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

Battle of People’s Park May 15. 1969. Battle of People’s Park May 15. 1969.
Date: 5/15/1969Call Number: KP 085Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: General materials
Live recording of the events that took place at People’s Park in Berkeley, California on May 15th, 1969. The battle is between the people of the community, who built it from a muddy parking lot into a park, versus the University and the Berkeley Police for trying to rip it down. Although the land was owned by the University, the people claimed it had been a muddy mess for years, and the people needed a park in South Berkeley. People were injured and killed by police in full riot gear, by guns as well as tear gas.
GI Peace March April 6, 1969 GI Peace March April 6, 1969
Date: 4/6/1969Call Number: KP 067Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Claude MarksCollection: Anti-War
Sound samples taken from different marches and protests against the Vietnam war, interviews with supporters of war, friction between police and protesters, all set to music.
American Revolution 2 American Revolution 2
Date: 1/1/1969Call Number: V 244Format: DVDProducers: Howard Alk, Mike GrayCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
A gritty but essential documentary charting social turbulences in late 1960's Chicago. American Revolution 2 includes footage of the 1968 Democratic Convention protest and riot, a critique of the events by working class African-Americans in Chicago, and attempts by the Black Panther Party to organize poor, southern white youths on the city's north side. Using direct sound, a handheld camera, no script, black-and-white film stock, and natural lighting, the directors' no-frills approach appropriately reflects the raw energy of this upheaval.
Battle of People’s Park May 15. 1969. Battle of People’s Park May 15. 1969.
Date: 5/15/1969Call Number: CD 584Format: CDCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Live recording of the events that took place at People’s Park in Berkeley, California on May 15th, 1969. The battle is between the people of the community, who built it from a muddy parking lot into a park, versus the University and the Berkeley Police for trying to rip it down. Although the land was owned by the University, the people claimed it had been a muddy mess for years, and the people needed a park in South Berkeley. People were injured and killed by police in full riot gear, by guns as well as tear gas.
Berkeley City Council (May 21st, 1969) Berkeley City Council (May 21st, 1969)
Date: 5/21/1969Call Number: CE 638Format: 1/4 3 3/4 ipsCollection: Colin Edwards Collection
Audio from a session of the Berkeley City Council, convened a week after Bloody Thursday, when 128 Berkeley residents were injured and over 2500 National Guard troops were brought in. Ron Dellums speaks prominently and effectively. Motions are debated and then voted on. Sacramento should not decide what happens in Berkeley. Use of bayonets by the National Guard. Dellums makes motion to remove the National Guard from Berkeley completely. Council debates, some like the Guard, some are ok with it but less power and some want it gone. Motion passed to convene grand jury to investigate what happened.