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

Chattanooga Times Press Clippings Chattanooga Times Press Clippings
Publisher: Chattanooga TimesYear: 1998-1999Format: ArticleCollection: Chattanooga 3
A collection of reproductions of articles from the Chattanooga Times that focus on the case of the Chattanooga 3.
Prisoners of the Census Prisoners of the Census
Author: Tracy HulingPublisher: motherjones.comDate: 5/10/2000Volume Number: 10-MayFormat: ArticleCollection: Prisons - Stats, General
Reproduction of web article on people of color imprisoned in rural areas and its affect on federal funds via census data.
Jailhouse Lawyer Jailhouse Lawyer
Author: Victoria StewartPublisher: Suttertown NewsYear: 1991Format: ArticleCollection: Prisoners Union
Article clipping from March 14-21, 1991 issue.
ACLU Plans Suit to Challenge Prison Censorship ACLU Plans Suit to Challenge Prison Censorship
Author: Hanna W. RoslaPublisher: New Jersey Law JournalDate: 12/7/1992Volume Number: 7-DecFormat: ArticleCollection: Control Units
reproduction of original article.
Lessons from COINTELPRO Lessons from COINTELPRO
Author: Peter BohmerPublisher: Works In ProgressYear: 2011Volume Number: Vol. 21-12 AprilFormat: ArticleCollection: Cointelpro
Tightening the Noose of COINTELPRO Tightening the Noose of COINTELPRO
Author: Tim WeinerPublisher: The Soho Weekly NewsDate: 7/26/1979Volume Number: 26-JulFormat: ArticleCollection: Cointelpro
Reprint of original article
Surveillance Targets Push for Trial of Ex-FBI Officials Surveillance Targets Push for Trial of Ex-FBI Officials
Author: Robert PearPublisher: The Washington StarDate: 3/2/1979Volume Number: 2-MarFormat: ArticleCollection: Cointelpro
reproduction of the original article
Walking Out on the Boys Walking Out on the Boys
Author: Elizabeth L'HommedieuPublisher: Time MagazineDate: 7/8/1991Volume Number: 8-JulFormat: ArticleCollection: Violence Against Women
Original Article