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

Four Puerto Rican Political Prisoners Four Puerto Rican Political Prisoners
Call Number: PM 238AFormat: Cass ACollection: Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican Political Prisoners Alicia and Ida Luz Rodriguez explain the 1898 US military invasion of Puerto Rico, stripped the island of its independence, continue to maintain Puerto Rico as a colony. As Puerto Rican Revolutionary women, they stress the importance of family, describe the violent US military presence with 11 military bases on the island. They defend the use of arms as essential in protecting life when threatened with colonial violence. They explain how these conditions create the need for a clandestine struggle. They explain how the fight is against multinational corporations, not the people of the US. They expose the torturous realities of prison life for them as Puerto Rican women imprisoned for their political beliefs. They discuss torture units, known as "control units" where they were held.
Lexington Prison Interviews 1987 Lexington Prison Interviews 1987
Date: 5/1/1987Call Number: CD 779Format: CDProducers: Judy GerberCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Alejandrina Torres, Silvia Baraldini, and Susan Rosenberg describe their living conditions at the control unit of the federal women’s prison in Lexington which opened in 1986. The interviews stress the importance of public pressure to have the unit closed.
Interview with Susan Rosenberg and Josefina Rodriguez Interview with Susan Rosenberg and Josefina Rodriguez
Call Number: CD 799Format: CDProducers: Sally O’Brian, Terry BissonCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Interview with Susan Rosenberg, an American revolutionary anti-imperialist female political prisoner, about Lexington prison. Susan Rosenberg describes the focus of Lexington as “the psychological element of incarceration to disintegrate the personality”. She speaks about the terribly harsh and restrictive conditions of Lexington, as well as the psychological impact of the prison. Rosenberg speaks about how every prisoner is there for political reasons, as the control unit is not based on disciplinary measures, but on classification who and what the prisoners are associated with. Susan Rosenberg’s attorney, Michael Schubert, speaks about the isolation and solitary confinement the Lexington prisoners experience, and how such isolation is aimed at keeping the prisoners isolated from politics.
Interviews with Alicia and Ida Luz Rodriguez and Elisabeth Sikeko Interviews with Alicia and Ida Luz Rodriguez and Elisabeth Sikeko
Call Number: CD 803Format: CDCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Puerto Rican Political Prisoners Alicia and Ida Luz Rodriguez explain the 1898 US military invasion of Puerto Rico, stripped the island of its independence, continue to maintain Puerto Rico as a colony. As Puerto Rican Revolutionary women, they stress the importance of family, describe the violent US military presence with 11 military bases on the island. They defend the use of arms as essential in protecting life when threatened with colonial violence. They explain how these conditions create the need for a clandestine struggle. They explain how the fight is against multinational corporations, not the people of the US. Discussion/interview with Elisabeth Sibeko, the Secretary for labor of the Pan African congress of Azania, South Africa. Sibeko centers her discussion on the plight of female prisoners, especially political prisoners and describes torture tactics inflicted on these women for information. She details sexual torture tactics used against both men and women, but explains how the women have the worst plight in this situation. The tape becomes jumbled but soon becomes audible as Sibeko talks about "Influx Control Laws" that force people in urban areas to move from their homes. The process leaves many stranded and abandoned with no homes, which created conditions for what she calls "squatter camps." The tape then suddenly ends.