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

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
Paul Robeson: Freedom Trail Paul Robeson: Freedom Trail
Date: 1/1/1998Call Number: CD 488Format: CDProducers: Folk Era RecordsCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
In 1947, the American Heritage Foundation arranged for the original Declaration of Independence and other historic national documents to tour the country on a red, white, and blues Freedom Train. Paul Robeson recorded a poem Langston Hughes wrote about the train that is presented here along with a 1957 concert Robeson, accompanied by pianist Alan Booth, gave over transatlantic cable for the South Wales Miners. Robeson, who spoke 20 languages, sings one song in Welsh. A highlight is the Welsh Treorchy Male Voice Choir serenading Robeson with "We'll Keep a Welcome in the Hillside." There is some static on the recording, but not enough to obscure Robeson's magnificent performance. 1. Freedom Train 2. Introduction From Wil Paynter 3. Paul Robeson's Greetings 4. Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel 5. All Through The Night 6. This Little Light Of Mine 7. All Men Are Brothers 8. Slumberland 9. Thanks From Wil Paynter 10. Y Deln Aur (The Golden Harp) (with The Treorchy Male Voice Choir) 11. Thanks From Paul Robeson 12. Wales 13. We'll Keep A Welcome In The Hillside (with The Treorchy Male Voice Choir)
Mothers in Prison, Children in Crisis Mothers in Prison, Children in Crisis
Date: 5/26/1998Call Number: PM 324Format: Cass A & BProducers: Prison Activist Resource CenterProgram: On the OutsideCollection: Prisons - Women
Rally for women in prison in San Francisco's U.N. Plaza including: medical neglect of women in prison,discriminatory drug laws, Human Rights Watch's study that found that sexual exploitation and abuse of women by guards is an institutionalized and largely ignored practice, news of Mumia Abu Jamal, and women's rights coalitions about the need for more recovery centers and other treatment facilities.