06/01/2026
This week’s Artifact of the Week highlights a wooden jury box (SHSX295.1 Gift of Unknown Donor) that we were intrigued to find while unpacking during the Collections Move as it had been tucked away on the back of a shelf in a dark aisle. With no photo in the database, it now proudly resides (photographed) in our newly organized collections facility. With this year’s push to share interesting finds from the Move, we saw a great opportunity to learn more about this artifact and how it might have functioned in a past judicial system.
Likely dating to the late 19th or early 20th century, the box might have been used in either the random selection of jurors (with one compartment holding the general pool and the other holding the selected panel), or perhaps to differentiate between grand and petit jurors.
Alternatively, it may have been used to organize different panels within a courtroom. For example, separate groups assigned to hear different cases, or in some instances, successive juries handling a backlog of cases. Court records from the late 1800s and early 1900s suggest it was common for courts to have Jury No. 1 and Jury No. 2 operating simultaneously, particularly when courts were handling multiple, quick proceedings.
Ultimately, we’re not sure exactly which scenario fits with this box, as it had no associated documentation. More research is required to better understand whether and how this item was used in Shasta County.
