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

Ruben Scott/Doron Weinberg Ruben Scott/Doron Weinberg
Date: 12/2/1975Call Number: PM 146Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: BLA
Ruben Scott recounts his arrest, torture, and imprisonment in New Orleans. Attorney Doron Weinberg, speaks about repression against the Black movement, police plans to capture and frame Herman Bell, and police surveillance and torture of Ruben Scott.
Ruben Scott Interview Ruben Scott Interview
Date: 12/2/1975Call Number: PM 202Format: Cass A & BProducers: Claude MarksCollection: BLA
In this interview Scott discusses the circumstances of his arrest. Sep. 3rd, Scott was detained and beaten, charged with two counts of assault. Originally Scott was stopped for indecent exposure but never charged. Scott was charged with assault after defending himself from an unidentified officer whom had cocked his gun in Scotts face. Bail was set at $5000 and he was out on bond the next day. 8/25 Scoot was detained after being tailed since 7/3. Scott was arrested again, where he and a couple others were repeatedly beaten and questioned about a bank robbery as well as the where about of others.
BLA escape - Pat Swinton BLA escape - Pat Swinton
Date: 5/30/1975Call Number: PM 258Format: Cass A & BProducers: Claude MarksCollection: BLA
An elaborate prison escape involving two black liberation members from the Brooklyn House of Detention. Juan Pedro Mengues and Melvin Kearney were able to escape using a makeshift rope made of sheets. Sadly, Melvin fell to his death, Juan was captured running to the getaway car. The BLA statement takes credit and criticizes the treatment of political prisoners. Interview with just captured Pat Swinton, who explains her experiences in Rikers Island prison, gaining bail, her goals to keep the movement going in Vermont, and the unjust ways political prisoners are being treated.
Looking Back Looking Back
Author: Unit 3 B.L.A.Publisher: BLA Coordinating CommitteeYear: 1975Format: ReportCollection: BLA