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

Herman Bell Out-takes Herman Bell Out-takes
Date: 9/16/1974Call Number: PM 078Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Claude MarksCollection: Herman Bell
Herman Bell talks about Gerald Ford’s appointment and the double standard for justice in the US. Discusses the dehumanization and demasculinization of prisoners and alienation from work. Compares the experiences of native people during colonization to redevelopment of communities in cities at present. Discusses the process of moving people toward consciousness and the US Health Department’s pattern of genocide throughout history.
Herman Bell - Special Report Herman Bell - Special Report
Date: 9/28/1974Call Number: PM 079Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Claude MarksCollection: Herman Bell
Herman Bell talks about his conviction on three felony charges stemming from a Bank of America robbery in San Francisco. The New York Five case is discussed. Discusses means of struggle - sword/pen, reflects on history and future goals.
Herman Bell Interview Herman Bell Interview
Date: 6/13/1974Call Number: PM 081Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Claude MarksCollection: Herman Bell
Interview done by Claude Marks Marks with Black Liberation Army member Herman Bell. Bell discusses the need for organizing within the black community and the means of strengthening itself through resistance and struggle. The SLA and Black Liberation Army are discussed extensively.
Interview with Herman Bell Interview with Herman Bell
Date: 11/14/1973Call Number: PM 161Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Claude MarksProgram: KPFACollection: Herman Bell
Claude Marks interviews Herman Bell by telephone in New York. Bell talks about his arrest in New Orleans and the police methods used to apprehend him. The criminal charges against him in NY, along with the biased media coverage during his trial are discussed, as is the San Francisco Homicide Squads role in his arrest. Bell defines the Black Liberation Army and talks about fellow political prisoners and their treatment by police. Institutional racism is described as are his political goals for the future.
Interviews with Herman Bell Interviews with Herman Bell
Date: 9/16/1974Call Number: PM 162Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: KPFACollection: Herman Bell
Compilation of interview clips with Herman Bell. Among the topics discussed are Bell’s bank robbery conviction in San Francisco, the history of black rebellions in America, and methods of encouraging people to organize and participate in revolutionary change. There are frequent references to the Black Liberation Army, Black Liberation Army, SLA, Symbionese Liberation Army, and the Weather Underground. Prison conditions and police harassment are also brought up.
Interview with Herman Bell Interview with Herman Bell
Date: 6/21/1974Call Number: PM 164Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Claude MarksProgram: KPFACollection: Herman Bell
Black Panther Herman Bell talks openly about the criminal charges filed against him in New York and San Francisco. The discussion also ranges from examples of police corruption and the relationship between the police and the black community, to the need for “people’s” media outlets to compete with the ruling classes monopoly on information dissemination. Later in the tape Bell talks of the possibility of bringing the case of Human Rights abuses in the U.S. to the attention of the United Nations. And he ends with his analysis of what the differences are between a “real” revolutionary and a superficial one.
Herman Bell - Partial Out-takes Herman Bell - Partial Out-takes
Date: 6/13/1974Call Number: PM 080Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Claude MarksCollection: Herman Bell
Herman Bell talks about Marcus Foster’s assasination and CIA affiliation and the replication of South African aparteid in San Francisco. Discusses his arrest in New Orleans, the practices of intimidation and torture used by police in New Orleans, and the shooting of Twymon Myers in New York.
Herman Bell Interview Herman Bell Interview
Date: 3/21/1988Call Number: V 041Format: SVHSCollection: Herman Bell
Herman Bell Interviewed in 1988 for the making of a video on the ‘New York 3’ and their legal case. The New York 3 includes Jalil Muntaqim, Herman Bell and Nuh Washington. Part 1 of the raw interview in prison.
Herman Bell Interview Herman Bell Interview
Date: 3/21/1988Call Number: V 042Format: SVHSCollection: Herman Bell
Herman Bell Interviewed in 1988 for the making of a video on the ‘New York 3’ and their legal case. The New York 3 includes Jalil Muntaqim, Herman Bell and Nuh Washington. Part 2 of the raw interview in prison.
Interview with Herman Bell Interview with Herman Bell
Date: 6/13/1974Call Number: PM 206Format: Cass A & BProducers: Claude MarksCollection: Herman Bell
Interview with Herman Bell by Claude Marks about the Black Liberation Movement, his refections on political realities for Black communities and the politics of liberation and resistance; his capture in New Orleans; the torture of Black Liberation Army members by the police; BLA members murdered by police in New York; and his vision for the future.