Trials and tribulations: Making historic court records freely accessible to all

Court documents are more than the record of a trial, they are primary sources for understanding the State’s relationship with its citizens through rights granted or denied. By studying historic collections, we can see how legal interpretation and social attitudes change over time regarding the rights of women, the enslaved, workers, the incarcerated, and the rights of powerful institutions to affect the masses.
Yet despite their ability to shed light on issues of national consequence, these unique and vulnerable documents have been mostly hidden. Using a balanced approach of both access and preservation the New Jersey State Library has begun an ambitious project to digitize and catalog over 2 million pages worth of historic, appellate court documents from the late 19th and early 20th century, making them freely accessible and discoverable. Join us as we discuss the collection, logistical challenges, and lessons learned along the way.