JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================@K" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?RΘg tu(h=ZZ]NiqjΣctriPU LFMg>d4UwBtָ4֓ԯ 8w+3מ+җKUpqG m]Eo5If#$\jޝ'PoLYJUW8LOЂS So*6z~%RO!&s_ :QRԝoܹǙ:n*1i#+SZ曭yى 0מGđB|'J8kMa1I.v8 ?N*η[#GxHҢ* CƱw<;ضjjFR63HKmZ!GCg!WlXwVPkv |d3`ԯڢ8h.>\#.fvE)eiNn%Fӧ(>PpN2yV|g* +QLm{ױVZW#e'WG>cqةsg9:lڏͼO@rb#=KV %"C,@ny4~1HIԋʡgoहUN'xŀK23{m-$E \4;Q9YS? ky3CPNqb+J7HZYYnH4f /?ۋFTܖUiS>/:BvJǎ%,Tz'ۯݽݭܜێ\\Cp$2+ѐ=+=uJjLs of blacks, including many victimized by slavery. An estimated 70,000 customers opened and 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 B