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

Pajaro Latino Pajaro Latino
Date: 2/4/1999Call Number: JH 587BFormat: Cass BProducers: Jorge HerreraCollection: “Pajaro Latino” Programs produced by Jorge Herrera
Roberto Ordeñova-Stop AIDS Project, 5 jovenes homosexuales latinos
Women in Prison Women in Prison
Call Number: PM 210Format: Cass A & BCollection: Prisons - Women
Intervew of Women in Prison, Dublin, CA 1995. Political prisoners Dylcia Pagan, Linda Evans, Ida Robinson, and Marilyn Buck are asked to speak about themselves and why they are in prison. The women also discuss the GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs), NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the lack of wages and benefits for the poor and oppressed, and the wrongs of the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Ida Robinson speaks about families of ethnic minorities, and Marilyn Buck speaks about how political prisoners aren’t violent, they are just casualties during the conflict. The women discuss the state of the poor white woman, how is marginalized because no one is fighting for her and she has no representation.
AIDS in Prison: A Double Sentence AIDS in Prison: A Double Sentence
Call Number: JG/ 061AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Judy Gerber speaks with inmates, activists, and prison officials about conditions in the AIDS Unit inside the California Correctional Facility in Vacaville, California. Attica Brother Akil Al-Jundi and others speak on AIDS prisoners' confrontations with racism, quarantine, lacking medical facilities and personnel, involuntary and suspect testing, and cruel prison administrations. Also included, are depictions of prisoner resistance to inhumane treatment and a call for action from the public outside the prison walls.
AIDS in Focus: Women of Color with AIDS AIDS in Focus: Women of Color with AIDS
Call Number: JG/ 071Format: CassetteProducers: Judy GerberProgram: AIDS in FocusCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
This is a short recording from the Care Fair for women of color with AIDS. Black women are one of the fastest growing population of those contracting AIDS. At the time of this recording, however, much of the research on HIV and AIDS was done on men, so the differences in symptoms and signs had not been discovered. There is an interview with Dayson Dixon, a Black women living with AIDS and she speaks about the lack of services available for those with AIDS and their families. She echoes the concern that there needs to be more research done on how HIV and AIDS affects women and especially Black women. Janet Cleveland, a copy editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution speaks as well.
AIDS in Focus: Joyce and Jackie music performance AIDS in Focus: Joyce and Jackie music performance
Call Number: JG/ 072Format: CassetteProducers: Judy GerberProgram: AIDS in FocusCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
The tape begins abruptly in the middle of a lecture on AIDS. The taping is from the same conference as JG/LS 071. What is primarily on the tape is a concert performed by two feminist folk musicians Joyce and Jackie. It is about forty-five minutes of their music which such songs as “Higher Ground” and “Sisters of the World.”
Gender Issues in Russia, 1992 Gender Issues in Russia, 1992
Call Number: JG/ 085BFormat: Cass BProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Interview with Gene Peters, lesbian & gay activist who traveled to Russia in 1992 with Friendship Force to examine women's issues after the dissolution of the USSR. Peters talked extensively with female Russian professors and officials. She describes how many women were forced out of the workforce with the fall of communism, particularly in high status jobs. 70% of the Russian unemployed are women and fewer women have been elected to office since the fall of USSR. Peters describes the work of the Russian Federation of Women, a Soviet women's organization. She notes a lack of adequate medical supplies and dearth of contraceptives in Russia that renders an average of 8 abortions per woman. She describes the AIDS epidemic in the former USSR and current Russian AIDS campaigns. She also describes political reform initiatives for gay men & women who were brutally repressed under the Soviet regime, as well as the development of open gay life. She concludes with a general warning against Western media coverage of Russia, noting remarkable social retrogression and stratification in the wake of the fall of the USSR.
Wishlist of Political Prisoner Pardons, 1994 Wishlist of Political Prisoner Pardons, 1994
Call Number: JG/ 086BFormat: Cass BProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Wish list of New Year's resolutions for Bill Clinton focusing on political prisoners and prisoners of war, 1994. Eulogy for AIDs activist Michael Callen. Requests for the retrial and/or pardoning of political prisoners Leonard Peltier, Geronimo Pratt, Mumia Abu Jamal, and Silvia Baraldini and for the pardoning of Puerto Rican prisoners of war, with background information on each of their situations.
Nightly News:  AIDS Activism in SF and Police Brutality Nightly News: AIDS Activism in SF and Police Brutality
Date: 1/1/1988Call Number: V 173Format: VHSCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
This tape contains a nightly news story on two AIDS activist who outreach to poor people living with HIV and AIDS in San Francisco, providing them with medical care. This tape also contains a broadcast of the show "Express" from PBS in which several San Francisco journalists and pundits discuss police brutality in San Francisco. One brutality case discussed is that of UFW organizer Dolores Huerta.
SFPD Out of the Castro SFPD Out of the Castro
This video contains footage of a demonstration fro AIDS awareness and Queer rights in San Francisco's Castro district. Demonstrators occupy Market Street and refuse to disperse upon SFPD's request. Some arrests are made.
Queer in Cuba (Part 1) Queer in Cuba (Part 1)
Date: 10/25/1992Call Number: JG/ 102Format: CassetteCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
In Part 1 of this moderated discussion recorded in 1992, Sonja De Vries and Jorge Cortinas talk about their experiences in Cuba and their observations on how HIV/AIDS and other LGBT issues are addressed in the country. De Vries spent six months in Cuba interviewing gay men and women. Cortinas spent a year in Havana, working for the National Center for Health Education. Several key topics raised during the discussion include: how the Communist party in Cuba is dealing with HIV/AIDS and LGBT issues, the impact of U.S. foreign policy, the effectiveness of sanatoriums, and different methods of safe sex education. In addition to this, both De Vries and Cortinas talk about daily aspects of queer life in Cuba, like the visibility of the LGBT community and the influence of machismo.