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

Paul Robeson sings Paul Robeson sings
Call Number: KP 057Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson, sings “Joe Hill”.
Militant Workers in Detroit, 8/27/73 Militant Workers in Detroit, 8/27/73
Date: 8/27/1973Call Number: KP 058Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: General materials
Poor conditions in Detroit auto factory’s result in strikes against the Chrysler Corporation , among others. Jefferson Ave. and the Detroit Forge Plant were two sites of strike activity. Jim Jacobs explains some of the reasoning behind the strikes, and relates the issue to black equality as well.
Discussion among black women about white liberals, radicalism and solidarity. Discussion among black women about white liberals, radicalism and solidarity.
Call Number: KP 069Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: Black Power/Black Nation
Black Women discussing many issues that face them including white liberals and fear, and the media and its outlets.
Lincoln Bergman Intro to Freedom Archives Lincoln Bergman Intro to Freedom Archives
Call Number: KP 080Format: 1/4 15 ipsCollection: General materials
Lincoln Bergman speaking very briefly on Roland Young, Ho Chi Minh, Malcolm X, George Jackson, Angela Davis, Soledad Brothers and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Malcolm X: Militant Labor Forum, “Prospects for Freedom in 1965.” Malcolm X: Militant Labor Forum, “Prospects for Freedom in 1965.”
Date: 1/7/1965Call Number: KP 062Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: Malcolm X
Malcolm X speaks at a Militant Labor Forum and discusses the difference between the Black Muslim movement and the Black Nationalist group, the difference between moral and political protest, the labeling of extremists as monsters and also looks to examples of black freedom fighters in Africa as models for African Americans demanding equal rights. There are editorialized interruptions from the DJ.
Speech by Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe to African Americans Speech by Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe to African Americans
Date: 8/23/1980Call Number: AFR 006BFormat: Cass BCollection: Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe gives a speech to African Americans living in Harlem, at a rally on Harlem Day, August 23, 1980. On the occasion of Zimbabwe’s admission to the United Nations, Mugabe thanks people for their support of Zimbabwe’s struggle for national independence and against colonial racist white rule. He celebrates the victory of the black man in Zimbabwe and the continued struggle for non-racialism and equality. He ends his speech with the hope that the victory of Zimbabwe will inspire the oppressed Africans in South Africa and Namibia.
David Gilbert Interview David Gilbert Interview
Date: 7/31/1998Call Number: V 036Format: VHSProducers: Sam GreenCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
David Gilbert interviewed at Great Meadows Prison in New York about his political history and development as an anti racist, anti sexist, anti imperialist person. Includes commentary on the development of SDS (Student for a Democratic Society), the Black Power Movement, the Black Panther Party (BPP), Black Liberation Army (BLA), COINTELPRO and many other issues from the 60s forward. VHS copy of DV camera originals, Part 1
David Gilbert Interview David Gilbert Interview
Date: 7/31/1998Call Number: V 037Format: VHSProducers: Sam GreenCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
David Gilbert interviewed at Great Meadows Prison in New York about his political history and development as an anti racist, anti sexist, anti imperialist person. Includes commentary on the development of SDS (Student for a Democratic Society), the Black Power Movement, the Black Panther Party (BPP), Black Liberation Army (BLA), COINTELPRO and many other issues from the 60s forward. VHS copy of DV camera originals, Part 2
Behind the Burning Cross, Racism USA Behind the Burning Cross, Racism USA
Date: 1/1/1991Call Number: V 130Format: VHSProducers: John Brown Anti-Klan Committee, George LippmanCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
This brief history of the most notorious hate groups in the U.S. not only provides some interesting background on the Ku Klux Klan and its origins as a tool for rolling back the African-Americans' gains of the reconstruction period but also portrays its widespread activities today and its links with Nazi and nativist skinheads. Examines the violence being used by these hate groups in the 1990's to further racism, anti-semitism, gay-bashing, nativism and pushing back the womens movement. Footage of interviews with David Duke and Tom Metzger reveals their efforts to repackage hate within the bosom of so-called "All American Values." Examines the phenomenon of "white" rock'n roll and the right-wing media establishment to mobilize whites against blacks, gays, foreigners and Jews. Quickly examines the relationships between the FBI and the Klan. Also shows that many skinheads condemn the fascist skinhead movement.
BBC on Weathermen BBC on Weathermen
Call Number: CD 175Format: DVDProducers: BBCCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
A BBC documentary on the Weathermen. Actually fairly balanced given the American media frensy during this era. Good interviews with Linda Evans, Bernardine Dohrn, Jennifer Dohrn & Jonah Raskin. This is a DVD!