Although youth in Prince William County have been learning from tutors or at "field schools" since the colonial period, free public education became a reality only in 1869. That year, six school districts were established, and a county superintendent was elected. Soon after, elementary one-room schools were built around the county, then consolidated and enlarged in the 20th century. They were entirely segregated until the 1960s. Secondary schools appeared during the 1890s, including the Manassas Industrial School, our first secondary school for African-Americans.

Here is a selection of titles on Prince William education, all available in RELIC. See our online catalog for other locations. For additional items, search the catalog for keywords PRINCE WILLIAM SCHOOLS.

RELIC has a collection of Self Study Reports done for individual Prince William County schools during the 1970s and 1980s. We also have a large collection of high school and middle school yearbooks, most published since the 1970s, but some as early as 1932 (Brentsville District High School). Some of these items are stored offsite. Check our catalog to determine the location of individual titles and please call ahead at 703-792-4540 to see how they can be retrieved. Most of our high school yearbooks are being digitized for online access; we will provide an update on that later.