A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Accession Number 26234
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia 800 East Broad Street Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000 USA Phone: (804) 692-3888 (Archives Reference) Fax: (804) 692-3556 (Archives Reference) Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov(Archives) URL: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/
Although the Virginia State Penitentiary was built in
Richmond in 1797, a statewide penal system was not developed
until over a century later. An act passed by the General
Assembly on March 13, 1908, created the Board of Charities and
Corrections to administer the penitentiary and several penal
farms. On February 27, 1922, the General Assembly passed an
act that created the Board of Public Welfare and merged the
Board of Charities and Corrections with it. The state
government reorganization act passed on April 18, 1927,
created the Department of Public Welfare to administer the
prison system. Legislation approved March 13, 1942, created
both the Department of Corrections and the Parole Board as
independent agencies. Corrections departments were merged into
the Department of Welfare and Institutions by a government
reorganization act approved by the General Assembly on March
30, 1948. This department remained intact until March 9, 1974,
when the General Assembly passed an act dividing it into the
Department of Welfare, now the Department of Social Services
and the Department of Corrections. Three major
responsibilities were given to the Department of Corrections:
youth, adult services, and probation and parole services.
Minute books and reports of the the various boards and
committees concerned with juvenile offenders in Virginia.
Included are Virginia Industrial School for Boys, Virginia
Home and Industrial School for Girls, Virginia Manual Labor
School for Colored Boys, Negro Reformatory Association of
Virginia, and the Prison Association of Virginia.