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

The Radical Underground in America The Radical Underground in America
Date: 1/29/1975Call Number: KP 008Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Earl OfariCollection: Black Liberation
This documentary produced by Earl Ofari contains a wide array of voices about the importance of the underground in revolutionary struggle; from FBI director Clarence Kelly and Attorney General William Saxbe to Kathleen Cleaver, Herman Bell and Mark Allen. There is music by Smokey Robinson.
Paul Robeson sings Paul Robeson sings
Call Number: KP 057Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson, sings “Joe Hill”.
Sweet Honey in the Rock 20th Anniversary concert Sweet Honey in the Rock 20th Anniversary concert
Date: 1/1/1993Call Number: KP 096Format: CassetteCollection: Black Arts
Concert at Howard University campus, 1993. Sweet Honey in the Rock is a Grammy Award winning African-American female a cappella ensemble, founded by Bernice Johnson Reagon. The group’s music is rooted in the tradition of spirituals, hymns, and gospel, as well as jazz and blues. Their repertoire includes many songs promoting political and social justice. The concert is preceded by a ritual drumming ceremony tribute accompanied by a performance by members of a martial arts academy, followed by a brief reading of an excerpt from the anthology _We Who Believe in Freedom_, the first book put out by the group. Commentators review the group’s history and philosophy. Tape covers only first half of concert (ten songs, including “Spiritual”, “Ballad of the Broken Word”, “No Mirrors”, “In This Land”, “Patchwork Quilt” etc), then cuts out abruptly.
Maya Angelou-- Collage of music and poetry Maya Angelou-- Collage of music and poetry
Date: 2/16/1982Call Number: KP 100Format: CassetteProgram: Freedom is a Constant StruggleCollection: Black Arts
Four Maya Angelou poems from a benefit reading in 1972 for Angela Davis, interspersed with jazz and blues music for a radio program called “Freedom is a Constant Struggle”. Poems: Harlem Hopscotch, Time-Square Shoe-Shine Composition, Harriet Tubman (?) (by Margaret Walker), For My People (by Margaret Walker).
Interview with Bernice Reagon Interview with Bernice Reagon
Call Number: KP 103Format: CassetteCollection: Black Arts
Founding member of political and spiritual a cappella vocal ensembles, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Bernice Reagon discusses the role of culture, the church, and music in the black community; focusing on how these elements contribute to the "self-definition and self-concept" of the community and their role in developing and maintaining resistance to oppression. She also discusses her experiences as a musician and her artistic approaches to singing and song writing. Most of interview is fine. Terrible hum comes in at 15 32.
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz Malcolm X: A Session of Malcolm X El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz Malcolm X: A Session of Malcolm X
Date: 3/13/2004Call Number: CD 285Format: CDProducers: Lecroy RhyanesProgram: Soul SessionCollection: Malcolm X
Speeches of Malcolm X mixed with soul music. CD 2 of 2.
Radio Free Dixie Radio Free Dixie
Date: 5/28/1965Call Number: RFW 014Format: CDProgram: Radio Free DixieCollection: Robert F. Williams!
We have no legal rights to reproduce or distribute this item! Blues, social conditions 1890-1940s, made in UK, artists anonymous, Blues in the Mississippi Night proudly dedicated to the gallant freedom fighters resolutely struggling against US racism and imperialism
Radio Free Dixie Radio Free Dixie
Date: 5/28/1965Call Number: RFW 015Format: CDProgram: Radio Free DixieCollection: Robert F. Williams!
We have no legal rights to reproduce or distribute this item! Blues in the Mississippi Night, part 1 - all material on this CD is the same as the material on RFW 014
Radio Free Dixie Radio Free Dixie
Date: 5/28/1965Call Number: RFW 016Format: CDProgram: Radio Free DixieCollection: Robert F. Williams!
We have no legal rights to reproduce or distribute this item! Blues in the Mississippi Night, part 2 - chain gang songs, stories from former chain gang workers, some material repeated on RFW 014
Protest Songs Protest Songs
Call Number: RFW 059Format: CDCollection: Robert F. Williams!
We have no legal rights to reproduce or distribute this item! Protest Songs