Catherine Roraback Collection of Ericka Huggins Papers

Catherine Roraback was a Connecticut civil rights attorney who served as lead defense counsel for Ericka Huggins during her trial for the kidnapping and murder of Alex Rackley. Roraback was born on September 17, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1941 and was the only woman to graduate from Yale University Law School in 1948. Upon graduation, Roraback took over her family's law practice in Canaan, Connecticut. From 1969 to 1971, Roraback defended Ericka Huggins, a leader in the New Haven chapter of the Black Panther Party who was charged with conspiracy in the murder of Alex Rackley, a member of the Black Panther Party. On May 25 1971, the trial ended in a hung jury and was declared a mistrial. After the trial, Roraback continued to practice law and participated in organizations such as the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union, an organization she co-founded, and became president of the National Lawyers Guild. Roraback died on October 17, 2007 in Salisbury, Connecticut.

Ericka Jenkins Huggins was born in Washington D.C. on January 5, 1948. Huggins attended Lincoln University where she met her husband, John Huggins, and together they moved to California to join the Black Panther Party. John Huggins was murdered by members of the rival black nationalist US Organization on the University of California, Los Angeles campus in 1969. After his death, Huggins relocated to New Haven, Connecticut with their daughter Mai and became a leader in the New Haven chapter of the Black Panther Party. On May 22, 1969, Huggins, along with Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale, faced charges that stemmed from the kidnapping and murder of Black Panther Party member Alex Rackley. The trial, which lasted from October 1970 to May 1971, ended in a mistrial and dismissal of all charges. Huggins was released on May 25, 1971. After the trial, Huggins remained in the Black Panther Party and became the director of the Oakland Community School in Oakland, California until 1981. She also became the first black woman and first woman to be appointed to the Alameda County Board of Education. Huggins also worked as a professor of sociology and African American studies in the Peralta Community College District.