Freedmen's Bureau, Freedman's Bank

SA-6

Slavery denied African Americans the education and skills required to exercise the freedom won by the Civil War. To redress that, Congress created the Freedmen's Bureau and Freedman’s Bank in March 1865. In Richmond, the Bureau and its branch Bank first operated out of two frame buildings here at 10th and Broad Streets, relocating several times before closing in 1872 and 1874, respectively. The agencies united families, legalized marriages, and provided education, food, clothing, job placement, legal and other services to former slaves. The Bureau’s and Bank’s written records are among the earliest and most complete histories of African American heritage.

Department of Historic Resources, 2006

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

“The Freedmen’s Bureau at Richmond, Virginia” Harper’s Weekly, December 23, 1865, page 811 (Article). “NARA-Prologue-Prologue: Special Issue on Federal Records and African American History (Summer 1997, Vol. 29, No. 2).” http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1997/summer/freedmans-savings-and-trust.html “Navy Hill, Richmond, Virginia” http://www.library.vcu.edu/jbc/speccoll/vbha/navy1.html “Freedmen’s Bureau Act 1865” http://www.afrigeneas.com/forum-reconstruction/indes.cgi?noframes;read=40 “M1913:Records of the Field Offices for the State of Virginia, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872” United States Congress and National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 2006 http://www.had.vcu.edu/~luker/vafreedmen.doc.