Freedmen's Bureau Digital Collection
name: label: Creator
content: United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
topic: label: Topic
content: Slaves -- Emancipation
label: Topic
content: Reconstruction, U.S. history, 1865-1877
label: Topic
content: Freedmen's Bureau
label: Topic
content: American South
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Acquired from FamilySearch, International in 2015.
creator: label: Creator
content: United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Freedmen's Bureau Digital Collection is comprised of digital surrogates previously available on the 1918 rolls of microfilm held by the National Archives and Records Administration.
bioghist: label: Historical Note
content: As the Civil War drew to a close, President Lincoln and members of Congress debated how to reunite the nation, reconstruct Southern society, and help formerly enslaved individuals make the transition to freedom and citizenship. As one response, in March 1865 Congress created the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly referred to as The Freemen's Bureau. In May 1865, President Andrew Johnson appointed Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard Commissioner of the Bureau. Howard, who served until the Bureau was discontinued, maintained his headquarters at Washington, D.C. Assistant commissioners supervised the work of the Bureau in the States. 

The Bureau was responsible for providing assistance to four million formerly enslaved individuals and hundreds of thousands of impoverished Southern whites. The Bureau set up offices in major cities in the 15 Southern and border states and the District of Columbia.  

The Bureau provided food, clothing, medical care, and legal representation; promoted education; helped legalize marriages; and assisted African American soldiers and sailors in securing back pay, enlistment bounties and pensions. In addition, the Bureau promoted a system of labor contracts to replace the slavery system and tried to settle freedmen and women on abandoned or confiscated land. The Bureau was also responsible for protecting freedmen and women from intimidation and assaults by Southern whites.  

By most accounts, the Bureau was only partially successful. Congress did not provide sufficient funds or staff for the Bureau to be truly effective. The Bureau only operated from 1865 to 1872. It generally failed to protect the freedmen or their political and civil rights from white Southerners intent on re-establishing their local power.  

Administered by the War Department, the Bureau followed the record-keeping system inspired by the war effort and the expansion of the Federal Government it required. Those hundreds of thousands of documents provide an unexcelled view into the lives of the newly freed slaves.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1,917,680 Digital images (1918 digitized microfilm rolls)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1865-1872
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAAHC.FB
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Digital images
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The Freedmen's Bureau digital collection consists of 44 collections.

Headquarters

Selected Series of Records Issued by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872 --  (M742, 7 rolls)

Registers and Letters Received by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872 --  (M752, 74 rolls) FULLY TRANSCRIBED

Records of the Education Division of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1871 --  (M803, 35 rolls)

Superintendents  of Education

Alabama --  (M810, 8 rolls) FULLY TRANSCRIBED

Arkansas  --  (M980, 5 rolls) FULL YTRANSCRIBED

District of Columbia --  (M1056, 24 rolls) FULLY TRANSCRIBED

Georgia --  (M799, 28 rolls) FULLY TRANSCRIBED

Louisiana --  (M1026, 12 rolls) PARTIALLY TRANSCRIBED

North Carolina --  (M844, 16 rolls)

Tennessee --  (M1000, 9 rolls) PARTIALLY TRANSCRIBED

Texas --  (M822, 18 rolls) FULLY TRANSCRIBED

Virginia --  (1053, 20 rolls) PARTIALLY TRANSCRIBED

Assistant Commissioners

Alabama --  (M809, 23 rolls) PARTIALLY TRANSCRIBED

Arkansas  --   (M979, 52 rolls)

District of Columbia --  (M1055, 21 rolls)

Georgia --  (M798, 36 rolls) FULLY TRANSCRIBED

Louisiana --  (M1027, 36 rolls)

Louisiana - New Orleans Asst. Commissioner --  (M1483, 10 rolls)

Mississippi --  (M826, 50 rolls) PARTIALLY TRANSCRIBED

North Carolina --  (M843, 38 rolls) PARTIALLY TRANSCRIBED

South Carolina --  (M869, 44 rolls) PARTIALLY TRANSCRIBED

Tennessee --  (M999, 34 rolls) FULLY TRANSCRIBED

Texas --  (M821, 32 rolls) FULLY TRANSCRIBED

Virginia --  (M1048, 67 rolls) Transcription in process

Field Offices

Alabama --  (M1900, 34 rolls)

Arkansas  --  (M1901, 23 rolls)

District of Columbia --  (M1902, 21 rolls) PARTIALLY TRANSCRIBED

Florida --  (M1869, 15 rolls)

Georgia --  (M1903, 90 rolls)

Kentucky --  (M1904, 133 rolls)

Louisiana --  (M1905, 111 rolls)

Maryland/Delaware --  (M1906, 42 rolls)

Mississippi - Pre-Bureau Records --  (M1914, 5 rolls)

Mississippi --  (M1907, 65 rolls) Transcription in process

Missouri --  (M1908, 24 rolls)

North Carolina --  (M1909, 78 rolls) PARTIALLY TRANSCRIBED

South Carolina --  (M1910, 106 rolls)

Tennessee --  (M1911, 89 rolls)

Texas --  (M1912, 28 rolls)

Virginia --  (M1913, 203 rolls)

Marriage

Marriage --  (M1875, 5 rolls)

Adjutant General's Office

Office of the Adjutant General, 1872-1878 --   (M2029, 58 rolls).

Freedmen's Savings and Trust

Freedmen's Savings and Trust --  (M816, 27 rolls)
altformavail: label: Existence of Originals Note
content: The Freedmen's Bureau Digital Collection is provided courtesy of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, FamilySearch International, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Original archival records are held by the National Archives and Records Administration.