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

Behind Bars, Reaching Out to Others Behind Bars, Reaching Out to Others
Author: James BrookePublisher: New York TimesFormat: ArticleCollection: Prison Labor
Reproduction of article
Recession Update Recession Update
Publisher: Left Business ObserverFormat: ArticleCollection: Prison Labor
Reproduction of article
Prisoners at Work Prisoners at Work
Author: Sam WhitingPublisher: San Francisco ChronicleYear: 1996Format: ArticleCollection: Prison Labor
Clipping from 10/24/1996 issue
Prison Blues: An Audit Find the State's Inmate Work Program isn't Working Prison Blues: An Audit Find the State's Inmate Work Program isn't Working
Author: Maureen O'HaganPublisher: Willamette WeekYear: 1996Format: ArticleCollection: Prison Labor
Clipping from 12/27/1996 issue
Hard Time: From Alabama's Past, Capitalism and Racism In a Cruel Partnership Hard Time: From Alabama's Past, Capitalism and Racism In a Cruel Partnership
Author: Douglas A. BlackmonPublisher: Wall Street JournalYear: 2001Format: ArticleCollection: Prison Labor
Clipping from 7/16/2001 issue
The Prison-Industrial Complex The Prison-Industrial Complex
Author: Eric SchlosserPublisher: Atlantic MonthlyYear: 1998Format: ArticleCollection: Prison Labor
Reproduction of article from December 1998 issue
Rethinking the Big Crackdown Rethinking the Big Crackdown
Author: Christian ParentiPublisher: ColorlinesYear: 1999Format: ArticleCollection: Prison Labor
Reproduction of article featured in Winter 1990 issue of Colorlines
The Prison Industrial Complex & the Global Economy The Prison Industrial Complex & the Global Economy
Authors: Eve Goldberg, Linda EvansPublisher: Prison Activist Year: 1997Format: ArticleCollection: Prison Labor
Reproduction of article forwarded by Tom Burghardt.
The Bottom Line: California's Prison Industry Authority The Bottom Line: California's Prison Industry Authority
Author: Willie WiselyYear: 1996Format: ArticleCollection: Prison Labor
Reproduction of article originally printed in California Prisoners and Prison Legal News
Inside Job$: Legalized US Prison Sweatshops Can Cost You Your Job Inside Job$: Legalized US Prison Sweatshops Can Cost You Your Job
Publisher: People's Weekly WorldYear: 1996Format: ArticleCollection: Prison Labor
Spread: Pages 12-13 of 2/3/1996