Search Help

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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

Focus on Racism Focus on Racism
Date: 10/20/1995Call Number: JG/ 096AFormat: Cass AProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Focus on Racism. Interview with Judy Siff and Bill Crossman of the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee on their class 'Culture Clash' on the history of white supremacy and its impact on U.S. history. At the occasion of the Million Man March, racism is on the public agenda for the first time in many years. Siff and Crossman note how 1995 has been a remarkable year for publicity of racism, particularly the Mumia Abu Jamal and Susan Smith cases. They believe that the problem of race in the U.S. transcends racism to root inequality through institutions, including a very central role of the police and judicial system in promoting white supremacy. They argue that the white perception of reality needs to change, that a new common consciousness must be forged. They note how racism targets many different groups in the U.S., not just Blacks, and how mainstream white society usually turns a blind eye.
Focus on Racism Focus on Racism
Date: 11/3/1995Call Number: JG/ 096BFormat: Cass BProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Programs produced by Judy Gerber and Laurie Simms
Focus on Racism continued. Interview with Judy Siff and Bill Crossman of the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee on their class 'Culture Clash' on the history of white supremacy and its impact on U.S. history. Siff and Crossman talk about the book 'The Myth of the White Proletariat' that challenges deep myths of White America. According to the book, popular misconceptions regarding race and racism in the U.S. stem historically from the national foundation, particularly notions about who the early settlers were, what the existing native population was like, and who actually benefited from the system of slavery. Siff and Crossman argue that this nation was an empire from the start, seizing and subjugating nations, and that the nation as a whole benefited from slavery. They believe that all white people no matter what social class, has benefited from white supremacy.
Norma Jean Croy Norma Jean Croy
Date: 8/28/1995Call Number: PM 327AFormat: Cass AProducers: Prison Activist Resource CenterProgram: On The Outside Collection: Norma Jean Croy
Norma Jean Croy & the 1978 Hooty Case are discussed in great detail in an interview with Rita Brown and Jane Segal. The claim for self-defense helped Hooty get acquitted from his sentence, but not Norma Jean Croy. She remains at Chowchilla for life. Bo and Jane encourage people to advocate for her release. They also question the government's use of prisons in the U.S.
Birmingham Conference Coverage Birmingham Conference Coverage
Date: 4/8/1995Call Number: PM 328Format: Cass A & BProducers: Prison Activist Resource CenterProgram: On the OutsideCollection: Political Prisoner Periodicals
Conference on rights for political prisoners and prisoners of war. Brother William Muhammad discusses racism and the war on crime. Louise James calls for revolutionary change to free political prisoners and talks about the racist political system targeting and imprisoning the Black community. Discussion on how to build a political movement.
Moritorium LA 8/26/95 Moritorium LA 8/26/95
Date: 8/26/1995Call Number: CV 333Format: Cass A & BCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
25th Chicano Moritorium. Variety of speakers and topics related thereto. Ruben Salazar, access to education, lawsuit against MTA in Los Angeles, among issues discussed. Portions in Spanish
Florence Prison and the Fight to Free Oscar Lopez Florence Prison and the Fight to Free Oscar Lopez
Date: 1/20/1995Call Number: CD 802Format: CDProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Lugo Lopez and Alejandro Molina of the National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War (Chicago) protesting the imprisonment of Oscar Lopez, sentenced to 75+ years on seditious conspiracy charges for his political work in Puerto Rico.
Breakthrough Breakthrough
Publisher: Prarie Fire Organizing CommitteeYear: 1995Volume Number: Vol. 19-1 SummerFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Breakthrough
Editorial: Contract with a Vengeance p. 1 - Reading, Writing, and Rebellion: Reflections on Education in the 90s p. 2 - "Ours is the First History: Raza Youth Speak Out," edited by Robert Roth and Annie Johnston p. 4 - Clemente! Chicago's Puerto Rican Community Takes Back its High School, Douglas Spalding p. 14 - Berkeley High: the "School Colors" Debate, Hodari Davis, Annie Johnston and Regina Segura p. 19 - Schoolgirls: Gender and Self-esteem, interview with Peggy Orenstein by Sallly Thomas and Judith Mirkinson p. 25 - Talking Queer in Kindergarten: Stopping Homophobia Before it Starts, Camomile deQuelquechose p. 31 - Minds at Work: Journeys in the South Bronx, photos by Ruth Morgan, poetry by South Bronx students p. 36 - East Timor: an Island Prison, Pam Sexton p. 41 - The Waste Makers: studies by and for the Environmental Justice Movement review by Mickey Ellinger p. 47 - Throwing Away the Key: Crime and Punishment U.S.A., Charles King p. 50 - Write Through the Walls p. 56