By Michael Vetman, IARA Archivist
Significance
The Indiana State Archives has tens of thousands of cases from the Indiana Supreme Court. It is one of the earliest collection of records available in Indiana, dating back to the Territorial Period. These records are valuable because they establish precedent, or the legal example, for future cases and for the lower courts.
For example, the 1820 Indiana Supreme Court Case State v. Lasselle determined “slavery can have no existence” in the state and the 1854 case Falkenburg v. Jones provided defendants access to court records without charge, an important feature of a fair trial.
Images: Left and Right: State v. Laselle, 1820; Center: First Indiana Supreme Court, Corydon [cc]
Scope
This is one of the largest collections at the State Archives and includes records of cases that originated in all 92 Indiana Counties.
The State Archives gained stewardship of these records decades ago and is working to preserve, process, and index the collection. In 2007, the Archives initiated the Supreme Court Cases Project to increase accessibility and searchability for these important legal and historical records.
Almost twenty years later, our conservator and archivists, guided by archivist emeritus Alan January, have processed and indexed cases from the Territorial Courts through the Indiana Supreme Court’s 1894 term.
Images: Indiana Supreme Court records arriving rolled or folded and then flattened by archivists
Conservation and Processing
The cases arrived either rolled or folded, often covered in coal dust and in poor condition. Archivists flattened, cleaned, and identified repairs as their first step. Because the cases were held in this condition for so long, they had to be gradually flattened over time.
The conservator places the stiffest cases in a humidity chamber to relax the fibers before they are flattened. Next, they are placed in a press or beneath weights. Some cases need to be mended.
Next, an archivist organizes the cases into new acid-free folders. These folders identify what the case is: parties involved, term, dates, county, and final ruling. These folders are then rehoused in new archival boxes with numbering corresponding to the original box numbers in which they arrived.
The third step is to enter them into the searchable database.
Images: Cases in new archival boxes (before and after barcoding) and archivist emeritus Alan January in center.
Search
These are searchable via the Research Indiana Indexes. Search the entire index site, or narrow your search to Supreme Court only by selecting the “Courts” icon and then choosing the “Supreme Court” filter on the left.
Request A Case
If you would like to see a specific case, you can request a copy via email. Here’s how:
- Click on the case name that comes up during the search.
- Click on “More Detail” link below.
- Copy the URL address from that newly opened window and paste it to the email request sent to the archives.
- Send an email to: arc@iara.in.gov, with “Supreme Court” in the Subject Line, and forward the links to the case.
More than 35,000 cases have been indexed and are searchable online. This is an ongoing project and new cases are processed and added to the database on a regular basis. So check back soon!
Learn more about Indiana Supreme Court records at the Indiana State Archives.