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

Buried Alive: Lexington Control Unit Buried Alive: Lexington Control Unit
Call Number: JG/ 061BFormat: Cass BProducers: Judy GerberCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Judy Gerber interviews political prisoners/prisoners of war housed at the Lexington Control Unit in Kentucky. Puerto Rican Independista Alejandrina Torres and North American anti-imperialists Sylvia Baraldini and Susan Rosenberg, all inmates in Lexington, discuss the psychological torture they have endured in this unit including the absence of natural sunlight, denial of personal property, limited contact with family and the outside world, pointless and humiliating strip searches and other sexual torture, and medical neglect. Also discussed is the importance of public pressure in the form of national and international campaigns against these horrendous conditions.
Interview with Susan Rosenberg on KMUD Interview with Susan Rosenberg on KMUD
Call Number: PM 225Format: CassetteProgram: KMUDCollection: Political Prisoners- General Info
Susan Rosenberg speaks over the phone from a Washington DC jail. As political activists, Rosenberg and others were charged with conspiracy to influence foreign domestic policy by illegal violent means. With a right to have a necessity to resist, Rosenberg and others actively fought against US war crimes of injustice. While being charged for four DC bombings (Capital Bombings), multiple organizations claimed responsibility. Rosenberg was initially caught with explosives and was linked to the conspiracy. A usual sentence for explosives is 3 ½ years, however her situation is politically charged and she first received a 58-year sentence. With no evidence of her doing the bombings, she was charged by political association. With no direct evidence, Susan explains that involvement can mean responsibility and potential conviction. Along with her explanation of past problems with the government, Rosenberg talks about her recent struggle with confinement in the Lexington Control Unit and her movement to shut it down. She speaks of the injustices of sending political prisoners to solitary confinement (Lexington Control Unit). Rosenberg also explains her experiences with being retried a second time with no new evidence. The second indictment was for bombing, while the first was conspiracy. These actions were illegal due to laws of double jeopardy. Eventually, a federal judge dismissed the case. As the struggle continues, Susan Rosenberg describes that she is gaining more opportunities to fight her case and political prisoners will have more rights as well.
Out of Control Lesbian Committee Out of Control Lesbian Committee
Date: 8/28/1995Call Number: PM 317Format: Cass A & BProducers: Prison Activist Resource CenterProgram: On The OutsideCollection: Out of Control: Lesbian Committee to Support Women Prisoners
Rita Brown and Jane Segal discuss the Out of Control Lesbian Committee to Support Women Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. They organize to support women political prisoners, publish a newsletter and are organizing a grassroots movement. The interview includes a discussion of their lives as political activists.
International Women's Day 1987 International Women's Day 1987
Date: 3/5/1987Call Number: V 571Format: Hi-8Producers: Lisa RudmanCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Annual celebration and demonstration on IWD. Speakers make point to call for an end to the Lexington Control Unit and a release of all political prisoners. Connect the struggles for independence in Central America to the struggle of political prisoners in the US.
Out of Control Lesbian Committee Out of Control Lesbian Committee
Date: 8/28/1995Call Number: CD 791Format: CDProducers: Prison Activist Resource CenterProgram: On The OutsideCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Rita Brown and Jane Segal discuss the Out of Control Lesbian Committee to Support Women Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. They organize to support women political prisoners, publish a newsletter and are organizing a grassroots movement. The interview includes a discussion of their lives as political activists.
LIBERTAD LIBERTAD
Publisher: National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Prisoners of WarYear: 1986Volume Number: Vol. VII-IV AprilFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Libertad
Contents: PCE and GRAPO political prisoners on Hunger Strike; April- Hundreds to Demand Shut down Marion and Lexington; Interview with Jorge Farinacci; Vieques: New Economic Focus; Trail Run for the 2020 Plan; The Littlest Warrior by Dylcia Pagan-Morales; Statement from the Puerto Rico Independence 13; Celebrations planned for Grand Jury Resistors; New arrests in Puerto Rico; Thank You Don Juan by Rafael Cancel Miranda.
LIBERTAD LIBERTAD
Publisher: National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Prisoners of WarYear: 1986Volume Number: Vol. VII-XII DecemberFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Libertad
Contents: The Case of Alejandrina and Susan: Psychological Torture Exposed Close the Control Unit! Campaign to Protest Inhuman Conditions at MCC for Oscar and Kojo Continues; Prisoners of War/Political Prisoners: What is the Difference?; The Roots of El Yunque; Communique from the Puerto Rican People\'s Army - Macheteros; The Puerto Rican Nationalists; Health Endangered- 4th week of Luis Colon-Osorio Hunger Strike.
LIBERTAD LIBERTAD
Publisher: National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Prisoners of WarYear: 1987Volume Number: Vol. VIII-IV AprilFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Libertad
Contents: International Outcry Against Lexington Control Units; FBI Destroys Evidence: US\'s Case begins to come apart; 9th Anniversary Colonia Andres Figueroa Cordero- 15,000 Denounce Lexington Control Unit; Resistance is not a Crime; News on the Puerto Rican Independence 16; National Committee Salutes Conference on Academic Freedom; 50th Commemoration of the Ponce Massacre
Control Unit Prisons: Health and Human Rights Violations Control Unit Prisons: Health and Human Rights Violations
Publisher: Health Committee of the Campaign to Abolish Lexington Control UnitDate: 11/15/1988Volume Number: 15-NovFormat: MonographCollection: Control Units
Presented to the American Public Health Association on November 15, 1988 by the Socialist Caucus. Contents include: The Health Affects of Control Unit Prisons; APHA Opposes Lexington High Security Unit; The Women of Lexington Prison; Victory in Lexington Lawsuit; The Marion Control Unit; United Nations Position on Puerto Rican POWs; Public Health Decimates Puerto Rico; Oye-Listen; What is Torture?; Stress and Illness Biography
Letter/Phone Campaign to Shut Down the Lexington Control Unit Letter/Phone Campaign to Shut Down the Lexington Control Unit
Year: 1987Format: FlyerCollection: Lexington Control Unit for Women
Advertisement for 11/23/1987 phone/letter campaign to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.