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.

Chuy Varela Collection

This collection takes its name from Jesse “Chuy” Varela, a Bay Area radio host who frequently interviewed political, activist, and labor figures connected to issues affecting Latin and Central American communities. Topics includes immigration to the US, the 1994 NAFTA treaty, labor issues such as the activism of Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez, and the UFW, and related political developments affecting the region (1994 Mexican election, CA Prop 187, Sandinistas, Zapatistas, (EZLN) etc.) and others.

Documents

"Turning Up the Heat": Moving the Social Justice Agenda in 1995 "Turning Up the Heat": Moving the Social Justice Agenda in 1995
Date: 1/10/1995Call Number: CV 044Format: Cass A & BCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
A panel of women discussing four key issues confronting the social justice agenda: 1) Prop 187 effects on the election 2) emerging campaign to prohibit voluntary affirmative action 3) gender equity in education settings and 4) short and long term impact of these issues and the resolutions on women political, economic and social equality. The presentations are followed by a discussion.
Immigration Prop 187 Passage Press Conference 11-9-94 SF Immigration Prop 187 Passage Press Conference 11-9-94 SF
Date: 11/9/1994Call Number: CV 316Format: Cass A & BCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Press conference given the day after the passage of Prop 187. Organizers of the anti-Prop 187 movement speak to the press about their disappointment with California’s decision and their next steps which include class action lawsuits against numerous California politicians. Key points of opposition include challenging the educational provisions, overriding health care entitlements, and challenging the structure of Prop 187. Q and A with the press follows the statements by lawyers and community activists.