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

Real Dragon Real Dragon
Date: 6/23/1973Call Number: RD 048Producers: Lincoln Bergman, Claude MarksProgram: Real DragonCollection: “The Real Dragon” a news magazine including music and poetry
20th anniversary program on the Rosenberg executions. Includes two letters written by the Rosenbergs. Also contains news summaries: Breznhev & Nixon meeting, Attica, Arizona prison, Gibson, Justice, Martin Sostre, Camden draft office, Carlos Feliciano, Irish Republican Army, return of Peron to Argentina after exile, Chile, Bolivia.
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.
Repression and Resistance Repression and Resistance
Date: 7/24/1976Call Number: FI 014Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Barbara Lubinski, Lincoln BergmanProgram: Freedom is a Constant StruggleCollection: Freedom is a Constant Struggle
Theme of repression (fear) and resistance: reports on KKK Rally, Seattle Grand Jury, protest at Attica, and Rap Brown eligible for parole.
The Attica Rebellion The Attica Rebellion
Date: 9/10/2006Call Number: CD 516Format: CDProducers: National Radio ProjectProgram: Making ContactCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
September 9-13th, 2006 marks the 35th anniversary of the Attica Rebellion, a massive prison rebellion, massacre and cover-up in New York. The story of Attica is one of the most brutal and heroic chapters in United States history. After a five-day occupation, 45 people were killed, 150 were shot and hundreds were tortured. As one slogan from 1971 read, "Attica is all of us." Currently, with more than 2 million people imprisoned in the U.S., the story of Attica needs to be told, and the origins of the current anti-prison movement discussed. On this edition, we present a documentary produced by the Freedom Archives. Featuring: Frank 'Big Black' Smith, Attica Brother and prison activist; L.D. Barkley, Attica Brother killed during the re-taking of the prison; Elizabeth Fink, attorney for the Attica Brothers; Michael Deutsch, attorney for the Attica Brothers; Historical recordings in Attica prison of guards and prisoners during the rebellion and the bloody retaking of the prison.
Real Dragon Real Dragon
Date: 9/8/1971Call Number: RD 004Producers: Lincoln BergmanProgram: Real DragonCollection: “The Real Dragon” a news magazine including music and poetry
Talks about the retaking of Attica prison in the struggle for humane treatment of prisoners. The demands include that they be moved to a non-imperialist country. Also news of inequality for Black students in public education, riots in San Diego, CA; Police brutality in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Puerto Rican youth struggle with the police in Hoboken, NJ. Also mention of Los Angeles and San francisco racist acts and killings.
Interviews with Herman Bell Interviews with Herman Bell
Date: 9/16/1974Call Number: CD 542Format: CDProducers: KPFACollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Interview done by Claude 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. 6/13/1974 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 (BLA), Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), and the Weather Underground. Prison conditions and police harassment are also discussed. 9/16/1974 & 9/25/1974
Voices On and Of Prisons in the U.S. Voices On and Of Prisons in the U.S.
Date: 1/1/1993Call Number: PM 341Format: Cass A & BProducers: Undercurrents Radio, WMUACollection: Political Prisoner Periodicals
This tape is a series of interviews with [scholarly] activists and former prisoners discussing prisons in the United States. Dr Steve Whitman, from the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown and a top epidemiologist in Chicago, gives an interview titled "Overview on Race, Imprisonment and Control Unit Prisons," which provides a statistical and factual background for the following speakers. Ward Churchill discusses the American Indian Movement and its relationship with the U.S. government, specifically in the late 1960s involving Pine Ridge. Safiya Bukhari-Alston, former member of the Harlem Chapter of the Black Party, discusses political prisoners in the United States and the reasons for black people organized against an oppressive system/country. Akil Al-Jundi, former Attica prisoner, relates the events and conditions leading up to the 1971 Attica Prison riots. He emphasizes the racialized nature of relationships, job opportunities and authority that continued the oppression of black people within the prison system.
Attica: Then and Now Attica: Then and Now
Publisher: Attica Committee to Free DacajeweiahYear: 1978Format: MonographCollection: Attica
Monograph focusing on the Attica Prison Rebellion, its causes, the aftermath and the campaign to free Dacajeweiah. Contents include: Introduction; Prisons: Who Goes and Why?; The Movement Grows; The Uprising; The Prosecution; Who is Dacajeweiah; What is Being Done; Epilogue.
We Are Attica: Interviews with Prisoners from Attica We Are Attica: Interviews with Prisoners from Attica
Publisher: Attica Defense CommitteeFormat: MonographCollection: Attica
War Behind Walls War Behind Walls
Publisher: Peoples Press; The Red FamilyDate: 9/1971Volume Number: SeptemberFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Prison Newspapers
Articles include: Attica Revolt, Attica Demands, California Prison Struggle History, Movements 1970-71, Soledad Brothers: A Portrait, Vacaville, more.