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.

BPP_NoCal

In September 1966, members of RAM chapter organized the Black Panther Party for Northern California in San Francisco, the first official chapter in California. After leaving RAM and continuing on with permission in the Panther name, October 15th, 1966, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party For Self Defense (BPPSD), in Oakland, CA, with the immediate focus on “the brothers on the block and Self-Defense against Police brutality.”  

Documents

Bay Area Committee to Defend Political Freedom Bay Area Committee to Defend Political Freedom
Publisher: BACDPFFormat: CorrespondenceCollection: BPP_NoCal
Open letter asking people to sponsor BACDPF
Joint Release Joint Release
Publisher: Alianza Federal de Pueblos Libres, Brown-Black Coalition of Peace and Freedom Movement, BPP, Peace and Freedom Party-Northern Regional OfficeDate: 4/29/1968Volume Number: Apr 29Format: Press ReleaseCollection: BPP_NoCal
Re: arrest of Reies Tijerina, VP candidate of Peace and Freedom Party
First North Cal Gregory-for-Pres Headquarters Open First North Cal Gregory-for-Pres Headquarters Open
Publisher: Dick Gregory for President CommitteeFormat: FlyerCollection: BPP_NoCal
Re: Dick Gregory for President campaign headquarters opening
Welcome to the Community Learning Center Welcome to the Community Learning Center
Date: 2/10/1974Volume Number: Feb 10Format: MonographCollection: BPP_NoCal
Program for book party re: "In Search of Common Ground" with Erik H. Erikson and Huey P. Newton
Community Learning Center Community Learning Center
Publisher: Educational Opportunities Corp.Format: PamphletCollection: BPP_NoCal
Re: this non-profit community center "established to provide quality educational and recreational resources for Oakland's Black and poor community"
The Samuel L. Napier Intercommunal Youth Institute The Samuel L. Napier Intercommunal Youth Institute
Publisher: BPPDate: 1/1971Volume Number: JanFormat: PamphletCollection: BPP_NoCal
Brochure re: this educational center for young children in North Oakland
Invitation to Book Party Invitation to Book Party
Publisher: Erik H. Erikson & Huey P. NewtonDate: 2/10/1974Volume Number: Feb 10Format: EphemeraCollection: BPP_NoCal
Invitation to book party at Community Learning Center
Event: role of white church in black community Event: role of white church in black community
Authors: D. Napier, Matt Gour, Amelie Ratliff, D. Clifford CrummeyDate: 5/11/1974Volume Number: May 11Format: FlyerCollection: BPP_NoCal
Event re: what is the role of the White Church in the life of the Black Community