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

The Death of George Jackson The Death of George Jackson
Date: 7/9/1974Call Number: PM 131Format: 1/4 15 ipsCollection: George Jackson
Interviews and sound bites of several different people and groups about the death of George Jackson and the six people killed at San Quentin Federal Prison. Includes interviews with Willy Brown, shoppers at a Berkeley grocery store, and Ronald Reagan. Police riot in San Francisco courtroom 8/26/71.
Interview with Karina Epperlein about Women in Prison Film  Interview with Karina Epperlein about Women in Prison Film
Call Number: PM 132Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: KPFACollection: Prisons - Women
An interview with Karina Epperlein on her upcoming film about her work with women in prison. The film, Voices From Inside, is based on her work with female prisoners at the Federal Correctional Institute in Pleasanton, California. For two years she worked with groups of 5-12 women using voice and scream therapy in the effort to target core emotions within. The program, Finding Our Voices, tapped into painful feelings, such as the separation of these mothers from their children, with such expression that it inspired Epperlein to write poetry, as in the book Pouring Love into Bones, and the documentary, Voices From Inside. This interview was created in part to advertise for the film’s fundraiser on June 17-19, year unknown, at the Wild Cat Studio in Berkeley, California. Epperlein will be performing with Gwen Jones for Pouring Love into Bones.
Battle of People’s Park May 15. 1969. Battle of People’s Park May 15. 1969.
Date: 5/15/1969Call Number: KP 085Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: General materials
Live recording of the events that took place at People’s Park in Berkeley, California on May 15th, 1969. The battle is between the people of the community, who built it from a muddy parking lot into a park, versus the University and the Berkeley Police for trying to rip it down. Although the land was owned by the University, the people claimed it had been a muddy mess for years, and the people needed a park in South Berkeley. People were injured and killed by police in full riot gear, by guns as well as tear gas.
Break the Silence Break the Silence
Date: 9/28/1989Call Number: FI 018Format: Cass A & BProducers: Lincoln Bergman, KPFAProgram: Freedom Is A Constant StruggleCollection: Freedom is a Constant Struggle
Lincoln Bergman interviews Jewish women artists who are trying to make peace in the Middle East - Break the Silence Mural project. About their work and goals for peace, solidarity, and on their experiences. Includes music and Lincoln Bergman reading poems about Huey P. Newton.
Malcolm X speaks at UC Berkeley Malcolm X speaks at UC Berkeley
Date: 10/11/1963Call Number: KP 165Format: Cass A & BCollection: Malcolm X
America’s Gravest Crisis Transcript available- http://www.brothermalcolm.net/2002/berkley/text.html
Televison News Response to East Bay Serial Rapist of 1997 Televison News Response to East Bay Serial Rapist of 1997
Date: 1/1/1997Call Number: V 260Format: VHSCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Clips of the local news coverage of the East Bay serial-rapist case of 1997 in which 12 women were raped. Clips included come from KTVU, KPIX and KGO San Francisco Bay Area television stations. The clips highlight the grassroots response to the serial rapist, including scenes of the "Fear Is Not the Answer" rally held at Macarthur BART station and local activists pleading for a non-racist response from the public to the rapes. Small blurbs from the mayors of Oakland and Berkeley (Elihu Harris and Shirley Dean, respectively) and Oakland policeman Captain Pete Dunbar are also included.
Just Peace Interview with Judy Gerber and Judy Siff Just Peace Interview with Judy Gerber and Judy Siff
Date: 5/9/1988Call Number: JG/ 110Format: Cass A & BProducers: Bethanne, Gary WashtingtonProgram: Just PeaceCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Amid theme songs, two women are interviewed about their work with the John Brown Anti Klan Committee, describing the interconnectedness of all social issues and why "The Klan" and other such organizations are beyond free speech rights as they incite hate and encourage a climate of white supremacy to this day. They also speculate as to the US government's historic crack down on liberation organizations rather than the Klan.
Nelson Mandela in Oakland Nelson Mandela in Oakland
Date: 6/30/1990Call Number: CV 004Format: Cass A & BCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
On June 30, 1990, Ron Dellums along with Harry Belafonte introduce Mandela and other speakers and artists take the stage to discuss the injustices of apartheid. Nelson Mandela speaks about ending apartheid in South Africa and establishing democracy. Mandela emphasizes the importance of the movement within the Bay Area to end apartheid and how it has inspired the people in South Africa to keep up the struggle.
Battle of People’s Park May 15. 1969. Battle of People’s Park May 15. 1969.
Date: 5/15/1969Call Number: CD 584Format: CDCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Live recording of the events that took place at People’s Park in Berkeley, California on May 15th, 1969. The battle is between the people of the community, who built it from a muddy parking lot into a park, versus the University and the Berkeley Police for trying to rip it down. Although the land was owned by the University, the people claimed it had been a muddy mess for years, and the people needed a park in South Berkeley. People were injured and killed by police in full riot gear, by guns as well as tear gas.
Campanile Action Campanile Action
Date: 5/17/1989Call Number: V 495Format: Hi-8Producers: Lisa RudmanCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Bay Area Pledge of Resistance drops banner at Campanile Tower on UC Berkeley's campus. Interviewees seek to draw attention to the UC System's stake in the US intervention in El Salvador, exposing that the ROTC at UC Berkeley helps train the Death Squads in El Salvador.