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

Collin Edwards - Interview with Robert and Dorothy Zellner - Part 3 Collin Edwards - Interview with Robert and Dorothy Zellner - Part 3
Call Number: CE 503Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: Colin Edwards Collection
Robert and Dorothy Zellner further discuss the venue for Black resistance and education such as the sit-ins, the army, and the formation of third political parties.
Student experiences with sit-ins: Michael Marcus, Art Goldberg, Stephanie Coontz Student experiences with sit-ins: Michael Marcus, Art Goldberg, Stephanie Coontz
Call Number: CE 685Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
Interviews with three students who were arrested at the sit-in at Sproul Hall on the 2nd and 3rd of December 1964. Students discuss the atmosphere of the sit-in, the arrival of the police, police brutality, and attempts to alienate the students from other prisoners in the Santa Rita Jail. Further discussed are President Clark Kerr’s changes to education and the campus, their parents’ reactions to their arrests and general perspectives on the FSM.
Student experiences with sit-ins: Stephanie Coontz, Andy Wells, Lynn Wollander, Ron Anastasi Student experiences with sit-ins: Stephanie Coontz, Andy Wells, Lynn Wollander, Ron Anastasi
Call Number: CE 686Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
Interviews with students who were arrested during the December 2nd and 3rd Sproul Hall sit-in. Four students recount their experiences during the sit-in, the mass arrest, being detained in the basement of Sproul Hall, experiences in Santa Rita jail, students being thrown in solitary confinement and the denial of legal assistance to the students.
Claude Mann: Covering the FSM Claude Mann: Covering the FSM
Call Number: CE 693Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
Claude Mann is a news reporter from Channel 2 in Oakland. Claude recounts his experiences at the FSM protests at Sproul Hall in early October 1964 and then on December 2nd and 3rd 1964. He talks about the atmospheres of those protests, the mood of the students and answers questions about student provocateurs. He details what he saw at the December 2nd and 3rd sit-ins and arrests and comments on whether or not the aisles were blocked, whether or not the police were unnecessarily rough, his feelings on mainstream news coverage of the FSM, the issue of branding the leadership of the FSM as communists and the absence of Black students from the arrests and sit-ins. Mann’s commentary around the press coverage of the events is especially interesting as Colin and him discusses differences between print and tv journalists and their coverage, limitations of coverage and the attitude of reporters towards the FSM.
Wallace Turner: Covering the FSM Wallace Turner: Covering the FSM
Call Number: CE 694Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
The first part of this tape is an interview with the West Coast correspondent with the New York Times. He discusses the Sproul Hall sit-in, the nature of the protest, the nature of the students, what did the inside of Sproul Hall look like and other topics. He re-enforces the dominant narrative of the establishment by refusing to contradict the official version of accounts from the police and the district attorney. He describes the arrests of the students, talks about the connections between the civil rights movement and the leadership of the FSM and supports Clark Kerr commenting “ he’s done more to protect free speech than any of the protestors.” The second part of the tape focuses on the Jail sentences handed out to students arrested at the Sproul Hall sit-in. Accounts of the students’ experience in Santa Rita Jail are remembered by Hal Draper, Roberta Alexander, Bettina Apickther, and Anita Lavin. Specifically discussed are the conditions inside the jail and the attempts of the guards to separate the prisoners from the students and the politicization of the prisoners.
Assemblyman Donald Mulford: 16th Assembly District Assemblyman Donald Mulford: 16th Assembly District
Call Number: CE 702Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
Assemblyman Mulford watched many of the arrests that took place at Sproul Hall on December 2nd and 3rd and talks about what he saw. This recording illuminates some of the details behind the decision to send in police to break up the sit-in. Mulford describes student leaders as “militant”, “profane”, “defiant”; talks about recognizing the hardcore leadership from other local protests and justifies the decision to use the police by claiming there would have been “bloodshed in the morning” and “mob violence” had the police not intervened. He answers questions about the autonomy of the university, allegations of physical mistreatment by students against the police, faculty support of students, the political make-up of the FSM leadership and the importance of this issue in the next election.
Two Items on Jailed Students Two Items on Jailed Students
Call Number: CE 710Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
Two segments on the students arrested during the Sproul Hall sit-in and their experiences in the Santa Rita Jail. These segments include the effects of the students on the prisoners and prison staff, and some reactions to the jailing from the American academic community.
KPFA Documentary Reel 1 KPFA Documentary Reel 1
Call Number: CE 716Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: KPFACollection: Colin Edwards Free Speech Movement
This recording primarily deals with the Sproul Hall protests on Dec. 3rd/4th 1964. There are clips of Mario Savio and Joan Baez. Documentary includes on-site interviews with students/FSM activists, a list of agreements with the UC Regents read by Savio which were later refuted by UC official, claiming the list was never formally adopted.