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

A Double Sentence- AIDS in Prisons A Double Sentence- AIDS in Prisons
Call Number: JG/ 007Producers: Judy GerberCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
"A Double Sentence- AIDS in Prisons" California male prisoners with AIDS are sent to insufficient facility in Vacaville and totally removed from the rest of the prison population
Capital Punishment Discussion Capital Punishment Discussion
Call Number: JG/ 056Collection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
An interview of/discussion between Curtis Sliwa (Founder of Guardian Angels) and Karima Wicks of the Legal Defense Fund and Capital Punishment Project of the NAACP on the issue of the death penalty and capital punishment. Race/Class in punishment. Disproportionate sentencing.
Principles of Unity [Draft] Principles of Unity [Draft]
Publisher: Women's Committee Against GenocideVolume Number: JuneCollection: Women Against Imperialism
Manifesto and unifying statement.
Dream of a Free Country: Message from Nicaraguan Women Dream of a Free Country: Message from Nicaraguan Women
Publisher: Women Against ImperialismCollection: Women Against Imperialism
Advertisement for film screening.
On the History of Lesbianism On the History of Lesbianism
Author: Judy GrahnProducers: Barbara Lubinski, Heber DreherCollection: Gender and Sexuality
Poet Judy Grahn recited one of her best known poems "On the History of Lesbianism".
Meridel Le Sueur "Let the Bird of the Earth Fly" Meridel Le Sueur "Let the Bird of the Earth Fly"
Collection: Gender and Sexuality
Meridel Le Sueur, with Matthew Siegel on flute, recites part of her poem - "Let the Bird of Earth Fly". Meridel was a lifelong revolutionary, writer, and feminist visionary of French, Irish, and Lakota ancestry, and a Minnesota-based supporter of AIM and all liberation struggles.
Charisse Shumate: Fighting for Our Lives Charisse Shumate: Fighting for Our Lives
Publisher: Freedom Archives; California Coalition for Women PrisonersCollection: Gender and Sexuality
This 37-minute video was created in collaboration with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and focuses on the life of Charisse Shumate and women in California state prisons. It includes amazing prison interviews as well as materials from State Senate hearings on conditions for women in the California State Prison System and historical video footage of Charisse and her family.
Rape, Racism, and Reality Rape, Racism, and Reality
Author: Deb FriedmanPublisher: QuestYear: 1979Volume Number: 1979Collection: Women Against Imperialism
On the interaction of rape and racism as supporting the chauvinist Anglo-centric social order.
A Brief History of Lesbian Oppression: Or, If Lesbianism is so Groovy, How Come Everybody Hates Us? A Brief History of Lesbian Oppression: Or, If Lesbianism is so Groovy, How Come Everybody Hates Us?
Publisher: Women Against ImperialismCollection: Women Against Imperialism
A brief history of lesbian specific homophobia, ant-gay laws, and its interaction with misogyny.