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

Privatization of Prisons Privatization of Prisons
Date: 1/8/1997Call Number: PM 323Format: Cass A & BProducers: National Public Radio (NPR)Program: Talk of the Nation with Ray SuarezCollection: Private Prisons
On this episode of Talk of the Nation with Ray Suarez, guests Joseph Johnson, Chairman and CEO of the National Corrections and Rehabilitation Corporation, and Dr. Charles Logan, Criminologist at University of Connecticut and author of "Private Prisons, Pros & Cons", discuss the pros, cons, meanings and symbolism of private prison growth. Callers frequently inquire about the profit motive of private prisons, which Johnson denies exists nor will ever influence the mission to provide the best service possible to inmates. Logan makes points such as "the demand for prisons is driven by crime, not by prison building" and "the private sector does not respond to, nor create, artificial demand."
Eric Bates on Private Prisons Eric Bates on Private Prisons
Call Number: PM 388AFormat: Cass AProgram: FlashpointsCollection: Private Prisons
Author of “Prisons for Profit” is interviewed about Correctional Corporation of America (CCA), the largest private prison corporation. He also discusses the questionable human rights practices of private prisons, connections between government officials and the CCA and communities resisting CCA’s lobbying influence.
December 10th - 1998: Fifty Years of Rights and Freedoms December 10th - 1998: Fifty Years of Rights and Freedoms
Publisher: Piles for MilesYear: 1998Format: FlyerCollection: Private Prisons
Pamphlet for 12/10/1998 event supporting San Francisco Bay Area non-profits.
Coalition for Prisoners' Rights Newsletter Coalition for Prisoners' Rights Newsletter
Publisher: Coalition for Prisoners' Rights/Prison Project of Santa FeYear: 1992Volume Number: Vol. 17-12 DecemberFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Private Prisons
Jail Business Shows Its Weakness Jail Business Shows Its Weakness
Authors: Jeff Gerth, Stephen LabatonPublisher: New York TimesYear: 1995Format: ArticleCollection: Private Prisons
The Prison Industrial Complex and the Global Economy The Prison Industrial Complex and the Global Economy
Authors: Eve Goldberg, Linda EvansPublisher: AK PressDate: 7/1998Volume Number: JulyFormat: MonographCollection: Private Prisons
Corrections a Documentary: Private Prisons are Back Corrections a Documentary: Private Prisons are Back
Publisher: The World NewsreelFormat: FlyerCollection: Private Prisons