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

The Braceros: A U.S. Mexico Saga The Braceros: A U.S. Mexico Saga
Date: 1/1/1995Call Number: CV 035Format: Cass A & BProducers: KUMNCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
A mini documentry about migrant farm workers from Mexico and the cotton industry in the southwest.
Nothing Is More Precious Than Nothing Is More Precious Than
Date: 1/17/1976Call Number: NI 097Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Lincoln Bergman, Claude MarksProgram: Nothing Is More Precious ThanCollection: “Nothing is More Precious Than…” a news magazine including music and poetry
Angola update, memorial for Andy Truskier, report on strikes in Spain, a San Quentin 6 update, Robert Williams acquitted in North Carolina, and the Hard Times Conference in Chicago.
AFL-CIO Convention AFL-CIO Convention
Date: 10/6/1993Call Number: CV 055Format: Cass A & BCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Speeches and interviews recorded at an AFL-CIO convention in San Francisco, California on October 6, 1993. Interviews in Spanish with Yolanda Navarro from Watsonville, CA, and Linda Chavez-Thompson from San Antonio, TX about NAFTA, plant closures, need for more democratic and stronger unions, labor violence in Mexican maquiladoras. Intermittent speeches in English about NAFTA, followed by speech and interview with Janet Reno discussing education, labor and community relations, child care, and immigration.
Facing Free Trade Together at UC Berkeley Facing Free Trade Together at UC Berkeley
Date: 2/2/1992Call Number: CV 056Format: Cass A & BProducers: Chuy VarelaCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Event to organize against free trade, and promote fair trade.
May Day Tribute May Day Tribute
Date: 5/5/1975Call Number: FI 079Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Lincoln Bergman, Emiliano EcheverriaProgram: Freedom Is A Constant StruggleCollection: Freedom is a Constant Struggle
A tribute to May Day, opening with poetry and "Hard Work" by John Handy. Poems: by Carl Sandburg, Nazim Hikmet, Pablo Neruda, David Diop, and Bertold Brecht recited by Lincoln Bergman.
Fuerza Unida Boycotts Levis Fuerza Unida Boycotts Levis
Call Number: CV 060AFormat: Cass AProducers: Chuy VarelaCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Workers demand Levis to stop sending jobs overseas, monetary compensation from Levis for loss of jobs, and to meet Levis' Chief Executive director Bob Haus.
Mexico Clerical Workers Mexico Clerical Workers
Date: 3/20/1992Call Number: CV 064BFormat: Cass BProducers: Chuy VarelaCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Chuy Varela interviews Vicente Villamar Calderon about the international relationship between North American and Mexican banks, their clerical workers, and their unions. Calderon is visiting San Francisco for a conference on international banking as Secretary of International Relations for the National Federation of Banking Syndicates (FENASIB).
Elizabeth Martinez; Maquila Workers Elizabeth Martinez; Maquila Workers
Date: 12/6/1993Call Number: CV 066Format: Cass A & BProducers: KPFAProgram: La Honda BajitaCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Interview by Chuy Varela with Elizabeth Martinez in 1993 about her book "500 Years of Chicano History In Pictures." They discuss Latino and Chicano identity and politics. Varela goes on to interview workers from maquilas in Tijuana, Mexico about their struggles to unionize, and the working conditions in the factories.
Farmworkers Show for Children Farmworkers Show for Children
Call Number: KP 309Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Nina Serrano, Andres AlegriaProgram: Reflecciones de la Raza specialCollection: Latin@
First a story about a boy whose family are cotton workers in the California valley, then farm worker general strike song, then bio of Cesar Chavez, and another full song (Linda Raza),
Margarita Martinez - Watsonville Canning Strike Margarita Martinez - Watsonville Canning Strike
Call Number: CV 068AFormat: Cass ACollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Chuy Varela interviews striking frozen food cannery worker Margarita Martinez 11 months into Watsonville Canning Strike (probably in 1986). They discuss the difficulty of supporting a family while on strike, the success of the strike's solidarity, and future plans of the workers.