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

Interview with Hugh Masakela Interview with Hugh Masakela
Date: 2/1/1990Call Number: SS 124BFormat: Cass BProducers: Sue SuprianoCollection: Sue Supriano Interviews and Programs
Interview with Hugh Masakela, a South African Jazz Musician.
African Liberation music and poetry African Liberation music and poetry
Call Number: AFR 005AFormat: Cass ACollection: Africa- General Resources
Liberation music in African and African Jazz styles, all the songs have a political message. Issues raised are about Africans living under oppressive white rule, struggle for land and political power, and how oppressed people in countries like South Africa, Namibia, El Salvador, and Guatemala are being called to rise up against oppression and racism.
anti-imperialist jazz music and the Congolese National Liberation Front anti-imperialist jazz music and the Congolese National Liberation Front
Call Number: AFR 073Format: Cass A & BCollection: Zaire-DRC
Recorded off mic. Jazz music with vocals about anti-imperialism, neo colonialism, and the struggles of Africans under oppression. Side B continues with music, but much poorer recording. Also, a representative of FLNC (Congolese National Liberation Front) speaks about the struggle in the Congo, and the history of the struggle in relation to the present. He celebrates the 16th Anniversary of the creation of FLNC, and praises its accomplishments. Lastly, he speaks about the struggles for change in Congo, and the struggle for a good economy and unity.
Interview with Luis Godoy Interview with Luis Godoy
Call Number: LA 115Format: CassetteCollection: Nicaragua
1989 interview with Nicaraguan revolutionary musician, Luis Godoy. Godoy was born in 1945 during the Samoza dictatorship. He speaks about the responsibility of an artist to send an important message and raise the consciousness of the people. Godoy then explained that from a very young age he realized that he could express the injustices of Nicaragua through songs, "I realized that my music could be used as a social tool". Throughout the interview, Godoy discusses those who have influenced his music, his involvement with past bands, and his visions for the future in both his musical career and for his country.
African Liberation music and poetry African Liberation music and poetry
Call Number: AFR 004AFormat: Cass ACollection: Africa- General Resources
Liberation music in African and African Jazz styles, all the songs have a political message. Issues raised are about the oppressed black people living under white rule, limits to land and political power, and how oppressed people in countries like South Africa, Namibia, El Salvador, and Guatemala are being called to rise up against oppression, racism, and classism, and to liberate themselves.
Ella Fitzgerald Tribute Ella Fitzgerald Tribute
Date: 6/18/1996Call Number: CV 057Format: Cass A & BProgram: The Morning ShowCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Music columnist Phil Elwood discusses Ella Fitzgerald's musical legacy three days after her death.