Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Access restrictions

The collection is open to research.

Preferred Citation

Virginia Association for Adult and Continuing Education (VAACE) records, 1964-2019, Collection # M 572, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Virginia Association for Adult and Continuing Education by Sandy Parker, VAACE Historian, 2018 and 2022.

Biographical / Historical Information

The Virginia Adult Association for Adult and Continuing Education (VAACE), originally called the Adult Education Association of Virginia (AEAV) was founded on October 12, 1951 at a conference sponsored by University of Virginia. Some of the original founding members of the organization were members of the Southeastern Adult Education Association (SAEA) who had attended an SAEA conference held in Charlottesville, VA, in 1950. VAACE was a racially diverse organization since its founding and its organizing committee included at least one Black educator, Dr. Margaret Dabney, who later was the Dean of Teacher Education at Virginia State University.

Since 1973, VAACE has worked to educate its members on the legislative process and the importance of working to shape legislation that would impact adult and continuing education. In 1984, members advocated for a new constitution for the organization that would allow for the creation of interest groups in order to have the authority (and organizational backing) to advocate for legislative change and advance other aims. At the same time, the organization changed its name to the Virginia Association for Adult and Continuing Education.

VAACE continues to serve as a professional organization for adult educators in Virginia through advocacy work, leadership, and by providing professional development opportunities.

Content Description

The Virginia Association for Adult and Continuing Education (VAACE) records includes administrative records (including meeting minutes, committee documents, reports, member lists, and presidents' files), correspondence (including letters, emails, and memoranda), outreach and education materials (including conference schedules, newsletters, information and fact sheets, results of studies, and other reports), and some photographs.

The earliest item in the collection was created in 1964 (13 years after the organization was founded), although the bulk of the collection was created between 1990 and 2010. The collection contains a good run of organizational newsletters, conference schedules, leadership meeting minutes, membership directories/rosters, and financial documentation. While there are some committee reports and other committee documentation, their representation in the collection is fairly inconsistent.

Arrangement

Upon donation, the collection was largely arranged by the year or decade in which the materials were created. The exceptions to this included materials in the Organizational History (the foldering for this series was maintained), Presidents' Files series (which were in separate binders), as well as the photos in the Photos series (which were in two photo albums). Folders in Series 1 and 6 are arranged alphabetically. Series 2 is organized chronologically based on presidential term. Series 3-5 contain sub-series based on date of creation. and folders within these sub-series are arranged alphabetically.

Series 1

Organizational History

Series 2

Presidents' Files

Series 3

Committee materials, minutes, and reports

Subseries 3.1

Early Years: 1960s-1989

Subseries 3.2

1990-1999

Subseries 3.3

2000-2009

Subseries 3.4

2010-2019

Series 4

Correspondence

Subseries 4.1

Early Years: 1960s-1989

Subseries 4.2

1990-1999

Subseries 4.3

2000-2009

Subseries 4.4

2010-2019

Series 5

Outreach and education

Subseries 5.1

Early Years: 1960s-1989

Subseries 5.2

1990-1999

Subseries 5.3

2000-2009

Subseries 5.4

2010-2019

Series 6

Photos

Series 7

Newsclippings

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Continuing education
• Education -- Virginia.