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.

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

Female Political Prisoners - series of interviews Female Political Prisoners - series of interviews
Call Number: JG/ 070Format: CassetteProducers: Judy Gerber, Lisa RudmanProgram: KPFACollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
This is a collection of different interviews and recordings of female political prisoners from around the world. Lisa Rudman collages them together to show the injustice towards political prisoners and to highlight some of the many tactics used by the US government and prison system to get information out of political prisoners. Rudman defines political prisoners and interviews Laura Whitehorn and Linda Evans and speaks about their cases and the circumstances leading to their imprisonment. The other political prisoners interviewed on the tape are: Dora Garcia, active in the national liberation struggles in the US colony of Puerto Rico; Mercedes Algado, a refugee active in the FSLM and FDR in El Salvador; Elizabeth Sebego, active in the Pan African Congress; Assata Shakur, active with the Black Panthers and now a refugee in Cuba; a Filipina imprisoned for her work with the church.
International Human Rights Day, 1994 International Human Rights Day, 1994
Date: 12/2/1994Call Number: JG/ 088AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Interview with Judy Siff and Bill Crossman of Prairie Fire Organizing Committee about International Human Rights Day, 1994. International Human Rights Day, December 10, is a global holiday not well known in the U.S. that champions human rights for political prisoners. The U.S. focus of this year's campaign are the 150+ political prisoners held currently by the U.S. justice system, many of whom were social activists of the 1960's, 70's, 80's. Siff and Crossman stress that with political prisoners it is important to factor not what illegal actions they committed but rather what their conscience was. They deplore the suppression of popular information on political prisoners within the U.S that leads to a popular attitude of disbelief about the problem. They explore the cases of Mumia Abu Jamal, Geronimo Pratt, Leonard Peltier, Sylvia Baraldini, and discus the Amnesty campaign for Puerto Rican prisoners of war. They note that any victory for any prisoner helps the effort as a whole and illustrate the grassroots efforts to shut down the inhumane Lexington, KY prison. They lament that the U.S. does not allow dissent because it gives abnormally long sentences to "freedom fighters." They offer info on how to support the campaign for human rights.
Focus on the Americas with Blase Bonpane, Ph.D. “It’s time to stop US aid to Israel” Focus on the Americas with Blase Bonpane, Ph.D. “It’s time to stop US aid to Israel”
Date: 7/17/1991Call Number: JG/ 083BFormat: Cass BProgram: Focus on the AmericasCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Bonpane calls for need to coerce Israel to change its policy. We as US citizens must call upon our government to stop giving aid of $3.5 billion USD per year. Prominent Israeli Jews (military and nonmilitary) have also called for a stop of US aid in order to change Israeli policy. Discusses George Bush, Sr.'s crime bill that calls for secret trials, secret charges and secret evidence for non-US citizens labeled terrorists. Terrorists are defined as those giving financial assistance and support to international resistance movements including FMLN, PLO, and ANC. Material supporters would receive 10 years in prison (both US and non-US citizens). It allows youth records to be treated as adult and expands the death penalty to include Native Americans living in Indian Territories. It also permits the use of illegally seized evidence.
A Defiant Heart: U.S. role in Peru A Defiant Heart: U.S. role in Peru
Date: 6/1/1993Call Number: JG/ 091Format: CassetteProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Reading of articles about the situation in Peru between both armed and peaceable opposition movements and the Fujimori government, including the U.S. role in the conflict. David Wilson of the Nica Network in New York condemns the Sandero Luminoso, a violent communist opposition group committing human rights violations. Wilson notes however, that the situation is very complex because U.S. foreign policies conflict with the will of the peaceable mass opposition movement to the Fujimori government. Abemal Guzman declares the United States the main terrorist force in the hemisphere.
Mary Hartman Interview on Nicaragua Mary Hartman Interview on Nicaragua
Date: 1/1/1995Call Number: JG/ 115AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Mary Hartman, CSA, who has lived and worked in Nicaragua for over 30 years, serving as a member of the Sandinista Human Rights and working with CANTERA, Center for Popular Education. Hartman discusses the drastic changes in Nicaragua five years after the elections of 1990 and the victory of Violeta Chamorro and the United Opposition Union. Side 2: An interview with Anabel Torres, the executive director of CANTERA. Torres explains that CANTERA, the Center for Popular Education and Communication, was established in Nicaragua to encourage the formation of people in an integral manner and the strengthening of individual and collective identities of Nicaraguans. CANTERA strives to improve the quality of life of rural and urban Nicaraguans, most frequently women, by encouraging collaborations between communities and providing information as a means for freedom.
Justice. Do It Nike. Justice. Do It Nike.
Date: 5/31/1996Call Number: JG/ 161BFormat: Cass BProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Judy Gerber reads excerpts from an article called “The Globe Trotting Sneaker” to talk about human rights and globalization. Justice. Do It Nike is a group that is fighting against inhumane treatment in Nike sweatshops in Indonesia and countries throughout South East Asia. Nike is not the only target of this campaign, low wages and labor exploitation is a problem associated with many American sports companies who export their jobs to places like Southeast Asia where they are free to ignore human and labor rights.
Ending Violence Against Women Ending Violence Against Women
Publisher: The Global Fund for WomenDate: 2/1992Volume Number: FebruaryFormat: ExcerptCollection: Violence Against Women
Women's rights As Human Rights: Toward a re-Vision of Human Rights Women's rights As Human Rights: Toward a re-Vision of Human Rights
Author: Charlotte BunchPublisher: Center for Women's Global LeadershipYear: 1991Format: ExcerptCollection: Violence Against Women