Frequently Asked Questions
The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018 commits NARA to “preparing and publishing the subject guidebook and index to the Collection.” This website is intended to facilitate access and houses the resources related to the collection.
General Information
During the Civil Rights era, thousands of racially-motivated crimes and other civil rights violations went unsolved. But that doesn’t mean these incidents weren’t investigated. In many cases, local, state, and/or federal authorities examined evidence, conducted interviews, and compiled detailed investigations into these crimes and violations. The case files from these investigations are considered civil rights cold case records.
A cold case refers to a criminal investigation for which investigative leads have been exhausted.
Cold cases are stalled because there is no evidence or insufficient evidence available that would help identify a perpetrator (known in the FBI as a subject). Sometimes there may be evidence but it is not enough to arrest or charge an individual.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (https://www.archives.gov) identifies, protects, preserves, and makes publicly available the historically valuable records of all three branches of the federal government. NARA is also charged with appropriately declassifying classified national security information, mediating Freedom of Information Act disputes, and overseeing agency actions regarding classified and controlled unclassified information.
The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018 (the Act) established a Review Board appointed by the President. The Act also required that agencies digitized cold case records and transfer them to the National Archives. The National Archives is required by the Act to create a publicly searchable electronic collection of civil rights cold case records on NARA’s website. Records being digitized and reviewed under this Act are associated with racially motivated crimes and other civil rights violations that occurred between January 1, 1940 and December 31,1979, and meet one of several criteria outlined in the legislation.
Understanding the Collection
The physical records will remain in the NARA custodial unit or agency's original collections, but the digitized and reviewed versions will become part of the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection (Record Group 612).
If you do not see the information you are looking for here, we encourage you to check the records of the originating agencies in the National Archives Catalog (https://catalog.archives.gov/) or send questions about the collection to inquire@nara.gov.
These records, all part of Record Group 612, are digitized copies of records that were identified as responsive to requests from the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act Review Board. These are digital copies of records from various agencies that were already in the custody of the National Archives and copies of records that are still in the custody of the originating agencies. Records creators include, but are not limited to, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Courts. Original records, when scheduled as permanent, will be transferred as part of the original records series.
It is important to note that the records that are included in the collection represent an important selection, but not all, case files related to crimes related to Civil Rights or to cold cases. If you do not see the information that you are looking for here, we encourage you to check the records of the originating agencies in the National Archives Catalog.
The Act covers events that occurred during the period beginning on January 1, 1940 and ending on December 31, 1979.
NARA arranges its holdings according to the archival principle of provenance. This principle provides that records be attributed to the agency that created or maintained them and arranged thereunder as they were filed when in active use.
In the National Archives, the application of the principle of provenance takes the form of numbered record groups, with each record group comprising the records of a primary government entity, usually a bureau or an independent agency. For example, Record Group 29 is Records of the Bureau of the Census.
Most record groups include records of any predecessors of the organization named in the record group's title. A few record groups combine the records of several small or short-lived agencies having an administrative or functional relationship with each other. An example of this type of record group is Record Group 76, Records of Boundary and Claims Commissions and Arbitrations.
The number assigned to a record group reflects the order in which the National Archives established it.
Within a record group, a government agency's records are organized into series. Each series is a set of documents arranged according to the creating office's filing system or otherwise kept together by the creating office because they relate to a particular subject or function, result from the same activity, document a specific kind of transaction, take a particular physical form, or have some other relationship arising out of their creation, receipt, or use.
No. This site provides access to the records digitized and reviewed as prioritized by the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act Board, with input from stakeholder agencies.
Some records may not have tags or detailed data such as age, gender, type of assault, race, etc., and will not show up in the search results if that filter is chosen. We recommend that if you are not seeing the expected search results, try removing filters and redoing the search.
The Act requires that records regularly be reviewed to determine whether the passage of time has rendered additional information releasable. All case files can be requested through the National Archives at ColdCaseRecordsCollection@nara.gov.
Accessing Records
Additional Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation case files are available at the National Archives. The National Archives Catalog can be searched here. You can also ask your question on History Hub or contact the National Archives at inquire@nara.gov with your inquiry.
NARA does not have custody of every investigation conducted, and it is common that the originating agencies do not have them either. Records are retained and transferred to NARA based on records schedules, which sometimes dictate that records be destroyed after their administrative use has ended. For this reason, NARA maintains approximately 1–3% of records created by the federal government.
