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

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.
AIDS Action Week 1988 AIDS Action Week 1988
Date: 5/3/1988Call Number: JG/ 109 AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy Gerber, Mike AlkalaidProgram: KPFACollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Collection of interviews by hosts Mike Alkalaid and Judy Gerber on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in the late 1980's. The recording begins with sounds of a protest against the government's delay in AIDS research, assistance to those already ailing, and for human rights.
ACT-UP - NY-DIVA TV ACT-UP - NY-DIVA TV
Date: 1/1/1988Call Number: V 424Format: VHSProducers: DIVA-TVCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
DIVA-TV, a media contingent of ACT-UP/NY - interviews with ACT-UP/NY members about their political dedication to the group, a teach-in put together by the women’s caucus of ACT-UP, a safe-sex video for HIV+ gay men, and the disruption of the 1988 National Republican Convention.