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.

Prisons - Stats, General

This collection contains historical background, statistics and organizing information focused on the US prison population. 

Documents

Prisons v.s Schools Prisons v.s Schools
Format: GraphicCollection: Prisons - Stats, General
Reproduction of poster
California has toughest law on guns California has toughest law on guns
Author: William ClaibornePublisher: LA Times - Washington Post ServiceFormat: ArticleCollection: Prisons - Stats, General
Reproduction of original article
Golden Rules: A Guide to the California Prison System Golden Rules: A Guide to the California Prison System
Publisher: Intersection for the Arts and the Prison ProjectYear: 2008Format: MonographCollection: Prisons - Stats, General
A creative collaborate between activists, artists and organizations intended to unearth the diverse narratives that remind us that incarceration affects those inside and outside of prison and within these complex layers are human beings, families and communities.
Prisoners of the Census Prisoners of the Census
Author: Tracy HulingPublisher: motherjones.comDate: 5/10/2000Volume Number: 10-MayFormat: ArticleCollection: Prisons - Stats, General
Reproduction of web article on people of color imprisoned in rural areas and its affect on federal funds via census data.
Letter to the editor: Look at the Cost of White-Collar Crime, Too Letter to the editor: Look at the Cost of White-Collar Crime, Too
Author: Eyal PressPublisher: New York TimesDate: 4/27/1996Volume Number: 27-AprFormat: ArticleCollection: Prisons - Stats, General
Re "Survey Finds That Crimes Cost $450 Billion a Year" (news article, April 22)
Nonviolent prisoners - press release Nonviolent prisoners - press release
Author: nattyrebYear: 1999Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Prisons - Stats, General
Forwarded article: America Imprisons Over a Million Nonviolent Offenders
FWD: America Behind Bars: One in 150 in Prison Jail FWD: America Behind Bars: One in 150 in Prison Jail
Author: Jan SuslerYear: 1999Format: CorrespondenceCollection: Prisons - Stats, General
Forwarded article: America Behind Bars: One in 150 in prison/Jail, New York Times, week in review. March 7, 1999
Organizing Guide for Educators & Activists on the Crisis in Prisons Organizing Guide for Educators & Activists on the Crisis in Prisons
Publisher: Prison Activist Resource CenterDate: 3/21/1997Volume Number: 21-MarFormat: MonographCollection: Prisons - Stats, General
Section One: Directory of Organizations; Section two: Bibliography; Section Three: Examples of Recent Activism