JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================bK" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?ن 4binrXE2R@P2I*] j Si1_+j*yVA\ H "PCaY!FT=hj9adUh}"R6g$24[=I*g汍4mǝfw6C$ Bܚoj[j a \>ꥹ %Н2jԼ9{GKy e=rTfAd{NB<枖ƻEYl1,[uJ9?#.})bSVΞ9vRjr&e%V #ڍTwz]?)uO#b=ē?*ҟP?y!+t&0}ÆZM3HJte:92s\>ɏJ/:GjHnՁڊ*15(QE3X4Hh@>:? P 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 microfilm contains mi