The Freedom Forum was organized in 1943 in Schenectady, New York by the Subcommittee on Post War Planning of the Citizens Unity Committee of the Schenectady County Consolidated War Council. The Freedom Forum's organizers had one priority at the organization's inception, to promote an interest in civic and educational topics of the day. This dedication motivated Freedom Forum to bring notable lecturers to Schenectady. The Freedom Forum by-laws state: "The policy of Freedom Forum, Inc. is to help in spreading factual information and in the discovery of truths concerning issues about which there are two or more points of view."The not-for-profit, non-partisan organization group evolved by the 1960s to sustain over 1500 members in the Capital Region of New York.

Early in the Freedom Forum's history the organization lacked control over lecturers because of its dependence on other organizations such as the Y.W.C.A and Union College who, along with other local organizations, helped to sponsor the first lecture series. They were also financially supported by the Schenectady County Department of Education. Freedom Forum opened memberships to the public at an annual subscription fee that would allow subscribers to participate in lectures and vote at meetings. Under the leadership of Reverend Edwin H. Wilson, of the Unitarian Church, Freedom Forum used these funds to become independent in 1944 and assume control over decisions on speakers. In 1951, Freedom Forum was incorporated as a non-profit "educational corporation."

The Board of Directors assigned working committees to projects and managed the regulations of the organization. The general perspective of each lecture series was discussed during the Program Committee's meetings. The first Freedom Forum speaker was author and scientist William Agar who lectured on September 27, 1943, on the topic of "The World We Want," which dealt with solutions to domestic problems at the end of World War II.

In addition to lecture series the group also held public debates such as in December 1976 when E. Linn Draper, Director of the Nuclear Engineering Program at the University of Texas, debated Daniel F. Ford, Executive Director of Union of Concerned Scientist. They debated the issue of using nuclear power as a source of energy, which was favored in response to the rising need for energy as standard fuel resources began to wane. In addition to lectures on energy options other subjects that the program committee considered for discussion were the Vietnam War, contraception, abortion laws, and inflation. Other well-known speakers included Eleanor Roosevelt in 1956 and Margaret Mead in 1947 and 1962. A brief question and answer period usually followed the lectures.

The records do not specifically state the date group disbanded, but the reduction in the number of subscriptions, decrease in amount of board members, and the activity of those board members remaining may have influenced the demise of the organization. The last program mentioned in the collection is May 8, 1978. The speaker was Bernard Davis who lectured on "The Recombinant DNA Scenario: Andromeda Strain, Chimera, and Golem."