JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================:K" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ? KD};YQR*35vM )w~}M 8 9(#kH2)ҝw<9:@^ҴX>M<= ]M<  h?(޸OD-ICb&10}öQO̦N8jo Zp%@`}s]S qGpS\L\t5ȹmH#ra)ˌdNJ0*mPOC@Y:[%rJ99\Yj{,@sϽd/)=R-Sb;K8ڢ g?֥њGԁ Rs)#}+q1tkSw~XiֺķʱO5+nݘ0apOl ?kRn0<סm؆>m?*4}i-8%N$^G:PLtag Uo\k0,Vq9'lG" u+[v@ڽ@\E~hN=xKZO+i7,q>De@?jߋ}6;O-/d5v~ MN,m3p;wOw9mn!7h-ʑ; =+}JHa8"6A6y'jW { *p1heڍ.0.SbEs:حRkJF QlnW\,Y۰h=}+4I/m0; 'oKk@pޫ:އ,ɑxiڃP krr;=*_"(V=ArsRPO\'Jkz4\:{@jg㷹Y`d%{07V3^ݼFʷ*@/tuWlߺFhhcqSWE;H̉ ӷZ4 Ɠ88c،z؀x ]P>inSk%HDGrA=? &hkVݻ; [P_Ʃ=Ԋfa!4/dWqyMu:DQI#E@x^渘ؼ=Bs%sQ@DEo$mDWrAmfkؙ 1V}gm G|P5. Its purpose was to offer financial freedom to legions of blacks, 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 contai