JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================dK" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?9S&QP9jhMwN¼d'(#Ϩxl͝ǜOS}*nOͽŜyGs]YksbDz\yxִ;p/ZzU ${]U`6R{DZrOr"Q-Ÿ\ !XYnTO_%IHWz&@$֬knd3~컅,؀ZM͡*IŶw_OY.i%U=;g[.Udֹ/>95l- T AUj՜IJf^p:gQMɟ,7hڀmPa?ʯ VO]7 g,&e(aifp=1m7#C q\jʰ]}Vm|h^?q%b שmf4r(*q8r^xkUdW􋇿,-yyIԣjM'Kk$29`‚W?^nbX *iF-DZUZWjK;2^+9!w>\nUWu3. Ҹ]}7ݔϿCVl[sQנn<ҤXQe w(|%>3|_'qu> >g\$,P+>'NLc5?;[˂xUr+~ǫ2#i.d0c cr(\4qMMp[$Dzrl-D9<(Q s U+c>U Jq(XvFW{x۠lq^w 1ʳiv=cMm?q^2klK'g}cdkYgk#Ƈ\[]R|FO3aUȔO /w`%^J(n8sdTQY֖7uשf+>s 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 microfilm contains mid-19th