Originally published in the Cecil Whig
Squirreled away on a shelf in the so called “Bat Room” at the Historical Society of Cecil County sit some leger books, 18 inches long by 6 inches wide. Some of their binders are peeling and their pages are frayed. But wait. These are not just any old books, ready fodder for mouse nests. They contain the day to day, sometimes minute to minute records of the Elkton Police department; the police blotters from the years 1951 to 1993 when the department began keeping digital records. For the last few months, a graduate student from the University of Delaware has been reviewing the police blotters, inventorying them, putting them in boxes, labeling those boxes, and developing a finding aid to make it easier for anyone looking for information to locate it. So who might use these ledgers? Master’s degree candidate Elisabeth Maselli says they could be used for a number of different research projects such as genealogy, criminal justice, and anyone who wants a peek at Elkton, Maryland in the mid-20th century.
Elisabeth says that “peek” would reveal “small town identity stories,” especially around Elkton’s liberal marriage laws. “There are a lot of instances of runaways,” Elisabeth reports. “They are running away to get married. Police reaction is indifferent, but depending on the situation either takes the couple into custody, releases them to their parents, or allows them to go and get married.” In some cases there are instances of fraud committed against the unsuspecting and somewhat naive couples. “Some couples are scammed from time to time. Taxi drivers direct them to certain chapels. The couples go. They fill out all of the paperwork, pay their fees, and leave. Weeks later they still don’t have their certificates and they complain to the police.”
As noted, the blotters span 40 years, some of it a very turbulent time especially when it comes to civil rights. Elisabeth observes that there are not too many references to civil rights issues in the blotters. “Change is slow. The shift is much larger on the national level. There are some notes around freedom riders coming through town which are referred to as ‘suspicious persons at the diner,’ but no specific reference to the ‘Jim Crow’ laws of the day.”
One national news report that is referenced in the blotters is the assassination of President John Kennedy on November 22, 1963. “The officer then made a note of the event. It’s interesting that he would do that. It’s as close to a national reference that they come to aside from being on the lookout for felons who may be coming through the area.”
Elisabeth points out that once the ‘80s and ‘90s come along, the authors begin to make greater use of the blotter margins and NOT for official business. “They’ll write a Christmas countdown and note that it’s the holidays. In the fifties and sixties, that would not have flown.” The national bicentennial is also observed in 1976. “You can tell that maybe it’s a slow day or (the dispatcher) just has some time, but he doodled American flags and made it a patriotic entry.”
In addition to placing the blotters in 7 labeled boxes and putting pictures from the era in separate folders, Elisabeth created a Twitter page with a different daily entry, so you can follow the “action” of the Elkton police from years ago on line at www.twitter.com/ccpolicearchive There is a link there to a blog with more information including the finding aid at www.wordpress.org/ccpolicearchive
Because the blotters cover a relatively recent time period, many of the individuals, both criminal and otherwise, are still living in the area. For that reason, Elisabeth explains that many names are redacted from the Twitter feed, however, she says “researchers may go to the original documents and look up individuals if they need to.” Ethnic slurs are also redacted, but, she says, “they are irregular and more the exception than the rule. It fades out over time.”
“It was a great experience” working with the documents at the historical society, Elisabeth adds. “The society was so supportive of my project.” Thank you, Elisabeth, for your efforts to shed light on and make available a piece of Elkton’s not so distant past.