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

Paul Robeson remembered by Joe Johnson Paul Robeson remembered by Joe Johnson
Date: 10/11/1984Call Number: PR 058Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Emiliano EcheverriaCollection: Paul Robeson recordings
Interviews with Joe Johnson on his life, the Marine Cooks & Stewards Union, the ILWU and his relationship with Paul Robeson. Same as CD 295, tracks 2,3,4
Paul Robeson raw materials Paul Robeson raw materials
Call Number: PR 059Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: Paul Robeson recordings
Robeson raw materials: sings Prayer and Death (aria from Boris Gudonov, Mussorgsky opera); Sid Roger interview from 1955; Robeson speaks about the role of the UN in the struggle for peace, the denial of his passport and his struggle for his right to travel, his varied musical repertoire; recites the lyrics to The Four Rivers and tells the story behind the song and its message of peace; speaks at the convention of the Marine Cooks & Stewards Union and sings Joe Hill; Sid Roger from 1955 continued; Robeson speaks about the government’s attack on Harry Bridges and the ILWU Same as CD 296, Track 1
Paul Robeson: Discussions & Interviews Paul Robeson: Discussions & Interviews
Call Number: PR 072Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: Paul Robeson recordings
Message to San Francisco 5/1965; Bill of Rights -message to Marine Cooks and Stuards Union; Interview by Sid Roger KROW 1955; about Harry Bridges 1953; Discussion at house party Berkeley 7/1/1955 Same as CD 323, Track 2
Paul Robeson remembered by Joe Johnson Paul Robeson remembered by Joe Johnson
Date: 10/11/1984Call Number: CD 295Format: CDProducers: Emiliano EcheverriaCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Emiliano Echeverria interviews Joe Johnson on his life, the Marine Cooks & Stewards Union, the ILWU and his relationship with Paul Robeson. (about 45 min., on tracks 1, 2, 3 of this CD) Same as PR 058
Paul Robeson raw materials Paul Robeson raw materials
Call Number: CD 296Format: CDCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Robeson raw materials: 1: sings Prayer and Death (Boris Gudonov, Mussorgsky opera); 2: Sid Roger interview from 1955; Robeson speaks about the role of the UN in the struggle for peace, the denial of his passport and his struggle for his right to travel, his varied musical repertoire; 3: speaks at the convention of the Marine Cooks & Stewards Union and sings Joe Hill; 4: Sid Roger from 1955 continued; Robeson speaks about the government’s attack on Harry Bridges and the ILWU Same as PR 059
Instituto Laboral #1 Instituto Laboral #1
Date: 9/4/1987Call Number: CV 078Format: Cass A & BCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Annual awards ceremony of the Insituto Laboral de la Raza. Speeches and presentations by various San Francisco labor leaders. Award recipients include Gloria Betancourt and Curt Flood.
Instituto Laboral #1 Instituto Laboral #1
Date: 9/4/1987Call Number: CV 104AFormat: Cass ACollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Continuation of annual awards ceremony of the Insituto Laboral de la Raza. Speeches and presentations by various San Francisco labor leaders. Curt Flood gives speech and is presented with award in his name.
Gerda Fulder, Sidney Rogers: Sproul Hall Sit-in Gerda Fulder, Sidney Rogers: Sproul Hall Sit-in
Date: 12/1/1964Call Number: CE 673Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
Interview with Gerda Fulder, a Berkeley resident and mother of two daughters attending UC Berkeley. She attended several FSM rallies in late 1964 and describes being impressed by the discipline and moral seriousness of the students. She was present at Sproul Hall on the evening of December 2 and describes her experiences. She and her daughters ultimately made the decision, with some uncertainty, not to stay and risk arrest. Interview with Sidney Roger at his home in Berkeley. He covered the events for the ILWU’s Dispatcher newspaper as well as being a UC Berkeley alumnus, former instructor, and parent of students. He describes experiences at the December 2-3 sit-in in detail, including the different police forces present and their actions, the diversity of sit-in participants and perspectives, the “remarkable behavior” and activities organized by students in Sproul Hall, and the ad hoc faculty meeting.