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

Robert White on El Salvador Robert White on El Salvador
Date: 11/17/1989Call Number: JG/ 037AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Pacifica Radio clip of an interview with Robert White (from the Center for International Development and former ambassador to El Salvador. Under Jimmy Carter). Interview covers conditions of poverty, agriculture, health, labor, education, economy and employment/ human rights stats. Also the murders of 6 Jesuit priests on 11/16/89 by paramilitary forces and the FMLN offensive launched after the FENASTRAS and COMADRES offices were attacked 2 weeks earlier. FMLN releases a communiqué denouncing US involvement.
Focus on the Americas Separation of Media and State with Blase Bonpane, Ph.D. Focus on the Americas Separation of Media and State with Blase Bonpane, Ph.D.
Call Number: JG/ 080AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Recorded in October 1990, Blase Bonpane uses the example of Liberation Theology to illustrate the need for a separation of media and state, or media and power. Uses misrepresentation of Liberation Theology, exemplified by October 9, 1990 LA Times article, "The Cross and The Gun" by Kenneth Freed, as a framework in which to discuss media as advocates of the agenda for the affluent. Bonpane discusses liberation theology from the perspective of the poor, focusing on Central American cases, which sharply contrasts the representation of it in the article. Discussion of media acceptance of institutional violence and Imperial Theology, and its rejection of oppressed people's response to institutional violence and liberation theology. Defines Liberation Theology as based on human need, not advocating violence and in opposition to Imperial Theology which advocates the relationship between the cross and gun or cross and crown.
Sylvester Monroe Interview Sylvester Monroe Interview
Date: 1/1/1989Call Number: JG/ 143Format: Cass A & BProgram: Between the LinesCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Author of Brothers: Black & Poor, A True Story of Courage and Survival discusses his semi-autobiographical book. He examines larger media narratives of Black men and their “invisibility” in the 1980s, and debunks stereotypes by describing men’s personal experiences with poverty, social isolation, and institutional racism, following them from their youth in the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago through their adult lives.
Judy Gerber: El Salvador Report-Back Judy Gerber: El Salvador Report-Back
Date: 7/20/1990Call Number: JG/ 145AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Gerber shares her impressions of the political and popular climate in El Salvador during her visit at the time of the Civil War (1979-1992). She discusses the government’s propaganda campaign and their coercive enlistment of young men into the military, the poor living and working conditions, and the importance of efforts to demilitarize the country.
Ann Marie Mann & Cindy Lutenbacher on Nicaragua Ann Marie Mann & Cindy Lutenbacher on Nicaragua
Date: 1/1/1990Call Number: JG/ 145BFormat: Cass BProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
The activists met with many groups in Nicaragua after the election of Violeta Chamorro and the Contra government. They explain how people feel as though they are still in wartime because of economic crisis and increases in hunger and disease. The activists lament the abandonment of many Sandinista institutions and massive firings under the new regime, but they say there is no sense of defeat among the people, who declare, “Not one step back.”