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

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Last Speech Martin Luther King Jr.’s Last Speech
Date: 4/5/1968Call Number: KP 052Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.,’s last speech was given in Memphis, Tennessee. He starts by saying, “Something is happening in Memphis, something is happening in the world!” He goes on to explain how lucky he is that God allowed him to be in the world in the 1960’s, and how he with God’s grace will rally the people and bring justice to Negroes in America. He is not afraid for the people will get to the promised land and his eyes have “Seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!”
Tribute to Paul Robeson, WBAI Tribute to Paul Robeson, WBAI
Date: 1/1/1968Call Number: CD 342Format: CDProgram: WBAICollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Tribute to Paul Robeson, WBAI Second side of tape continues the WBAI 1968 tribute to Robeson’s 70 birthday: Robeson recording of “Go Down Moses;” the last speech of Othello, with Robeson’s introduction; narrative on Robeson’s life by William L. Patterson; recordig made by the Westchester Committee for Law & Order following the Peekskill “riots” of 1949, with the Weavers singing “Hold the Line,” and Pete Seeger, Howard Fast, Alice Childress, Fred Hillerman telling the true story of the attacks at Peekskill and commenting on Robeson’s fightback; recording of Robeson singing “The House I Live In.” Also contains recordings from the May 18, 1952 Peace Arch Concert and the 1957 concert via trans-atlantic cable to the Eisteddfod Festival in Wales. Same as PR 077
I Have A Dream: Portrait of Martin Luther King's Life and Message I Have A Dream: Portrait of Martin Luther King's Life and Message
Date: 1/1/1968Call Number: KP 394Format: Cass A & BProducers: Pacifica National ProgramsCollection: Martin Luther King Jr.
This documentary focuses on major events in his life such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott to his incarceration in the Birmingham jail. The documentary covers his life up until the "I Have A Dream" speech and his death.