Libraries and the Work of Unfreezing Cold Cases
How digitization, archives, and genealogy support the search for answers
BY CHELSEA HANRAHAN
Librarians are sometimes jokingly referred to as detectives for our ability to track down information or figure out what book a patron is talking about from vague details like “it has a blue cover.”
However, libraries (and librarians), whether we realize it or not, have been quietly assisting civilian researchers with solving cold cases and disseminating information in a variety of specific ways—and at this point in time, they are uniquely positioned to not only assist law enforcement and associated groups, but also to help disseminate information about unsolved cases to a hard-to-reach group: the terminally offline. Below are a few examples of how libraries are already contributing to cold case work and how they can continue to assist going forward.
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Life After Ancestry.com
One of the most powerful tools for solving cold cases has only recently been adopted for law enforcement use in the past eight or so years: investigative genetic genealogy (IGG). IGG is the technique of using traditional genealogy and DNA profiles (a very big simplification) to reverse engineer an unknown person's family tree and discover their identity.
I volunteer as an investigative genetic genealogist with the DNA Doe Project, helping to return identities to those who passed away without a name. There are many other groups across the country doing the same—working to discover the names of unidentified individuals, offenders who perpetrated an unsolved crime, or to help exonerate the innocent. It has been shockingly successful in doing so.
As with any new field, IGG has had its moments of ethical blunders, misguided decisions, and “ask for forgiveness” moments. And for those who are rightfully concerned about the use of DNA profiles, it raises a variety of questions and scenarios.
But there is no denying that IGG has also provided answers and closure for countless victims of violent crimes and families of missing persons who have been waiting for answers, mitigating the impact crater that an event like a homicide can have on a family for generations to come.
That is why it was very disheartening for me—not only as a genealogist, but also as a librarian—when Ancestry, one of the biggest holders of genealogical records, clarified its terms of service to state, “We don’t allow our site to be used for investigations. Law enforcement—or anyone working on their behalf—cannot use Ancestry’s DNA tools, family trees, record collections, or any part of our platform to investigate crimes or identify human remains. Allowing this would go against the purpose of our services and our commitment to protecting your privacy.”
To clarify, I do not mean AncestryDNA profiles (which we were never allowed to use). This refers to a clarification of Ancestry’s terms of service that disallows anyone from using any Ancestry-owned platform to conduct investigations that may assist law enforcement. Ancestry owns a large portion of popular research sites such as Fold3 (military records), Find a Grave (which has been populated with user-generated content for years), and most crushingly, Newspapers.com, which has, curiously, added a “crime” limiter to filter search results in the past year despite banning its usage, in, you know, helping to solve them.
As a librarian who conforms to all librarian stereotypes, I have an overdeveloped sense of justice. So it is probably no surprise that I am against limiting or prescribing the use of any public materials, particularly those that are being paid for. But this has also put librarians in a little-publicized bind that many of us are unaware of, and it contributes to increased workloads in already understaffed institutions.
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Ancestry built its newspaper database by digitizing archival materials at various institutions and continues to offer free digitization on its website as an incentive to have materials digitized and included in the Newspapers.com database—a huge benefit, especially for small libraries that would not be able to afford this cost. But preventing access to materials for any user runs counter to everything the library profession has laid out in the American Library Association's Bill of Rights. To date, there has been no guidance on exactly what we, as professionals, are supposed to do, and no statement on this policy from ALA, likely because it is not well known.
Newspapers, especially, are critical to genealogical research in general, as they provide items like birth announcements, marriage announcements, and obituaries—and Newspapers.com has many unique titles that are not available online anywhere else.
This puts researchers working under nondisclosure agreements for sensitive cases in the awkward position of having to contact the original library to ask staff for a copy of the article we may be interested in. As the library has likely digitized its collections so researchers could easily access them online, this either adds another unnecessary query to someone’s day or, since the researcher cannot disclose their purpose, it often results in the responding librarian providing a download of the requested material from the exact site the researcher is not allowed to access. Or, if the librarian happens to intuit the purpose, they may spend unnecessary time booting up a computer with a microfilm scanner (if they even still have one) to provide an original scan that complies with the terms of service.
