The National Archives and Records Administration has recently released the first documents in what will soon be a database of Civil Rights Cold Case Records. Following the passage of the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act in 2019, previously unavailable civil rights cold cases from 1940 to 1979 will be made digitally accessible to the public. The records will be released on a rolling basis and those released are currently available at the National Archives Catalog. Eventually NARA will create the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Portal which will allow direct access to the information.
The first records released concern the case of Hattie Debardelaben, a 46 year old Black mother and grandmother from Mulberry, Autauga County, Alabama. On the night of March 23, 1945, white police officers conducted a warrantless search of Debardelaben's home, looking for bootleg whiskey. The officers beat and arrested Debardelaben and her son. Debardelaben died of her injuries in the back of the police car en route to the Prattville County Jail. A coroner's inquest found that the officers had no legal responsibility in her death and no arrests have ever been made or trial held.
According to the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Act, records will be reviewed by the Civil Rights Cold Cases Review Board, which designates the records for potential digitalization and public access. The release of the records is the result of a multi-year collaboration among the review board, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Archivist of the United States, Dr. Colleen Shogan stated, "The release of these records, and the many more to come, will hopefully help foster a deeper understanding of our nation's civil rights history, provide friends and family transparency and closure, and help those impacted claim justice."
Hattie Debardelaben
