HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Henrico’s historic Woodland Cemetery is now eligible to receive state funding from the Virginia Historical African American Cemeteries and Grave Fund for much-needed preservation and restoration help.
As one of over 100 new bills Virginia Gov. Youngkin signed into law Thursday, SB 477 and HB 140 were signed to expand eligibility for state-funded restoration and preservation of historic African-American cemeteries.
The bills were introduced by Sen. Jennifer McClellan’s (D-Richmond) and Del. Delores McQuinn’s (D-Richmond) and will expand state-funding eligibility to include cemeteries opened between 1900 and 1948.
Prior to McClellan and McQuinn’s 2022 bill, only cemeteries that were established prior to 1900 were eligible for state funding.
The passing of the bills makes preservation funding available for cemeteries like Woodland Cemetery, a historic African-American cemetery founded in 1917 in Henrico County by civil rights leader and publisher John Mitchell, Jr.
The bills will go into effect July 1.
