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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.
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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.
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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.

Gender and Sexuality

This collection features materials from a number of sources focusing on struggles revolving around gender and sexuality. These struggles are not separate from larger struggles for liberation but specifically incorporate unique voices and perspectives.

Subcollections

  • Connexions
    Connexions
    Connexions is the collective product of feminists of diverse nationalities and political perspectives committed to contributing to an international women\'s movement.
  • Feminist and Lesbian Politics: Monographs-Periodicals-Articles
    Feminist and Lesbian Politics: Monographs-Periodicals-Articles
    This collection contains materials focusing on radical feminist and lesbian politics. While diverse in medium and subject matter, this collection contextualizes women’s liberation highlighting issues of class, race, sexuality and imperialism.
  • Materials shot and collected in the making of The Forest for the Trees
    Materials shot and collected in the making of The Forest for the Trees
    Raw materials from the documentary "The Forest for the Trees" which details the amazing story of the fight to clear Earth First! activist Judi Bari's name after her car was bombed and she was arrested as a terrorist.
  • Out of Control: Lesbian Committee to Support Women Prisoners
    Out of Control: Lesbian Committee to Support Women Prisoners
    Out of Control (OOC) was a self-supporting committee formed in 1987 to organize resistance to the Lexington Control Unit for women.
  • Prisons - Women
    Prisons - Women
    This collection contains materials relating to the specific conditions, challenges and struggles facing women in prison. Topics are varied but materials include conference papers, informational materials, legal perspectives and audio recordings.
  • Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
    This collection contains grassroots radio programming produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms. This programming primarily occurred during the 1980s and 1990s.
  • Sterilization
    Sterilization
    This collection contains materials focusing on the sterilization of women and efforts to resist this practice.
  • Violence Against Women
    Violence Against Women
    This collection contains materials focusing on violence against women. Specific topics covered include women who fight back against their abusers, rape, pornography, sexism and self-defense.
  • Women Against Imperialism
    Women Against Imperialism
    Women Against Imperialism was a grassroots, feminist, anti-imperialist solidarity organization formed in San Francisco in 1981. Women Against Imperialism’s work primarily consisted of direct action organizing and political education activities.

Documents

Focus on Racism Focus on Racism
Date: 10/20/1995Call Number: JG/ 096AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Focus on Racism. Interview with Judy Siff and Bill Crossman of the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee on their class 'Culture Clash' on the history of white supremacy and its impact on U.S. history. At the occasion of the Million Man March, racism is on the public agenda for the first time in many years. Siff and Crossman note how 1995 has been a remarkable year for publicity of racism, particularly the Mumia Abu Jamal and Susan Smith cases. They believe that the problem of race in the U.S. transcends racism to root inequality through institutions, including a very central role of the police and judicial system in promoting white supremacy. They argue that the white perception of reality needs to change, that a new common consciousness must be forged. They note how racism targets many different groups in the U.S., not just Blacks, and how mainstream white society usually turns a blind eye.
Focus on Racism Focus on Racism
Date: 11/3/1995Call Number: JG/ 096BFormat: Cass BProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Focus on Racism continued. Interview with Judy Siff and Bill Crossman of the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee on their class 'Culture Clash' on the history of white supremacy and its impact on U.S. history. Siff and Crossman talk about the book 'The Myth of the White Proletariat' that challenges deep myths of White America. According to the book, popular misconceptions regarding race and racism in the U.S. stem historically from the national foundation, particularly notions about who the early settlers were, what the existing native population was like, and who actually benefited from the system of slavery. Siff and Crossman argue that this nation was an empire from the start, seizing and subjugating nations, and that the nation as a whole benefited from slavery. They believe that all white people no matter what social class, has benefited from white supremacy.