JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================TK" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?I&hݹ9ȫ@G08$1qR"͋ӏ\讋Y!xt F+ bb b2N~ iQ+֌ǸNcr+nnWn#H>1Ey߈ "Y$MTOcҺ5$BYЌ6n2# pt+KXқQOj-2Rrwߦ)ۑK ^j)sJ.;>~\ؚe(5f(Cn`=j fhetQr棤렁u X wyZQ̼+Kq\ˆ5S5nbf"|㡬)- mҮ &y#i?S^/jH O֩z:LAuQ(W540?vF?6}sڝ9{r"eyM<`vdH,*3T騳HpkTVmJ6LN2HZSF.Nϼ𶣪v, 79{V5DֲY=L~'YmTgGթ H뒊 c}qsۊ য়sOB4e 0>jJe r1 dףåEo4o'ןx;C]FH_kԣM)c;݈>kZ@_g v5Ĕ T" {X)PPcyv6SDH倏M N!MzWy5i`Zߕ62*= 2F`XX_ZjuB4pTڲqW"}4s8T%ffxʉ!S}OW`>2׫c93g"YKy'uA"YW=j?SkBHWRJIQ~{{ ߨ2bx`\МԚw`('ɼ., tZw~1i2-RwSR6D"휎B_Hȍ-#x5 yہRW6:BejնB=SU'o#`@WS_^?6?Jęq|bF :`c$̉<. j#i]S`jݨU 򨊳w=,rj=X)kirlu#dV%]j źlʤ#Sb9h!rK$R &hcZpF:U~Pd in 1865. Its purpose was to offer financial freedom to legions 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 m