African American Studies Resource Guide: Freedmen's Bureau and Freedmans Bank Records

This section of the National Archives site provides a history and description of the records (including a contents by reel number) of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. However, the National Archives does NOT offer online access to these records. Researchers are advised to use the National Archive's descriptions of the microfilm series in tandem with viewing digitized records available at other sites. The Archive's content descriptions of the microfilm reels identify the type of record contained on the individual rolls. They also put the records in context with the events of the Reconstruction era.

"The Freedmen’s Bureau Search Portal provides unprecedented opportunities for family historians and genealogists to search for their ancestors and for scholars to research a variety of topics related to slavery and Reconstruction in the Freedmen’s Bureau records. [...] The original Freedmen’s Bureau records are held by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Not all Bureau records at NARA have been microfilmed or digitized. The two data sets used in this search portal—indexed data created by FamilySearch volunteers (name, date, location) and transcribed data created by Smithsonian volunteers (text search)—were created through crowdsourced initiatives."

Open Library, has digitized a small selection of the National Archive's microfilms of the Freedmen's Bureau records. In practice, this means for example that while the National Archives holds 23 rolls of microfilm for the Freedmen's Bureau Field Office records from the state of Arkansas, the Open Library only contains a portion of those rolls. Note: the image quality is dependent on the quality of the original record. It can be helpful to use the single page display, and the magnification features, when available. The link above captures search results for items relating to the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, many of which are digitized National Archive microfilms.

Founded by Angela Walton-Raji and Toni Carrier, this site's goal is to help researchers "find the Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office nearest [their] area of research interest," and to "locate the microfilms online." In addition to maps, the site also gathers the National Archives and Records Adminisration description of the Freedmen's microfilm contents, and the operations of the Freedmen's Bureau for each state.

The Hathi Trust is a partnership of libraries, devoted to creating an online library. This linked search captures digitized full text titles relating to the Freedmen's Bureau. A larger set of results can be obtained by conducting a Full-text Search for "Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands," and limiting to "Full view only."

The DPLA's aim is to be a portal to the unique collections libraries, archives, and museums, as they become available through digitization. The link above captures a keyword search in the DPLA for the "Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands." Many of the documents are affidavits relating to the civil unrest on September 19, 1868, in Camilla, Georgia, when freedman and Republicans were fired on by the white townspeople, who were in opposition to the Republican political rally to be held there.

The website Freedman's Bureau.com has published online transcriptions (NOT images) of the Freedmen's Bureau records, including marriage certificates, reports of outrages against freed slaves, and labor records. Try searching for the name of a state (ex. Georgia) to generate a list of items. Additional related resources are also included.

A brief article from FamilySearch.org about the history, content, and use of the Freedmen's Bureau Marriage Records.

An article from the FamilySearch.org website (associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), which describes the Records, their availability on microfilm at the Family History Library, and their use for genealogy.

The M816 series "reproduces 55 volumes of signatures and personal identification data for depositors from 29 branches of the Freedman’s Bank" on a total of 27 rolls of microfilm. The M817 series provides an index to names of depositors. Some, but not all, of the M816 microfilms have been digitized by FamilySearch.org. This PDF file from NARA states which U.S. states are covered on the various microfilm rolls.

An article from the National Archives' Summer 1997 issue of Prologue Magazine, entitled "The Freedman's Savings and Trust Company and African American Genealogical Research," by Reginald Washington .

An article at FamilySearch.org about the content, history, and use of the records from the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company.

Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) has digitized content relating to Tennessee: "The Freedmen's Bureau digital collection currently includes records for Rutherford County, TN, and surrounding areas that are located in the following series of National Archives Record Group 105: Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Included are correspondense, detailed reports, contracts, bank records, lists, and receipts that document the post-emancipation experience of African Americans in middle Tennessee.