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

Mass Incarceration and Control Units in Prisons: Mind Control or Social Control? Mass Incarceration and Control Units in Prisons: Mind Control or Social Control?
Date: 10/21/1995Call Number: PM 336Format: Cass A & BProducers: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown (CEML)Collection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Mind Control or Social Control? About closing the control units at Marion Prison. Nancy Kurshan of CEML (Committee to End the Marion Lockdown), Dr. Alan Berkman who has provided medical care for Black Liberation Army and Panther members as well as AIM activists at Wounded Knee in the 1970s. Berkman also speaks about being a former political prisoner, the prison system and control units as forms of social control which target revolutionary movements. Film segments about former LA gang member and Pelican Bay prisoner Sanyika Shakur. Transcript available for download.
Law and Order Hysteria and the US Imprisonment Binge Law and Order Hysteria and the US Imprisonment Binge
Date: 8/22/1994Call Number: V 361Format: VHSProducers: The Campaign to Confront the Racist Imprisonment Binge, the National Lawyers Guild Chicago ChapterCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Forum held at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois about racism in prisons - includes testimonies of formerly incarcerated people. Moderated by Erica Thompson, Speakers: Jerome Miller, Carlos Vega, Randolph Stone.
Judge Bruce Wright on racism Judge Bruce Wright on racism
Date: 11/4/1989Call Number: PM 428Format: Cass A & BProducers: Konnections, Commitee to End the Marion LockdownCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Introduction by Nancy Kurshan and preliminary comments by Jose Lopez. Lecture by Bruce Wright, judge, scholar, poet and activist for social justice. Using his own experience as a Black man, he describes the history of US racism and the criminal justice system. Transcript available for download: http://freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC3_scans/3.wright.speech.bangs.whispers.1989.pdf
Judge Bruce Wright Speaks Judge Bruce Wright Speaks
Publisher: Committee to End the Marion LockdownCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
In a speech given on November 4th 1989, Judge Bruce Wright talks about the legacy of racism in the courts. He specifically focuses on how the US Supreme Court has served as a historical ally of institutional racism in the United States.
Law and Order Hysteria and the US Imprisonment Binge Law and Order Hysteria and the US Imprisonment Binge
Date: 8/22/1994Call Number: V 684Format: VHSProducers: The Campaign to Confront the Racist Imprisonment Binge, the National Lawyers Guild Chicago ChapterCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Forum held at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois about racism in prisons - includes testimonies of formerly incarcerated people. Moderated by Erica Thompson, Speakers: Jerome Miller, Carlos Vega, Randolph Stone.
Law and Order Hysteria and the US Imprisonment Binge Law and Order Hysteria and the US Imprisonment Binge
Date: 8/22/1994Call Number: V 683Format: VHSProducers: The Campaign to Confront the Racist Imprisonment Binge, the National Lawyers Guild Chicago ChapterCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Forum held at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois about racism in prisons - includes testimonies of formerly incarcerated people. Moderated by Erica Thompson, Speakers: Jerome Miller, Carlos Vega, Randolph Stone.
Committee to End the Marion Lockdown Conference Panel 2 Committee to End the Marion Lockdown Conference Panel 2
Date: 10/1/1988Call Number: PM 443Format: Cass A & BProducers: Committee to End the Marion LockdownCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Bernard Headly presents on Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners by the Society of Jurists. Fred Deppe discusses the state of third world people in the US and the relationship between Committee to End the Marion Lockdown and the struggle against white supremacy.
Committee to End the Marion Lockdown Conference Panel 2 Committee to End the Marion Lockdown Conference Panel 2
Date: 10/1/1988Call Number: PM 442Format: Cass A & BProducers: Committee to End the Marion LockdownCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Bernard Headly presents on Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners by the Society of Jurists. Fred Deppe discusses the state of third world people in the US and the relationship between Committee to End the Marion Lockdown and the struggle against white supremacy.