JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================QK" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?پ['!zqWRE5u<0W?.Z5D!\ m5Z⋋]YJH=.Es"WVPxTZ`nbN>3kIs _%x,w{($>WjSW48=+aX9U\5(į#_'IRܣeub!nz9θ}bg)ݏ$Vll|n"9Բ~4Rm$h6h)&+M֬5`y׫:ع囆 j#jD'Bh$hL-y@IO-վB~uWY-cpT+/xK Z\H'+{X~g{{[j:Bۉ 5z+ .;PK.>l-*7w7G!ŏNj׉!m6.ꪻd`m8Lnwl*3ڻiPϗQ ps|bn9ե6Nmf)+\ҳwEN{Ȣy˔cǷ)nZG;*qCTu($]#ۮ=M2-c}vgi%gvP+Y0[sDQ;כK]nxVLDL i Yt=BmF̜a=#M-+2EȷU 23+#'iwOmUaZ&̥9{ 49x'Ԧ9$ Ek {Nc685W( wF\ڕWcă-:f]kfVi^Pۜ&ۢK8 HNɬHNO"OIlH֢Qjw/nf#:#}Wi8lMZ|c8f<i(w;Jݎ}O]-#hP})kNf{$"i.c Zd[)߾Q?}jiT8lP=]o/z{,6aojhQÏκ ۨ-Lq[HWYW &Q)Bw֝åsxU/?rG*Hɭ+ENS䨆9*g͍ഛA~kѺ:$< ΛwehiM6ZIՑz }9J᮶I9'ҪaBI+MhB8" {#6/=e,r׬6UQ:W 0ͧXl+^=+u e##qLash]@\?J/o#`R]F91p :~ݨ19I[*=D<)lѱgry=:!;uc}RP[_FMR=S^q=)E[%nys4QYts 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 these records into a useable