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

Puerto Rican Politcal Prisoners and Prisoners of War Puerto Rican Politcal Prisoners and Prisoners of War
Date: 1/10/1992Call Number: LA 050Format: Cass A & BProducers: Noelle Hanrahan (in assoc. with Gloria Alonzo), Jane Segal, J. Mullins, Bo (Rita D.) BrownProgram: You Can’t Jail the Spirit: Political Prisoners in the USCollection: Puerto Rico
Part of a thirteen part series (You Can’t Jail the Spirit). Interviews with PR PPs/POWs over prison phones and Puerto Rican Independentista activists and academics. Intro by Gloria Alonzo, Interviews by Avotcha. Recorded voices of Felix Mata, then Umberto Pagan (recorded at 1989 Grito de Lares Event in San Francisco). Interviews with Rafael Cancel Miranda, Dylcia Pagan (POW talking from prison), Jose Lopez (re: MLN today), Adolfo Matos (POW talking from Lompock Penintentiary). Music. Interview with Margarita Mengal (professor, talking on Ofensive ‘92). (duplicated on LA 070)
Grito de Lares Commemoration Event Grito de Lares Commemoration Event
Date: 10/1/1988Call Number: LA 052Format: Cass A & BProgram: Live EventCollection: Puerto Rico
Event Commemorating el Grito de Lares (1868, Puerto Rican Independence struggle) with Humberto Pagan Hernandez and the National Committee to Free the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. Dedicated to Alejandrina Torres, William Guillermo Morales, and Filberto Ojeda Rios. Leslie Mulin of the Free PR Committee reads a statement of solidarity. Gloria Alonzo reads a statement from Adolfo Matos on the criminalizaiton of the Independence Movement through the judicial proceedings in Hartford, CT. Humberto Pagan talks about PR colonial history and resistance.
March for Vieques; Elizam Escobar March for Vieques; Elizam Escobar
Date: 1/12/2003Call Number: V 135Format: Mini DVProducers: hana tauber, nyla rosen, jose ignacio fuste, marcos garofaloCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Unedited video taping used for a project on the Puerto Rican former political prisoners. All in Spanish except interview with Dylcia. First half hour is at a March to get the Navy out of Vieques. Former political prisoners Dylcia Pagan (min16) and Luis Rosa (min. 19) talk about the connection between the Vieques struggle and PR Independence and the political prisoners. Korean war vetran talks about serving time for civil disobediance on vieques (min. 3). Also includes brief interview with a teacher’s union at the March and the union’s band playing music, and brief interview on the connection between Palestinian and Puerto Rican liberation. Second half hour is the continuation of an Interview with former politcal prisoner Elizam Escobar at his hosue (V 139). Talks about the role of art in the struggle for freedom, self-determination and Puerto Rican liberation. NOTE: For easier viewing, check out V 143 which has extracted, edited and english-subtitled interviews of these and other PR Independentistas.
Interview with Jose Solis Jordan Interview with Jose Solis Jordan
Date: 1/8/2003Call Number: V 136Format: Mini DVProducers: nyla rosen, hana tauber, jose ignacio fuste, marcos garofaloCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Unedited interview used to take clips for a project on the Puerto Rican former political prisoners. Mostly in Spanish with some English. Teacher, Independence figher and former political prisoner Jose Solis Jordan talks about the connections between Puerto Rican Independence and the release of the political prisoners, about freedom, formal and informal/social/internal prisons, intellectuals, solidarity, fear, and love. Continued on V 137 NOTE: For easier viewing, check out V 143 which has extracted, edited and english-subtitled interviews of him and other PR Independentistas.
Interview with Jose Solis Jordan Interview with Jose Solis Jordan
Date: 1/8/2003Call Number: V 137Format: Mini DVProducers: nyla rosen, hana tauber, jose ignacio fuste, marcos garofaloCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Continued from V 136. Unedited interview used to take clips for a project on the Puerto Rican former political prisoners. Mostly in Spanish with some English. Teacher, Independence fighert and former political prisoner Jose Solis Jordan talks about the connections between Puerto Rican Independence and the release of the political prisoners, about freedom, prison, solidarity, fear, intellectuals, and love. NOTE: For easier viewing, check out V 143 which has extracted, edited and english-subtitled interviews of him and other PR Independentistas.
Interview with Dylcia Pagan Interview with Dylcia Pagan
Date: 1/14/2003Call Number: V 138Format: Mini DVProducers: nyla rosen, hana tauber, jose ignacio fuste, marcos garofaloCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Unedited interview used to get clips for a project on the Puerto Rican former political prisoners. In English. Independence figher, media creator, artist, and former political prisoner Dylcia Pagan talks about the connections between Puerto Rican Independence and the release of the political prisoners, about her history and current projects, about the women Nationalists, about Vieques, etc. NOTE: For easier viewing, check out V 143 which has extracted, edited and english-subtitled interviews of her and other PR Independentistas. Dylcia is also briefly intervied on V 135.
Interviews with Puerto Rican former political prisoners and their lawyer Interviews with Puerto Rican former political prisoners and their lawyer
Date: 1/30/2003Call Number: V 143Format: VHSProducers: nyla rosen, hana tauber, jose ignacio fuste, marcos garofaloCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
First 20 minutes: Edited and subtitled (both English and Spanish) interviews on the connection between the release of the prisoners and the Puerto Rican Independence Movement. First footage of a march for peace for Vieques; then former political prisoner Dylcia Pagan talks about the connection between Vieques and PR Independence and the prisoners’ release; lawyer Jan Susler talks about fear and action; former political prisoner Jose Solis Jordan talks about solidarity, love, formal and informal/social/internal prison, the academy/university, and freedom; former political prisoner Elizam Escobar talks about art and liberation. Next 40 minutes: Roughly edited clips from interviews with these Independence fighters, as well as with Luis Rosa and Adolfo Matos. In English and Spanish, Not subtitled. To use these or other clips, see full interviews -- V 135 through V 142.
Interview with Elizam Escobar Interview with Elizam Escobar
Date: 1/14/2003Call Number: V 139Format: Mini DVProducers: hana tauber, nyla rosen, jose ignacio fuste, marcos garofaloCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Unedited video taping used get clips for a project on the Puerto Rican former political prisoners. In Spanish. Interview with former politcal prisoner Elizam Escobar at his hosue (V 139). Talks about the role of art in the struggle for freedom, self-determination and Puerto Rican liberation. Continued on V 135. NOTE: For easier viewing, check out V 143 which has extracted, edited and english-subtitled interviews of these and other PR Independentistas.
Interview with Adolfo Matos Interview with Adolfo Matos
Date: 1/7/2003Call Number: V 140Format: SVHSProducers: nyla rosen, hana tauber, jose ignacio fuste, marcos garofaloCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Unedited interview used to get clips for a project on the Puerto Rican former political prisoners. In Spanish. Artist, independence figher, and former political prisoner Adolfo Matos talks about the connections between Puerto Rican Independence and the release of the political prisoners, his history and current projects, his use of art as liberatory, formal and informal/social prisons, his poetry book, and reads a poem (min 47), etc. NOTE: For easier viewing, check out V 143 which has extracted, edited interviews of him and other PR Independentistas.
Interview with Jan Susler Interview with Jan Susler
Date: 1/7/2003Call Number: V 141Format: SVHSProducers: nyla rosen, hana tauber, jose ignacio fuste, marcos garofaloCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Unedited interview used to get clips for a project on the Puerto Rican former political prisoners. In English. Jan Susler, one of the lawers for the Puerto Rican Political prisoners talks about the connections between Puerto Rican Independence and the release of the political prisoners, the struggle for independence, her political history, the campaign to shut down the Lexington Control Unit and fear (min 25), how Luis Rosa and the other prisoners changed her (min 47), visibility (min 1), North Americans supporting Puerto Rico’s liberation struggle, etc. Continued on V 142. NOTE: For easier viewing, check out V 143 which has extracted, edited, and subtitled interviews of her and some of the former prisoners.