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A Guide to the Correspondence and Reference Files of the Library of Virginia, Office of the State Archivist, 1939-1995 Correspondence and Reference Files of the Library of Virginia, Office of the State Archivist, 1939-1995 35106

A Guide to the Correspondence and Reference Files of the Library of Virginia, Office of the State Archivist, 1939-1995

A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Accession Number 35106


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Library of Virginia

The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
USA
Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov(Archives)
URL: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/

© 2010 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.

Processed by: Laura Drake Davis

Repository
The Library of Virginia
Accession Number
35106
Title
Correspondence and Reference Files of the Libary of Virginia, Office of the State Archivist 1939-1995
Physical Characteristics
1.4 cu. ft.
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Library of Virginia, Office of the State Archivist, Correspondence and reference files, 1939-1995. Accession 35106, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

Transferred 1996

Biographical Information

For many years, The Library of Virginia had no definitive home. Valuable early records were kept at Jamestown as early as 1676 and were then moved to the College of William and Mary for a brief period at the century's end. By 1780, extant records were moved to the Capitol in Richmond.

Coincidentally, in 1779, the Virginia General Assembly was presented among its legislation, "A Bill for Establishing a Public Library" drawn up by Thomas Jefferson. The bill provided for 2000 pounds yearly to be expended to maintain a State Library in Richmond. The facility was to be a reference library only without books being lent for home use. Perhaps ahead of its time, the bill failed to pass.

The Virginia State Library was created by an act passed by the General Assembly on January 23, 1823, to establish a public library with funds derived from the sale of William W. Hening's THE STATUTES AT LARGE. From 1823 to 1828, the Library was under the control of the governor and council. In 1828, the General Assembly created a joint committee on the library (located in a room in the southeastern corner of the Capitol) to oversee its administration. Use of the State Library was restricted to members of the state government in a policy that continued until at least 1856. The Secretary of the Commonwealth served ex officio as state librarian from 1832 to 1903.

The growth of the State Library was somewhat erratic. Book holdings increased from 1,313 in 1828 to 17,480 in 1856. Lack of funds and politics frequently intermingled to slow library development. General W.H. Richardson, State Librarian in 1852, became embroiled in an effort to remove him "to make way for some politician of democratic principles." At the close of Reconstruction, Dr. George William Bagby, then State Librarian, was terminated and his position abolished at the hands of Readjusters.

Eventually, on May 15, 1903, the General Assembly passed an act that created a library board to administer the library, authorized the deposit of public records in the library, provided for the publication of historical records by the library, and established a library fund for the purchase of books and private papers. The Library Board, which was responsible for naming the State Librarian, was itself appointed by the Board of Education. The General Assembly passed an act on March 29, 1944, transferring the power to appoint the Library Board to the governor.

While many public records somehow survived the Commonwealth's early years, many losses occurred due to fires, the ravages of war and negligence. When the library was moved, for example, in 1895 to a building separate from the Capitol, "chutes were constructed from the upper story of the Capitol to facilitate the delivery of books to the wagons of the junk dealer who had bought them." The move was poorly planned and the library's contents suffered great loss at the hands of those very authorities assigned to protect them.

The new facility quickly was found to be inadequate and efforts were made both in 1910 and 1920 to construct a proper building for the State Library and its collections. Ground was broken for the current facility on December 7, 1938. At last, on December 23, 1940, the newly completed Virginia State Library was opened to the public.

The Virginia State Library adopted the name, the Virginia State Library and Archives, in early 1987 to more adequately reflect its mission and purpose today. In July 1, 1994 the name was changed to The Library of Virginia.

Scope and Content

Comprised of various materials presumably kept by the State Archivist for reference purposes. The files were also referred to as "Dr. Manarin's Agency Histories." Dr. Louis H. Manarin served at State Archivist for many years, and these files most likely came from his office. Most of the files pertain to records management activities and include correspondence, records retention schedules and forms, and records surveys often spanning several decades. Most of the files are arranged by state agency name, and several contain records surveys produced for Virginia state agencies in 1949 by Records Engineering, Inc. of Washington D.C. Other files within the collection were kept strictly as subject files, such as one labled "Organization and Management of the Library," which contains information on changes to the internal arrangement of Library divisions and staff.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically.

