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

Freedom Bound Freedom Bound
Call Number: V 728Format: VHSProducers: Estuary PressCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Freedom Bound tells the story of the SNCC voter registration campaign in Mississippi in 1963. Through interviews with poor black farmers who risked everything to register to vote, the film conveys the courage, determination and sacrifice which the common people of the South used to help end racial segregation. Containing much of the same interviews as We'll Never Turn Back, this film features rare footage of SNCC volunteers telling their stories of crossing the color line in rural Mississippi.
Dream Deferred Dream Deferred
Call Number: V 731Format: VHSProducers: Estuary PressCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
Dream Deferred was produced by SNCC for its southern voter registration drive in 1964, the year of the Mississippi Summer. It contains interviews with activists, voter registrants and leaders, and features Fannie Lou Hamer's speech, including her famous line: "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired."