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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.
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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.

Freedom Archives Productions

These materials were used in various Freedom Archives productions released between 2000 and 2013.

Subcollections

Documents

Interview with Herman Bell Interview with Herman Bell
Date: 8/31/1977Call Number: CD 541Format: CDCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Interviews with Herman Bell on August 31, 1977 at USP Marion. He speaks mainly about prison conditions, control units, behavior modification, the injustice of the prison system.
Chicago Conspiracy Trial - Part 9 Chicago Conspiracy Trial - Part 9
Date: 1/1/1970Call Number: CD 778Format: CDCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Country Joe McDonald, Stuart Meecham, Ed Sanders, Paul Krassner, Monsignor Rice. This recording was downloaded from http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/audio.html on 2/23/12. Credit is due to the University of Missouri Kansas-City School of law. National distribution of these tapes as through activist networks in preparation for the TDA ("The Day After") demonstration to be initiated the day following the announcement of the verdicts by Judge Julius Hoffman (February 18, 1970_. Demonstrations broke out in a number of cities on February 19; a police riot led to several dozen arrests at the Westwood office of Bank of America in Lost Angeles. Demonstrators reported that undercover plainclothes officers, without warning, physically attacked specific targeted individuals with blackjacks, brass knuckles and other weapons.
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.
Interview with Herman Bell Interview with Herman Bell
Date: 8/31/1977Call Number: CD 780Format: CDCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Interviews with Herman Bell on August 31, 1977 at USP Marion. He speaks mainly about prison conditions, control units, behavior modification, the injustice of the prison system.
Pelican Bay Program (1 of 2) Pelican Bay Program (1 of 2)
Date: 10/1/1991Call Number: CD 781Format: CDCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Corey Weinstein and Catherine Campbell discuss their trip to Pelican Bay Prison as part of a legal delegation affiliated with the Real Dragon Prison Project. Included are descriptions of Control Units and the infamous "SHU de-briefing” techniques, as well as the prison system’s use of informants and the effects of the psychological torture used against prisoners. Weinstein and Campbell also dispel some of the myths surrounding the "worst of the worst" label put on many prisoners housed in Pelican Bay and expose the roundup of antiauthoritarian and prisoner with organizing and leadership potential.
Pelican Bay Program (2 of 2) Pelican Bay Program (2 of 2)
Date: 10/1/1991Call Number: CD 782Format: CDCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
CONTINUED FROM PM 220: Corey Weinstein and Catherine Campbell continue their discussion of the conditions within the Pelican Bay Prison. Weinstein and Campbell elaborate on the relationships between different prison groups, guard torture and brutality, and the economic condition and opinions of the communities surrounding Pelican Bay Prison.
The Case of Silvia Baraldini The Case of Silvia Baraldini
Date: 4/16/1991Call Number: CD 787Format: CDProducers: Sally O'BrianProgram: Where We LiveCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Silvia Baraldini describes her harsh treatment and that of other U.S. political prisoners. Her attorney, Elizabeth Fink, comments on the lack of evidence presented at trial and the extreme sentencing and punishment of Baraldini at the Lexington Federal Prison. Italian member of Parliament Emma Bonino, and Italian journalist Patricia Lambroso comment on Italian parliamentary and public support for Baraldini.
Out of Control Lesbian Committee Out of Control Lesbian Committee
Date: 8/28/1995Call Number: CD 791Format: CDProducers: Prison Activist Resource CenterProgram: On The OutsideCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Rita Brown and Jane Segal discuss the Out of Control Lesbian Committee to Support Women Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. They organize to support women political prisoners, publish a newsletter and are organizing a grassroots movement. The interview includes a discussion of their lives as political activists.
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 794Format: CDProducers: Committee to End the Marion Lockdown (CEML)Collection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
About closing the control units at Marion Prison. Nancy Kurshan of CEML (Committee to End the Marion Lockdown), Dr. Alan Berkman who has provided medical care for Black Liberation Army and Panther members as well as AIM activists at Wounded Knee in the 1970s. Berkman also speaks about being a former political prisoner, the prison system and control units as forms of social control which target revolutionary movements. Film segments about former LA gang member and Pelican Bay prisoner Sanyika Shakur. Transcript available for download.
Political Prisoners in US Control Units Political Prisoners in US Control Units
Date: 1/24/1992Call Number: CD 797Format: CDProgram: KPFA BrainstormCollection: Compact discs and videos representing digitized copies of analog tapes
Discussion of Control Unit prisons with interviews by Bo Rita Brown. Interview with Dr. Corey Weinstein, and Political Prisoners Susan Rosenberg and Sylvia Baraldini while imprisoned at Marianna, Florida.