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

International Hotel Special International Hotel Special
Date: 8/6/1977Call Number: FI 042Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Barbara L, Heber D.Program: Freedom Is A Constant StruggleCollection: Freedom is a Constant Struggle
Dedicated to the ongoing struggle at then International Hotel.
I Hotel I Hotel
Date: 2/26/1977Call Number: LA 008Format: CassetteCollection: The International Hotel struggle and the Filipino community
Live coverage of the takeover of the I-Hotel, including documentation of police violence, interviews with tenants and Mayor Moscone, gathering at St. Mary’s Square. Includes: Reporter from Third World Bureau in Oakland live at the scene of the I-Hotel; highlights of action from 11PM-4:30AM and re-location to St. Mary’s Square and the Mission. Interview with Mayor Moscone where he is confronted about things such as the contradictions in police tactics, temporary housing policies, the swearing in of Donna Solomon as SF Human Rights Commissioner
International Hotel Actuality (EH) International Hotel Actuality (EH)
Date: 8/3/1977Call Number: IH 002Format: CassetteCollection: The International Hotel struggle and the Filipino community
On the night of the 1977 International Hotel eviction, a reporter following Sheriff Richard Hongisto made recordings documenting the breaking down of doors. As a sledgehammer is used to break doors down, the reporter comments on the sheriff's refusal to warn tenants to vacate their rooms. Field recording includes verbal exchanges between the sheriff, the reporter, and Estella Habal.
Life of the Manong: Henry Hipolito in Portsmouth Square Life of the Manong: Henry Hipolito in Portsmouth Square
Date: 6/8/1977Call Number: IH 051Producers: Al RoblesCollection: The International Hotel struggle and the Filipino community
Manong Henry Hipolito talks with Al Robles about the old days in Manilatown. Henry speaks of the Manilatown area from Market to Broadway being the section symbolizing the common poor Filipino. Although the I-hotel area was run down during the interview (late 70s), it used to be a nice area bustling with streetcars and horse drawn wagons. When speaking of the area in the late 70s, the I-Hotel and its few old timers represent the last of Manilatown. Some of Henry's experiences of the old days were that there were no pinays in America till 1948 and local job discrimination forced him to travel to Alaska for seasonal fishing jobs. He reminisces about Pinoy town in Alaska and how he survived the depression. Ending the interview, Henry gives advice to new Filipino immigrants such as the importance of education, independence, poverty and discrimination reduction, and resist corruption.
Simeon Amon Interview Simeon Amon Interview
Date: 7/6/1977Call Number: IH 057Format: CDProducers: Al RoblesCollection: The International Hotel struggle and the Filipino community
Simeon Amon talks about women and his life as a child in the islands. He explains social gatherings called "Taxi Dances". This was for lonely manongs who could dance with women for a small fee. Due to miscegenation laws, suitable Pinays of there age and generation didn't exist in the states. It also gave women an opportunity for extra income. Simeon said he attended many dances in the Stockton area and San Francisco. With many of these girls being white, some disapproved the events. A Filipino man dating a white woman resulted in him being shot and her being beat up. Simeon then goes into explaining the virtues of city pinays versus country pinays. The interview ends with him explaining his childhood life on a Luzon farm.