This portal was developed to provide improved access to records digitized and released in response to the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act. Inquiries about specific cases should be directed to the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act Board at info@coldcaserecords.gov.
Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board
In 2006, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began its "Cold Case Initiative" — a comprehensive effort to identify and investigate decades-old, racially-motivated murders. If you or someone you know has information about a civil rights-era cold case, please contact the Civil Rights Division at Coldcase.Civilrights@usdoj.gov or by phone at (202) 514-4609 and (TTY) (202) 514-0716. You can also contact your local FBI office or the national FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324). The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board can be reached at info@coldcaserecords.gov.
In 2006, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began its "Cold Case Initiative" — a comprehensive effort to identify and investigate decades-old, racially motivated murders. If you or someone you know has information about a civil rights–era cold case, please contact the Civil Rights Division at Coldcase.Civilrights@usdoj.gov or by phone at 202-514-4609 and (TTY) 202-514-0716. You can also contact your local FBI office or the national FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324).
Co-Chairs Hank Klibanoff and Margaret Burnham, and Board members Gabrielle Dudley and Brenda Stevenson. For more information, visit the Board’s website https://www.coldcaserecords.gov/.
The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board is an independent federal agency and can be reached at info@coldcaserecords.gov.
Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
To learn more about the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), please visit fbi.gov/history or vault.fbi.gov.
Here are some resources to learn more about DOJ's Cold Case Initiative as well as their efforts to investigate and prosecute unsolved Civil Rights era homicides.
You can contact the DOJ's Civil Rights Division through their contact page. This page provides information on how to report a civil rights violation or submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Additionally, the Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) provides a wealth of information and support services for victims of crime and their families.
Glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Case file | The collection of documents gathered by an agency related to a specific incident, event, or victim. |
| Dates of recordkeeping | The starting and ending years of the documents or information contained within the records for each case. |
| Incident | The civil rights–related event occurring between January 1, 1940, and December 31, 1979, that led to harm, damage, and/or a formal investigation. |
| Location | The site of the incident. In general, information in this field is at the city, county, or zip code level. |
| Lynching | Extrajudicial killing by a group. The term has been most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor or to intimidate a group. Lynching can also be employed as an extreme form of informal group social control, and often conducted with the display of a public spectacle for maximum intimidation. |
| Personally Identifiable Information | Information that can be used to identify a specific person (e.g., name, social security number, address, birthdate, etc). |
| Postponement | Specific information within the records that is being temporarily withheld from public disclosure due to the potential harm or negative consequences that could arise from its release. |
| Postponement category | The reason why specific information within the records is being temporarily withheld from public disclosure due to the potential harm or negative consequences that could arise from its release. For example, postponements will be applied to protect privacy and personally identifiable Information for living individuals. For full details on each postponement, please refer to Section 4 of the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act. |
| Subject | The term used by the Department of Justice and the FBI to describe a person or group of interest identified as the potential perpetrator(s) during the course of an investigation. |
| Type of materials | Refers to the particular type of records, such as textual records, maps and charts, or images, included in the case file. |
| Type of violation | The specific offense or allegation that occurred during an incident (e.g., physical assault, sexual assault, murder, lynching, or other crime) |
| Victim | The individual who was the target of racial violence or other civil rights crimes. |
Additional Resources
The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board website
Learn more about the Board, their mission and activities.
History Hub
Find answers to your research questions on History Hub
African American Heritage
The Archives holds a wealth of material documenting the Black experience. This page highlights these resources online, in programs, and through traditional and social media.
Research Our Records
Access the National Archives Catalog and related resources
Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
For more information about the Office for Victims of Crime, a Fund that supports a broad array of programs and services that focus on helping victims in the immediate aftermath of crime and continuing to support them as they rebuild their lives.
Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
For more information about the Justice Department’s investigation of unsolved homicides—or “cold cases”—from the Civil Rights Era
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Vault
For more information about the FBI's new online repository of 6,700 digitized FBI documents, including previously unreleased files.
Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018
This bill requires the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to: (1) establish a collection of civil rights cold case records; (2) prepare and publish the subject guidebook and index to the collection; and (3) establish criteria for transmitting copies of civil rights cold case records to NARA, to include required metadata.