Established in 1979 through a Commonwealth of Virginia Grant for Excellence, the Center for Historic Preservation has a dual mission, to support the historic preservation program and to encourage preservation activities through public outreach programs. The Center enhances students’ opportunities for employment, research, internships, and public involvement in preservation by sponsoring lectures, workshops, and conferences, and by conducting research and service projects in the Fredericksburg region.  Preservation organizations, government agencies, and citizens are the beneficiaries of the Center’s second charge – the support of preservation activities through public programs and cultural resource management services. Since 1989 the Center annually awards the nationally competitive Historic Preservation Book Prize to the book that a professional jury deems to have made the most significant contribution to the intellectual vitality of historic preservation in America. Through its website, the Center hosts the Virginia Local Preservation Reference Collection and the newly established Historic Buildings of Fredericksburg database.