Times; Committee to End the Marion LockdownYear: 1997Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of article on 2.8 billion liability suit filed by former Attica inmates, including featured Frank Smith, in 1974. Request for donations and advertisement for event commemorating Attica rebellion
Community Whipping Pose: Abolish Racist Prisons Community Whipping Pose: Abolish Racist Prisons
Authors: Rosa Kurshan-Emmer, Nancy KurshanPublisher: Antioch RecordYear: 1996Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of article on the principles of Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Impressions of the Florence AD-MAX ITFC tour Impressions of the Florence AD-MAX ITFC tour
Author: Edelle CorrineYear: 1994Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Personal account of a tour of USP Florence control unit. 10/24/1994
Don't Believe the Hype Don't Believe the Hype
Publisher: Chicago ReaderYear: 1994Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of 10/4/1994 1 page advertisement for the Campaign to Confront the Racist Imprisonment Binge and the Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.
Prison: town Takes Good With Bad Prison: town Takes Good With Bad
Author: Laurie GeoringPublisher: Chicago TribuneYear: 1993Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Reproduction of newspaper clipping. Article on opinions of the Tamms, Ill. Community on the building of a Supermax prison in the area. 10/24/1993
Letter to Douglas Dougherty: Appendix G: Maxed Out Letter to Douglas Dougherty: Appendix G: Maxed Out
Publisher: Illinois TimesYear: 1993Format: ArticleCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown