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

1993 Dyke March - Window Dub 1993 Dyke March - Window Dub
Date: 5/1/1993Call Number: V 480Format: VHSProducers: Lisa RudmanCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Interviews with lesbians and dykes in the Castro preparing for the march. Topics range from breast cancer, women only spaces, transgender politics, racism, anti-militarism, sexism, and AIDS/HIV. The march down follows.
1993 Dyke March - Window Dub 1993 Dyke March - Window Dub
Date: 5/1/1993Call Number: V 481Format: VHSProducers: Lisa RudmanCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Interviews with lesbians and dykes in the Castro preparing for the march. Topics range from breast cancer, women only spaces, transgender politics, racism, anti-militarism, sexism, and AIDS/HIV. The march down follows.
Women’s Liberation Movement Discuses Gay Persecution in Cuba Women’s Liberation Movement Discuses Gay Persecution in Cuba
Date: 6/25/1977Call Number: KP 521Format: Cass A & BCollection: General materials
Women’s Liberation Movement members gather on June 25, 1977 for a discussion panel in America after a somewhat recent trip to Cuba to discuss the current situation on gay rights in Cuba. The conversation begins with the question of whether or not Cuba’s anti- gay feelings come from underdevelopment or sexism. Panel members share their experiences and encounters in Cuba with those who were openly gay, closeted gay, and anti- gay. Their findings show that people who are anti- gay could not provide any reasonable political arguments supporting their stance and most of their feelings stem from beliefs held prior to the revolution. There is disagreement in the group whether or not gay Americans should go in and inspire gay Cubans to stand up for themselves or if Cubans need to be the ones to provide their own liberation.