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Jefferson Township (Va.) Board of Public Free Schools Minutes, 1871-1880. Local government records collection, Alexandria/Arlington County (Va.) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.
This item came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Arlington County.
Public schools in Virginia were established during Reconstruction, and they were racially segregated from the outset.
Arlington County was originally named Alexandria County. It was formed from a portion of Fairfax County that Virginia in 1789 ceded to the federal government for use as the site of a new national capital. In 1801 the area officially became part of the District of Columbia, although Congress named it Alexandria County. By an act of 9 July 1846, Congress returned the county to Virginia, and the General Assembly extended the commonwealth's jurisdiction over the region effective 20 March 1847. By an act of assembly passed 16 March 1920, the county name was changed to Arlington, the name of the Custis family mansion (the home of Robert E. Lee), which is located in the county.
The 1870 Virginia Constitution required that each county in the state be divided into no less than three townships (see Article VII, section 2). The Acts of Assembly provided that each township be divided into school and electoral districts (see Acts of Assembly 1869-1870, Chapter 39). The published Acts of Assembly appended a list of township names by county following the acts for every year that townships existed in Virginia.
Jefferson Township Board of Public Free Schools Minutes, 1871-1880. The records are comprised of monthly minutes recording spending by the Board, teachers hired for white and African American schools (includes names of teachers and salaries), votes, and elections of board members. Minutes also include references to money spent on school buildings, grounds, and fuel (kindling wood and coal) and annual summaries of accounts.