JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================]K" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?rJxUM:һojחyr*ðUT]cyT6~C\m/"[[qnqkǴc?EqYRƽoJq(-u%*qUZRk2!g tT y]wdo#+.61S n5Gs$W*Y"m"g>q'֐ eeH?mZ?*4Da'{TmE. PiKݰ B0#l*ޫ5K9q znKM;ﺋ#Ӄ]o,h4 H1>1P1޵B.<Ƹrܩ f}yRF-bV%e")'(>*8^}}(.P|Y@\=n~CiESV(ĚKs"EUfچ}D-9TsO`ۃʁ\@^P۷;Vq5yB;g#Ѷ ߮+s591!N0QJ4|/smbB\uڀǺ4EՈ'؀kƳh'.eu<{9;)VOq^+ 52^Z ?GDgUg'%V:SԃxGt42y%m&Ux$n+Ϥ,F+s:ޱ|QMolE) +&=1aWd"Xr;qH*W`3XvRIoU+{> i"Vy.J/zʰ(`C?j'z}m $ GL.A7$(z-g.T\QP ״ ?.wk͍*sQ {okXq~Frʫ8O#禞ݦ=1GH:WZxI7ũ6n#⽢60}q.qSj|Vrg7w ~]E1:czUH7+e>$So֖$UAS[ fCo,qp+izpm#ap3E+i 5$6Ugbq\歡/0ɑ?q^Ӫx@4-m8\HyXy׃mV TO妷PI=Z wӃus, 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 envis