CRRJ Investigation of Jim Crow Era Murder is First Case in Nation to be Released Under the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act

11.20.2024 — A 1945 racially motivated killing investigated by Northeastern Law’s Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CRRJ) is the first set of records released by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act, which is charged with reviewing government files of unsolved murder cases during the civil rights era and setting a schedule for the release of previously digitally unavailable documents to the public. Documents related to the killing of Hattie DeBardelaben — a 46-year-old Black mother and grandmother — are now publicly available in the National Archives Catalog as well as through CRRJ’s Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive.

“This marks an important moment in the movement to learn about — and learn from — the atrocities of the Jim Crow era,” said CRRJ Director Margaret Burnham, who was appointed by President Biden to the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board in 2022. “Rendering federal records widely available will make it possible to teach from this material, fully integrate this history in our national narrative, and better assist the families and communities that bear the weight of these past harms.”

DeBardelaben was killed by Deputy Clyde White and several federal officers in Autauga County, Alabama, following a warrantless search of her home for illegal whiskey. The officers arrested DeBardelaben and her son, beating the grandmother so severely that she succumbed to her injuries en route to the county jail.

On April 11, 1945, an FBI investigation into DeBardelaben’s death was opened, and in October of that same year, a state grand jury convened to investigate the killing. The grand jury declined to indict. Less than a year after DeBardelaben’s death, in February 1946, White was arrested for shooting a Black man in the back after he allegedly resisted arrest. He was acquitted, and in 1954, White was elected Autauga County sheriff.

The National Archives has launched the Civil Rights Cold Case Records portal, providing direct public access to these digitized records. Northeastern University library staff and archivists, including Gina Nortonsmith, project archivist for the Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive, provided expert advice to NARA in developing its Civil Rights Cold Case Records web portal. “NARA has been very thoughtful in its planning process. I was honored to talk with their team about the design choices and organization of the Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive, and to provide feedback on NARA’s test site,” said Nortonsmith. “Knowing that the lessons learned in creating the Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive helped NARA build their project reenforces the importance of our work as a leader in the field.”

“The National Archives exists to ensure that the public has access to the records of our government,” said Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan in a recent statement from The National Archives. “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.”