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.

Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials

Documents

The New York 3 The New York 3
Date: 1/1/1989Call Number: V 102Format: VHSCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Explains the case of the New York 3, jalil Muntaqim, Nuh Washington and Herman Bell in the context of the history of the Black Panther Party, the Black Liberation Army, FBIs Cointelpro program designed to destroy the Black liberation movement. Aside from the prisoners’ voices are interviews with Safiya Bukhari, of the Jericho Amnesty Movement and a former Black Panther and Black Liberation Army member (as well as a former political prisoner and prisoner of war) and attorney Brian Glick, talking about Cointelpro and the FBI.
Marion and Lexington Control Units Marion and Lexington Control Units
Date: 3/18/1988Call Number: V 339Format: VHSProgram: 20/20Collection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Three videos on control units in the US. Marion Control Units - a history of control units in the US, focusing mainly on Marion. Black prisoners in the US prisons, prison demographics by race and rate. Lexington Control Unit - Includes interviews with Alejandrina Torres, Susan Rosenberg and Sylvia Baraldrini about the conditions in the control unit and the effects of sensory deprivation. Marion 20/20 - a discussion of the techniques used at USP Marion, including testimonies from prisoners and the warden. Transcript of 20/20 piece available for download.
Marion and Lexington Control Units Marion and Lexington Control Units
Date: 3/18/1988Call Number: V 639Format: DV CamProgram: 20/20Collection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Excerpts of three videos on control units in the US. Marion Control Units - a history of control units in the US, focusing mainly on Marion. Black prisoners in the US prisons, prison demographics by race and rate. Lexington Control Unit - Includes interviews with Alejandrina Torres, Susan Rosenberg and Sylvia Baraldrini about the conditions in the control unit and the effects of sensory deprivation. Marion 20/20 - a discussion of the techniques used at USP Marion, including testimonies from prisoners and the warden. Transcript of 20/20 piece available for download.