JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================K" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?of6|cɌkEIX§.HF'P~ճ Ṑ=B5}eӖU(gֹ\/-5TiqsFr9=KpĬ ^qMxzN\Ck6\b8mi-wC43t#C4LTi6yc_xG8 ]q Z|fYQjJ0~085ÌjE^rEC#ycX#9vzs[TVZ!ÇdXՂG AQlM_k=6#"1'?ƛ9YHȧ[{뱁#V#b]RUK@C꧑U|U\LRVv;(k""9?]>Ȋ!#l?Ȭ=*+ɵ4#qZ-?id3YsWm쑧?--} />=!H9rحD1CmA9iH4oai79E0tT6Ѵ>mݷRWO3T8>6 E1 CE!i4@jJ3&hOx'ָSIKHks4SҚiL$RLPqE?Z1]>W>6%-&ks 4ғHM0i: RM4P)(Gxֹ Q)Bo)(D4M0h=(# P(v(!]> !(-%nb4B)Ԇh4M@ Ғi(Gxֹ]>W>6%-!D4M0s))M6?ictimized 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