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

Paul Robeson, The First 100 Years: A Celebration of His Life and Legacy Paul Robeson, The First 100 Years: A Celebration of His Life and Legacy
Date: 4/5/1998Call Number: V 146Format: VHSProducers: WBAI Radio-NYCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Begins with a video montage with narration on Robeson’s life, including excerpts from his speeches and interviews, historic film footage. Followed by speakers who pay tribute to Robeson; musical performances. Concludes with a panel discussion and questions from audience. Dr. Charles Wright is seated on the stage but is not shown speaking.
Paul Robeson, The First 100 Years: A Celebration of His Life and Legacy Paul Robeson, The First 100 Years: A Celebration of His Life and Legacy
Date: 4/5/1998Call Number: V 147Format: VHSProducers: WBAI Radio-NYCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Begins with a video montage with narration on Robeson’s life, including excerpts from his speeches and interviews, historic film footage. Followed by speakers who pay tribute to Robeson; musical performances. Concludes with a panel discussion and questions from audience. Dr. Charles Wright is seated on the stage but is not shown speaking.
Paul Robeson Centennial Tribute, Part 16 Paul Robeson Centennial Tribute, Part 16
Date: 1/1/1998Call Number: CD 225Format: CDProducers: Eugene GordonCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Tragedy or Triumph?, Part 3: Robeson as Othello, a rare recording from 1943. Discussion of “The Emperor Jones.” Music by Pete Seeger, Josh White, Leontyne Price, Billie Holiday, and Paul Robeson.
Paul Robeson Centennial Tribute, Part 20 Paul Robeson Centennial Tribute, Part 20
Date: 1/1/1998Call Number: CD 229Format: CDProducers: Eugene GordonCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
The Cult of Paul Robeson: Are we members of a cult? Paul sings Sonny Boy, Little Pal, So Shy, and a few lullabies. Songs by Lena Horne, Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger, Sarah Vaughn.
Tribute to Paul Robeson, WBAI Tribute to Paul Robeson, WBAI
Date: 1/1/1968Call Number: CD 342Format: CDProgram: WBAICollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Tribute to Paul Robeson, WBAI Second side of tape continues the WBAI 1968 tribute to Robeson’s 70 birthday: Robeson recording of “Go Down Moses;” the last speech of Othello, with Robeson’s introduction; narrative on Robeson’s life by William L. Patterson; recordig made by the Westchester Committee for Law & Order following the Peekskill “riots” of 1949, with the Weavers singing “Hold the Line,” and Pete Seeger, Howard Fast, Alice Childress, Fred Hillerman telling the true story of the attacks at Peekskill and commenting on Robeson’s fightback; recording of Robeson singing “The House I Live In.” Also contains recordings from the May 18, 1952 Peace Arch Concert and the 1957 concert via trans-atlantic cable to the Eisteddfod Festival in Wales. Same as PR 077
Out of the Darkness Out of the Darkness
Date: 1/1/1984Call Number: Vin 048Producers: Fire on the Mountain, Pete Seeger, Kate Wolf, Holly Near, Don Lange, Cris Williamson, Charlie King, Jesse Colin Young, Dick Gaughan, Sweet Honey in the RockCollection: General materials
A compilation of protest songs against nuclear energy and war sung by folk singers, including Pete Seeger, Kate Wolf, and Jesse Colin Young. Themes include peace and environmental justice.