Library of Virginia receives grant to conserve Revolutionary-era government journal

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The Library of Virginia Foundation has received a $15,000 grant to support a Library of Virginia project to conserve the last manuscript journal of the Virginia House of Burgesses recorded in 1776.

According to the library, the grant comes from the Virginia Law Foundation.

The journal and other colonial and Revolutionary-era records are being prepared in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of American independence, to highlight Virginia's transition from a colonial government to a constitutional one.

In an example of that transition, the Library of Virginia said the Virginia House of Burgesses met for the last time on May 6, 1776, as recorded on the last page of its official journal.

"The group 'determined not to adjourn, but let that body die,' as recorded by one of the members," a spokesperson for the library said. "The assistant clerk of the House of Burgesses recorded these last entries. His concluding word in Latin — 'Finis' — meaning finished or the end, was written with a flourish on the last page to signify the group’s final meeting."

“We’re honored by the Virginia Law Foundation’s support and recognition of this powerful piece of Revolutionary-era history,” said Dennis T. Clark, Librarian of Virginia. “Thanks to this funding, we can preserve an important historic record and make it accessible to all Virginians as we celebrate Virginia’s role in the nation’s semiquincentennial.”