Since this policy has been enforced (as with Ramapo College’s experience) through the termination of accounts, individual Community History Archives (such as those produced by Advantage Archives), GenealogyBank, and NewspaperArchive have become critical to those trying to bring answers to families—as has, of course, the genealogy giant FamilySearch.
Luckily, if you are a good researcher, you can usually find your way around this and get the source you need a different way—but this does have the unfortunate effect of slowing down answers for families who may have waited thirty, forty, or fifty years already for answers, and of discouraging attempts by law enforcement officers who are attempting to do their own research and have very little time to do so.
What you can do: If you are pursuing digitization for your materials, ask questions about the company's policies on access and any restrictions that may be placed on public use of those materials if you select their service.
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Unique Collections
While we are on the topic of digitization, not everything is online (say it from the back!). As an elder millennial, I am well aware of this, but I also realize that not everyone spent their formative years in the reference section of the public library for fun.
There have been many times, especially as a podcast researcher, when I have had to contact historical societies, archives, and libraries for a source that might be critical for the story or that I have a hunch they may have in their collection. A great example of this is with pictures.
A picture of a missing person or a victim of a violent crime can often be the first thing that draws someone in to care about finding out more. You would think these would be readily available from a victim’s family or, failing that, the investigating agency, but that is often not the case. If a victim’s family has passed away and/or no one is around to actively provide advocacy or act as a spokesperson, publicizing the details of a victim’s case without an image may be the only choice available. Seeing the blank silhouette of a person in a Facebook post marking the anniversary of their crime feels, at the very least, impersonal, and at the very worst, like not much is being done to provide a resolution.
Many public libraries and historical societies collect yearbooks from local high schools as part of their permanent collections, and anecdotally, many people have had their picture captured somewhere in those pages, either as class portraits or while participating in other activities. I have had excellent luck, when it has run out everywhere else, having a librarian scan a page from a print yearbook—in some cases, it may be the only surviving image of that person.
What you can do: If someone reaches out with a request for an image or an inventory of materials in an archival box, providing scans of pictures or other materials is extremely helpful (I can’t imagine librarians wouldn’t do this anyway).
Advocacy, Engagement, and Programming
Speaking of those boxes of archival materials, you might have a gold mine of library engagement. You may have noticed that with the advent of tools like IGG and true crime podcasts, there has been a boom in interest around these types of topics in general. Programming around historical crimes and their impact on a community, unsolved crimes, or information on areas like investigative genetic genealogy and forensic anthropology is an excellent way to draw in patrons of any age.
I have been asked to speak to many groups at public libraries in my area about what I do as a researcher and as an investigative genetic genealogist. Whether there are five people at a talk or thirty, I always see it as an opportunity to spread the word about unsolved cases and how to participate as a “genetic witness” if patrons so desire. It is also a great way to reach an audience that may not be online and consistently seeing things like Facebook posts or TikTok videos.
Additionally, past staff at an institution may have been forward-thinking and collected materials related to past solved or unsolved cases, particularly if they were well publicized. There may be citizens in your community who served as counsel, jury members, or investigators and may be willing to participate in panel discussions or library talks around particular events or cases. In my experience, talks I have given have drawn in law enforcement professionals wanting to know more about IGG, family members of other cases in the area seeking guidance, and others who simply want to learn more about the topic. And if I put on my professor hat for a moment, it is also, in my opinion, a compelling way to teach library-related skills like source evaluation, primary source research, and critical thinking at a variety of levels.
Librarians are natural collaborators and usually enjoy the thrill of the hunt. These examples are just a few ways you might be interested in using your collections (and natural talents!) to assist law enforcement, civilian researchers, and family members in their pursuit to find critical information and close cases—it might be just what is needed.
Sources
Chelsea Hanrahan is the library director at the H. Raymond Danforth Library at New England College. She is also a volunteer investigative genetic genealogist with the DNA Doe Project, which uses genealogical research and DNA analysis to return the identities of John and Jane Does. She conducts research for the true crime podcast Murder, She Told, which details stories of New England crimes—solved and unsolved—that may not have received significant attention at the time. If any of these topics interest you, feel free to contact her at [email protected]—her friends and family would enjoy a break. Her opinions are strictly her own.