While many repositories hold the papers of federal, state, and local judges, judicial collections are an under-examined genre of archival materials. However, as a subset of public policy papers, judicial collections represent sites of encounter between the people and the state; as such, they have the potential to shed light on a host of interactions among various governments, communities, and cultures. In this session, academic archivists Curt Hanson and Anu Kasarabada explore the challenges and opportunities involved in processing and providing access to the papers of two judges who served on the U.S. circuit courts of appeal, the intermediate level of the Federal Judiciary right beneath the U.S. Supreme Court. Hanson will discuss the roles that both technology and related collections at other repositories played in the processing and re-processing of the papers of Judge Myron Bright, whose collection consists of approximately 600 boxes that became open upon the judge’s passing in 2016. Kasarabada will describe the ongoing processing of the Judge Boyce Martin papers, a collection of nearly 700 boxes that’s only partially open and encompasses a partnership with the university’s law school. The presenters will share lessons learned and provide practical approaches to managing judicial collections, including issues related to donor restrictions, privacy and confidentiality concerns, and appraisal decisions.
