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

Psychiatrists and Cops: Unholy Alliance Psychiatrists and Cops: Unholy Alliance
Author: Philip ShapiroPublisher: New American MovementYear: 1973Volume Number: Vol. 3-1 SeptemberFormat: ArticleCollection: Mental Health
Original article discussing the relationship between law enforcement, prison authorities and psychiatry.
Senators Critical of Violence Study Senators Critical of Violence Study
Author: David PerlmanPublisher: San Francisco ChronicleDate: 5/31/1973Volume Number: 31-MayFormat: ArticleCollection: Mental Health
Original Article
Violence Study Center Defended by Researcher Violence Study Center Defended by Researcher
Author: David PerlmanPublisher: San Francisco ChronicleDate: 5/31/1973Volume Number: 31-MayFormat: ArticleCollection: Mental Health
Original Article
Grant Proposal for establishment of a Maximum Psychiatric Diagnostic Unit Grant Proposal for establishment of a Maximum Psychiatric Diagnostic Unit
Publisher: California Council on Criminal JusticeDate: 11/11/1971Volume Number: 11-NovFormat: ProposalCollection: Mental Health
Grant proposal for the California Department of Corrections to establish a Maximum Psychiatric Diagnostic Unit
Compilation of Correspondances between Elsa Knight Thompson re: request for funds, etc. Compilation of Correspondances between Elsa Knight Thompson re: request for funds, etc.
Author: Elsa Knight ThompsonFormat: CompilationCollection: Mental Health
Letter regarding the "A Clockwork Orange? Psychiatric Experimentation on Prisoners" conference
Letter to Mr. Pete Steffens Letter to Mr. Pete Steffens
Author: Catherine RosenburgPublisher: Louis M. Rabinowitz FoundationFormat: CorrespondenceCollection: Mental Health
Letter to Elsa Knight Thompson and Pete Steffens regarding their application for a pamphlet on psychiatric experimentation on prisoners
Author: Pete SteffensFormat: CorrespondenceCollection: Mental Health
Letter from Pete Steffens to Victor Rabinowitz
Prison Psychiatry: The Clockwork Cure Prison Psychiatry: The Clockwork Cure
Author: Bernard WeinerPublisher: The NationYear: 1972Volume Number: Vol. 214-14 April 3Format: ArticleCollection: Mental Health
Article about aversion therapy, routinely practiced in California's prison system. Article further investigates medical and mental health practices at Vacaville Prison.
The Return of Lobotomy and Psychosurgery The Return of Lobotomy and Psychosurgery
Author: Hon. Cornelius E. GallagherPublisher: The Congressional RecordYear: 1972Volume Number: Vol. 118-26 February 24Format: Government DocumentCollection: Mental Health
The Return of Lobotomy and Psychosurgery
Mutilating' Surgery on The Brain Mutilating' Surgery on The Brain
Author: David PerlmanPublisher: San Francisco ChronicleDate: 4/7/1972Volume Number: 7-AprFormat: ArticleCollection: Mental Health
Original Article