JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================fK" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?繺y$ԑ`TsP @9Sjp' 䁃&fD[I&FCZk)K 6H+w*KvscֽZC,\aX+DRRXܣ0)$kGZ'sW/hi{ԡ)$b$WM[kw۸sߥk >IV=iκ?LI8f<ǓWrSobĽH41bs|8>Z{9>+cwoCՁk9M=jC1)&vƇA",z>@c&c lX'eҮb)5󯗝i{VT3"1YZضx\qGx?RYÏN*eci!σ#h,@UF]0aj茶~-A?SY['T>5D  bf#2>VV(CϥBJ1%Or55z"d<p)DC xzSjģ~}u;Dgx/#MpZYCq$t>SZx Vtbʪ ~2)tH'ySelk^}7^h ;5:*u9 ylr*qLąb>~VTFl]>G7#$FEd> ls]];F12\c ǩָ*4h&\TY+/?QR; ^mcsn+uOWvN'k79U0vTM}G2#KpU1ޮC5-1#úkl!mZ/m 0*wG* z)iٜ|;#>y`f dTlїҤӕ3g34,Z)3*]\(#HZGa&Wt$!gyS`Kp 6 pz%seTU ഽPF |p3lj?g1ƫo_a5E7M൑i;)s,K]դb(#2jUqv.^sK ,dZC+ GOIM{%,-RgVTHclosed 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 all the