Contents List

Box 1 Folder 1
Attorney General Opinions, 1975-1986, .
Box 1 Folder 2
Department of Accounts and Purchases,1949, .
Box 1 Folder 3
Department of Agriculture and Immigration, 1949, .
Box 1 Folder 4
Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 1949, .
Box 1 Folder 5
Auditor of Public Accounts, 1949, .
Box 1 Folder 6
Commissioner for the Blind, 1949, .
Box 1 Folder 7
Bureau of Buildings and Grounds, 1948-1986, .
Box 1 Folder 8
Department of Conservation and Development, 1949, .
Box 1 Folder 9
Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind, 1949, .
Box 1 Folder 10
Department of Education, 1949-1995, .
Box 1 Folder 11
Governor's Commission on Efficiency in Government, 1986, .
Box 1 Folder 12
State Board of Elections, 1949, .
Box 1 Folder 13
Fisheries Laboratory, 1949, .
Box 1 Folder 14
Commission of Fisheries of Virginia, 1949, .
Box 1 Folder 15
commission of Game and Inland Fisheries, 1949, .
Box 1 Folder 16
General Assembly, 1939-1993, .
Box 1 Folder 17
General Assembly - House of Delegates, 1979-1983, .
Box 1 Folder 18
Department of General Services - Division of Engineering and Buildings, 1986, .
Box 1 Folder 19
Office of the Governor, 1968-1994, .
Box 2 Folder 1
Department of Health, 1949, .
Box 2 Folder 2
Department of Historic Resources, 1994, .
Box 2 Folder 3
Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, 1982-1992, .
Box 2 Folder 4
Department of Labor and Industry, 1949, .
Box 2 Folder 5
Medical College of Virginia (MCV), 1949, .
Box 2 Folder 6
Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (DMHMRSAS), 1949-1991, .
Box 2 Folder 7
Department of Motor Vehicles, .
Box 2 Folder 8
New Library Facility, 1992-1993, .
Box 2 Folder 9
Organization and Management Study of State Library, 1983-1986, .
Box 2 Folder 10
Personnel and Merit System Council, 1949, .
Box 2 Folder 11
Department of Planning and Budget, 1982-1994, .
Box 2 Folder 12
Department of Professional and Occupational Registrations, 1949, .
Box 2 Folder 13
Reception and Diagnostic Center for Children, .
Box 2 Folder 14
Records Management, 1948-1959, .
Box 2 Folder 15
Records Management, 1949-1958, .
Box 3 Folder 1
State Corporation Commission, 1957-1958, .
Box 3 Folder 2
State Water Control Board, 1949, .
Box 3 Folder 3
State Police, 1949, .
Box 3 Folder 4
State Taxation, 1949, .
Box 3 Folder 5
State Transportation, 1949-2003, .
Box 3 Folder 6
State Treasury, 1949, .
Box 3 Folder 7
State Unemployment Compensation Commission, 1949, .
Box 3 Folder 8
VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) and MCV (Medical College of Virginia), 1991, .
Box 3 Folder 9
Virginia Genealogical Society, 1971-1973, .
Box 3 Folder 10
Virginia Genealogical Society, 1971-1974, .
Box 3 Folder 11
Virginia Genealogical Society, 1974-1978, .
Box 4 Folder 1
Virginia Genealogical Society, 1974-1976, .
Box 4 Folder 2
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, 1971-1986, .
Box 4 Folder 3
Virginia Military Institute, 1949, .
Box 4 Folder 4
Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 1949, .
Box 4 Folder 5
Virginia State Apple Commission, 1949, .
Box 4 Folder 6
Virginia State Library and Archives, 1978-1993, .
Box 4 Folder 7
Virginia State School, 1949, .
Box 4 Folder 8
Virginia State University, 1995, .
Box 4 Folder 9
University of Virginia, 1949, .
Box 4 Folder 10
Department of Welfare and Institutions, 1949, .
Box 4 Folder 11
Department of Workman's Compensation - Industrial Commission of Virginia, 1949, .