JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================^K" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?JjU&ZTJiќTk4nUљzy&t;ːwz Q{+Wv4ڹ.Y ۵}9(eqKnlʠT} riknDW37GgS.6z3yqȃv1x֦WMU%}lBF9.yֱMJ XqCι sw Nyvux[5z[+5{sG<+,N7+qF8\?JHDhjt>iD^0EK11B i5OR[RJݻ'Һ]HB3) giP>4%f9Ч 8*9W<= U~b=st7:2ǡu&@PesVAf}?w4m JE03HIK(OkI$4#.y`#l ACVHMKWe-Z-ŀf ݏ5FOEh8TeVmzUtDF~m?QFDO yE.TWEKFI,=*M|vĿ{-MKJF ۓ0R{WjZ֩sɟ)J+:tV?V"d.H+R p>DX4w8Hƒ).(sS]Z-ơzҥf >ƫ)T"q*Y DoiOYqjP)<8 #4ZG,Y$䚇eu^sUjVir+ER`T+tQ<Ҭqn8Uk4䵄Hp8oA).Ga+ y>G4Ɛon D.C. bank that was chartered 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 use