|
Happy Spring, and welcome to Found in the Archives, a publication of The Clerk of the Fairfax Circuit Court, 19th Judicial Circuit, who proudly serves The City of Fairfax & Fairfax County. In this Month’s Edition of Found in the Archives, we will discuss a grant recently received by the Historic Records Center, and the Library of Virginia’s Circuit Court Records Preservation Program that makes this grant possible.
Fairfax County Circuit Court Clerk Christopher J. Falcon was recently awarded $21,269.50 for the preservation of six different historic records currently house at the Historic Records Center, Fairfax Land Tax Books 1891; Land Tax Book 1896; Marriage License Book 1867-1895; Marriage License Book 1896-1928; Federal Census Book, 1880; and Deed Book Liber O-6 1904. This grant comes from the Library of Virginia’s Circuit Court Records Preservation Program (CCRP).
According to the Library of Virginia, “The Circuit Court Records Preservation Program (CCRP) is a part of the Library of Virginia’s Local Records Services Branch. Funded through a $3.50 of the clerk’s recordation fee, the CCRP provides resources to help preserve and make accessible permanent circuit court records. The program awards grants to the commonwealth’s circuit court clerks to help them address the needs of the records housed in their localities.” This program was first started in 1990 by the Virginia General Assembly. Originally, $1 of all recording fees in the commonwealth went towards the CCRP. Today, Fairfax County has the most land recordings of any county in the commonwealth, making it the biggest overall contributor to the fund, from which all counties are able to benefit.
Since its beginning, the CCRP has awarded over 2,000 grants totaling more than $35,000,000. Since 2008, Fairfax has received over $145,000 from those grants which has helped conserve and digitize some of our most precious records, including our earliest Deed Books and Will Books.
 Fairfax County Deed Books
 Fairfax County Will Book H-1 page 1, Clerk's copy of George Washington's Will, conserved in 2018 through CCRP grant.
Many of these records were treated for cellulose acetate lamination, which was a common preservation practice in the mid 20th century. Archivists now know that this method of conservation actually contributes to faster degradation of documents, but removing it from previously treated documents is time-consuming and requires specialized skills. Thanks to funds from the CCRP, our Fairfax records with cellulose acetate lamination can be treated with modern conservation methods that will protect the records for decades to come.
 Fairfax County Land Tax Book 1896, in need of treatment and repair
 Fairfax County Land Tax Book 1895, conserved
One of the ways the Historic Records Center has greatly benefited from the CCRP fund is the Chancery Records project completed by the Library of Virginia. This project allocated funding for Library of Virginia staff to process and digitize all Circuit Court Chancery cases prior to 1913, including Fairfax’s cases. These records are now available online for free, making them accessible to researchers who may have previously been unable to view them in person. (link to chancery website) Historic Records Staff were also able to use this project as a model for other collections we have processed, including our Term Papers collection. To view these chancery records, please continue to the Library of Virgnia Website by clicking here.
With thousands of historic records in our holdings, the Historic Records Center benefits greatly from the CCRP Fund. We are endlessly thankful for the ways in which these grants have allowed us to conserve and protect our records so that they can be used by researchers without fear of further degradation or damage.
Please click below if you would like to read more about these grants.
Fairfax Circuit Court gets state grant to preserve records
Fairfax County Court gets grant to preserve and digitize historical records
|
