Description
New Haven County Superior Court Costs Records – Black, African American, and Indigenous Cases
Overview
This is a digital collection of scanned court cost records from the New Haven County Superior Court (NHSC). The collection is part of the Connecticut State Library’s New Haven County court records project, which focuses on documenting the legal history of Black, African American, and Indigenous peoples in the region. The files are high‑resolution TIFF images (RG003NHSCBAAIPSCostsOxxvsMix001.tif and RG003NHSCBAAIPSCostsOxxvsMix002.tif) and include OCR metadata. The collection is in English, publicly available, and is catalogued under the subject‑index field “NHSCBAAICasesPapersSubject.”
Background
The NHSC has maintained court cost records for civil and criminal proceedings since the 19th century. In recent years, the Connecticut State Library has digitized a subset of these records that involve Black, African American, and Indigenous litigants, as part of a broader effort to make under‑represented histories accessible. The project is funded through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) and coordinated with the library’s archival staff. The collection’s metadata follows the PINAX schema, ensuring interoperability with other digital archives.
Contents
The collection contains two TIFF images, each approximately 13 MB, representing scanned pages of cost records. The OCR layer provides searchable text for the recorded fees, case numbers, parties, and dates. The images capture the layout of the original court docket pages, including headings, signatures, and stamps. The collection is linked to the broader NHSCBAAICases_Papers subject index, which assigns controlled subject terms such as “court costs,” “legal records,” “Black history,” “African American history,” “Indigenous history,” and “New Haven County.”
Scope
The collection covers cost records from the New Haven County Superior Court that pertain to Black, African American, and Indigenous litigants. While the exact dates of the records are not specified in the metadata, they are part of the broader NHSC archival holdings, which span from the early 1800s to the present. The collection is limited to cost records; it does not include full case files, transcripts, or related legal documents. It is geographically focused on New Haven County, Connecticut, and is intended for researchers interested in legal, social, and cultural histories of marginalized communities in the region.Raw Cheimarros Data
@new_haven_county_superior_court:organization {full_name: "New Haven County Superior Court", abbreviation: "NHSC"}
@connecticut_state_library:organization {full_name: "Connecticut State Library"}
@baai:concept {expansion: "Black, African American, and Indigenous History"}
@cases_papers:concept {description: "Case files and related papers of the New Haven County Superior Court"}
@nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:concept {description: "Subject‑index field for New Haven County Superior Court case files involving Black, African American, and Indigenous people"}
@nhsc_baai_costs_collection:collection {
title: "New Haven County Superior Court Costs Records - Black, African American, and Indigenous Cases",
creator: @new_haven_county_superior_court,
institution: @connecticut_state_library,
subjects: ["Court costs","Legal records","Black history","African American history","Indigenous history","New Haven County"],
description: "A collection of digitized images of court cost records from the New Haven County Superior Court, specifically related to Black, African American, and Indigenous cases."
}
@file_pinax:file {type: "Metadata (PINAX)"} {related_to: @nhsc_baai_costs_collection}
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_costs_oxxvsmix_001_tif:file {type: "Image/Asset with OCR"} {part_of: @nhsc_baai_costs_collection}
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_costs_oxxvsmix_002_tif:file {type: "Image/Asset with OCR"} {part_of: @nhsc_baai_costs_collection}