The Dean's Papers date back to 1912, which was eight years after the first dean was appointed, and go forward to the present.  These records document the growth of the administration from a time when there was one dean, a part-time clerical assistant and a faculty of five, to a time when there are four deans, three secretaries and a faculty of more than fifty; from a time when there were two hundred students, to the 1970's when there are more than a thousand students.  Although the earliest extant document is dated 1912, substantial retention of administrative records did not begin until the late 1930's.  These records should be the primary source for the researcher of the history of the University of Virginia School of Law during the twentieth century.

This collection has some restrictions.  Researchers must have the dean's permission to access the papers with the exception of the photograph collection.