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.

El Salvador

This collection features materials about El Salvador, primarily focusing on its post-colonial period and subsequent civil war. El Salvador has felt the prolonged effects of colonialism since its independence in 1821. After independence, the country was governed by wealthy families who controlled the economic stability of El Salvador. Many of our materials focus on the freedom fighter Farabundo Marti, who led a popular rebellion in the 1930s but was unsuccessful. Between the 1930s and the 1980s, oppressive regimes continued to control El Salvador and poverty and political violence was common. Many opposition parties rose as tensions continued to grow. In 1981 five revolutionary organizations formed to create Frente Farabundo Marti para La Liberacion Nacional (FMLN) to begin the first major military offensive against the government. This led to a civil war that lasted from 1981 to 1992. Throughout El Salvador’s post-colonial period, the oppressive governments were backed and financially supported by the U.S.  in an effort to protect their corporate interests, and prevent the spread of communism and Marxism.

Documents

El Salvador: Terror and Hope El Salvador: Terror and Hope
Call Number: LA 059Producers: Lucy EdwardsProgram: American Radio JournalCollection: El Salvador
The terror of the El Salvador government’s armed forces from 1980 to 1990 is discussed. The discussion centers around the murder of the Arch Bishop of Oscar Ramiro and other members of the clergy within the Catholic church. The Catholic church’s alleged connection to the Salvadoran Armed Opposition (FMLN), through its assistance to the poor that had been ravaged by government bombings, is also examined. Primary accounts of torture by the government by a few people are also available.
Interview With Ramon Cordona Interview With Ramon Cordona
Call Number: LA 100Collection: El Salvador
Beginning with some children singing, this tape segues a few minutes in to an interview with Ramon Cordona, a representative of the FMLN to the United States. He tells the story of his humble beginnings and experiences with the FMLN, the construction of the FMLN forces, history of El Salvador and other issues of injustice in the war-torn country.