Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

New Kent County (Va.) School Board Minutes, 1922-1983. Local government records collection, New Kent County (Va.) School Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of records from New Kent County School Board under the accession number 52535.

Historical Information

On February 21, 1818, the Virginia legislature passed a school bill which appropriated $45,000 annually from the Literary Fund for the education of poor children. (The Literary Fund was established in 1810 with passage of a bill to appropriate "certain escheats, confiscated, and forfeited lands" for the "encouragement of learning.") Under the provisions of the 1818 School Act, each county court was required to appoint five to fifteen commissioners to establish and/or administer schools for children of the poor. A more comprehensive public school system was established by the legislature in 1870.

New Kent County may have been named either for the English county of Kent or for Kent Island, in the upper waters of the Chesapeake Bay. William Claiborne, a native of Kent who had been driven from Kent Island by Lord Baltimore, was a prominent resident of the New Kent area about 1654 when the county was formed from York County. Part of James City County was added in 1767. The county seat is New Kent.

Scope and Content

New Kent County (Va.) School Board Minutes, 1922-1983, record meetings of the New Kent County School Board.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• New Kent County (Va.). School Board.

Subjects:

• Financial records -- Virginia -- New Kent County.
• Government aid to education -- Virginia -- New Kent County.
• School reports -- Virginia -- New Kent County.
• Schools -- Virginia -- New Kent County.
• Teachers -- Virginia -- New Kent County.

Geographical Names:

• New Kent County (Va.) -- History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Local government records -- Virginia -- New Kent County.
• Minutes -- Virginia -- New Kent County.
• School records -- Virginia -- New Kent County.