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, specifcally AND/+, NOT/-, and OR operators. 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.
Welcome to the Freedom Archives' Digital Search Engine.The Freedom Archives contains over 12,000 hours of audio and video recordings which date from the late-1960s to the mid-90s and chronicle the progressive history of the Bay Area, the United States, and international movements. We are also in the process of scanning and uploading thousands of historical documents which enrich our media holdings. Our collection includes weekly news, poetry, music programs; in-depth interviews and reports on social and cultural issues; numerous voices from behind prison walls; diverse activists; and pamphlets, journals and other materials from many radical organizations and movements.

Prison - Women

This collection contains materials relating to the specific conditions, challenges and struggles facing women in prison. Topics are varied but materials include conference papers, informational materials, legal perspectives and audio recordings. 

Subcollections

  • Santa Cruz Women
    Santa Cruz Women's Prison Project (SCWPP)
    The Santa Cruz Women’s Prison Project (SCWPP) was an educational project committed to the rehabilitation of communities and the abolition of prisons.
  • Women
    Women's Bail Fund
    The Women's Bail Fund (WBF) was an organization based in New York City. They bailed women out of the Women's House of Detention at Greenwich Village and later, at Riker's Island, provided legal aid, and political education on the issue of women's imprison

Documents

International Women's Day Demo at FCI Dublin (video clip) International Women's Day Demo at FCI Dublin (video clip)
Date: 3/8/1988Call Number: null Format: Video ClipCollection: Prison - Women
International Women's Day demonstration outside the FCI Dublin prison in support of political prisoners and prisoners of war across the country. Includes footage of a march and speakers.
Women, prison, globalization and resistence Women, prison, globalization and resistence
Publisher: Critical ResistanceFormat: PamphletCollection: Prison - Women
Program for a collaborative performance work featuring prominent radical female activists and artists
Women and Imprisonment in the United States: History and Current Reality Women and Imprisonment in the United States: History and Current Reality
Author: Nancy KurshanPublisher: Monkeywrench PressYear: 1995Format: MonographCollection: Prison - Women
The history and current realities of women's imprisonment in the United States - includes the emergence of prisons for women; the evolution of separate custodial practices for women; early 20th century women's reformatories; women in prison today; prison resistance.
Through the Wire Through the Wire
Publisher: Committee to Return Silcvia Baraldini to Italy; National Committee to Free Puerto Rican Prisoners of War and Political PrisonersYear: 1993Format: FlyerCollection: Prison - Women
Remembering Our Sister Remembering Our Sister
Publisher: Women's BuildingDate: 2/4/2005Volume Number: 4-FebFormat: EphemeraCollection: Prison - Women
Program for Judy "Juju" Ricci memorial service
Legal Journal: Women's Issues are Everyone's Issues Legal Journal: Women's Issues are Everyone's Issues
Author: National Lawyers GuildPublisher: Prison Law Project of the National Lawyers GuildYear: 1996Volume Number: Vol. 4-1 WinterFormat: PeriodicalCollection: Prison - Women
Includes: Women's Issues Are Everyone's Issues; Chowchilla Gateway to Prosperity; Women Jailhouse Lawyers -- On the Move (covers women as economic criminals, invisible prisoners, medical care, redress in courts, children, and more); Legal Issues For Women In Federal Prisons (covers access to legal aid, child care/custody, language difficulties, threat of sexual abuse, racism, sexism and sentence disparities, and more); Excerpts From A Letter To Kathleen Hawks, Thoughts On Preparing A Battered Women's Syndrome, Our Task: Our Duty (Mumia Abu Jamal); and more.
Women are in prison Women are in prison
Publisher: Workshop on Women PrisonersYear: 2002Format: MonographCollection: Prison - Women
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC) Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC)
Publisher: Legal Services for Prisoners with ChildrenYear: 2001Volume Number: SpringFormat: PamphletCollection: Prison - Women
"In October 2000, 20 women prisoners testified at two days of moving and historic hearings held by California Sen. Richard Polanco's Joint Committee on Prison Construction & Operations. These courageous women spoke of medical and sexual abuse, the difficulties of maintaining relationships with children and the impossibility of receiving adequate medical care if a prisoner speaks no English."
Free the New Jersey 4! Free the New Jersey 4!
Publisher: Justice for the New Jersey 4Format: PamphletCollection: Prison - Women
Newsprint
Charisse Shumate: Fighting for Our Lives Charisse Shumate: Fighting for Our Lives
Publisher: Freedom Archives; California Coalition for Women PrisonersFormat: Video ClipCollection: Prison - Women
This 37-minute video was created in collaboration with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and focuses on the life of Charisse Shumate and women in California state prisons. It includes amazing prison interviews as well as materials from State Senate hearings on conditions for women in the California State Prison System and historical video footage of Charisse and her family.