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

The Black Panther Black Community News Service The Black Panther Black Community News Service
Publisher: The Black Panther PartyYear: 1971Volume Number: Vol. 7-16 December 11Format: PeriodicalCollection: Black Panther Party Community News Service
Cover Story: Cash-In on Your Family- Rockefeller Welfare Proposal Cuts Back on Survival
The Black Panther Black Community News Service The Black Panther Black Community News Service
Publisher: The Black Panther PartyYear: 1974Volume Number: Vol. 11-25 June 15Format: PeriodicalCollection: Black Panther Party Community News Service
Cover Story: SLA Death House Inferno- LAPD Search and Destroy Tactics Exposed. Also Inside: Oakland School Group Rejects $7.5 Million; Poetry at the Intercommunal Youth Institute; Georgia Governor Answers Huey Newton's Letter; CRIM School Supporters Continue Struggle; ZANLA Guerrillas Win Major Battles; Interview with OAU Liberation Committee; Charge SF Symphony Racist; Discrimination- The Case of Baseball, more.
Those Who Do Nothing Make No Mistakes Those Who Do Nothing Make No Mistakes
Author: Martin Sostre & Weather UndergroundPublisher: Bay Area Research CollectiveFormat: PamphletCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
This pamphlet is a response by Martin Sostre and the Weather Underground to the shootings of SLA members on May 17, 1974 in Los Angeles. Martin commemorates actions taken by the SLA and mourns the loss of those members. The Weather Underground also celebrates the SLA and pushes to continue the revolutionary armed struggle.
SLA Communique: Teko (William Harris) SLA Communique: Teko (William Harris)
Publisher: Symbionese Liberation ArmyDate: 6/7/1974Volume Number: 7-JunFormat: CommuniqueCollection: Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
Communique around the death of the six SLA members in Los Angeles at the hands of the LAPD.