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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.
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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.

Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials

Documents

Factory Farms Factory Farms
Call Number: V 718Format: VHSProducers: Estuary PressCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Factory Farms tells the unique story of California agriculture, a highly capitalized, sophisticated industry with substandard wage rates that keeps its workers in poverty and destitution. The film documents 1959 labor conditions for farm workers and reviews the history of union organizing in California agriculture.
The Harvesters The Harvesters
Call Number: V 719Format: VHSProducers: Estuary PressCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
The Harvesters documents late 1950's farm labor conditions in California's fields when 14- to 16-hour days paid workers at eighty-five cents to a dollar per hour. The film photographs people working many different crops. It also exposes how the bracero program imported Mexican nationals to work at wages lower than the sub-minimum rates available to American workers. The film was used by the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) and the United Packinghouse Workers Union as an organizing film.
Everyman Everyman
Call Number: V 720Format: VHSProducers: Estuary PressCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Everyman is the name of a boat built in Sausalito by the Bay Area peace movement to sail into the Pacific Ocean nuclear test zones to protest nuclear testing. The film covers Everyman's first and only voyage on May 27th, 1962 when it sailed out the Golden Gate only to be stopped twenty miles out by the U.S. Coast Guard who arrested the crew and impounded the boat. Protests included sit-in demonstrations at the U.S. Marshall's office where Joan Baez took part, singing "We Shall Overcome." The crew was eventually sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Women for Peace Women for Peace
Call Number: V 721Format: VHSProducers: Estuary PressCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Women for Peace covers the founding of the organization and many of the first peace demonstrations that it sponsored. With narration by Frances Herring, a founder of Women for Peace, the film covers 1961 and 1962 anti-nuclear demonstrations in California, Nevada and many other activities undertaken by the group.
Uno Veintecinco: The Lettuce Strike of 1962 Uno Veintecinco: The Lettuce Strike of 1962
Call Number: V 723Format: VHSProducers: Estuary PressCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Uno Veintecinco documents the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), AFL-CIO, strike to get lettuce pickers in California $1.25/hour. The film interviews organizers and workers and reviews the 20th century history of labor organizing in California's fields. It contains footage of spontaneous strike actions in which farm workers are shown leaving the fields to join the strikers.
The Stump Makers The Stump Makers
Call Number: V 726Format: VHSProducers: Estuary PressCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
The Stump Makers delivers an indictment of the wasteful forestry practices and ecological devastation caused by major logging companies operations in California and Oregon. Using some of the same footage as Wasted Woods, this film documents the impact of clear cutting on the environment and the logging communities reliant upon the industry.
The Land is Rich The Land is Rich
Call Number: V 734Format: VHSProducers: Estuary PressCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
The Land is Rich documents the United Farm Workers struggle to organize California farm workers in the early 1960's. It includes their march from Delano to Sacramento in the spring of 1966. The film contrasts the economic strength of California agribusiness with the migrant workers' poverty shown in bread lines, living conditions and the impact of extensive exposure to agricultural chemicals. This film was used by the United Farm Workers Union.
Vanishing Redwoods Vanishing Redwoods
Call Number: V 738Format: VHSProducers: Estuary PressCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Vanishing Redwoods depicts the delicate natural balance required for the growth and survival of redwood forests. Photographed in northern California and Oregon, it shows how the logging industry's traditional practice of clear cutting threatens the very survival of redwood trees as a species.