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.

Independent Collections

These collections were produced by independent journalists. Many of these recordings make up the bulk of the original collection of the Freedom Archives.

Subcollections

Documents

Professor Arthur Ross: Regents Meeting Press Conference Professor Arthur Ross: Regents Meeting Press Conference
Date: 12/18/1964Call Number: CE 679Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
Press conference given by Professor Arthur Ross, chairman of the Emergency Executive Committee of the Berkeley Division Academic Senate, following the UC Regents meeting at UCLA on December 18, 1964. The committee had been formed one week prior to respond to the “crisis concerning political action” on the Berkeley campus. Ross, responding to statements given by the regents, states that his committee feels substantial progress has been made and that the university will not restrict political speech or advocacy on campus, and no further disciplinary action will be taken against students.
FSM Movement Pocket Documentary FSM Movement Pocket Documentary
Date: 12/3/1964Call Number: CE 719Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsProgram: TransCanada Matinee Collection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
The first portion of this documentary talks about the events leading up to the Sproul Hall sit-in. Faculty perspectives on the situation are featured. The second portion of this documentary contains voices from a student rally (difficult to hear). The third portion of this documentary talks about the role of the Academic Senate in the crisis, President Clark Kerr's attempts to bypass dealing with the FSM and details about the leadership of the movement.
Faculty Rally on Obscenity Case March 24th 1965 Faculty Rally on Obscenity Case March 24th 1965
Date: 3/24/1965Call Number: CE 722Format: 1/4 3 3/4 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
This recording is taken from a faculty rally following the banning of the UC student publication, the Spider. Mario Savio is the first speaker and he talks about what’s at stake concerning this issue. The following speakers are all faculty members and talk about a wide range of topics including the responsibility of faculty in protecting students’ rights, the need for student gains to be codified, the need to not lose perspective of larger issues including the civil rights struggle in Selma, various perspectives on the filthy speech movement, and that student actions demonstrate that students care about the university community.
Statement By Faculty Witnesses With Respect to November 30, 1966 Statement By Faculty Witnesses With Respect to November 30, 1966
Authors: Peter Dale Scott, George W. Stocking, Jr., Reginald ZelnikDate: 12/1/1966Volume Number: 1-DecFormat: StatementCollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
Three professors detail their recollection of Naval recruitment table incident. This report contradicts the official UC report on the incident.