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

Medical Neglect, Control Units, Women in Prison Medical Neglect, Control Units, Women in Prison
Date: 10/21/1996Call Number: PM 309Format: Cass A & BProducers: Prison Activist Resource Center PARCProgram: Prison Activist RadioCollection: Prisons - Women
News about the prison industrial complex and prisoners. Judy Greenspan, director of HIV/AIDS in Prison Project, about compassionate release and women with AIDS. Also Catherine Campbell, an attorney with California Prison Focus, discusses the culture of violence at prisons, verbal provocations by the guards, mandates to confine members of rival gangs in same yard. Jean Stewart from the Disabled Prisoners' Justice Fund discusses the Armstrong case and the growing, neglected population of disabled prisoners and its causes. Karen Shain from Legal Services for Prisoners with Children speaks about women in prison and the class action law suits that are filed for work release, prenatal care, mother and infant programs, HIV. Herman Bell of the New York Three and former member of the Black Panther Party, discusses the need for support of political prisoners.
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.
Stop Forced Sterilization Now!/ Alto A Esterilizacion Forzada Stop Forced Sterilization Now!/ Alto A Esterilizacion Forzada
Publisher: The Committee to Stop Forced SterilizationFormat: MonographCollection: Sterilization
Bilingual Monograph
No Forced Sterilization No Forced Sterilization
Format: FlyerCollection: Sterilization
Flyer
Emigration and Sterilization in Puerto Rico Emigration and Sterilization in Puerto Rico
Author: Bonnie MassPublisher: Latin America Working GroupYear: 1976Format: ExcerptCollection: Sterilization
From Population target : the political economy of population control in Latin America
Sterilization Abuse of Women: the Facts Sterilization Abuse of Women: the Facts
Author: Committee to End Sterilization AbusePublisher: Health/PAC BulletinYear: 1975Volume Number: No. 62 January-FebruaryFormat: PamphletCollection: Sterilization
Fact sheet on the sterilization of women of color.
Abortion rights vs. Terrorism Abortion rights vs. Terrorism
Publisher: Clinic Defense CommitteeFormat: FlyerCollection: Violence Against Women
Information on how to resist the anti-abortion movement and the attacks on clinics.