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

Interview with Herman Bell Interview with Herman Bell
Date: 8/31/1977Call Number: PM 208Format: Cass A & BCollection: Herman Bell
Interviews with Herman Bell on August 31, 1977 at USP Marion. He speaks mainly about prison conditions, control units, behavior modification, the injustice of the prison system.
Nothing Is More Precious Than Nothing Is More Precious Than
Date: 11/17/1973Call Number: NI 007Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Claude Marks, Nancy BarrettProgram: Nothing is More Precious ThanCollection: “Nothing is More Precious Than…” a news magazine including music and poetry
San Quentin 6 report, David Johnson, prison interviews with Gabriel Torres and Herman Bell
Nothing Is More Precious Than Nothing Is More Precious Than
Date: 10/5/1974Call Number: NI 041Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Claude Marks, Nancy Barrett, Mark SchwartzProgram: Nothing Is More Precious ThanCollection: “Nothing is More Precious Than…” a news magazine including music and poetry
Opens with conviction of Herman Bell in San Francisco, of Inez Garcia, trial of Graham and Allen, report from California Institute for Women, New York Five case, Assata Shakur, New York Times article on Stephen Bigham, bombing by New World Liberation Front, and longer section on women of Vietnam and International Days of Concern for Indochina.
Nothing is More Precious Than Nothing is More Precious Than
Date: 2/22/1975Call Number: NI 061Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Lincoln Bergman, Claude Marks, Nancy Barrett, Mark Schwartz, Kathy StreemProgram: Nothing is More Precious ThanCollection: “Nothing is More Precious Than…” a news magazine including music and poetry
Opens with economic emphasis, Hard Times conference report and United Farmworkers. Then prison/trial section including New York 5, San Quentin 6, Marilyn Buck, Martin Sostre, Attica. Ends with tribute to Sandino and Malcolm X.
Medical Neglect, Control Units, Women in Prison Medical Neglect, Control Units, Women in Prison
Date: 10/21/1996Call Number: PM 309Format: Cass A & BProducers: Prison Activist Resource Center PARCProgram: Prison Activist RadioCollection: Prisons - Women
News about the prison industrial complex and prisoners. Judy Greenspan, director of HIV/AIDS in Prison Project, about compassionate release and women with AIDS. Also Catherine Campbell, an attorney with California Prison Focus, discusses the culture of violence at prisons, verbal provocations by the guards, mandates to confine members of rival gangs in same yard. Jean Stewart from the Disabled Prisoners' Justice Fund discusses the Armstrong case and the growing, neglected population of disabled prisoners and its causes. Karen Shain from Legal Services for Prisoners with Children speaks about women in prison and the class action law suits that are filed for work release, prenatal care, mother and infant programs, HIV. Herman Bell of the New York Three and former member of the Black Panther Party, discusses the need for support of political prisoners.
Interview with Herman Bell Interview with Herman Bell
Date: 8/31/1977Call Number: CD 780Format: CDCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Interviews with Herman Bell on August 31, 1977 at USP Marion. He speaks mainly about prison conditions, control units, behavior modification, the injustice of the prison system.
Medical Neglect, Control Units, Women in Prison - Part 1 Medical Neglect, Control Units, Women in Prison - Part 1
Date: 10/21/1996Call Number: CD 788Format: CDProducers: Prison Activist Resource Center - PARCProgram: On the OutsideCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Judy Greenspan, director of HIV/AIDS in Prison Project, discusses compassionate release and women with AIDS. Also Catherine Campbell, an attorney with California Prison Focus, discusses the culture of violence at prisons, verbal provocations by the guards, mandates to confine members of rival gangs in same yard. Jean Stewart from the Disabled Prisoners' Justice Fund discusses the Armstrong case and the growing, neglected population of disabled prisoners and its causes. Karen Shain from Legal Services for Prisoners with Children speaks about women in prison and the class action law suits that are filed for work release, prenatal care, mother and infant programs, HIV. Herman Bell of the New York Three and former member of the Black Panther Party, discusses the need for support of political prisoners.
Prison Activist Radio- Medical Neglect, Control Units, Women in Prison Prison Activist Radio- Medical Neglect, Control Units, Women in Prison
Date: 10/21/1996Call Number: CD 789Format: CDProducers: Prison Activist Resource Center PARCProgram: Prison Activist RadioCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
News about the prison industrial complex and prisoners. Judy Greenspan, director of HIV/AIDS in Prison Project, about compassionate release and women with AIDS. Also Catherine Campbell, an attorney with California Prison Focus, discusses the culture of violence at prisons, verbal provocations by the guards, mandates to confine members of rival gangs in same yard. Jean Stewart from the Disabled Prisoners' Justice Fund discusses the Armstrong case and the growing, neglected population of disabled prisoners and its causes. Karen Shain from Legal Services for Prisoners with Children speaks about women in prison and the class action law suits that are filed for work release, prenatal care, mother and infant programs, HIV. Herman Bell of the New York Three and former member of the Black Panther Party, discusses the need for support of political prisoners.
Arm The Spirit Arm The Spirit
Publisher: Regional Young Adult ProjectFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Prison Newspapers
Cover Story: Message from the Editors; The Current Situation in the Political Prisoner Unit AKA Management Control Unit at California State Prison at San Quentin
 Free Herman Bell Free Herman Bell
Publisher: Freedom ArchivesFormat: Collection: Herman Bell
More than 2.4 million human beings are imprisoned in the US. This massive incarceration—overwhelmingly aimed at people of color and criminalizing youth—makes the US by far the greatest purveyor of punishment in the world. Among these millions are a number of political prisoners, and among these courageous sisters and brothers is Herman Bell. Herman Bell has been a political prisoner in the US for nearly 40 years. When national liberation and revolution rocked the world in the 1960s and 70s, Herman was active in the social justice movements of those times, particularly the Black Liberation movement and the Black Panther Party.