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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 We are also in the process of scanning and uploading thousands of historical documents which enrich our media holdings.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.

Oakland Induction Center

During the Vietnam War young male draftees would arrive at the Oakland Induction Center on Clay Street for processing and  physical exams. Throughout this period, anti-war activists would conduct protests outside the Induction Center. Much of our collection centers on street reporting from Colin Edwards during Stop the Draft Week 1967. In California, Stop the Draft Week organizers led 3000 marchers to the Oakland Induction Center on October 16, 1967. When marchers refused police orders to leave, police attacked them with nightsticks, injuring 20. On the second day, demonstrators returned to the Induction Center, and this time 97 were arrested. On the third day, 10,000 protesters arrived, this time retreating in orderly fashion but also successfully blocking streets as they departed.This collection also includes coverage of the mutiny on the Coral Sea, anti-war demonstrations and speeches on the UC Berkeley campus, audio excerpts from a protest at Port Chicago and other anti-war content.

Documents

Oakland 7 Arraignment Statement [mp3] Oakland 7 Arraignment Statement [mp3]
Call Number: Format: mp3Collection: Oakland Induction Center
Arraignment Statement from the Oakland Seven case stemming from arrests at the Oakland Induction Center anti-war protest.
Berkeley Train Incident Actuality/Anti-Vietnam War appeals to Mexican Ship Berkeley Train Incident Actuality/Anti-Vietnam War appeals to Mexican Ship
Date: 9/5/1965Call Number: CE 897Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Oakland Induction Center
The Vietnam Day Committee, a group of organizing activists bent on not only symbolically objecting to the war but also taking the direct action to disrupt the cogs of war, attempts to appeal to the crew of the El Maxicano ship, in Spanish. The protest not only was meant to call out the criminal and imperialist Vietnam War but also to speak against the criminal exploitation of foreign labor. The second piece of the reel deals with a summation of the sequence of protests against the Vietnam War held at the Berkeley campus against the back drop of a New McCarthy era looming on campus.
Coral Seas Revolt Coral Seas Revolt
Date: 11/19/1971Call Number: CE 931Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ips full trackProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Oakland Induction Center
Includes not only a comprehensive detail of the factors and events that culminated in the Coral Seas Revolt, but discusses the reluctance to cooperate in war that many sailors felt, and the punishment delivered by higher ranking officers. In addition there are interviews with sailors and organizers of the revolt.
Reagan University of California Berkeley State of Emergency Announcement Reagan University of California Berkeley State of Emergency Announcement
Date: 5/1969Call Number: CE 930Format: 1/4 3 3/4 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Oakland Induction Center
Includes statements on protests, students, Cal, and People's Park by Governor Reagan.
Anti-War Rally April 27th 1968 Reel 2 Anti-War Rally April 27th 1968 Reel 2
Date: 4/27/1968Call Number: CE 928Volume Number: Reel 2Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Oakland Induction Center
A continuation of speeches and rallying cries recorded at the April 27th rally which followed a Peace March. This reel also contains a speech from Muhammad Ali speaking to the need for Black unity under one leader.
Rally April 23, 1968 Reel 2 Rally April 23, 1968 Reel 2
Date: 4/23/1968Call Number: CE 926Volume Number: Reel 2Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Oakland Induction Center
Details a police stand-off with protesters, as well as accounts of the worsening systemic conditions and the severity of both police response and legal charges.
Anti-War Rally April 27th 1968 Reel 1 Anti-War Rally April 27th 1968 Reel 1
Date: 4/27/1968Call Number: CE 927Volume Number: Reel 1Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Oakland Induction Center
This recording follows a march against the Vietnam War (in memory of Martin Luther King). Admiral Truth: Discusses political lies, the right to national self-determination, speaks out against the draft and neo-colonialism. Includes the lead-in to the Muhammad Ali speech on the second tape.
Phone-in report from Oakland Induction Center Phone-in report from Oakland Induction Center
Date: 4/23/1968Call Number: CE 925Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Oakland Induction Center
A summation of the events of a demonstration held on April 23, 1968 in front of the Oakland Induction Center. This tape details police tactics that include the targeting of leaders of the anti-War movement based purely on identification alone in an attempt to suppress the movement.
Joan Baez Arrest Joan Baez Arrest
Date: 10/16/1967Call Number: CE 905Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Oakland Induction Center
Includes a brief interview with Joan Baez following her participation in civil disobedience against U.S. military draft policy as well as audio of Joan Baez leading protesters in song as the police advance.
Oct 16 Demo Oakland Induction Center Reel 1 Oct 16 Demo Oakland Induction Center Reel 1
Date: 10/16/1967Call Number: CE 903Volume Number: Reel 1Format: 1/4 3 3/4 ipsProducers: Colin EdwardsCollection: Oakland Induction Center
A description of a picket blocking the Oakland Induction Center. Includes an interview with picketers, particularly Joan Baez, a prominent singer and activist of the time. Interviews with protesters following the abduction of multiple picketers by police, as well as the impact of the protests on those in the process of being drafted.