Fair Copies of Letters Sent
setName: label: See more items in
content: Records of the Superintendent of Education for the District of Columbia, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1872
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAAHC.FB.M1056, Series 1
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The two volumes of fair copies of letters sent, January 1, 1868–April 4, 1870, generally are arranged and numbered in chronological order. The National Archives and Records Service (NARS) staff prepared name indexes to both volumes of fair copies of letters sent. The numerical sequence of letter numbers 461 – 549 in Volume 1 is duplicated within the volume, but the letters are not. Because the numbering of letters in Volume 2 was incomplete, the NARS staff  completed the numbering beginning with letter 462. 

Most of the letters among the fair copies were sent to teachers, Bureau agents, and aid societies and relate to routine problems, such as school expenditures, monthly reports, teachers' salaries, lack of school supplies, and building maintenance. Other letters were sent to school trustees and Bureau agents in the field, requesting lists of Bureau property and deeds to property. Among the correspondence are letters sent to Commissioner Howard, informing him that the Superintendent of Education was performing the functions of his office. 

Also included among the fair copies of letters sent are copies of monthly reports to the Assistant Commissioner and other periodic reports to the Assistant Commissioner and other periodic reports to General Superintendent Alvord. Volume 1 (41) contains monthly reports covering the period December 1867–September 1868; a quarterly report dated January 1, 1869, to the General Superintendent, covering operations for the last 3 months of 1868; an annual report dated October 10, 1868; and a special report dated November 4, 1868, which gives information about school systems in the District of Columbia, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware. Volume 2 (42) includes an annual report dated January 1, 1870. Many of the reports were not copied into the volumes in precise chronological order. Most reports contain information about progress in industrial, normal, theological, and high schools supported by the Bureau. Reports also provide statistical data about teachers, pupils, and expenditures and, in some instances, information about white attitudes and other aspects of the local situation.

The fair copy volumes contain occasional cross–references to other correspondence series. In Volume 1, the symbol "EB" refers to endorsements sent (Endorsement Books), and in Volume 2, "PLB" refers to the press copies of letters (Press Letter Books).