JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================fK" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?N$l*Մtj6´eIjXXEeTOZk"bֶdhp,v ۏ2 )g-}{h?#LGpĀ=R4Wݹ`\WziY1[KoKm.]bۛai`:uqQ'5(I1Jk2P{trNT4ԕ;WӹRNҨ@v"- ^(C[rܫcjaվη Vq_ڸܤXi,+Py믿hlXؒCZӿ,8Qc̅÷P} ]>i$9(M,Z|htyd!p9湏 tb1{ȮzRN.5%tN(bۨh[\$ӕ\q\AxH*9jcXi#5B <*AzYBks \#.(8-lvA,QG Ԃ98Z|Ԋ4%)nյ]܆KU! )ҍ6eG#8Zϴ__MjFdt?1ֈXZŋfҒ9{ 7ɛnB W/yMZ9rT0? Ŷ'~u$tj#S~%IZF "[; #WǗ}0"6u;@'8Q𵙋J'AxXAz%KiaVRnGa=гh.$%׆>^>hv С.ՄWhXr1ShL };Wfu-RIsp tRa1akLP(%ON`zԷ].8?~_Y]2,yvőGm:Ӆ -#BC]GuLo4dFz|vĞ0|$!.Y6m(bͳRl޻pir]HrV沲y ƲvI޷#&VGr=iZb~65٥ˑ,lO{{ۥ +Ԏk8ڤ%9/^QEH3$wV,;(ʣK|PxU nd closed accounts at Freedman s Bank, with deposits totaling more than $57 million. Nine years later, the bank collapsed through mismanagement and fraud, ruining the dreams of their trusting customers.<br>Despite the bank s tragic financial history, its legacy of record keeping remains priceless. An estimated 10 million African-Americans living today have ancestors who deposited money in Freedman s Bank. Bank workers recorded the names and family relationships of account holders in an effort to establish bank customers identities. In doing so, they created the largest single repository of lineage-linked, African-American records thought to exist. <br>Family history researchers have long known about the Freedman s Bank records. The originals are preserved in the National Archives. But the data on microfilm has been essentially useless because it lacked effective and reliable indexes. The microfilm contains mid-19th century family records of 480,000 African-Americans. <br> Marie Taylor discovered these Freedman s Bank records and envisioned African-Americans breaking the chains of slavery and forging the bonds of families. She put together an inspired plan for the daunting task of compiling