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.

Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)

The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a California leftist revolutionary group active from 1973 through the mid 1970s.  A primary goal of the organization was the “gaining of freedom and self-determination and independence for all their people and races.” The SLA utilized tactics of expropriation, direct action and armed propaganda to stimulate public awareness and action around issues of poverty, housing, racism, women’s rights, and prison issues. Despite undertaking a number of controversial and sometimes polarizing actions, one of the foremost successes of the SLA was forcing the Hearst family to give away millions of dollars worth of food from Safeway grocery stores to impoverished communities in the Bay Area.  

Highlights of our collection include scanned copies of the Dragon, a rare periodical produced by the Bay Area Research Collective in support of the SLA; original SLA communiqués, statements and publications; and press releases, flyers and statements from other Bay Area radical groups concerning SLA actions and ideas. Additionally, we have hundreds of articles taken from local Bay Area news sources, all pertaining to the SLA and the group’s activities. Our collection of paper documents is supplemented by our media holdings primarily derived from local recordings and programs. These include memorial shows, audio from rallies and news programs and taped communiqués.  

Subcollections

  • The Dragon
    Periodical in support of the SLA printed monthly by the Bay Area Research Collective.

Documents

BGF solidarity with SLA open letter BGF solidarity with SLA open letter
Publisher: BGFDate: 3/1974Volume Number: MarchFormat: CommuniqueCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
This communique is from the Black Guerrilla Family that calls for an end of sufferng and the oppression of the people. It outlines what oppression looks like, supports the SLA in their movement, and calls for action against oppression to be taken, but to be objective when taking action.
Political Prisoners of California Letter to SLA Political Prisoners of California Letter to SLA
Author: Political Prisoners of CaliforniaDate: 3/1/1974Volume Number: 1-MarFormat: CorrespondenceCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
A letter from Poltical Prisoners of California that thanks the SLA taking action and kidnapping Patricia Hearst because it resulted in food being given to the poor.
Communique from the United People's Liberation Army (Transcript) Communique from the United People's Liberation Army (Transcript)
Authors: Chunga Abdul Asad and ChakaFormat: CommuniqueCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
This communique indicates that the Symbionese Liberation Army has joined with the Guerrilla Organizations to create the United People's Liberation Army in response to the killing of the six SLA members. Also, it commemorates those six slain SLA members and also honors Patricia Hearst.
An Open Letter to the People and all Combat Units of the "New World Liberation Front (NWLF)" An Open Letter to the People and all Combat Units of the "New World Liberation Front (NWLF)"
Publisher: Comat Unit Four of the Black Liberation ArmyFormat: CorrespondenceCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
This letter from Combat Unit Four of the Black Liberation Army addresses the combat units of the New World Liberation Front. It calls for all combat units to unite and meet violent governmental opposition with the use of arms.
Free the SLA Free the SLA
Author: SLAFormat: StatementCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
This statement written from the "underground" critiques the current revolutionary groups and provides directions for how the Left should continue. Its idea to unite the masses includes building a non-racist movement, incorporating the ideology of feminism into all theory and practice, and creating organizations capable of surviving repression from oppositional forces.
Our Guerrilla Forces: SLA Flyer Our Guerrilla Forces: SLA Flyer
Format: FlyerCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
A flyer with a poem on the back calling for union of all guerrilla forces. Also, the poem grieves for the loss of the six members of the SLA slain in Los Angeles.
Fight The Set-Up Fight The Set-Up
Author: Orphans of AmerikaPublisher: Bay Area Research CollectiveDate: 6/11/1975Volume Number: 11-JunFormat: FlyerCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
This flyer discredits a communique sent out by someone claiming to be the new World Liberation Front.
Dragon Dragon
Publisher: Bay Area Research CollectiveYear: 1975Volume Number: No. 1 AugustFormat: PeriodicalCollection: The Dragon
Table of Contents: BARC's Statement on Dragon, NWLF Chronology, NWLF Communique: GM Bombing, Fuck-the-World-for-Profits: GM Leaflet, NWLF Communique: PG&E Skyline Blvd, NWLF Communique: PG&E San Jose, Second PG&E San Jose Communique, Critique by Orphans of Amerika, NWLF Response, NWLF Communiqe: CDC Bombing, NWLF Communique: PG&E Berkeley, NWLF Letter to the Barb, Response by BARC & Orphans, Red Guerrilla Family Chronology, RGF Letter to the Alternative Media
Dragon Dragon
Publisher: Bay Area Research CollectiveYear: 1975Volume Number: No. 2 SeptemberFormat: PeriodicalCollection: The Dragon
Table of Contents: Introduction, Analysis of the Trial of Little and Remiro, Statement from Little and Remiro 1/18/74, Remiro and Little's Trial Statements: 4/4/75 & 4/18/75, Russ Little's Statement at Their Sentencing, Letter from Joe Remiro 8/16/75, On the Trials of Gary Garrison and Cameron Bishop, The Correct Handling of Communiques, New World Liberation Front Statement on Popeye Jackson, Peoples' Forces NWLF Respond to BARC/Orphans Criticism, Peoples' Forces NWLF Open Letter to Prisoners, A Letter to the NWLF, BARC Critique of Peoples' Forces NWLF, Jonathan Jackson/Sam Melville NWLF Communique, Poem from a Locked-Down Comrade
Dragon Dragon
Publisher: Bay Area Research CollectiveYear: 1975Volume Number: No. 3 OctoberFormat: PeriodicalCollection: The Dragon
Table of Contents: BARC Finances, These Days, Statement from Bill and Emily Harris, Wendy Yoshimura, from Prison, Support from Martin Sostre, Network Against Psychiatric Assault: Demonstration, Communique: George Jackson Brigade, New World Liberation Front: Communique, Coalinga bombing, Poem, Front de Liberation du Quebec, Orphans of Amerika: Open Letter to NWLF, Four Trials, Psychiatric Assault, Behavior Modification = Mind Control, George Jackson Brigade Bombs Washington State Department of Corrections in Olympia