Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Gloucester County (Va.) School Records, 1886-1891; 1897. Local government records collection, Gloucester County (Va.) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records from Gloucester County.

This collection is located at the State Records Center. Contact Archives Research Services for access information, directions, and hours.

Historical Information

The Virginia Constitution of 1870 mandated Virginia's first statewide public school system. The schools were racially segregated by law until the mid-twentieth century.

Gloucester County probably was named for the English county, although it may also have been intended to honor Henry, duke of Gloucester, the third son of Charles I. It was formed from York County in 1651.

All records were destroyed by an 1820 fire, and most of the records created after 1820 were destroyed by fire in Richmond on 3 April 1865, where they had been moved for safekeeping during the Civil War.

Scope and Content

Gloucester County (Va.) School Records, 1886-1891; 1897, are comprised of a Virginia Public School Register for Abingdon School District, 1896-1891; and a plat and survey of a lot sold to Abingdon School District Trustees, 1897. The register is a record of studies pursued and attendance, and lists names and age of students, and age, along with the teacher’s term report (listing days taught, enrollment, attendance, number of students enrolled in each subject, and other statistical information), and the number of visits to the school. Schools were segregated by race. The collection contains registers of Georgia W. Sinclair who taught at White School No. 7, White School No. 8, and White Public School No. 2.

Related Material

See the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.

For more information and a listing of lost records localities see Lost Records research note .

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Gloucester County (Va.) Circuit Court.
• Gloucester County (Va.) Public Schools. Abingdon District.

Subjects:

• Public schools -- Virginia -- Gloucester County.
• Schools -- records and correspondence -- Virginia -- Gloucester County.
• Segregation in education -- Virginia -- Gloucester County.

Geographical Names:

• Gloucester County (Va.) -- History -- 19th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Attendance records -- Virginia -- Gloucester County.
• Local government records -- Virginia -- Gloucester County.
• Plats (land) -- Virginia -- Gloucester County.
• Registers (lists) -- Virginia -- Gloucester County.
• School records -- Virginia -- Gloucester County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data