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

David Gilbert Interview David Gilbert Interview
Date: 7/31/1998Call Number: V 036Format: VHSProducers: Sam GreenCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
David Gilbert interviewed at Great Meadows Prison in New York about his political history and development as an anti racist, anti sexist, anti imperialist person. Includes commentary on the development of SDS (Student for a Democratic Society), the Black Power Movement, the Black Panther Party (BPP), Black Liberation Army (BLA), COINTELPRO and many other issues from the 60s forward. VHS copy of DV camera originals, Part 1
David Gilbert Interview David Gilbert Interview
Date: 7/31/1998Call Number: V 037Format: VHSProducers: Sam GreenCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
David Gilbert interviewed at Great Meadows Prison in New York about his political history and development as an anti racist, anti sexist, anti imperialist person. Includes commentary on the development of SDS (Student for a Democratic Society), the Black Power Movement, the Black Panther Party (BPP), Black Liberation Army (BLA), COINTELPRO and many other issues from the 60s forward. VHS copy of DV camera originals, Part 2
The Murder of Fred Hampton The Murder of Fred Hampton
Date: 1/1/1971Call Number: V 243Format: DVDProducers: Film Group of Chicago: Mike GrayCollection: Fred Hampton
Directed by Howard Alk. Produced by Mike Gray. Associate Producer: Emmett Grogan; Camera: Mike Gray, Howard Alk; Sound: Jones Cullinan, John Mason, Chuck Olin; Editor: Howard Alk; Assistant editors: Jones Cullinan, John Mason; Additional Photography: Gordon Quinn; Production Manager: Jim Dennett. In 1968 the Film Group, a Chicago production company, began filming a documentary about the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party and their chairman Fred Hampton. A fiery orator, Hampton was only 20 years old at the time, but his electrifying words and actions were inspiring young Black people to demand respect and to insist that their power and voice be felt in local politics, in any politics. But Fred Hampton's dream included all people when he proclaimed in the voice of the prophet, "... if we don't stop fascism it'll stop us all." At that same moment the FBI/CIA was implementing their notorious domestic counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) aimed at illegally suppressing domestic dissent and aimed especially at growing radical political organizations like the Black Panther Party. One FBI memo stated their charge as the need to "prevent the rise of a 'messiah' who could unite and electrify the militant black antinationalist movement." Working with local police departments, the government moved against Black Panther chapters and leaders across the country. On December 4, 1969, in a predawn FBI-directed Chicago police raid, four Panthers suffered gunshot wounds, and Mark Clark and Fred Hampton were murdered. Within hours, Panthers arranged to get the Film Group crew into the scene and they were able to record the carnage. The film shows vividly what the police do to those who dare to openly, aggressively challenge government authority. In addition, the footage of the bloody, bullet-riddled wreckage directly contradicted the State's Attorney's version of the raid, and so filmmakers and Panthers came together to prove that Hampton had been the designated target of the violent, punitive raid. The film's inquiry pursues official spokesmen and traps them in their own lies and attempt at a cover-up of a brutal orchestrated assassination.
Uses and Effects of: Control Unit Prisons Uses and Effects of: Control Unit Prisons
Author: Bonnie KernessPublisher: PAC, Philidelphia ABCFYear: 1996Format: TranscriptCollection: Control Units
Reproduction. Bonnie Kerness interviews with Sundiata Acoli and Jalil Muntaqim. These interviews were conducted to be heard at the National Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons' event Hearing on Control Unit Prisons in the United States.
Control Unit Prisons, Racism and Political Repression Control Unit Prisons, Racism and Political Repression
Author: Ward ChurchillDate: 5/3/1992Volume Number: 3-MayFormat: TranscriptCollection: Control Units
Reproduction of transcript from speech given by Ward Churchill on the topic of control units.