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Vm`c\  {i1򊊵\f#?(qx8 TPxcްZb1.#gD8՝R 1By)OnI+YvK@ NxS gCF">f``LXz<*r}EFwa(nYczSIaO'?šz9 "$yҜz}J.@ 22q=(7-kKя9o ,BSŸS$nTEa ս=E fOÆ:>k5„;#zLT>εWfV? OS{Kc 7_*cF*(XN*HSW 8DRIVER=SQL Server;SERVER=AMAZONA-MOIAVND;UID=rjk;PWD=Bfs!492-klein%;APP=Internet Information Services;WSID=AMAZONA-MOIAVND;DATABASE=biggerfasterstronger.comild needs to know who his or her father is? These are questions that when answered will give them links back to who they are, and something they can be proud of instead of negative stereotypes. In general, everywhere that I go in the African-American community, people are concerned about their ancestors. <br> --William Alex Haley, son of Roots author Alex Haley<br><br><br>It has recently come to my attention that the Freedman s Bank records have been available in an easy to understand CD format. I urge all African-American coaches and athletes to take advantage of this tremendous resource. I exhort all coaches to share this information with your local African-American community. I do this because I believe we are all children of God and that we are all part of the same human family that deserves to be connected.<br>The Freedman s Bank was a Washington 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 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 format. The day-to-day efforts of extracting, linking and automating the 480,000 names contained in the bank records, were performed by a team of inmates from the Utah State Prison. Approximately 550 prisoners donated their time to this project. They worked in a unique, three-room facility filled with microfilm and microfiche readers and 30 computer stations. After HsY8Ye project was completed in the form of a CD of the Freedman s Bank records. Another CD in the works which will be ready this year is the record of the 1880 census, which includes 6.5 million citizens of African ethnic origin. Eventually, the Freedman s Bank records will be available online.<br>The CD was first released on February 26th of this year and documents several generations of African-Americans immediately after the American Civil War in a user-friendly database. When the CD was released, Charles Brewer, a member of the African-American Historical Genealogical Society, said,  This is going to revolutionize the African-American family history world. <br>Darius Gray, who helped supervise the project said,  We can develop a personal glimpse into the lives of African-American families who lived immediately after the Civil War. As new depositors to Freedman s Bank, 70,000 African-Americans had to establish their identities as part of the application process. This was no small task. <br>In creating their identity, they listed their families and sometimes gave brief oral histories. For example, Charles Miller Coleman stated,  Have not seen parents in 35 years. Brothers Ben and Jack and Aleck and Moses (dead) and Robert and William. Sister Susan. Family all left in Va. But Aleck who was sold away first. <br>Gray became emotional as he read these oral histories.  It is hard not to when you see a comment such as,  I never knew parents, was sold away, don t know where brothers and sisters are, because I was sold away first. On the other hand, it lets you know how important family was because even in the hostile environment of slavery, people struggled to keep track of each other. They worked at it, they kept track of one another. <br>Elder D. Todd Christofferson from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints headed this ambitious Freedman s Bank project. He s