A little-known, yet extremely significant piece of Gloucester County history is now available to the public online, with the recent addition of a digital database of original historical documents (along with transcriptions) of those documents on the Library of Virginia website.

The documents shed light on the founding and early days of the Gloucester Agricultural and Industrial School, also known as the Cappahosic Academy. That school, which operated from 1888 until its closing in 1933, provided the Black youth of Gloucester and surrounding communities with much more than the basic skills and training needed to be a laborer … the school provided a rigorous, top-notch liberal arts college-preparatory education that both preceded and exceeded public education offered to the area’s white students.

To find the archive, go to www.lva.virginia.gov and, enter “Gloucester Agricultural and Industrial School” in the search line, and click on “catalog.”The papers had been in the Library of...