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

AIDS in Prison: A Double Sentence AIDS in Prison: A Double Sentence
Call Number: JG/ 061AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Judy Gerber speaks with inmates, activists, and prison officials about conditions in the AIDS Unit inside the California Correctional Facility in Vacaville, California. Attica Brother Akil Al-Jundi and others speak on AIDS prisoners' confrontations with racism, quarantine, lacking medical facilities and personnel, involuntary and suspect testing, and cruel prison administrations. Also included, are depictions of prisoner resistance to inhumane treatment and a call for action from the public outside the prison walls.
War Behind Walls War Behind Walls
Publisher: Peoples Press; The Red FamilyDate: 9/1971Volume Number: SeptemberFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Prison Newspapers
Articles include: Attica Revolt, Attica Demands, California Prison Struggle History, Movements 1970-71, Soledad Brothers: A Portrait, Vacaville, more.
Anvil Anvil
Publisher: California Prisoners UnionYear: 1971Volume Number: Vol. 1-2 JulyFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Prison Newspapers
Articles include: We Must Unionize; CPU Convention, Congressman Ron Dellums on Prison and the CPU, Reflections of a Prison Psychiatrist, more.
Psychiatrists and Cops: Unholy Alliance Psychiatrists and Cops: Unholy Alliance
Author: Philip ShapiroPublisher: New American MovementYear: 1973Volume Number: Vol. 3-1 SeptemberFormat: ArticleCollection: Mental Health
Original article discussing the relationship between law enforcement, prison authorities and psychiatry.
Prison Psychiatry: The Clockwork Cure Prison Psychiatry: The Clockwork Cure
Author: Bernard WeinerPublisher: The NationYear: 1972Volume Number: Vol. 214-14 April 3Format: ArticleCollection: Mental Health
Article about aversion therapy, routinely practiced in California's prison system. Article further investigates medical and mental health practices at Vacaville Prison.
Dragon Dragon
Publisher: Bay Area Research CollectiveYear: 1975Volume Number: No. 3 OctoberFormat: PeriodicalCollection: The Dragon
Table of Contents: BARC Finances, These Days, Statement from Bill and Emily Harris, Wendy Yoshimura, from Prison, Support from Martin Sostre, Network Against Psychiatric Assault: Demonstration, Communique: George Jackson Brigade, New World Liberation Front: Communique, Coalinga bombing, Poem, Front de Liberation du Quebec, Orphans of Amerika: Open Letter to NWLF, Four Trials, Psychiatric Assault, Behavior Modification = Mind Control, George Jackson Brigade Bombs Washington State Department of Corrections in Olympia