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

Lexington Prison Interviews 1987 Lexington Prison Interviews 1987
Date: 5/1/1987Call Number: CD 779Format: CDProducers: Judy GerberCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Alejandrina Torres, Silvia Baraldini, and Susan Rosenberg describe their living conditions at the control unit of the federal women’s prison in Lexington which opened in 1986. The interviews stress the importance of public pressure to have the unit closed.
Mass Incarceration and Control Units in Prisons: Mind Control or Social Control? Mass Incarceration and Control Units in Prisons: Mind Control or Social Control?
Date: 10/21/1995Call Number: PM 419Format: Cass A & BProducers: Committee to End the Marion LockdownCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
A program sponsored by the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown (CEML), an organization dedicated to closing the control units at Marion Prison. Nancy Kurshan of CEML introduces Jose Lopez, Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, member of the Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional, and brother of political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera. He discusses the connections between American colonialism/imperialism and the extensive use of prisons in the US. This tape is a better copy of PM 336 and PM 345 A. Transcript available for download.
Mass Incarceration and Control Units in Prisons: Mind Control or Social Control? Mass Incarceration and Control Units in Prisons: Mind Control or Social Control?
Date: 10/21/1995Call Number: CD 810Format: CDProducers: Committee to End the Marion LockdownCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
A program sponsored by the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown (CEML), an organization dedicated to closing the control units at Marion Prison. Nancy Kurshan of CEML introduces Jose Lopez, Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, member of the Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional, and brother of political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera. He discusses the connections between American colonialism/imperialism and the extensive use of prisons in the US. This tape is a better copy of PM 336/345 Transcript available for download.
CEML Ex-Prisoner Panel and Discussion CEML Ex-Prisoner Panel and Discussion
Date: 3/16/1990Call Number: PM 424Format: Cass A & BProducers: Committee to End the Marion LockdownCollection: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown
Former political prisoners talking about their struggles, cases and the cruel policies and procedures of control unit prisons.
CEML Ex-Prisoner Panel and Discussion CEML Ex-Prisoner Panel and Discussion
Date: 3/16/1990Call Number: CD 814Format: Cass A & BProducers: Committee to End the Marion LockdownCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Former political prisoners talking about their struggles, cases and the cruel policies and procedures of control unit prisons.
Marion Program Panel 1 Marion Program Panel 1
Date: 10/1/1988Call Number: CD 821Format: CDProducers: Committee to End the Marion LockdownCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Introduction by Nancy Kurshan and preliminary comments by Jose Lopez. Lecture by Bruce Wright, judge, scholar, poet and activist for social justice. Using his own experience as a Black man, he describes the history of US racism and the criminal justice system. Program on the life and work of Assata Shakur, and her influence on the work and life of fellow activists. Also speakers on the Puerto Rican liberation movement.
Interview with Susan Rosenberg and Josefina Rodriguez Interview with Susan Rosenberg and Josefina Rodriguez
Call Number: CD 799Format: CDProducers: Sally O’Brian, Terry BissonCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Interview with Susan Rosenberg, an American revolutionary anti-imperialist female political prisoner, about Lexington prison. Susan Rosenberg describes the focus of Lexington as “the psychological element of incarceration to disintegrate the personality”. She speaks about the terribly harsh and restrictive conditions of Lexington, as well as the psychological impact of the prison. Rosenberg speaks about how every prisoner is there for political reasons, as the control unit is not based on disciplinary measures, but on classification who and what the prisoners are associated with. Susan Rosenberg’s attorney, Michael Schubert, speaks about the isolation and solitary confinement the Lexington prisoners experience, and how such isolation is aimed at keeping the prisoners isolated from politics.
Mass Incarceration and Control Units in Prisons: Mind Control or Social Control? CEML #2 Mass Incarceration and Control Units in Prisons: Mind Control or Social Control? CEML #2
Date: 10/21/1995Call Number: CD 801Format: CDProducers: Committee to End the Marion LockdownCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
A program sponsored by the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown (CEML), an organization dedicated to closing the control units at Marion Prison. Nancy Kurshan of CEML introduces Jose Lopez, Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, member of the Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional, and brother of political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera. He discusses the connections between American colonialism/imperialism and the extensive use of prisons in the US. This tape is a continuation of PM 336. Transcript available for download.
Florence Prison and the Fight to Free Oscar Lopez Florence Prison and the Fight to Free Oscar Lopez
Date: 1/20/1995Call Number: CD 802Format: CDProducers: Judy GerberProgram: A Defiant HeartCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Lugo Lopez and Alejandro Molina of the National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War (Chicago) protesting the imprisonment of Oscar Lopez, sentenced to 75+ years on seditious conspiracy charges for his political work in Puerto Rico.
Marion Prison and Inmate Interviews Marion Prison and Inmate Interviews
Call Number: V 637Format: DV CamCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Excerpts of Inside USP Marion, features interview with political prisoner Sekou Odinga.