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

Shut It Down! Shut It Down!
Call Number: V 583Format: VHSProducers: Trella LaughlinProgram: Let the People Speak!Collection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
About the High Security Unit of the FCI in Lexington, KY. Has extensive interviews with women inmates, most notably Susan Rosenberg, discussing the psychological torture of the HSU. Footage of protests including a speech by Benjamin Chavis.
Shut It Down! Shut It Down!
Call Number: V 584Format: VHSProducers: Trella LaughlinProgram: Let the People Speak!Collection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
About the High Security Unit of the FCI in Lexington, KY. Has extensive interviews with women inmates, most notably Susan Rosenberg, discussing the psychological torture of the HSU. Footage of protests including a speech by Benjamin Chavis.
High Security Unit High Security Unit
Date: 7/25/1988Call Number: V 585Format: VHSProducers: Nina RosenblumCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Interviews with women inmates of the High Security Unit FCI Lexington. Prisoners explain that this prison targets political prisoners and the conditions amount to psychological torture. Precurser to "Through the Wire" (1990).
Born Underground Born Underground
Date: 1/1/2001Call Number: V 599Format: VHSProducers: Molly Sndyer-FinkCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
About Ray Levasseur, political activist/revolutionary and member of the Ohio 7. Interviews with his ex-wife Patricia Gros, and daughter Carmyn. Discusses what it was like starting and maintaining a family while underground.
Shut It Down! and South Africa: The Homeland Shut It Down! and South Africa: The Homeland
Call Number: V 609Format: VHSProducers: Trella LaughlinProgram: Let the People Speak!Collection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Shut It Down! - About the High Security Unit of the FCI in Lexington, KY. Has extensive interviews with women inmates, most notably Susan Rosenberg, discussing the psychological torture of the HSU. Footage of protests including a speech by Benjamin Chavis. South Africa: The Homeland - A discussion between a South African lawyer and an exiled South African. Topics include apartheid, media representation of South Africa, and child torture.
Lexington Protest Lexington Protest
Call Number: V 610Format: VHSCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Footage of demonstration outside the women's Federal Correctional Institution in Lexington, KY. Posters with photographs of inmates and various statements and speeches. Interview with Attorney Melinda Power. The beginning of the film is B-Roll.
Torture and Occupation Excerpts Torture and Occupation Excerpts
Call Number: CE 473Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Colin Edwards Collection
Out-takes from programs on Palestine and Israel, primarily on torture of Palestinian prisoners and on occupation. Includes women prisoners. Also an Israeli soldier telling about the blowing up of Palestinian towns and "collective punishment," including the town of Yalu.
Lexington Prison Interviews 1987 Lexington Prison Interviews 1987
Date: 5/1/1987Call Number: CD 779Format: CDProducers: Judy GerberCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Alejandrina Torres, Silvia Baraldini, and Susan Rosenberg describe their living conditions at the control unit of the federal women’s prison in Lexington which opened in 1986. The interviews stress the importance of public pressure to have the unit closed.
Interview with Susan Rosenberg Interview with Susan Rosenberg
Call Number: CD 786Format: CDProducers: WBAICollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Susan Rosenberg speaks from the Metropolitan Corretional Center in New York City about political prisoners and prisons. She describes the conditions in the control unit in Lexington women’s prison and the government’s reasons for selecting the women sent to Lexington.
The Case of Silvia Baraldini The Case of Silvia Baraldini
Date: 4/16/1991Call Number: CD 787Format: CDProducers: Sally O'BrianProgram: Where We LiveCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Silvia Baraldini describes her harsh treatment and that of other U.S. political prisoners. Her attorney, Elizabeth Fink, comments on the lack of evidence presented at trial and the extreme sentencing and punishment of Baraldini at the Lexington Federal Prison. Italian member of Parliament Emma Bonino, and Italian journalist Patricia Lambroso comment on Italian parliamentary and public support for Baraldini.