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.

Freedom Archives Productions

These materials were used in various Freedom Archives productions released between 2000 and 2013.

Subcollections

Documents

Interview with John Bowman Interview with John Bowman
Date: 10/28/2005Call Number: CD 521Format: CDProducers: Claude MarksCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
John Bowman, targeted by a CA State Grand Jury investigating a police murder at Ingleside Station on August 29, 1971, explains why he will not cooperate. He speaks of his history as a Black Panther and community organizer, COINTELPRO, police abuse and repression, and his torture upon being captured in New Orleans in 1973.
Interview with Herman Bell Interview with Herman Bell
Date: 6/13/1974Call Number: CD 539Format: CDProducers: Claude MarksCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Interview with Herman Bell by Claude Marks about the Black Liberation Movement, his reflections on political realities for Black communities and the politics of liberation and resistance; his capture in New Orleans; the torture of Black Liberation Army members by the police; BLA members murdered by police in New York; and his vision for the future.
Akinyele Umoja COINTELPRO 101 Extra Footage Akinyele Umoja COINTELPRO 101 Extra Footage
Call Number: C 10 136Collection: COINTELPRO 101 Raw Materials
Educator and activist - worked with the New Afrikan Independence Movement and founding member of New Afrikan Peoples Organization and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.